Albania to Kosovo

---

I actually sleep well even though I have to put my headphones and white noise on because he was not kidding about his snoring. One if the worst ever. Thank god I was tired and got to sleep first. I wake up this morning and get a really hot shower which is great then I head out. On the road I try hitching for all of 5 minutes then I find a taxi stand and get a 500lek taxi. It drops me at a hotel restaurant where I get a Nutella and fruit crepe, a coffee and fill my water. I head over the road around 1020 and the wifi still reaches so I message to say I’m where I should be. Two cars pull over and offer me rides but I say I am waiting for autobus. About 5 minutes later I see a Vetoni travel bus and the driver looks like the whatsapp profile picture I just messaged. I watch as he puts on his hazards then pulls into a gas station further down and I run to catch him. He puts my big bag in the back and I climb into the minibus, whole back seat to myself. We haven’t gone far when we pull into a restaurant car park and the guy in the seat in front tells me we need to switch buses. I thank him and the girl in front of me asks where I’m from. She was born in Kosovo but moved to Germany as a child and now lives in Australia. She pretty much adopts me for the trip.

In the restaurant she buys me a coffee and I top up my water bottle then suddenly it is time to go and we have to ask for takeaway cups. The new bus is a coach and she checks that our bags are on which they are. She indicates that I should take a seat beside her and tells me all about her Dad dying and leaving her a flat in Gjakova which is where she is headed. She has been training to be a chef in Australia but dreams of opening a restaurant and guesthouse in the mountains somewhere here. Her name is Petrita and she helps when the bus driver tries to charge me 15euro, the price from Podgorice to Pristina when I am doing a shorter route. Eventually he writes ne a ticket and I pay the price I expected. He also takes my passport and later returns it. Petrita is telling me about her flat in Gjakova and offers for me to stay; I told her I wanted to go there but couldn’t figure out the transport, we say we will look once we have WiFi.

We come across a massive car crash and the road is closed so we all get out and look. Both cars are a mess and there are 4 ambulances and lots of police. It’s very clear the smaller car that the driver wouldn’t have stood a chance given how crushed the car was. Suddenly the driver is calling us back on and the road is open so we race back and the bus takes off without doing a head count. There are definitely seats that are empty now and weren’t before so I’m sure we’ve left somebody behind. We drive on and Petrita tells me that the bigger car was from Belgrade and was trying to overtake on the wrong side of the road so hit the Albanian car at high speed and the Albanian driver has died. Her fury is evident and I’m not sure it’s about the bad driving as that the driver who caused it and survived is from Serbia. Further down the road the second driver starts doing a head count and we pull over. Then he calls a register and there is one person missing. Suddenly the missing passenger arrives having hitched a ride to catch us up. Petrita translates that he thought the Albanian driver was his Uncle but it was actually a friend of his Uncle so he stayed with him and held his hand as he died then hitched a ride to catch the bus. It us all very sad.

The road turns towards Kosovo and Petrita tells me it took a long time to get this road as for years they tried to keep the two countries separate. The road is incredibly well built, like a British motorway and the scenery is stunning; mountains all the way. We stop for lunch at the most modern looking, biggest service station I have seen here. It wouldn’t be out of place anywhere in the world. We go for lunch and Petrita basically orders for me, chicken soup and stuffed pepper. It looks amazing but minutes after starting to eat the driver says its time to go. I wolf down the soup but I can’t manage the pepper too so she gets me a takeaway container. Back on the bus we continue on and she tells me all about Kosovo and enthuses about the mountains.

At the Kosovan border the guard boards the bus and asks for passports. I had mine over and he asks if it’s my first time in Kosovo. I say yes and that I’m excited to be here. He disappears with our passports. We drive forward and they check the luggage compartment then the driver jumps back on, redistributes our passports and we are on the way. I now have a Kosovan stamp. Luckily I am not planning to go to Serbia on this passport as I heard they don’t let you in with a Kosovan stamp. It is pouring with rain as we cross to Kosovo and before long we are heading into Prizren. The bit I have seen of it is grittier than Albania, but still with the mix of super modern buildings and old style communist tower blocks. We are ushered off the bus. I have missed a 245 connection to Peja so my next bus is at at 545. I had planned to drop my big bag at my Prizren hotel but I haven’t got the energy in the rain. We head to the bus station and as we enter a guy from the bus grabs Petrita and says the bus is going to Gjakova now. She tries to check about my bus and they say 545 or I go on that bus to Gjakova and transfer. I don’t trust the connection and 545 was the bus I was expecting so I say I’m OK. If I’d had more time to think maybe I’d have gone with her but her driver is literally driving off honking the horn and I need Euros, they don’t take lek here and I could use a bathroom so I wave her off and head into the bus station.

I stop to readjust my bags then confirm at the stop that says Peja that the bus is at 545. It is so I ask about money and am directed to what looks like a mall over the road from the bus station. I trudge over in the rain and find a bank. I withdraw a 100 euro, enough for my hostel in Peja and to get me going then I take a minute to rearrange things. There is free mall WiFi so I jump on and confirm that 100 euros is enough for Peja and that there are banks there. Both are true. My hiking boots have a broken seal so my feet are getting wet, they will not be coming with me past Peja I think. I stash 50 of my euros and my 5000 Albanian lek in different bags keeping 50 on me. Back at the bus station I pay 30c to use a soaking wet hole in the ground toilet and have to out my bags precariously on a window shelf so they don’t get soaked. Once that’s done I check the board which confirms again that there is a bus at 545head to a cafe I saw earlier and order a coffee. They give me the wifi password but I can’t get it to work and I’m not heading back to the mall, I can cope without.

Even the music here is more edgy than Albania which had been giving me Spanish/ Greek vibes; here is it more dance music. There are a lot of young people and a lot of groups of people but nobody really pays me any undue interest unless I ask for help then they try their best but I’m not sure English is too widely spoken. Still I feel safe. Just as I’m ready to leave the wifi kicks in so I quickly message my hostel in peja with my arrival time then I brave the toilet again. After that I wait for my bus. One pulls in for Gjakova at the stop I need but it says 530. It leaves on time and 5 minutes later a bus pulls in saying Peja. I put my bag underneath, confirm its going to Peja and climb on board. When the man comes round I give him 5euro exactly what the online said and he thanks me and says it’s 5 euro, I think he thought I wanted change. Soon enough we are on our way out of prizren. The bus leaves dead on time and I’m struck as we drive by how different Prizren is from Albania. It strikes me partway through that it is investment. There are still remnants of the old buildings but there is so much new popping up and the new is very western. As we drive out if the city the housing estates look a lot like those in Australia; the petrol stations look like any we have at home and shopping centres are the same style of building as any western country. I see Mercedes dealerships everywhere and the roads are new, paved and freshly painted with plants down the middle. The bus stops regularly and often nobody gets on or off so I assume there must just be known stops. I also notice that people are dressed really nicely. Clothes look new or stylish; even graveyards are immaculate with huge elaborate stones and new flowers. I have the feeling as we approach Peja that the scenery here is stunning but low clouds mean you can’t see anything. I hope it clears at some point over the weekend. As we pull into the bus station there are some remnants of the old communist buildings but the investment is still clear.

My hostel owner is waiting for me and asks first if I want food which I do so after putting my bags in his can we go to a bakery where he suggests Flija, layers of pastry and a Kosovan speciality with yogurt. It is really good and I’m surprisingly hungry. Next we go for a local beer, he tells me that water here is from the Mountains and the brewery is local with fresh mountain water which us why it is so good. It is really nice beer but he orders a second for me and a salad, neither of which I want but I have out of politeness. He is only drinking coke. He then orders me a third beer and at this point I’m not sure if it is aggressive hospitality or someone trying to get me drunk. They are low percentage and small bottles so I am pretty confident in my ability to hold my own. I suggest that I’m ready for the hostel so we leave and he gets the bill but tells me we can go halves and I can sort with him later. Beers are 1 euro, salad is 2 euro so even my share is only 4euro. Next we drive through town and he shows me the city centre by night with trance music playing. I film the drive and he is overly enthusiastic about how much he loves the city. Then he stops back at the bar we came from and asks me to run in and get two take away beers and 3 mackiatos. It costs 4.50 euros. Back in the car he opens both beers with his lighter and hands me one and drinks his own. Next he says he will show me the canyon by night as its beautiful. I say I’m happy to go back but he insists and I’m not going to lie I’m nervous as hell driving along an unlit road to the canyon in the dark with a stranger. I death grip the bottle and when we stop I pour the contents out ready to use it as a weapon if I need to. We walk down to the bridge and it is beautiful, I manage to snap a few photos. Then we are back in the car and heading back to the hostel. He wants to walk to a waterfall but I need the toilet desperately so I ask to go back. He has already offered to drive me out here tomorrow and go hiking so I say tomorrow and finally we head back. It is past the bus station in the opposite direction but not too far. He drops me off and says I’m in room 3 and his family will look after me, he forgot he needs to buy fruit.

He drives off and I let myself in. I find room three and use the bathroom. A woman comes out from the room next to me but she doesn’t speak English really she goes into another room and wakes a boy about ten. I tell him I just got dropped off and he says it’s fine his father told him I was coming. Then he connects me to the WiFi and says I am in the right room. Mum is all smiles now she knows I’m meant to be here and i feel reasured now meeting them. I go into my room which is nice and had a double and single bed and towels. I notice clothes still in the wardrobe. It has been a strange night and I realise I am lucky that he didn’t have any bad intentions but I’m not really sure how I could have handled the situation any differently if he had. It’s just such a different culture here and what was actually a really nice experience, seeing the canyon and city by night was not enjoyable because I was on edge and it makes me sad that our society has taught me to have my guard up and not trust whereas here everything is on trust and generosity. It makes me sad to realise how jaded we have all become at home. I'm pretty shattered and it's nearer 11 so I head to sleep.

3 beer, 3 water, 1 coke, 2 espresso
Nutella crepe, chicken soup, fjilo with yoghurt. Salad
Money 3100 Albanian (4 euro)
11 euro 15 total

---