The roads are fairly limited in Albania so unfortunately we cannot just ride along the coast to Greece. The first part of the highway follows a huge aqueduct which is almost overflowing with crystal clear mountain water to the town of Mesopotam. Just beyond the town the road slowly starts to rise up into the mountain range.
On top of the mountain ranges we were surrounded by sheer almost barren limestone mountains on either side of the road which were quite majestic. His truck had obviously done a gearbox and he was desperately trying to find a gear to get his rig rolling again but to no avail. Meanwhile traffic gingerly dodged around his truck on the narrow road. Passing through the border checkpoint was quite easy as they had a quick look at our passports, commented on how many stamps we had, then waved us through.
The customs were pretty busy checking cars and after asking if we had any alcohol we were waved through. The guy was very excited at our adventure and was saying how he had rung his wife to tell her about us. We considered stopping at the coffee shop at the border but as we rode through the barrier, a pack of stray dogs appeared chasing the bike and barking. That was enough to make us change plans and keep going.
The road from the Greek border was really good with nice two lane highway and good surface quality. Just as we passed the border we were confronted by a huge Star Fighter plane on the side of the road.
It looked bizarre sitting there overlooking the traffic as it passed. It seems to be be some sort of war memorial but of course it was all greek to us so after a short break we continued on. The people we saw in the area were mainly shepherds living in fairly humble homes, with decent sized flocks of sheep and goats.
