Albania = Awesome

I might not post this now, as the "internet" I am on is slower than mailing a god damned letter and I'm typing this in notepad. (50 minutes, 3 emails read, logged out countless times, typed countless emails that didn't successfully send, increased blood pressure to unhealthy level.) (Update: 1:40, read my 10 emails and sent replies after multiple logins, lost drafts, etc.)

After I left Tirana I went to Gjirokaster, a small, hilly city in the mountains near the Greek border.

I was given a tour in the castle by a nice Albanian guy and then I found my way to the tourist office where I met a peace corps volunteer. She invited me to dinner, and then to stay with her, and I ended up staying with her for 4 days.

The castle's main hall displays German and Italian guns opposite each other, captured from the World Wars. They make a big deal out of how the Italians, Germans, and others (Greeks, Serbians, Macedonians...) wanted to capture Albanian territory.


There's a 1960s American spy plane that was displayed like a trophy by the former communist government. There are many rumors but little hard fact about its origin and the pilot's fate.
Above, a view of Gjirokaster and the castle; below, the inside of a traditional Albanian house.

From Gjirokaster one of her Albanian friends (turns out, the guy who toured me at the castle) took me to Butrint (impressive archeological ruins) and Seranda (beach) and the Blue Eyed Spring (50 meters deep, the water comes rushing out of the royal blue spring at incredible speeds and is beautiful).
We hung out and I sampled the various bars and restaurants (there aren't that many) in Gjirokaster. It was a nice opportunity not to be on a bus every other day and to get to know a few Albanians in their 20s (albeit ones lucky enough to have cars, jobs, and English skills). As most of you know, it's probable that I will join the Peace Corps in a year or so, so it was also nice insight into that.

Below are a few fun photos from Gjirokaster. The photo of me trying the local liquor, Raki, is too horrendous for the internet.




Among the things I learned in Gjirokaster that I might have missed if I hadn't made friends:

• Albania has ridiculous bureaucracy problems. They have been fighting for months over who should put up a sign pointing to the castle, which is the biggest tourist attraction. A sign! This was one of several stories I was told about bad bureaucracy.
• There is a huge trash problem, which should be evident to anyone who sees the mountains of litter by the side of the roads and in the streets and being burned. It's especially bad in the steep cobblestone streets of Gjirokaster's old town, which are harsh on cars and make garbage collection non-existent. People just throw trash off cliffs or into the streets.
• The German flags that I noticed before must have been common to the north. In the central and south parts, I saw many EU and US flags, and the occasional NATO or UK flag.
• You can apparently withdraw Euro from some ATMs and Euro are used as a second currency or easily exchanged. I saw billboards advertising bank accounts in Euro with a slightly lower interest rate than if you keep your money in Lek.
• There are scarecrows hung all over the place, but usually not in fields. They especially hang on buildings that are under construction. There are also sometimes odd dolls hung up (including a teletubby at the place I ate in Skodra). Tara says this is because people are still really afraid of the evil eye.
• The Greeks don't like the Albanians and the Albanians claim that's why they don't like the Greek (although I only talked to Albanians). There's a large Greek minority in the south, and apparently some Greeks look upon Albanians as some Americans look upon Mexicans.
• The reason Tirana is so wonderfully colorful and full of stylish buildings is that the mayor is an artist.

Berat was a nice town, but I was kind of sick of smaller towns after so long in Gjirokaster. The fortress/castle/whatever they call it in Berat was huge and there was a church/museum with impressively old paintings and artifacts on display.
Albanian hospitality is ridiculous. I've never encountered anything like it, from the family that drove me to the hotel when I asked them for directions in Gjirokaster to the mother and daughter who took me on the city bus in Berat to the hotel and insisted on paying for my ticket to the free food. I can't believe so many people think Albania is dangerous and Albanians thieves. I am aware that in the very north there is some gang activity, but what I saw of Albania was a rapidly developing country with really friendly, genuine people who need more jobs. I'm sure in the more rural areas there is more poverty than what I saw. But all in all, I loved Albania and I'd definitely like to go back.

It's also interesting to compare Albania to Bosnia. They are both Muslim, or at least the areas where I spent the most time are. But in Albania, people seem to be less religious, not just because they paint half their mosques neon green (I've got pictures of 3-4 different mosques in green) but they eat pork, which the vast majority of Bosnians won't touch. Young people in both countries parade around in knock-off designer clothes and often people own 2-4 nice outfits or nice shirts that they just keep re-washing and re-wearing. Bosnian coffee is better, and infrastructure is a bit better, and the country is greener. Both capitals are great. Overall I found the two countries to be really similar. I don't know if I'd feel the same way about other Balkan countries if I'd "lived" in them or spent more time in them, or if it's the Muslim connection, or what.




Today I went from Berat through Tirana to the border with Macedonia. I thought the minibus dropped me off at the Pogradec/Sveti Naum crossing (and I had to show a health insurance card to get in), so when I walked across I asked the taxi driver how much to Sveti Naum (where I planned to get a bus to Ohrid) and he said 40 euro! Finally I figured out that I was at the other crossing, Kafra San (sp?), so I asked to go to the city near there where I could get a bus to Ohrid. So he ended up driving me to Ohrid for 10 euro (a few more than the bus would have cost, but he took Euro and I didn't have Dinar), and making the most pushy, awkward conversation in Serbian. I understood some of it, including that he loved America, wanted to make me stay with some friend's private accommodation in Ohrid (no, no, i have a guesthouse, no, no, no), asked me why I was nervous (I was incredibly annoyed), asked me to get him papers (a visa?) to America with my colleague connections (???), wanted to stop for coffee (Ohrid Tim Market, Ohrid Tim Market please), thought Macedonians were very nice but Albanians had little problems, etc. Needless to say I was not impressed with the first Macedonian I met, especially after having met so many of the nice Albanians whom he was badmouthing.

So here I am in Ohrid.

Photos!

Actually, not. They wouldn't upload, sadly, and the kitchen here closes in 45 minutes so I'd better go cook dinner.

Neon Green Mosques

Yesterday at the crack of dawn I boarded a bus for Shkodra, Albania, just over the border. I had to pay 10 euro at the border crossing and got a passport stamp from Albania....on the Endorsements page of my passport.

Shkodra has a fortress that I wandered up to for the views, having left my bag at the city's 5 star hotel. It was really not developed for toursits; I climbed down into a secret passage way but I didn't go further than the sunlight could reach.


I was amused by the above bar's decorations (see next post on evil eye) and by the below version of a roundabout/rotary.




Then I went to Tirana. I really like this city. In a lot of ways it reminds me of Boston. It's the same size, population-wise. It's a cultural center. It's got parks and a river that crosses through it (albeit a much smaller river). I love Skanderbeg square as well. The only unpleasant aspects of my stay have been the man jerking off by the river and the street named for George W. Bush.



The mosaic on the front of the national museum features Albanian heroes from throughout history, and I like that women appear prominently.

Albania's reputation is completely wrong. People think it's dangerous, full of theives, etc. But the people are really helpful and friendly. Food and transportation are really cheap, but accomodation isn't. The Albanian Byrek that I had today during my visit to the port city of Durres was full of a very good cheese. There are German flags all over the place for some reason. There are frequent power and water outages at the hostel and in the city (and the wide streets are even more of an adventure when the traffic lights go out). I'm amused by the random assortment of english-language music I hear everywhere.

My favorite part about Albania, and Tirana especially, is the architecture. There has been tons of development recently, and there is a lot of construction around. There are all these great modern buildings with wild colors on them. And old communist-era buildings have been spiced up with lots of color as well. It's one of the things I've most enjoyed and gives a great atmosphere to the city.

(There's a Hundertwasserhaus in Tirana?)





Last night I went to a club with several other hostelers, including a British guy who is about to start a hostel in Berat (a little south of Tirana). The social interactions were interesting to watch, but I was mostly amused by the random music. At one point it went from a Greece song to Bon Jovi to a country song to a 80s poppy song to a Latin song to a rap song. They also dip the stems of the Coronas in salt, which is a little gross.

Today I went on a day trip to Durres, Albania's main port, and took the train back.Gas is expensive everywhere, but really expensive at this chain!

Bye Montenegro

Dumitor is absolutely breathtaking. I got a room in Zabljak and yesterday met up with a Swedish-French couple who rented from the same women for a walk around the gorgeous Black Lake. We went at a leisurely pace and stopped for the coldest swim this side of the North Atlantic Ocean. Then we hired a taxi to see the scenic Tara Gorge, which I heard somewhere is the 2nd biggest canyon after the Grand Canyon.


So I got to see the Black Mountains for which Montenegro/Crne Gora is named. Today I spent much of the day on buses to get to Ulcinj. I got a really cheap room and headed for the overcrowded, littered beach, which was enough to make me decide to stay here only one night and grab tomorrow's 6am bus to Shkodra, Albania. Hopefully I can find my way from my lodgings to the bus station.

In the meantime, this is the cheapest internet I've found so far, and I had some pretty cheap and good pizza and ice cream. I'm looking forward to partying in Tirana, all-day internet for a Euro or so at the hostel, and getting "Albania" stamped into my passport.

Life on the Adriatic

I am now in Podgorica, which has to be the most boring capital city I have ever been to. Apparently Montenegrins are not big on the internet; it took me 2.5 hours to find a cafe after I arrived at the bus station this morning. There is not much in this town; a park, a few statues and fountains, a stadium, and a rather characterless center with cafes and shops. According to wikitravel (which is otherwise a little too positive about this town) it was bombed badly in WWII so that might explain the lack of character. In a few hours I'm headed to Dumitor national park.

After I left Zenica and a stop between Sarajevo and Mostar for roasted lamb, I spent one night in Dubrovnik.


The city walls were impressive and the views gorgeous, but Dubrovnik is expensive and overrun with tourists; not my style. I left after one night and headed for Kotor, Montenegro.

I loved Kotor. I stayed three nights, two with a Canadian girl I met at the bus station, in a nice room with views of the bay and mountains and a deck covered in grape vines (they weren't quite ripe, but they were tasty anyway). The only drawback was the very creepy landlord.

The day we arrived, we climbed the stairs to the fortress atop a mountain. I think it took an hour to get up, entirely of stair climbing. It was quite a work out and very hot even though it was 6pm or so. The views were worth it; we could see Kotor fjord, Kotor bay, and mountains rising around the fjord. Montenegro has a really beautiful coast. The next day we took a 12 euro cruise in the fjord (they make their money on food and booze I guess; we brought water and snacks and had a 2 euro plate of fries). It lasted 8 hours, allowing for sightseeing of the shore and islands, sunbathing on the deck, and a 2 hour stop where we swam off the back of the boat in the middle of the Adriatic and got to go jet skiing. Well worth it. The third day I went to Cetinje, Montenegro's former capital, and it was rather lame despite the signpost pointing to cool locations, so I headed back to the Kotor beach.

My Last Weekend in Zenica

I had a wonderful weekend in Zenica, relaxing and saying goodbye.

I managed to finish Ivo Andric’s Nobel winning “Travnik Cronicles” before I had to turn it in at the Biblioteka. I could picture some of the scenes thanks to our trip to Travnik last weekend.

On Saturday my host mother took me to a funeral. The woman had died from cancer at an early age. She was a locally known singer and in addition to the Zenicans there was a bus from Sarajevo and probably hundreds of mourners in total. I was a little self-conscious about my casual, non-black outfit, but few actually wore black. The cemetery had incredibly beautiful views.

My host mother and I had a discussion (using two or three word sentences and gestures) about an article in the local newspapers. Apparently there have been a lot of lefties in the Oval Office and the trend is guaranteed to continue. And through this, I finally remembered the words for left and right. Now I can ask for directions!

On Sunday we made Pita (pie), Bosnia’s national dish. We made a squash pita and it was quite good if I do say so myself.

Sunday night I was amused by the many television stations in the region. Montenegro beat Serbia in the European Water Polo championship and it was hilarious to compare the Serbian broadcast to the Montenegrin broadcast.

I’ve now checked and rechecked my packing list and I’m ready to head to Dubrovnik tomorrow. Ciao!