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16.10.2022 2022 Balkans Europe

The Wonderful Balkans: Albania, Montenegro, Serbia

Across the Dardanelles to the Balkans

A new super bridge across the Dardanelles Strait impressed me with its scale! Although the Crimean bridge is actually four times longer, this one is different. It's the largest suspended bridge in the world that is supported by only two pillars, 334 m high each. Unfortunately, there was no viewpoint and I couldn't take a picture of the bridge from a suitable angle. But the scope is truly impressive! And what else surprised me were three completely free lanes either direction. They looked just like airfield runways.

This photo of the bridge isn't mine. Just to show how beautiful it is. A central span, which is 2 km long, seems to hover over the water.

The motorway E-87, which I proceeded to drive after the bridge, was awesome! Its speed limit is 140 km/h! That means, you can keep your car up at the speed of almost 150 km/h, on the perfect road, without breaking the rules!!! I was driving 170 km/h and it seemed to me I was barely trudging.

This direction the roads arе smooth and the traffic is minimal. Personally, I had driven 340 km from the border to Thessaloniki, where I decided to stay.

I had to linger at the Turkish borderline post for half an hour because it turned out I had done some traffic violations. I was fined €85.

I had to pay, otherwise they wouldn't have let me go. All in all, keep in mind that Turkish cameras perfectly record Russian vehicle numbers.

The Greek border guard opened my passport, looked it through, found my visa, looked at me, put the stamp without asking any questions and wished me a safe journey. The customs officer, in his turn, didn't require any identification documents and just let me pass! The Greeks are pleasant people to deal with: all the procedures took me no more than 10 minutes.

The payment points on the expressway are the same as the ones in Russia. You can use a transponder or pay by cash.

There were about five cars at the Ipsala checkpoint, but a stuck column of trucks stretched for 12 km. Twelve!!! And they didn't move at all. Drivers even had put folding tables and chairs between their trucks right on the roadway and decided to have lunch.

Then, it took me only three hours to reach Thessaloniki. This highway is also gorgeous, with minimal traffic, but you have to pay for it. I drove 5 or 6 payment points and noticed that for a motorbike the fare is very cheap: from €0.6 to €1.2 at each post.

At the petrol station I filled a full tank for €50. Gasoline in Greece costs €2 per litre while in Turkey I was paying just €1.5.

That's quite expensive!

Thessaloniki is an ancient port&industrial city on the coast of the Thracian Sea and it takes the second place in the top of the largest Greek cities. As far as it seemed to me, it was not very clean, there was plenty of ugly graffiti. In the evening hundreds of street cafes are fully filled. The Greeks enjoy eating and talking. And the food here is very tasty and rather cheap. However, the price depends on the place, where you have dinner, of course :)

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The more we travel, the smaller our planet becomes.

To meet a friend, the other traveller, in Africa, America or Europe has become almost an ordinary thing for me.

It's like… I went out to buy a loaf of bread and… Surprise! – I recognised a familiar face.

— Hi, my friend! How did you turn out to be here?

— Oh, nothing special. I'm going from Africa to Europe and then to Asia. And where are you going?

— And I'm travelling in reverse order. Well, I'm not going to Africa right now though. First, Turkey, Greece, the Balkans... not so far this time.

Oleg Kharitonov and I were talking at the outdoor cafe in the Greek city Thessaloniki until 2 a.m. And still there wasn't enough time to discuss and recall everything.

Finally, he had snatched his SMART from African “captivity”, which had been remaining there since the COVID-19 lockdown the year before last. Oleg is full of energy and crazy ideas, as always. But he will tell you about his plans by himself in the near future. If he wants so :)

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Albania

I didn't need to get off the motorbike, as I passed my passport and vehicle registration certificate to the Albanian border guard right through the window.

I can say that the border between Greece and Albania is rather deserted. There was only one car and a local guy on a moped without a helmet. Each of them spent no more than 2-3 minutes while crossing the border.

But my documents made the man at the window confused. He began to call somewhere, and then even went to the next building. Five minutes later he returned, asked me to leave my motorcycle aside and follow him. We went into a small room, where an officer was sitting at the table, holding my passport in his hands, and a woman in uniform was sitting next to him on the sofa.

The chief began to ask me small-talk questions, and the woman translated them from Albanian into English.

— What is your purpose for going to Albania?

— What is your route?

— Where will you live?

— Do you have any friends in Albania?

And so on...

After each of my answers, the officer carefully looked at me, at the passport, then to the side, at the ceiling and made a pause that might last for a minute. After a ten-minute interview he told me to go to the motorbike and be near it. Five minutes later the first border guard came up to me, gave me the documents and allowed me to continue my way with his gesture.

I wonder how I could interest the Albanian border guards? The latest time I had such an interrogation procedure was three years ago when I was entering the territory of the Ukraine from Slovakia. But that case seemed clear to me.

Well, okay, I have already got used to it :)

Let's see what kind of country this one is: Albania as Terra Incognita, at least, for me.

Albania never ceases to impress positively!

Its nature is awesome. The major part of this small country are mountains, very beautiful mountains! They are definitely not worse than in Greece, Croatia or Italy. There are also many roads of various quality — from brilliant motorways running along the coast to rocky serpentines, looping along peaks and heights. In addition, a tourist can see the clean sea with beautiful beaches and resort towns, which have everything for a luxury holiday, including modern hotels and restaurants.

Prices. I think this is the cheapest (in a good sense of this word) European country. Well, where else could you have a proper lunch for just €5 or have a cup of cappuccino with a delicious croissant for €1.5 in a stylish cafe? Or, for example, buy a kilogram of fresh tangerines, just plucked from a branch of the tree for 40 cents? And so on and so forth.
People.In villages and small towns, people are very simple and easy-going. They and we look alike, but their language is absolutely not like any other European one. Neither the Albanians speak English well, however, this factor does not prevent me from communicating on any topic and understanding the natives right.
Albania can't be described as a rich country, but particularly in the capital there are a lot of expensive cars — Mercedes of S-class, Landwagens, Porsches, Audis… just like in Moscow. Today I met a couple of brutal guys with gold chains as thick as a finger around their necks. Greetings from the Russia of the late 90-s ;)
Tirana, the capital of Albania, is quite a modern city with skyscrapers (in process of construction), five-star hotels, restaurants and boutiques. There are bike paths in the city centre and quite a lot of people move around by two-wheeled vehicles.

Another unique feature of Albania a huge number of concrete defensive structures of various size, which you can find everywhere along the roads, at the entrances to settlements and in other most unexpected places.

These are my first superficial impressions of Albania during the first three days of my journey in this country.

View of the town Pogradec and the Orchid Lake, captured from the top of the mountain.

The narrow streets of old town Berat, the town of thousands windows.

The mannequins in national costumes at the storefront.

Mountain roads are very picturesque.

My journey is going on!

Apparently, when God created Albania, he was in a good temper. What's more, he was, probably, satisfied with the result. The Albanians and foreign tourists, I suppose, did as well.

There are two ways that lead to the Teti National Park,which is located in the north-west of the country.

One of them is a great road, covered with perfect asphalt and demonstrating you crazy views of the canyon and huge gray rocks, somewhat reminded me of the Dolomites. There is a riot of bright autumn colors of trees and fallen leaves on the roadsides, hundreds of exciting sharp turns and a pass more than 1600 m high.

The second way is an old dirt road, which is more than 50 km long and cut through the slopes of the mountains, representing an endless rocky serpentine. Huge boulders, a mound of small stones, steep ascents and descents, deep puddles and small rivers, flowing from the peaks of the mountains right across the road, would definitely create a spirit of adventure for those who lack survival instinct and adrenaline in their lives.

Motivated by pure curiosity, I decided to experience both routes.

It gets dark very fast in the mountains, so I went down when it was night already.

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Montenegro

In my personal rating of the most faceless capitals that I have visited, Podgorica, the most important city of Montenegro, confidently took the first place today and shifted the capital of Norway, Oslo, to the second one.

A morning 7-kilometer walk around the city unexpectedly made an impression, mixed with some surprise.

I haven't seen for long such a big number of architecturally poor houses and buildings assembled in one place. It was like returning to the Podolsk of 25 year-ago-period. Or Mytishchi. :)

I would have shoo… well, fired the chief architect of the city and sent the new one together with the mayor to Sobyanin (a mayor of Moscow) for an internship. That's a joke, of course :)

A typical appartment building.

These look like kinda monsters, not multistorey houses.

Podgorica is truly a small city, at the scales of Russia, it does not even correspond to the regional center. But this is no wonder, since in the whole Montenegro there are half as many inhabitants as in Voronezh, for example.

The Millennium Bridge in Podgorica is one of a few modern landmarks worth paying attention to.

Preparation for the performance in the main square of the city.

In Montenegro, both Cyrillic and Latin systems of letter are officially used. The language and writings are rather clear without translation.

But come on, the most interesting attractions in Montenegro are certainly not in the capital, but outside of it, where I'm going to right now.

In my opinion, a tourist can't help falling in love with Montenegro at first sight!

I have heard a lot of enthusiastic reviews about this small Balkan country, but for some reason I didn't have a chance to visit it personally. In recent years Montenegro has been inferior to Georgia only in terms of attractiveness among tourists from Russia. Low prices; the opportunity to buy real estate inexpensively and relatively easy and then get a residence permit; a wonderful climate, a warm clean sea, good ecological situation and safety – all the aforementioned points really exist and attract not only beach lovers, but also people with more serious intentions.

Well, I'm interested neither in real estate, nor in beach holiday, so after a ride along the gorgeous coast, golden sandy beaches, rocky shores and fabulous islands, I went to the mountains.

My friends advised me to visit the Durmitor National Park, located in the north of Montenegro. And they even provided a well-detailed route 220 km long. Half of the way passes along narrow asphalt paths, where a motorcycle and a car can hardly part, and the second one is a true off-road path: rocky serpentines, forest paths and trails. It appeared to be an unbelievably beautiful route along the ridges and slopes of mountains, passes and coniferous forests, in which there are huge 400-year-old pine trees, along striking canyons, turquoise lakes and deciduous forests blazing with bright colors. What a diverse and breathtaking nature it is!

Doesn't it look like Italy?

...or some kind of norwegian fjord? Take a look at a little boat at the dock. Actually, this one is a giant 7-deck cruise ship!

I am heading to the mountains and these roads are wonderfully cut through the rocks.

There is a dense forest right ahead.

Narrow paths, riot of colours and some fantastic views around.

There has just been a dense forest and now a desert-like area, out of sudden!

I follow not the road but the barely spotted trace.

The canyon lake.

Today's route should rightfully enter the top ten best routes in the world (which I have travelled myself, of course).

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Serbia and my attempt to get into Kosovo.

The checkpoint officer on the border between Serbia and Kosovo looked through my passport several times, lingering his eyes over the numerous visas.

"You can't go to Kosovo. You should get a visa", finally he said.

"Isn't a Schengen visa suitable?"

"No, a visa for Kosovo is required".

"But I would only be here for a couple of days, I'll spend the night in Pristina and turn back. I have a hotel reservation", I handed him an iPhone with a screenshot of the hotel reservation page.

"No, you cannot", he was relentless.

"Well, screw it. Moreover, my friends from Montenegro said, there is nothing interesting in Kosovo", I reassured myself, turned 180° around the checkpoint with the Kosovo flag above and drove up to the window of the next room with the Serbian one.

The border guard smiled, took my passport and vehicle registration certificate, entered the data into the computer and, without putting any stamp, gave it back to me.

"Welcome to Serbia!"

Five hours later I was having a cup of coffee in Belgrade.

During the next four days, I got out of the capital only once by motorbike, riding to the city of Novi Sad, notable for its architecture, temples and fortress on the high bank of the Danube. Well, today I drove a beautiful road along the Danube from the town of Golubac to Doni Milanovac, the northern part of the border between Serbia and Romania.

There are enough castles in Serbia as well, but I feel fed up with them already! ;)

This musical instrument has one stick and one string. I wonder what the elderly man is singing about.

The rest of the time I spent meeting my friends who came from Russia, Armenia, Belarus and local motorcyclists, who turned out to be so hospitable that lunch at a local non-tourist authentic restaurant with chic cuisine and a huge number of different homemade alcoholic beverages gradually became late dinner. And the Serbs are good at delicious food and drink! In this way, we have a lot in common with them (even the national flags look similar).

There are a huge number of street cafes in large cities and small towns in Serbia. Sometimes the whole streets are cluttered with tables. It seems that the Serbs are constantly drinking coffee (but it's hard to find some good tea).

This one made me smile, because in Russian "hotel" is written like "отель"; and here we see a signboard "хотел", which means "he wanted".

I have never given so many hugs and kisses to men in my whole life as I have this day! :) If you have a meal with Serbian guys, it will be a hard challenge for your liver and body in general! We raised a toast for everything: for Russia, for Serbia, for friendship, for peace, for women, for children, for motorbikes and…maybe there were some others, but I don't remember anymore.

Who I ran upon in Belgrade! Do you recognize her?

Kate was riding and finally rode on her Henry to Belgrade! The conversations dragged on till midnight, because we had so many events that happened since our last meeting to discuss. I'd like to thank our new friends Anna and Dima for a wonderful dinner.

To sum up, in Belgrade my journey from Moscow through 8 countries, almost 10 thousand km long, came to an end. I'm leaving my motorbike here to go back and then continue the trip to Serbia and Europe.

P.S. Well, I keep optimistic. Anyway, we'll wait and see :)