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We were crossing border into Albania on the bus , during the night . Precisely speaking , in a van , which followed behind . The bus was full already , so the rest of passengers who had tickets were put into the van . On the border check point one of the drivers went to give a bribe to Albanian border officers , so that we wouldn't have to wait long to leave Macedonia .
We got to Albanian capital within no more then 3 hours , as I can recall , around 3 a.m.,so the city was deep asleep . We were prepared to wait till morning to take a stroll around the city centre and catch a bus going further north . But we found that would be soon a private van going , a quick link between Tirana and Shkoder in the north , where we were heading . So we decided quickly to depart Tirana , without seeing it .
Maybe that was a wrong decision , who knows , we might have liked the city . Before coming to Tirana in my imagination Albanian capital was dull , post communist city , with a very few things worth seeing . I had seen earlier a documentary series, in which Michel Palin had visited Tirana.The city had been shown through the problem of disgusting architecture, the heritage of Enver Hoxha's communist dictatorship. So the solution had been found - to paint all these buildings , flat blocks with bright colours , which had been carried out by the group of citizens .
In the night , however , the town looked fine . New commercial buildings and neons gave the impression that Tirana nowadays is a bustling new capital .Only Albanian drivers seemed to be not prepared to the challenge of modern car traffic - I was past by a speeding car dangerously close , with wild honking when I was trying to walk away at a taxi lot .Obviously that kind of driving is the heritage of past times too ; during communist regime owning private cars was banned . When visiting Albania there was clear for us no driving culture exists on Albanian roads .
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Shkoder at dawn
Anyway , we are leaving quickly Tirana , squeezed in the van , moving out to Shkoder where we arrived at down . After having a coffee in the hotel restaurant in the centre,we jumping into a taxi and go to the next destination -a small coastal resort in Velipoje .The taxi driver takes another passenger, a woman who stood behind the town on the roadside and we climb up rocky and bushy hills. But something is striking to us ; the amount of scrap on sides of the road - looks like all domestic litter are thrown from stopping cars . A lot of plastic bags , flying over shrubs , marking the landscape , wood scrap or even dead animals .
After a half an hour , maybe a bit longer , we come to the resort , and the prospects aren't promising . The place is just a cluster of concrete hotels and old villas . In the hotel we check in and pay for three nights , as the things have been planned beforehand . After short relax , we go to the beach , which has the colour of gray volcanic ash , litter scattered everywhere . The water full of seaweeds , after an hour we are back in the hotel . Later on , in the late afternoon I would find a deep , shallow bay with clear and warm water , what a pleasure to swim . But unfortunately , next morning I will find myself covered with small red dots - apparently the allergic reaction to the water .
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There was nothing interesting to do in Velipoje.Except for a couple of fast food bars and shops ,just nothing. Maybe one thing ; on the edge of dusty square a small entertainment center , with carousel . In one an open bar a singer , woman , was inviting people to take part in her show . This resort has been developing yet .In the area next to the beach stood the newest part of Velipoje;modern buildings between three parallel streets. But the streets led nowhere , disappearing in the grass and sand , among skeletons of unfinished buildings , waiting for better times apparently . In Albania is hard to get a bank loan for investment , as I had been told earlier by my friend . Probably that was the reason this buildings sites were abandoned - construction workers would come again when cash is gain by investors to continue the works .
Perhaps this place lost on the Adriatic coast will see better days ,when more money is pumped .It seemed to be popular among holidaymakers from Kosovo , due to it's closeness. We saw many cars from that region , autonomic now , possibly joining Albania in the future . Or maybe the next potential area of conflict on the Balkan Peninsula . Later on in Montenegro ,where is still big sentiment for Belgrade's rule , a taxi driver would say ; " Kosovo is Serbia's land , now KFOR forces are there , but once they are gone , Kosovo will be back ours " .
We found out that the bus to Montenegro sets out daily early afternoon , so having some spare time we decided to visit the ancient fortress in Shkoder (Rozafa Castle ), in the outskirts of the town .Situated on the top of a steep hill, climbing there with our heavy backpacks wasn't easy . But worth for , view of the town with mountains in the background and nearby Shkoder Lake was superb . The remains of fortress dates back to times of ancient Illyrians , afterward over the time in possession of Romans , Serbs , Byzantium Empire , Venetians and Turks finally , but most of the fortifications are of Venetian origin .
Eventually back in the town's centre , the next change of of plans.We found a taxi for decent price of 35 Eur to take us across border to Bar . But we wanted firstly to buy some drinks and food . The driver looked anxious, he insisted to go straight away . Maybe he was afraid we would disappear into thin air or maybe he wanted to do job quickly and find another customers. Finally his friend appeared , saying in good English ; " sit down in here for a while , I ll' have a coffee for you , and the driver will stop for you to do shopping's " . So we agreed and listened to his story drinking coffee . He had come back to Albania from United States a few years ago after living in exile . He explained us that before the collapse of communist regime living in Albania had been very hard - living in the police state is difficult . People had been afraid of being suspected as " state's enemy " and in result arrested . During 1960s Albania ruled by Enver Hoxha had stopped to cooperate with Soviet Union ,without paying out it's debts to Russian Empire and builded 600 000 bunkers along Adriatic coast in case of invasion . After breaking all relations with Republic of China in late 1970s Albania had lived in complete isolation from the rest of theWorld.So in these circumstances Albanian people had had to shut themselves in their houses , among families , in order to survive oppressive system. And nobody had cared for what had happened outside nor interested in keeping things in public areas in order . So according to our Albanian chatter , the scrap and mess on the streets was the result of these hard times . Albanian people has still considered the outside area as not worth carrying for . But at least , many buildings in Shkoder has been recently painted nicely and streets has got new pavements .
And this Albanian guy told us how he had got to USA, some 30 years ago. At the time of terror he decided to escape , just one night he had swum across Lake Shkoder (or Lake Skadar or Lake Scutari as well ) the largest lake in the Balkan region . He had survived gun shooting from Albanian boats , when swimming into Yugoslavian part of the Lake ( nowadays Montenegro) . Yugoslavian soldiers had caught him and he had been kept in the arrest for two weeks , just to make sure he hadn't been spying for Albania . At last they had let him go to Italy , and finally he had arrived to America .
But his family had had to pay the price for his escape - his parents had been jailed for a few years . No crime without punishment . Terrific story .
But contemporary Albania is a place where making a living isn't easy. Many families are able to survive only thanks to money being sent by Albanians working abroad , from Greece , Italy , Germany . And the traditional values had been destroyed by communist regime . We saw in Shkoder many different churches , mosques , but majority of Albanians are atheists. Just on the contrary , the Albanian diaspora in Macedonia is strictly religious ( Muslims ) and traditional - perhaps like other Diasporas in the world , I dare say .
At last we packed into the cab and we set out .The driver was hurrying . On the road towards the border he tried to show us what was around , using mainly Italian . We drove through a huge valley , in area between mountain ranges . At some point we reached the queue , cars waiting to cross border . But our driver did not intended to wait . He just pull over on the left lane of the road and sped up , passing by the cars standing in the queue , which was stretching out for a mile at least , I think . But almost no cars coming from the opposite direction - it looked like everybody was leaving Albania and nobody coming in. Maybe a few cars. The driver explained to us that was an artificial queue ; created by Albanian border service to take money if you don't want to wait . Really clever of them . But apparently he know what to do , the driver was local . When we reach the checkpoints having passed most of vehicles,we squeezed into the gap when the cars started moving on again . The driver behind us started honking and gesticulate in protest , but in vain . Our driver only mumbled something under his nose . But we still had some ten minutes to wait . So he tried to convince the officer , who stood nearby controlling the stream of cars , by shouting and signaling with hand , to get us priority pass. At last , a cab is a kind of public transport . But the man seemed to haven't noticed his signs . Probably he would notice his attempts , if driver had banknotes in his fingers , i think .
But at last , Albania was behind us . The driver told us when driving toward Bar , that some Albanian people lived on that side of border too , in a few villages and in Stari Bar ( Old Bar ) . But they haven't cared for maintaining Albanian culture or language , and probably would assimilate , according to the driver .Our Albanian part of journey finished , when we arrived to bus station in Bar .
A new face of Albania
More photos from Albania here ; http://www.flickr.com/photos/50392306@N04/6323948768/in/set-72157628077951576
