This week has probably been one of the most mentally challenging periods of time since moving into the van. We seemed to have got entrenched in stormy weather all the way from southern Montenegro and through Albania. Our first few days in Albania involved a bleak array of happenings. The border crossing was an overall pleasant experience, despite the cost of €40 Insurance (which was less than we had expected). Not long after, we got pulled over and given a ticket and fine by the Albanian traffic police. They (with some language barriers, and many hand gestures pointing at the road) explained that a solid white line means no overtaking and after checking out all relevant paperwork, handed us a ticket for €20. What we did observe during this experience with the traffic police is that if you drive a BMW, MERCEDES or RANGE ROVER, you're exempt from all fines (including the Mercedes that followed us in the overtaking of the truck).
We soon also realised that in Albania, there is no rush to get anywhere! And to be honest even if you wanted to, with the speed limit set at 30mph on most roads (including motorways) and traffic police stationed at every 20miles, going anywhere at a great speed would be near on impossible. Driving in Albania was like working on a constant hazard perception test; by the time we had gotten out of the capital Tirana, we had taken on a wide array of animals in the road (goats, sheep, cows) just to give reference to a few), people on bicycles crossing the wrong way on roundabouts, cars stopping in the middle of the road to drop people off/pick things up/hang out because they can and lots of pedestrians with clearly no concern for their lives! Wow. I'm exhausted just recalling the events.
Our first camp spot was a beach, which was somewhat dulled by the dark grey formation of clouds that seemed to cling to the shoreline. Nobody was around, except for the pack of stray dogs who gave us the occasional distrustful look and came to check us out. And then it came: The storm. Which consisted of 3 days of heavy rain, thunder that shook the ground so much I could feel it from the floor of the van under my feet and subsequent flashes of lightening. Storms when you're in a moderate sized living space are bad enough; the weather is miserable, everything is dark, damp, cold and your daily routine is often somewhat impeded. Storms when you live in a 3x2m metal box on wheels amplify those feelings times by at least a thousand. Why? Because suddenly you're confined. I'm not saying this true for all vans, but for us, we can't go outside in heavy rain because all of our clothes get wet. Wet clothes is the last thing you want when you can't hang them out to dry, in fact you can't hang them anywhere at all, and if they don't dry out, they smell like damp - a smell which ruminates in such a small space.
Since living in the van, I have learnt very well how to occupy my mind - a good book often passes hours of time. But having limited daylight, an inability to stretch my legs and the all round gloom of bad weather really got to me this week. To add insult to injury, we had limited contact with our friends and family because our UK phone network roaming prices for Albania were extortionate (20p per MB!!!). After a day of fed up groans and snappy attitudes, we made the executive decision to drive south - and it was undoubtedly worth it.
We drove for a total of 6 hours that day. Stopping only at a supermarket to buy food - which in itself presented challenges since Albania seems to be a largely cash economy and we only had €15 left after insurance and police fines. The offline map said it would take 3 hours 30 when we set off... What it failed to take into account was the 30mph speed limit, and as we were driving, the estimated time of arrival was actually getting later not sooner. The farther south we got, the more beautiful the scenery. We drove up into the clouds through some alpine feeling woods, and when we came out on the other side we were met with a beautiful bay and the bright blue of the Adriatic Sea we have come to appreciate the beauty of. I was instantly calm and the events of the past few days melted away.
After the emotional exertion of the week, and the cheap price of the Air BnB we had booked for Sunday Funday at €12 a night, we extended the fun over the weekend and treated ourselves to an extra night of WiFi, a plumbed toilet and hot water - three things we have come to appreciate as luxuries since our van doesn't even have a toilet. To conclude this weeks blogpost, I am leaving you with this picture. I feel like it really sums up our tempestuous feelings towards our time in Albania and a visualisation in the weather contrast we experienced...
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