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Mire!

Albania is a hard country to peg having only been there four nights. The people are friendly, but an ex-pat Englishman I met in Sarande gave me his take on the people: friendly, but always looking to see how they can benefit from your friendship; difficult to really know with a hard inner core. I suppose 500 years under the thumb of the Ottomans is bound to make you tough.

The country itself is in dire need of strong leadership. Sounds like another country I know. The infrastructure is pretty much none existent in most places. Garbage is chucked willy-nilly, the roads are dirt, pot-holed or past-detiorated tarmac and electricity is none-existent during the day. I'd been warned by another traveler that conditions would parallel my route south. He wasn't kidding. Thing is I should be not used to this, but at least not so easily shocked by it. I've seen similar conditions in Central and South America. I think the sudden change is what was so startling.

Tirane is... hmm... Traffic. Unfinished buildings. Generators with model names like Silencer, but are more like Rumbler and Fumigator. Traffic lights that don't work. Drivers who'll run you down without slowing an inch or attempting to avoid you. Stunted, stripped or hacked trees. Multi-colored apartments. Smog. Dust. My god, the dust. Surprisingly, it barely registered on my snot test. For those of you who've been in Vietnam and other dusty places you'll know what that is. For those who don't it's when you blow your nose and it comes out black. I kid you not.

The good is that Tirane has fixed most of its sidewalks and roads. The LP guidebook warns that one should take a flashlight when walking at night because the power may go out and the potholes are big enough to swallow adults whole. I only saw small holes that looked more like uncovered meter holes and such. It'd still break a leg if you fell into one, though, and I did have a few close calls.

There isn't much in the way of in-your-face Communist architecture left in Tirane. The enormous main square has the most obvious ones at the north end. The faces adorning the buildings are of a soldier done in the socialist realist style. I did notice that as a reaction to the grey of Communism a lot of buildings are wildly decorated and painted. Blocks of oranges and yellows with blocks of purples and blues below. Yellow arrows on a green background. Mondrian-like colors and squares. It was fantastic and beautiful, actually.

Taking a tip from the guidebook I visited Kruje, which is billed as a spectacularly situated town with a fantastic castle. Somebody better check the author's bank account for a payment from Kruje's town council. To be fair, perhaps three or four years ago, it may have been so. Now? There's one strip of original, pre-Communist houses left that contain souvenir shops. Everything else is new construction and they're all trying to be the tallest with views over the valley below. The 'castle' is non-existent, or has been transformed into the museum within the walls. The views are nice if you don't mind a little haze. Look up at the mountains behind and you see blue skies. Pity.

I left Tirane the next day. At least, I tried. The LP is still correct in informing travelers that bus stations are nomadic. There is no central station. You ask around and hope for the best. I found the station with buses that are headed south. I found several buses with Berat, my destination, signposted in the window. I boarded one, and we left. We pulled into a gas station and we stopped. More people boarded. The driver got off, lit a cigarette and chatted with some guys. Then, people started getting off the bus. The driver came on and through sign language and the two words of English he knew -"Time out."- informed us that this bus was out of service. The only thing I can figure is that all the document checking that he'd done prior to leaving had something to do with this sudden 'Time out'. He's not legal to drive? Who knows. My fellow former passengers and I are now in limbo. Is there another bus coming soon? Should we take a furgon (passenger van) for twice the money? I take my cue from an elderly woman who I know for certain is also headed to Berat. A furgon driver approaches drumming up passengers to Berat. He says something that pisses her off and she gives him an Albanian tongue lashing. He backs off, shrugs and throws up his hands. This is universal for "Hey, I'm just trying to make a buck. Lay off!" Some other people approach and tell us there are no more buses to Berat. The lady looks at them and dismisses them. I'm sticking with her. After an hour, lo and behold, a Berat-bound bus appears. I finally got into Berat around 2-ish. I started at 8:30. As the crow flies it takes 2 hours. I was just glad to be out of Tirane.

Berat is lovely. The LP is right about this town. It's original Ottoman architecture has been preserved because some dictator was born there, or really liked the place. Can't remember which. There really is a castle here, and it's in great shape. If you visit Albania go straight here. The best thing to do is visit the castle and the neighborhood tucked into it, then wander around the two other neighborhoods. The castle 'hood is Christian. The 'hood at the bottom of the castle is Muslim. The other 'hood is Christian. You can tell by looking for a mosque or a church.

In Mangalem, the Muslim quarter I visited the Sultan's Mosque complex. To my surprise and delight a guide came out of one of the buildings and offered to give a free tour. Free? In Albania? Did I hear right? Turns out Mario not only works for the organization that takes care of the complex, but spent time in America (Michigan) as an exchange student. I hit the jackpot. Here was someone who could tell me about not only this site, but could also answer questions about Albania in general. After showing me around, we chatted for an hour about his experiences in America and about life in Albania. He likes practicing his English, so look for him when you go to Berat. Lovely guy.

My plan for getting to Greece involved crossing via Corfu, so I headed south to Sarande, which is across from Corfu. I discovered where Albania is hiding its most beautiful areas. The drive wound through mountains and followed river valleys. Gorgeous! Nevermind the ever-present rubbish dumped over the sides of the road. Unfortunately, it's threatened by encroaching industry. I saw hillsides being ripped up for the materials to feed the construction going on up north. Get there before it's an environmental disaster.

Sarande is a resort that used to be a village of about a hundred houses. This was only ten years ago roughly. Now, it's got hotels sprouting like a chia pet all over the hillsides. My ex-pat source told me many of them are being built by people who've made millions from the sex slave trade. It's a huge problem in Albania. Made me a little nervous to be on a street by myself. I made it onto my hydrofoil the next morning, and made it into Greece.

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