babakotoeu:
Albania is still a great country for 4x4 driving. The first trip we undertook, was the road from Plav in Montenegro to Shkodra in Albania. This is a picture of the very small border post near Plav [Gusinje / Montenegro]
babakotoeu:
As soon as you leave Montenegro, the road in Albania detoriates to a rocky unpaved path, often very narrow [Vermosh / Albania]
babakotoeu:
The road from Vermosh to Shkodra in Albania is still not driven a lot by foreigners, because many maps still mention that the border crossing near Vermosh is open. But it is, making it a great route to drive [Vermosh / Albania]
babakotoeu:
But be quick, because the Albania government is investing a load in roads in the country. MAny roads are upgraded nowadays [Vermosh - Shkodra road / Albania]
babakotoeu:
This road can probably also be done with a high clearance 2-wheel drive car, but its better to bring a jeep [Vermosh - Shkodra road / Albania]
babakotoeu:
The road between Vermosh and Shkodra is around a 100 km long, and approximately 35 kilometres of it is rough road [Vermosh - Shkodra road / Albania]
babakotoeu:
Spectacular views on an almost deserted road [Vermosh - Shkodra road / Albania]
babakotoeu:
Unpaved hairpin roads [Vermosh - Shkodra road / Albania]
babakotoeu:
Our Toyota BJ45 is a great car to travel these kinds of roads [Vermosh - Shkodra road / Albania]
babakotoeu:
On the road [Vermosh - Shkodra road / Albania]
babakotoeu:
Albania is a very beautiful country and will definately become one of the more popular tourist destinations for the more adventurous traveller in the next decade [Road from Vermosh to Skhodra / Albania]
babakotoeu:
But the more adeventurous off roads will slowly disappear in Albania. The government is also already working on the Vermosh-Shkodra road [Road from Vermosh to Skhodra / Albania]
babakotoeu:
And this is the result. A nice piece of engineering, making the road in a few years also possible for normal cars and camper vans. It will boost the region [Road from Vermosh to Skhodra / Albania]
babakotoeu:
Another nice destination in northern Albania is the small village of Theth. Once also only accessible by dirt road, most of the stretch is nowadays plastered [Road from Koplik to Theth / Albania]
babakotoeu:
And the work is still going on. Of the total 50 kilometres, only the last 15 kilometres aren't plastered yet. But as you see, they are working on it [Road from Koplik to Theth / Albania]
babakotoeu:
As soon as you cross the pass between Bogë en Theth, the road is rough road again. But also here they did already some work. From this year on, the road is also possible to drive with a normal 2-wheel drive car [Road from Koplik to Theth / Albania]
babakotoeu:
It was surprising for us to see that the road is plastered in the same width as the dirt road was, making it still very difficult to pass each other when two bigger vehicles approach each other [Road from Koplik to Theth / Albania]
babakotoeu:
The village of Theth has plenty of accommodation opportunities, like hostels and camp sites. Most of them off full-board facilities. And that is good, because the village has no shops or restaurants [Theth / Albania]
babakotoeu:
Newly wed couple making wedding photographs at the waterfall near Theth [Theth / Albania]
babakotoeu:
A spray for the best result [Theth / Albania]
babakotoeu:
Theth is especially famous for the nice landscape and good hiking opportunities [Theth / Albania]
babakotoeu:
Ivonne's hiking shoes entered their last phase [Theth / Albania]
babakotoeu:
Old truck on the way with supplies to remote villages [Theth / Albania]
babakotoeu:
We decided to take the longer and more heavy road back to Shkodra. This road goes via the villages of Nicaj-Shalë, Ndrejaj, Kir and Prekal. This is a 4x4 road only [Nderlysaj / Albania]
babakotoeu:
Lets hope we do not get oncoming traffic, at least not at this part of the road [Nicaj-Shalë / Albania]
babakotoeu:
For non-Albanian people the road through Nicaj-Shalë is definately a 4x4 road only, but not for Albanian minibus drivers; they manage to do the route with a 2-wheel drive Mercedes Minibus [Theth / Albania]
babakotoeu:
The alternative route from Theth to Shkodra (via Nicaj-Shalë) is a good alternative for off-road driver now the most direct road (through Bogë) is being upgraded to a asphalted road [Nicaj-Shalë / Albania]
babakotoeu:
Great landscapes on the way [Nicaj-Shalë / Albania]
babakotoeu:
After you cross the Luni-i-Shales River at Uraere, the road goes steeply up to Lotaj [Lotaj / Albania]
babakotoeu:
This part of Albania is really remote. The area is dotted with very small settlement where people stil live simple life [Lotaj / Albania]
