Day 149 – EU – Albania [Golem to Lushjne]

20/07/20

40km

  From Golem (Albania) to Lushnje (Albania)

Europe

Running South and away from the capital city, getting to see more of the rural and beautiful countryside of Albania

A great day of running. If anyone reading this blog ever intends to travel to Albania, I would recommend avoiding the vicinity of the capital city (I am yet to see Tirana itself though). As I ran further South, away from Tirana County into Fier County, I saw once again the beautiful countryside I had seen in my first few days in the country.

The road I ran on today is a minor road parallel to the main highway that cuts the country from North to South. The minor road itself has got near to no traffic at all – and the “highway” is not very highly frequented either. I guess with the road South to Greece being cut at the moment, there is nowhere to go South from Tirana at the moment.

I passed by some pretty villages, Kavaje and Gose along the way. Again, following the disappointment of last Saturday, it was a relief to see these very well maintained villages, people sitting outdoors having coffee and socialising. The places I passed seemed definitely more wealthy than the North of Tirana. A different economy too, apparently a lot of business derived from the many olive trees of the region.

I rest this afternoon in the city of Lushnje, a sizable town with a beautiful town centre, large public gardens, a memorial park, lots of statues and art display – and buzzing with activity in general.

I am looking forward to the week ahead: another two days of running on the plains of Albania before I reach the coast and the mountains – and reaching the Greek border by Saturday.

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: