Vans and other Tirana, Albania Transportation Tips

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: My coming to Albania departed from Ohrid one morning at dawn when i picked up a cap in Ohrid bus station and left the city heading to south following the lake side coast ... I paid the 10 eur Albanian Visa... i took a albanian taxi just in the border that wanted to charge me 10 euros per that ride ( to Pogradec where it is the closer bus station)
Just before getting in the city i saw a huge sewage pot hole just in the middle of the road... suddenly a heavy hammer noise comes from the front right side of the car ... the tyre and the rim were brokendown... and we couldnt go on... 5 minutes later i was in the middle of nowhere waitng for i didnt know, the taxi driver couldnt fixed it up ... jsut then a large van came along by the street and stopped ... the driver asked to the taxi driver about me (i guessed) i understood Tirana ..so that was nice ... i hopped in the van ..then the taxi driver asked me for the money ... i gave him 5 euros (half price).. it was 5 km from the border to the city ..the man was shouting and claiming for 10 but i tried to get hi through that 10 was for the full ride to the city and bus station ..not half way.. so i paid 10 euros more to the van driver and we got out to Tirana

Leave a Comment

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: I understood quite quickly why the best mode of transportation are vans.. the local roads are quite steep and bending .. there are a lot of mountains that the van has to afford to get tirana from the lake region. it takes around 5 hours stopping in Elbasan city to have a lunch as we did... i knew local people that made the same route and they are really kind interested by me and they talked about their problems about Italia where there are a lot of relatives and where they wish to go some day...
the landscapes were amazing sometimes bleak, sometimes lush in vegetation and water
huge and steep mountain passes with 180ŗ bending roads head to Tirana.. i specially remember the most impressive just getting out from Elbasan, i was attonished with the view and the impressing fear that anybody could suffer running by albania mountain roads lol ...

finally i took Tirana ... the van stopped in the university area closer to the hostel fortunatelly...
other thing to do was try to get the hostel because it was difficult on a street where the traffic jams, dust and crowds made it harder

Leave a Comment

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: The dusty bus station is placed in the north area of Tirana.. actually i couldnt consider it like a formal station ... no-way. The tickets machine doesnt exist and at first sight you arnt ready to look for your ticket .. i was figuring out where i had to take my ticket. I must say that i was there the day before i left... because i was imaging how hard it could be
Actually i took a street going up to the right from the main square where it ends and once there i go up again till the "main bus station" jjaj... well this was like a scrapyard side by side of the train tracks where leave the different buses.. i asked to the driver in italian.. dont waste your time with english, and i could know that this was the point to Shkodra ... Amazing !! jajjaa
On this pic you watch the first meters leaving Tirana just in the corner with the bus and train station

Leave a Comment