Eric Mackenzie Lamb
About ten years ago, I made a motorcycle trip around the Mediterranean. The first part was on a long-distance car ferry, which left Morocco and continued eastward to its final destination in Turkey.
From there, I headed west towards Bulgaria, Moldova, and Albania. There were numerous hotels and guest houses along the way, all reasonably priced, so there was no need for me to hurry. And the amazing scenery, not to mention the area’s history, was unforgettable.
On the fifth day, I crossed into Albania and continued Westward. From my research about the country, I realized that I had to take precautions. Albania at that time was known for crime, including robberies of both tourists and locals. I decided to drive straight through, including after sunset.
As things turned out, it wasn’t a wise decision.
As darkness fell, I was driving along a largely deserted road when I noticed two cars close behind me. I turned to the side and signalled them to pass. But they didn’t. They just slowed down to less than five miles per hour. There was no oncoming traffic so they could have driven past me with ease.
And that’s the moment when I realized that I was in a dangerous situation. With no towns or police stations in the area, I was convinced that a robbery was imminent.
I knew what I had to do. I accelerated to full speed and, looking at my side mirrors, I could see that both cars also increased their speed to almost 90 MPH. I kept going. After going around a curve, I noticed that the cars chasing me weren’t visible. So I hit the brake and turned off the road and into a dense forest. I stopped the engine and watched. A few seconds later, both cars sped by at high speed.
Should I leave my hiding place and turn back towards the place I’d started from? I asked myself. No, I would be safer in the forest.
Less than ten minutes later, the two cars returned and sped by in the opposite direction from which they had gone. Realizing that there wasn’t a moment to lose, I pulled out on the road and accelerated westward.
About two hours later, I arrived at the coast of the Ionian Sea and boarded a ferry to Italy.
To this day, I remind myself how lucky I was.
