Lushnje to Ballsh

We were able to make good speed along the plain in the morning to the town of Fier despite the road bing under construction. More realistically it was in a state of utter destruction. At this point we headed away from the costal plain and into the hills towards Greece. The countryside was an industrial ruin. This is the area where Albania extracts its poor quality crude oil and ancient oil deriks pumped languidly beside the road. The streams and small lakes were all obviously contaminated and a sulphurous smell wafted on the breeze. We've passed by an inordinate number of wedding parties in Albania and today bing Sunday it reached fever pitch. Every self respecting roadside restaurant was hosting a brash and garish nuptial feast and wedding convoys added to the already congested roads. An Albanian wedding cavalcade consists of numberous cars all bedecked in white ribbons, bows and hearts, the gaudier the better. The front car inevitably has a chap hanging out the window filming the procession with an enormous video camera. We waved heartily, wanting a feature in the edited wedding highlights video. After much fraught searching and a heavy session of haggling we finally secured a hotel room. The staff, an ex policeman and his wife were as friendly and welcoming as it's possible to be. An enjoyable evening for us all was spendt miming and drawing the various details of our lives and countries for each other. Albanian non verbal communication is so incredibly different from our own and this caused much hillarity and confusion. In the morning when we left our host insisted Luke join him in a shot of noxious home brew to help him on his way before giving him a bottle of the stuff as a parting gift.
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Total Distance Cycled : 4221km
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Daily Distance Cycled : 61km
Ascent : 295m
Time Cycling : 4h 07
Journey Time : 6h
Average Speed : 15 km/h
Hotel : N 40°35'58.8" E 19°44'09.4"
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