Albanian short break

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Catherine enjoyed frankfurters for breakfast heated over a Gaz-type stove and in a 250 mL coffee pot. Such was the Ulcinj Hilton/home stay. Our cabbie was on time and we headed for the border along ever-deteriorating roads. This area really was a frontier in geography and vibe. At the frontier proper, the wind was cold, chilled by the previous night's snow! The roads actually improved in Albania though the old mercs - a legacy from Hoxha era smuggling - seem to adopt a speed mania. Our destination was Schkodra bus terminal and we soon recognised the similarity to the villages of Vietnam. It must have been a communist design thing. Getting from taxi to the Tirana bus took a second as bus touts grabbed our gear and secured our custom. We then sat for 20 mins while maybe 5 touts worked to fill the bus which then left. Similar scenery to Tirana of ramshackle houses, old equipment and green fields at the foot of stark mts. We also passed a few bunkers in back yards set up in the seventies when Albania was self defending. Tirana quite colourful as the old soviet style apartment buildings are painted bright colours, some with designs. Fair number of gypsies. Traffic crazy. Next day we got a car 40 Km to Kruja in the mountains with a castle which was the base of the Albanian defence against the Turks in C15th. The trip drew to a close as we enjoyed lunch on a balcony overlooking the Tirana plain and beyond to the Adriatic, with Kruja castle in the foreground, Byrek in our stomachs and mullahs calling to prayer in our ears. The trip was topped off by the driver stopping one km from the Mother Theresa international airport to buy us from fruit from the road side farm stall. He called them Hoorma, but we couldn't recognise them.

This was the end of the Balkans phase of this trip as we flew on to Athens and started the sailing phase within 24hr.
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