Day 78 - July 29th: Goats
Blinisht to Fushë-Krujë: 32.6 miles / Total 2,219
With all the hotels either fully booked or not allowing pets, Christina was at her wits’ end until she found a room in Lezhë, about 20 km farther than I’d planned to go. While she fought through the relentless traffic on E762 and secured our room, I kept moving until she picked me up after 52 km.
We entered Lezhë passing its commanding landmark—Lezhë Castle—perched on a hill above the town. Once known as Lissus, it was an Illyrian stronghold, later fortified by the Romans and Venetians. Beneath it lies the burial site of Skanderbeg, Albania’s national hero, who united regional leaders at the League of Lezhë in 1444 to fight the Ottomans. The hotel Christina booked was a surprise—clean, comfortable, and €50. It might’ve been our best value yet.
That night, we walked through a public park that hugged a canal. Dozens of families filled the paths—kids chasing balls, teens playing ping-pong, older folks on benches. At Bistro Serrani, we were the first customers, but our waiter Sergio told us the place would be packed by 9 p.m. The meal—anchovies, smoked salmon, picanha for Christina, and pasta ragu for me—was incredible and half the price we’d expect elsewhere.
Back at the room, it was cowboy hat triage time. The straw brim had started unraveling after just a few days. I threaded a needle from a hotel sewing kit and used dental floss to sew it back into shape. Twenty-three days to go.
Storms rolled in overnight. I was up by 5:25 a.m. and decided to run back 13 km to yesterday’s stopping point to give Christina some extra rest. It was a wet, messy morning, with cars splashing road water on me.
I ducked into a café, but no one acknowledged me. Five kilometers later, I tried another—inside, 10 men smoked like chimneys. Albania may lead the pack for smoking. Christina and I both noticed that we haven’t see women in cafés. And, I always smile and say “hello” as I pass by locals. While the men acknowledge, smiling back and saying “hello,” the women do not make eye contact with me. I am determined to break it but have not succeeded yet.
After our rendezvous and a change of shoes and socks, Christina and I had our first Albanian breakfast—fresh bread, eggs, cucumbers, tomatoes, a local ricotta pie, and strong coffee. It was excellent.
I resumed running south on E762. The road was narrow, traffic aggressive. Between puddles and passing trucks, I started to notice something else—quarries, gravel pits, cement trucks, and giant machines gouging the hillsides. Albania’s mining industry is clearly active here. Chrome, copper, nickel, and limestone are all major exports, and much of the work appears unmechanized and open-pit. You can see raw hillsides and then a cafe and small hotel right in front of it.
I also noticed way too many tombstones along the road.
Around 20 km in, I veered off the main road onto a quiet farm lane that paralleled the Qafë-Shtamë National Park. It was peaceful and scenic, until the path gave way to a washout.
I circumnavigate and found where to pick up my farm road again where there were burns on both sides—clear signs of traditional field-clearing still common in rural Albania. After harvest, farmers often burn leftover stubble to prepare the land for the next planting. It’s a fast, low-cost method for clearing fields and controlling weeds or pests, especially in areas without access to modern machinery.
I also ran across a field of goats. I’ve never had successes getting close to them in the past - until today!
My farm road dead ended on someone’s property and I needed to make a right, returning to the main highway—now also the A1. Thankfully, it had a full breakdown lane, making it safer than E762.
Our hotel for the night was the W Bush Hotel. Don’t ask. At €30, it’s nothing to brag about—but it had a bed, clean sheets, towels, and a shower. We are happy.
Thanks for following along and all your support.
Cheers,
David.
