hknsky,
don't let yourself be put off - Albania is not as bad as most people from central Europe say
A few weeks ago I returned from Turkey via northern Greece (Ioannina near Igoumenitsa) and along the same coastal road you're planning to take through Albania. Let's put it this way: Traffic wasn't worse than in Turkey, so it will be a good prep for the kind of road rules to expect further east ;o)
Not so nice is that in the northern stretch between Skoder and roughly Durres there are several construction sites with heavy traffic jams. But travelling by bike gives you lots of possibilities to overtake. Further south traffic gets less, landscape becomes more scenic. Here the only rutty parts are to be expected in the town centres.
So, no need to get nervous, but do expect the unexpected....
As posted before, the coastal road from Vlore to Sarande is very beautiful, but the main road going south from Vlore is also quite scenic.
Albania is changing fast. Many pistes from a few years ago are tarmac roads today. And the major roads like the route north-to-south is also being revised, at least up to Durres and Vlore. But in the back-country the roads are often still beautiful tracks and pistes for enduro riders
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Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)
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