Albania
Shkoder, Albania - Puke - Lake Ohrid, Macedonia. 200miles / 320 km. One of the first things we saw when entering Albania, riding through the outskirts of Shkodër, Albania’s fourth-largest town, was a lone goat crossing the road at a zebra crossing. No herder to steer it. A little later, a dog, at a different crossing. No owner to lead it. And then, incredulously, a gaggle of geese doing the same at another crossing. No farmer to chaperone them. Make of that what you will, but I’m still bewildered. On the subject of dogs, in both Bosnia and Montenegro before this, and now Albania, there are wild or ownerless dogs everywhere. A host in Bosnia referred to one as a “community dog” as it came and went with free passage. Clearly, it was healthy. There are dogs in the road, dogs that chase, dogs at the bakery, restaurants and campsites, all seemingly well mannered. You can hear dogs barking and howling at night, and they particularly enjoy the Muslim call to prayer, joining in whenever they c...
