Driving Mr. Dave

For those of you who read the blog on a regular basis, you will notice right away that this is not a "Dave" posting - I am not nearly so eloquent.  We just returned from a vacation through southern Albania.  We first went to Gjirokaster, then Saranda and Himara.  Dave will post later with pictures and descriptions of the towns.  I am writing to describe the nerve wracking experience of driving in Albania.

The first leg of the journey to Gjirokaster was uneventful - we went on some very small roads, through the mountains and back down, but all in all, it way okay.  In typical Albanian fashion, we traveled about 140 miles in 6-7 hours.  The roads are so small, and in some cases not paved, so unlike most Albanian drivers, I do not drive very fast 

Traveling the beach roads coming back north was quite a different story.  Dave took lots of pictures and will post some, I'm sure.  We almost hit a big, blue truck, sort of like a dump truck, on one mountain road.  We were creeping along at about 10 mph, about to round a curve on a road that simply did not have room for two cars to pass.  In a split second, I heard a short horn blast and slammed on brakes, just in time to avoid a head-on collision with the big, blue truck.  It had beeped its horn to let oncoming drivers know that it was coming around the bend.  After we both stopped and I started breathing again, the next problem became what to do - I managed to back up enough and hug the cliff on our right side, giving the truck just enough space to get by.  We had several encounters like this, and I finally learned at some point to roll down the window and pull the rearview mirror in, so that it would not hit the oncoming cars.  In one of the very small towns, I did manage to graze a pedestrian with the passenger-side rearview mirror, but he was still standing as we drove on.  People standing in the streets don't feel the need to move out of the way, even when the road is not large enough for two cars to go through.  They just stand and stare at you.

We also encountered what we have come to describe as the typical Albanian driver.  It is not sufficient to just watch what is ahead of you, because the folks coming up from behind are always in a hurry to get somewhere.  Albanian drivers will pass you on a single lane road, on a hill, around a curve, with a cliff on one side and nothing but air on the other - even all of the above at the same time.  I have finally learned that I feel much safer with no one behind me, so I often pull to the side, if possible, to let people go around.  Then, at least I only have to watch in front.

In addition to the cars, both in front and behind, Albania presents many other challenges to driving.  We encountered donkey carts, horse carts, cows (which do not like to move no matter what), herds of sheep and goats (which are much more cooperative than the cows).  We also saw many scenes which are just hard to imagine including cows eating from a garbage dump, cows sleeping in a partially constructed building (these partial constructions are a whole other story - maybe Dave will do a post about it), goats being herded through partially constructed buildings, and what may be the oddest of all, a rooster chasing a cat.

We made it home, although my nerves were a little shot by the time we arrived.  Dave said a few times that he wished he had a tape recorder to document some of the things I was saying to the drivers.  For the sake of my child, I am quite glad that he didn't.  Yesterday was Saturday and I never left the house or even got out of my pajamas all day.  I think we have both decided, at least as long as I am the family driver, that flying somewhere and staying for awhile would be much more relaxing.

Dave will post pictures in the coming week  - despite the roads and drivers, the scenery was beautiful.   

On the family front, Taylor is still in Mississippi visiting her Dad and lots of other folks.  She returns later this month.  I have never been apart from her for this long before, and I really miss her.  The house is very quiet without her around.

That's all for now - some of you who are reading, post a comment now and then to let us hear from you.

Cindy