home Migration On the Albanian train from Durres to Elbasan. Albania

On the Albanian train from Durres to Elbasan. Albania

Berat is beautiful old City in Albania. Nice houses, a fortress on the mountain, good hotels and restaurants.

Because of large quantity traditional Balkan houses of the 18th-19th century, each of which has many windows, Berat is also called city of a thousand windows.

Information and interesting facts

Berat in Albanian Berati, in English Berat. The name comes from "Beligrad" - this was the name of Berat in the 9th century.

Bertha has 210 historical monuments from the 15th to 19th centuries and 7 arched bridges from the 18th century. In general, a settlement on the territory of modern Berat has existed since the 4th century BC. It has a rich history, described in detail on Wikipedia. In short, Berat changed several names and belonged to the Macedonians, Romans, Byzantium, Bulgarians, Ottomans and Albanians.

Berat has been a museum city since 1961. Entered the list world heritage UNESCO in 2008.

Population - 60 thousand people. This is not felt at all because most live outside the old city.

Attractions in Berat

What to see in Berat?

The old city of Berat consists of 3 districts:

Kalaja (hill fortress),
Mangalem (at the foot of the hill with the fortress),
Gorica (on the left bank of the Osumi River).

When we went to the fortress in Berat, to be honest, we expected to see just fortress walls, a castle and some space inside. It turned out that there was a whole settlement there, in which people still live :) This place was built back in the 13th century. Convenient location for defense: a hill overlooking the entire surrounding area.

There is a narrow, broken road leading here, making it difficult to pass. It's better to arrive early or later.

We enter Old city, which was inside the citadel.

From the walls you can see the mountains and part of the new city.

This is inside the fortress walls. Some houses are inhabited by people, others are hotels and souvenir shops.

Ancient buildings also remain, including a cistern for collecting water. We saw similar tanks in Turkey in Istanbul and on.

At the farthest end of the fortress from the gate there is an observation deck with a view of the entire lower city. This is the Goritsa district on the opposite bank of the river.

And this new town, the pedestrian Boulevard of the Republic (Bulevardi Republika) and the Orthodox Cathedral of St. Demetrius (Katedralia Orthodokse Shen Dhmitri).

This cathedral is close up.

As usual in Albania, there is a mosque next to it.

Mangalem district from above, below and from the other bank.

Near it there is also the Church of St. Michael in the Rock (Shën Mëhilli).

Pedestrianized street.

Goritsa district from the other side.

Berat on the map of Albania

The city of Berat is located in the southern half of Albania, in the valley of the Osumi River at the foot of the Tomori mountain range. The region and district are also called Berat.

On the map I marked all the attractions, restaurants and other interesting and useful places in Berat.

Renting a property in Berat

There are hotels in the fortress, but it is far from restaurants and you cannot enter by car, so we would recommend exploring it separately and spending the night below. In Berat, many hotels and inns are located in traditional old Albanian houses (18-19 centuries).

In the city, on the streets away from the central Rruga Antipatrea, there are problems with parking, and it is difficult to drive through the narrow streets, so either book a hotel with parking, or be prepared to leave the car on and around the central road.

Also pay attention to the reviews - some hotels require you to climb steep stairs. For some this is ok, but for others with large luggage, a stroller or sore legs it will be difficult.

We ourselves did not spend the night in Berat, but according to reviews from tourists, many praise the Guesthouse Arben Elezi hotel in the Mangalem area, as well as the Boutique Hotel Muzaka 4* and the Maya Hostel Berat and Berat Backpackers Hostel in the Gorica area.

Albanians also rent out many rooms and apartments in Berat through Airbnb, and it’s even popular to include breakfast here, which is usually not typical for Airbnb :)

If you haven't signed up for Airbnb yet:

How to get to Berat

The most comfortable and fastest transport to Berat is by car (your own or a rented car or private transfer). It is cheaper and slower to get to Berat by bus.

Distances:

Berat - Tirana: 97-125 km (depending on which route you take: through Durres further, but the road is better and there are more highways).
Berat - Saranda: 170-210 km (depending on the road).
Berat - Vlora: 84 km.

Nearest airports

Rent a Car

Driving your own car will be more convenient than a bus, and cheaper than an individual transfer. In addition, you can stop along the way and visit various attractions in Albania around Berat: , .

We usually compare prices and conditions on aggregator sites that collect offers from different rentals, and choose the most profitable option:

Buses to Berat from Tirana, Saranda, Ksamil, Vlora

Private transfer

If you don’t want to ride buses in the heat, you can order a transfer from Tirana directly to your hotel in Berat. It will cost more, but the comfort is incomparable, and on Albanian roads it will be faster by car than by bus.

The driver will meet you at the airport with a sign at any time and will take you exactly to the address: there will be no need to wait for public transport or communicate in an unfamiliar language with a local taxi driver. The price is final, no need to haggle with anyone, no hidden fees for the night rate, traffic jams or luggage. Upon request, the car will have a child car seat of the required size. There are also luxury cars and minibuses for large groups.

From 725 euros for 5 days (travel, hotel, meals, tickets to museums, guide services)

Where to eat: restaurants in Berat

According to tourists, good restaurants in Berat: WilDor, Antigoni and Homemade Food Lili. We had lunch at WilDor - everything was very tasty, delivered quickly + there was good Wi-Fi.

Our review of Berat

Berat is worth a visit, it has a cool old town inside the fortress, and the lower historical part is interesting. We liked it there, and besides, it is not like any other places we have been to, except in Albania.

Gjirokastra or Berat? These cities are different, each is good in its own way. We liked it better in Berat, because there is more of a historical part and you can see the old city both from below and from above from the fortress.

In winter, I was puzzled by the question of where to go on vacation in the summer. I wanted a sea of sun and warmth, to see the world, and I didn’t want to apply for Schengen or any other visa. After thought, search and discussion, Albania was chosen, in which V tourist season No visa required for Russians. One of the decisive ones was a conversation with my mother, who told me “no one I know has ever been to Albania, and I have not been there. You’ll go and tell us what it’s like there,” and also the fact that, according to reviews from other tourists, prices in Albania are very reasonable.

So, it’s decided, we’re going to Albania. The tickets have been purchased, the route, albeit with difficulty, has been drawn up. By the way, about the route. Since we were going to travel by public transport, we had to be guided by its schedule, and due to the lack of normal communication between more southern cities, I didn’t include them in our route, although I later regretted it: the beauty there, apparently, is unearthly, and somehow we would have gotten there. Our route: Tirana - Durres - Shkodra - Kruja - Vlora - Tirana.

Tirana

After a layover in Belgrade (we flew Air Serbia from Moscow, the layover was about 7 hours, so we had 3-4 hours to walk around this wonderful city) we arrived in Albania. At the airport they exchanged 10 € at the rate of 127 lek for 1 €, so that it was enough to get to the center, and a little more for the first time. The rate is acceptable, but, of course, in the capital itself it was much better. We spent some time finding out how often the bus runs and where its stop is, simultaneously fighting off the guy who was showing with gestures that he wanted to help us and exchange euros for leki at some unimaginable rate of his own. They didn’t think of taking photos of the schedule at that moment, which they really regretted on the way back, but more on that later. We only found out that the minibus runs between the airport and the center every hour, and from what time to what time is unknown. We waited, paid 250 lek per person (which, by the way, after I read about prices in Albania, seemed to me almost millions)) and drove to the center. There we were dropped off at a small square in the city center, from where we subsequently left.

I would like to note right away that on the way back, the bus drivers to the airport were partially informed about the schedule for their movement from this square to the airport: 16.10; 17.50; 20.25; 22.20; 23.20; 01.45. Thus, our fears that we would have to arrive at the airport around 6 pm for our flight departing at 4 am were not confirmed.

Upon arrival, since we were tired from the trip, we immediately went to look for the hotel we had booked on Booking.com. It was obvious that this was more likely someone's apartment than a hotel, and when we arrived at the indicated address, we could not find it. We had to call the owners, who immediately told us that they could not accept us for some unknown reasons and hung up after my reasonable question - what should we do now? Thus, I do not recommend the Tirana Rooms hotel. In the meantime, we checked into the neighboring All Stars Hotel, simultaneously calling the booking office, so that at least they wouldn’t charge us for the reservation, and at the very least, they would sort out the bad hotel and do something. The guys from the booking office turned out to be very kind and, as compensation, offered to reimburse the difference in cost between the hotels for sending a photo of the receipt. I didn’t ask about the 1000 rubles spent on telephone calls (stupidly, I didn’t set any special tariffs), although maybe it would have been worth it. But in the end, everything ended well and we, having settled down and taken a shower, went for a walk.

Albanians are a hospitable people, ready to help, but sometimes very cunning when they see simpletons. Therefore, until we got the hang of it, we encountered small but typical situations: either they would weigh all the fruits at the market together in one bag and sell them at the price of the most expensive, or they would sell a souvenir at an unrealistically inflated price (we bought a magnet for 300 lek, and then found out that in other places it would cost 1 €, that is, 130 lek), then they will take the money, but they won’t give us a ticket on the bus, so that we don’t know how much it actually costs (in the capital, public transport cost 40 lek, in others the cities we were in were 30 lek each, and between cities there is a different price). Otherwise, Albanians are very positive people. Most people don’t know English, but they seem to know Italian. But if you approach an Albanian on the street (who is in no hurry) and start asking something, he will start shouting to the whole street with the question - who knows English to help the guys?))

So, Tirana. I left the room in such heat without a second thought and without a bra in a thick linen sundress, and this fact allowed me to almost immediately understand that this is not the custom in Albania. We walked for a very long time and could not understand why someone just looked at me intently, and someone (but only women) began to laugh in my direction or say something in Albanian to me or my companion. After reflection and small experiments (at first we walked holding hands and thought that this might be the case, but when we stopped holding, the attention to my person did not stop) we came to the conclusion that in Albania, no matter how hot it is , to keep calm, it’s better to wear a bra, so I had to walk the rest of the trip :)

At the local fast food joint, their shawarma/doner/shawarma on a plate or any other dish has a choice of adding chicken, or beef, or sometimes lamb. The price sometimes changes depending on the meat chosen. So, for 400 lek, we ate a huge shawarma with beef for two, which they kindly cut in half for us. By my standards, it turned out like two full-fledged shawarmas. As for the fruit that we took home for the evening at the local small market: for 120 lek/kg we picked up peaches, nectarines and grapes. In August they have a lot of this stuff, and the prices are about the same everywhere.

While we were walking around Tirana, we did not have any specific goal. The city is quite interesting, but here it is better to look at photographs rather than talk about what it is like.

Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ

central square

Great Park of Tirana, which, by the way, is equipped with an excellent playground and bike paths.

All sorts of fun things

The fountain on Skanderby Square was perhaps the most impressive thing in Tirana) I have never seen such a mound filled with water anywhere else. Water flows from the cracks all over this mound, and at the foot there are dancing illuminated fountains that delight children and make them run and frolic, receiving, it seems, unearthly pleasure) but at the same time you need to visit it in the evening, since it does not work during daylight.

Durres

The next morning in Tirana we went to the bus station to get to Durres. In Tirana, the bus service is good and buses run until about 6 pm to many cities in Albania. There are several bus stations, divided in different directions; there is even a schedule at the entrance, but it is better to check on the spot (a little more about the bus service at the end of the story). When you arrive at the station, you can tell the Albanians crowding at the entrance(most often these are either controllers, or drivers, or simply traffic controllers, and sometimes taxi drivers), where you need to go, and they will immediately direct you to the right bus. So we got to Durres without any problems.

We had 5 days planned in Durres. And for us these were the least impressive days spent in Albania. I'll say right away We liked Durres only because it had delicious and inexpensive seafood , which are, in general, along the entire coast of Albania. We stayed at the Troy Apartments south of the port, we had the sea nearby, but it was disappointing: very muddy, with a lot of algae floating on the surface, with a very long and shallow entrance and with a sandy bottom (the last point made me happy, but not my companion, who cursed for a long time that this sand remains everywhere) and without showers at the exit. But we still lay on this beach for a day, having rented 2 sun loungers and an umbrella for 500 lek (which seems to be the standard price for the whole coast). And then we found a small wild pebble beach to the north of the port, with a fairly quick entrance, the sea in that place was not at all muddy, although sometimes there was seaweed, and the beach itself was not too clean. It took about an hour to get there, including the bus ride to the center, but we didn’t like any other beach, so we came to the center, walked there drinking beer, and slowly and leisurely came to swim. The location of the beach is marked on the map with a gray mark.

Throughout Albania we constantly (except, perhaps, the capital) encountered weddings. Their wedding dresses are not very different from ours, and tanned Albanians look pretty good in them))

A little more Durres

But most of all I remember in Durres how we found a seafood store where we could order them to be grilled or anything else, and for 1100 lek we ate 650 grams of magnificent king prawns)) it was divine!

Shkoder

Having looked at the website indicated at the end of the story that buses depart to Shkoder at 7.30, 8.15 and 9.45 in the morning, we decided to come to the Durres bus station at 8, but, as it turned out, Durres-Shkodër buses are available only at 6.15 and 13.15. We thought a little and decided not to wait for the weather by the sea, we took the first bus to Tirana and there, after a run to another bus station, we went on the first bus to Shkoder. It left Tirana at 10 am, and we drove to Shkodër for about 2 hours. We decided that this was due to the fact that we were traveling on a day off. Although their overall flow rate is, in principle, not that high. We landed at the foot of the mountain on which the Rozafa castle stands and checked into a hostel located there. There we rented two bicycles and rode along the left bank of Lake Skadar. The views, of course, are very attractive, although the beach where you can swim in this lake seems to be the only one and was already closer to the border with Montenegro. All in all, I highly recommend renting bicycles in Shkoder, and if they are not provided by the hotel where you are staying, then this can be done along the right bank of the lake very close to pedestrian bridge. Although the payment in that rental is only hourly, as far as I remember, something around 400 lek/hour, and in our hotel the cost was 4 euros for the whole day (although, of course, the quality of the bicycles was appropriate).

Rozafa Castle is open to the public until 8 pm, although it seems that the guys stand at the entrance and let people in even after 8. The ticket costs 200 lek, and there is more on the premises small museum for 300 lek, but we didn’t go there. We visited the castle at sunset, and the beauty was unreal))

I really enjoyed walking around the old town of Shkoder in the evening. Life in it is in full swing in the evenings, but only in it, a little further on on other streets everything is already quiet and calm, and even the cafes are not open. We found a restaurant with inexpensive seafood and had dinner there. A giant pizza with shrimp, for example, cost only 500 lek, I don’t remember about other dishes, but it was also not expensive and tasty.

Kruja

Very successfully, we left the coast for the city of Kruja exactly when we were pretty tired of seafood) Having found out what time the bus from Shkodër goes to Tirana past Fushe-Kruja (the city at the foot of the mountain on which Kruja is located) and, having found out that the bus station We don’t have to go to the station, or we can just wave at the bus at any convenient place and they’ll pick us up, choose a convenient time and go.

The controller, who is almost always present on Albanian buses, remembers well who is going where, so you can relax and take a nap on the way; he will come up in advance and tell you that your stop is coming soon. They dropped us off on the highway near Fouche Krui, and we had to walk a little to get to the stop towards Krui. In general, no problems arose, and in Kruje we immediately went towards our most the best hotel from the entire trip to Albania – Bar-Restaurant Merlika. This hotel is located right on the grounds of Skanderby Castle, and the view from the terrace is simply gorgeous. While we were waiting for check-in time, we were treated to coffee and fruit, and we enjoyed it all together, and didn’t even notice how time flew by. By the way, the food there is also very tasty. And the hospitable owner will always treat you to something. Plus, he’ll feed you a sumptuous breakfast and, if anything happens, tell you what you need.

So, after resting a little, we found out from the owner how to get to the road to the mountains and hit the road. The road took us about 2.5 hours (about 6 km), at the end there was a panoramic platform, a small prayer house and an excellent view. Another wedding was planned there, so the site was decorated with all sorts of flowers and other things. I even envied the bride and groom a little; getting married in such a place must be very magical)

Returning, we caught a glimpse of the sunset, had dinner at an inexpensive tavern next to the old market, tasted wine and, as it was written on the menu, Albanian dish, which we really liked and reminded us of something between meat soup and goulash. And in general, we really liked the local food, fried cheeses, fish soups, seafood dishes... everything was delicious and we never had any stomach problems.

The next day we visited the ethnographic museum and Skanderby Castle itself. Their prices are low (about 300 and 200 lek per person, respectively), and visiting them is quite interesting. The ethnographic museum also has video materials explaining how certain processes took place, for example, preparing olive oil, moonshine, making national hats from sheep’s wool, and so on.

Two days in this city are more than enough, but you should definitely visit it: as we were told local residents, the tourist Albania we now know began to develop around it)

Vlora (Albania) is the most detailed information about the city with photos. The main attractions of Vlore with descriptions, guides and maps.

City of Vlora (Albania)

Vlora is a coastal city in southern Albania. It is of particular importance for all Albanians, since it was here that their independence from the Ottoman Empire was declared. Vlore is also one of the main resorts in the country. The city is located in picturesque place Albanian Riviera on the border of the Ionian and Adriatic seas and is surrounded by beautiful beaches, ancient monasteries and historical monuments.

Geography and climate

Vlora is located in the southwestern part of the Albanian coast. The city is located in the southern part Adriatic Sea and in the northern part of the Ionian Sea. Distance from Tirana - 135 km. The climate is typical for Mediterranean Sea. Summers are very warm and dry, and winters are mild and wet.

Practical information

Population - 131 thousand people (the third largest city in Albania).
Area - 12 km².
Language - Albanian.
Currency - lek.
Time - UTC +2.
Albanian authorities allow visitors to the country without a visa during the tourist season. This is usually the period from April to October. The exact dates vary slightly each year. Visa-free regime permitted for tourist and private travel only. The maximum period of stay is 90 days.
Vlora is famous for its fresh seafood.

Story

The city was founded by the ancient Greeks in the 6th century BC. During the Roman Empire, Vlora was an important port. After its collapse, the city was part of Byzantium. A bishopric was founded here in the 5th century.

In 1477, Vlora was occupied by the Ottomans. At the end of the 17th century, the city was briefly captured by the Venetians. In 1912, Albanian independence was declared here. Vlora became the first capital of an independent Albanian state. During the First and Second World Wars it was occupied by Italy.

How to get there

The nearest airport is located in Tirana. From the capital of Albania you can get here by train and bus. Vlore also has regular bus services to Saranda.

Attractions

The Independence Monument is the central element of Vlorë's main square. It was installed in 1972 and is a prime example of socialist realism.

The Karaburun Peninsula is a picturesque natural attraction located at the point where the Adriatic Sea meets the Ionian Sea. Declared a national underwater park. The peninsula includes magnificent beaches and cozy bays, mysterious caves and crystal clear sea waters.

Muradi Mosque is an ancient Muslim religious building dating back to 1542. It is believed that the mosque was built on the orders of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Suleiman. The building was built from red and white stone by a famous Albanian architect of that time.

Zvernetsky Monastery is an old Byzantine monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Located 20 minutes drive from Vlore. The monastery was built in the 13th or 14th century.

Marmira

Marmira Church is a medieval church, probably built in the 13th century.

Ali Pasha Castle

Ali Pasha Castle dates from the first half of the 19th century. Originally (in the 15th century) a Venetian fortress was built here, but it was destroyed by the French in 1798.

Kanine Castle - medieval castle, which rises on the slope of Mount Susica, 6 km from Vlora. The fortress here was founded in the 3rd century BC. In the 6th century, the fortress was rebuilt by Justinian.

The dynamics of the Albanian railway industry can be described in one word: primitivization. This applies to the railway network, passenger and freight transportation, the state of track infrastructure, locomotive and carriage fleets. In particular, passenger traffic, reaching best years 4 million people per year, since the beginning of the century it has begun to decline steadily and rapidly, and now barely exceeds the figure of 300 thousand (Wikipedia). The cancellations and reductions of trains were accompanied by the physical degradation of the road network. So, at the end of 2013, the railway left even the capital of the country: on the Vora-Tirana section, the rails were dismantled, and the station was completely destroyed.

From the once developed network of railways, in fact, there are three sections left with passenger traffic: Durres-Vlora, Shkoder-Skozet and Rogozhino-Librazd. There are only two junction stations left: Shkozet and Rogozhino.

I deliberately left the Podgorica-Shkodra cross-border section on this diagram, in the vain hope of returning passenger traffic between Albania and Montenegro before the rails there were dismantled. In my estimation, such a train would be in incredible demand among tourists, since alternatives in the form of a reliable bus service no between countries.

It is unknown how long the railway will last, at least in its current state, so without waiting for its terrible end, I decided to devote the day of April 3 to this vanishing form of transport. There was nothing to choose from: even based in the main railway center of the country - Durres, you can create only one route for a day trip back and forth, namely Durres-Librazh. The schedule of all Albanian trains is placed on one A4 page:

So, in all of Albania there are 4 (four) pairs of trains left: two on the Durres-Elbasan route, and one each on Durres-Shkoder and Durres-Vlora. It is interesting that the turnover of these trains is arranged in such a way that they all “spend the night” at different terminal stations, as a result of which only one departs from Durres in the morning - to Librazh; they can return back on the same day. If this schedule applies to a developed railway. country, an attentive reader could assume that in addition to those mentioned, there is another VBS in Albania (Vlora-Librazd), and at the Elbasan station the uncoupling of excess cars is carried out. In reality, there is no exchange of carriages: passengers from Vlora simply jump onto the agreed train at the connecting station, and all the carriages that left Durres (and it doesn’t matter if they are empty) are brought to Librazhd.

The librazhd is so small that there is nothing to do in it even during the hour while the driver is having lunch. Therefore, it was decided not to travel the entire way, but only to Elbasan, using the three hours that the train turns around at the final station for a walk around the city (there will be a separate post). The only difficulty of this whole plan was getting up at 5 am, but we managed it, and half an hour before departure we arrived at the starting point - at the train station in Durres. The station building was designed with bustling life in mind, but today the form looks disproportionate to its content:

The only function of this two-story palace is to sell tickets. Tariffs in Albania are extremely low: a 100 km trip will cost you the price of a cappuccino - about $1. I paid only 230 lek for my round-trip ticket - the light bulb that burned out the day before was even more expensive :)

Having purchased tickets, we go out onto the platform. The station, although large, does not particularly stand out from the general background:

Note the covered viaduct on the left side of the frame - this is the transition to sea port, and in comparison with the neighboring entrance to the railway. station, it is much busier in the morning - the first ferry from Italy has just arrived. But let's return to our platform. Absolutely nothing has changed here in the year since I visited here for the first time:

Even in the list of destinations they didn’t cross out the currently irrelevant cities of Tirana and Pogradec :)
And our train is already standing on the first (or second?) track, hospitably opening half of each door (the second, as it turned out later, no longer opens everywhere). The Albanian train consists of two rather long two-section carriages,

slaves shunting Czech-made diesel locomotive:

The entire locomotive fleet of the country consists of exactly the same diesel locomotives, of which 61 were imported in the 70-80s. Probably half of them remain: about a dozen are employed on the lines, the rest are laid up rusting at the Xkozet and Fier stations.

As for the carriages, it is not so easy to determine their origin: I searched for a long time, but never found a single plate from the manufacturer. However, from the inscriptions on various auxiliary equipment, we can conclude that the carriages began their life in one of the German-speaking countries. In general, the car is quite comfortable, although a little broken down:

Unlike the armchairs, there was not a single living space left on the windows. All the glass is cracked, and the windows (where they exist) are fixed in the last position before breaking: closed, half-open or completely open:

This circumstance made the blogger’s task extremely difficult: driving near an open window meant freezing in 5 minutes (not the month of May), and in other places it was impossible to photograph through the window - either there were cracks or a layer of dust. In general, the situation with the glass turned out to be the same as a year ago at cable car- Albanians are not friends with transparent windows on transport.

Despite the fact that all the carriage rooms were marked 2nd class, we were not allowed into the VIP section of the first carriage - officials were traveling there: a conductor, a barmaid and a policeman with a friend. So mine evaporated last hope to pictures of views from the window. As it turned out later, you can’t take much pictures at the stops either: the train stopped for more than one minute only when the VIPs wanted to drink a cup of coffee at some station - although the driver didn’t join them, he waited patiently for ten minutes.

Here, in fact, is our driver before the start of his working day:

Everything is simple and familiar: I came to work on a bike, in ordinary civilian clothes. Soon a partner of the same kind arrived and the loading of bicycles began - it’s much easier to do this together:

Of the entire staff, only one person is wearing a railway uniform - the platform controller:

By the way, anyone interested in the question of where Kolomoisky disappeared to - well, here he is, hiding in an inconspicuous Albanian train. But let's continue about the controller. He does not check tickets, but only keeps order in the territory entrusted to him - for example, he drives old women away from the edge of the platform in front of an arriving train. As you can see even from the photo, in Durress he was a good-natured guy, but in Elbasan I came across a very strict guy - he immediately forbade me to take photographs and escorted me until the exit, so that God forbid I disobeyed :)

However, it's time to go. Elbasan is 76 kilometers away, which the train covers in exactly 3 hours. Considering the condition of the rails, this is a very good speed, and in some sections the train accelerated to 40 and even 50 km/h. The occupancy of the car never exceeded a third, and only about 10 people traveled from end to end. The main flow was traffic between neighboring stations, and near major cities Even computers were discovered that were completely faithful to the usual form of transport.

In half an hour the train quickly reached the Golem station, which is in the area of distant beaches. Remembering with what difficulty summer season Vacationers get there - either by changing buses, or by standing in traffic jams by car - I dare to assume that the train in this regard is in no way inferior to its competitors for passengers. What is stopping you from launching a commuter train with hourly service according to the summer schedule?

Moreover, it is more convenient and faster to get to all other cities along the route of our train this way. For example, there is no direct bus between Durres and Elbasan, and making a transfer in Tirana is difficult - the bus arrives at one place and departs from a completely different one. So for the preservation of the railway. transport we have arguments.

Let's move on. Everywhere there is a single track, and trains can pass each other only at stations. An hour after departure, at the Kawai station we note the first oncoming train - the Elbasan one. It is no different from ours:

The conductor and barmaid have a dust-free job: the first one only checks tickets (passengers themselves open the doors at stops), and the second one delivers drinks once during the entire journey. The policeman goes more often, but only because he is a more sociable person - passengers on the train do not row in public.

In contrast to Durres, the train stations of the other stations look unsightly and dull, so I photographed them only for the sake of order:

Having traveled approximately halfway, we reach the junction station Rogozhino (Rrogozhinё). Here the second oncoming train is already waiting for us - the Vlora one, and some of its passengers make a sports transfer, literally jumping into our train within a minute of stopping. Vlorsky left the station so quickly that I didn’t even have time to photograph him:

I found only one working semaphore during the entire journey (at least the lights were on). And really, who needs them with such little traffic? Moreover, when passing settlements The locomotive hums continuously like an elephant. However, barriers at some crossings still work.

Same station on the way back. Here our train arrives a little earlier than Vlora, so that people have time to change trains:

Here we have already turned east and are moving up the valley of the Shkumbini River. The valley is wide, picturesque, intensively plowed:

But the river itself - it would be better if your eyes didn’t see it: all the coastal bushes are so thickly covered with garbage that they resemble a New Year tree. But what does not settle on the branches floats to the sea.

The city of Rogozhin (emphasis on the last syllable) is famous for its many kilometers aqueduct(part of it can be seen in the background of the previous photo). Apparently, the ancient Albanians built it to water their gardens. For the sake of such a landmark, I had to contrive and remove it through the glass at full speed:

The next station - Pechin - pleased with its creative sign:

More in this regional center Nothing remarkable was revealed from the window, except perhaps a high-security prison :)

Then the road went noticeably uphill, and even tunnels 100-300 meters long appeared. There were no major stations for almost an hour until Elbasan itself - the only city of Cerrik was located across the river. During the years of socialism, Tserrik was a major industrial center; there was even a small oil refinery operating here. A branch leads to the former factory railway, marked on all maps as “operational, for freight traffic.” In fact, it’s problematic to drive along it, and there’s no reason to:

The “garbage banks” of Shkumbini are clearly visible here.

At the entrance to Elbasan, the train passes by (or rather, passes through) another giant of the socialist era - the metallurgical plant. The plant, no smaller than the city itself, looks abandoned, but life is still glimmering in some workshops. Unfortunately, I was not able to take a single angle.

Three hours later, we finally arrive in Elbasan. The station looks much more modest than the one in Durres, but it is still clear that the station is large:

There is even a dedicated first track, but drivers ignore it. But we are always ready to chat with friends:

Then the platform guard spotted me, and I had to take the last shot on the way back, and even then on the sly:

This is a view of the western neck of the station. Firstly, there is some kind of track development at the station. Secondly, freight cars were spotted for the first time (later, on the way back we came across a whole freight train). Thirdly, there is a spare pair of carriages on the siding. I don’t know for what reasons (maybe out of superstition), but at the final stations the locomotive leaves the delivered cars and picks up new ones. So, on the way back we were already traveling in different carriages, although with the same staff.

Probably, from below it looks much more spectacular than from the window of a train going above, but it would still be interesting to take a ride. Well, we'll leave it for next time if the traffic isn't closed before I get around to doing it.