With hitchhiking being a fairly new resource to me in the world of travel, I have quickly become very knowledgable in what to do and how to do it despite my intimidation for so long at the beginning of this Balkan journey. Albanians are some of the kindest most hospitable and friendly people I have met in the Balkans. I’ve gotten pretty lucky and fortunate to meet some incredible people either on the road, in hostels, or in towns and cities. For the most part, hitchhiking in Albania I felt should work… almost.. always? I’ve had worse luck in Greece and better hitchhiking in Bosnia. But Albania, was okay. As for heading down the coast, this was kind of a mistake.
I say mistake because for someone who is really active on Hitchwiki, a hitchhiking website that gives detailed info on where and how to hitchhiking in many places, I would have avoided any issues had I read into the website. With 110% confidence, I headed down the beautiful coastline riddled with rocky mountainous coastline and crystal clear water beaches. I’ve had a a number of short rides, but this gave me so many opportunities to stop in so many gorgeous places including a lone fortress on the sea and beautiful coastal villages. This journey really showed me how beautiful this country really is and made me realize, this is Europe’s true hidden gem.
Despite all of the beauty, at a certain point, the traffic flow died down to almost nothing leaving me to walk a total of 10 to 12 KM’s up and down a mountain. Seriously, the traffic literally died out. Maybe it’s me, but how does anyone not want to drive down this beautiful route. Fortunately the views were incredible on foot with views of Corfu island in the distance, the first time I laid my eyes on my dream country. A country I would eventually spend 2 months in. Unfortunately, despite my temporary inner happiness, the sun was beginning to set, and I still had about 20+ KMs left to go….Shit….
I honestly thought I was going to make it to my hostel in Sarande in the middle of the night on foot with nothing to eat. The only thing I had was the power of my laptop and to just keep walking straight until Sarande. Thankfully, I did get lucky. A couple picked me up right at the edge of the sunset and brought me the rest of the way. Oddly, they were traveling the entire south of the country overnight. After declining beer offers, the next step was finding my hostel in the dark.
Despite the trouble I experienced, I remember one hell of an amazing experience, seeing some of Albania’s hidden treasures and meeting friendly locals. For those who decide to hitch Vlore to Sarande, save yourself the trouble and hitch the inner highway. On another note, if you want adventure, do what I did. If I could do it again, I would stay in some of those towns and camp at the fortress with a great morning view of the sea. 😀
Wishing I had a tent to camp out on history on the sea. (Porto Palermo)
