Keep Albania Weird

There were a few things that tipped me off to the fact that traveling through Albania would be a different experience. My first clue was that Matt told us we hadn't booked any hotels for our stay. If you know Matt, you know that's a bit out of character for him, since he likes his vacations planned to a T. He said we would just "see what we found when we get there". Then, he told us we would be taking a taxi from Montenegro to Shkoda. The taxi ride was an adventure in and of itself. We were with an Asian student that we had "met" in the bus station, and the taxi driver spoke little English. We got hung up a little bit at the border, and it was a bit nervewracking watching the driver talking to the border patrol without knowing what they were saying.

Flag of Albania

We reached Shkoda in the early afternoon. The city was very different from most of the other cities we'd been to on this Eurotrip. It reminded me more of a city in Mexico or Central America, except because Albania is a predominately Muslim country, with mosques and minarets on every street. I asked Matt where the bus station was, as we had to continue our journey to the beach town of Durres. He shook his head. "We're not taking a bus. We're taking a furgon." He explained to me that most people travel by large vans for very cheap rather than using the bus system. We were then thrust into the world of furgon travel. And what a world it is.

Inside the furgon

We started out standing on a random street corner in Shkoda. That was all it took, three Americans with backpacks, for the drivers to approach us. We bartered a bit, and finally settled on the cheapest driver. We hesitantly crawled into a huge van that looked like it had seen better days. As we drove, I noticed that there were no seat belts. I noticed this when we were careening around corners and making very sudden stops. If you look on a map, the distance between Shkoda and Durres is not that far, however, it took us probably twice the time. As we drove down the highway, we would stop for anyone that was standing on the side of the road. People got on and off at their own convenience. At one point, we stopped to deliver a mattress to an old lady (probably about 90) who was waiting for us on the side of the highway. I'm also pretty sure we picked up a police officer. There was a point where we were cruising through town with the door wide open, and a teenager hanging out. I was apprehensive about getting carsick, but that wasn't a problem, surprisingly. It was a strangely efficient way to travel, as we got to interact with the local people and see many different sides of Albania, from the mountains to the rural rest-stops (emphasis on the "rural").

Streets of Shkoda

When we arrived in Durres, we set out to find a hotel. Since the Albanian Lek is worth less than the Euro, we were able to find a nice hotel for not a lot of money. Durres is a resort town, and Bryce set out to explore the boardwalk while Matt and I stayed at the hotel to Skype his brother, who was getting married. It was then that I got one of the strangest texts of my life.

"Come down to the beach, someone is walking their bear."

Excuse me? I wasn't sure what to make of this. Was this a way of saying a really large dog? I asked for clarification, and received this in response:

"No, it's a bear. It's on a leash, and the guy wants me to feed it bread."

 I excused myself from the Skype conversation and hustled down to the beach. There was indeed a brown bear, sitting on the boardwalk, on a leash. I stood looking at it from a distance, trying to figure out what was going on. Apparently, this ain't no thing in Albania, as all the people walking by didn't even bat an eye. Bryce informed me that the bear and his owner appeared to come from an apartment building across from the beach. This prompted a whole new set of questions. Was this his pet? It lives an apartment? Do the neighbors know? How does it fit? Sadly, these questions were never answered, but it definitely keeps Albania at the forefront of my mind when I think of my travels.

The rest of our time in Albania, was sadly not as eventful. The next day we took another furgon ride from Durres to Sarande. This one was not quite as fun as the first, as it was a million degrees hotter and we were crammed in a packed van for over 8 hours. However, we were rewarded with a seaside room with a view on what can only be described as the Albanian Jersey Shore, only with Russians instead of Italians.

Sarande

Albania, over all, was an adventure. I'm not sure I would return, but I am glad we went there and had the experiences we did there. It was nice to get off the typical "European vacation" track and see something completely different and unique, and Albania was just that.

Originally posted 9.25.12