Week 30, 19.Sept.09 - 25.Sept.09
Berat, Albania to Skopje, Macedonia
19.09.2009 - 25.09.2009
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Week 30
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19.Sept.09
Berat, Albania
I'm chilling out back in my hotel room here in Berat, after touring around today visiting the sites. Took the overnight but from Lamia, Greece (where the super-friendly Albanian woman working in the bus station was acting like a concerned parent... "You're traveling to Albania alone?? You've never been there?? Here, take my cellphone number."), and having passed through really pretty Albanian countryside at dawn with fog all over, arrived early morning in Berat.

Went and checked in to this hotel which is pretty dull (but cheap so I'm not complaining!), had lunch then hiked up the steep rocky road to the 14th c. Kala (Citadel), where castle ruins are accessible to walk around (in fact, no ropes/railings anywhere - sort of, "explore at your own risk").
A whole village exists here in medieval looking houses!
There was a museum housing some paintings, and loads of old churches and mosques. Then swung by (and waited for the reopening to) the Ethnografic Museum with its 18th c. Ottoman objects.
It started pouring outside, I'll have to see whether this lets up to head out tonight!
20.Sept.09
Tirana, Albania
Sitting here outside the National Historical Museum waiting for it to reopen (all museums in Albania seem to close from 13:00-17:00 then reopen for 2 hours until 19:00) here in the capital city of Tirana. Just had a really nice conversation with a man (I think his name was Byra) about life in Albania during communist days and after - he seemed to prefer the former. This conversation followed my less pleasant one on the other side of the museum where a younger guy sat down and interrupted my reading, forcing me into a conversation that ended (when I got up and said "I gotta go") with him asking me for money ("No, sorry"). There are some colorful observations I've made of Albanians so far: (1) Nearly all women between the ages of, say, 40-60 look identical with short dark-brown hair feathered and parted down the middle with a little swoosh at the bottom - awful, like frozen in the early 1980's.. reminds me of Elane's friend the physical therapist on that one Seinfeld episode. (2) Nearly all boys, in their teens and younger, have a tendency to constantly spit. (3) On the buses - which drive agonizingly slow (but also super cheap so again not complaining!) - while there is no smoking for the passengers, it doesn't stop the drivers from chain-smoking the entire trip. And (4) most bus passengers - usually involving a family with children, have an inability to pick one seat and stay for the entire journey - constantly getting up to move the whole family to another seat one row up or back or other side. On that bus ride up this morning from Berat, passing along the Adriatic coast (really nice), I saw countless (although estimates put an actual number somewhere at 700,000) concrete bunkers dotting the countryside.
Supposedly the former dictator Hoxha had these designed so indestructible (as to withstand tank blasts), that they seem to be now and for the foreseeable future a permanent fixture on this landscape. Well, now that I actually read the sign on the museum, looks like it doesn't open this afternoon after all (I guess "winter hours" start in September here). So now to find out what to do the rest of the day!
21.Sept.09
Relaxing back here in my hotel, having just dodged the afternoon downpour outside... its been hot & sunny all 3 days in Albania, with each day producing the afternoon showers with the subsequent power-outages (I've learned not to go without my torch after dark in this country). Had a pretty slow-paced day, after a nice omelette breakfast at a cafe with great coffee (going there again tomorrow for sure!), went over to El'Hem Bey mosque, kicked-off my shoes and went inside for views of the beautifully painted dome.
Waited around outside the Bell Tower to climb up inside for views of the city, but the guard or whomever never showed up to unlock it... which is fitting - the dysfunctional clock in the tower had 4 different times showing anyway!
Then went over to check out the Tirana Int'l Collaboration Art Biannual Exhibits (TICABE); really enjoyed Erik Olofsen's "Drives" with slow-motion effect, and Adrian Paci's "Per Speculum", with reflecting sunlight from glass pieces held by kids up in a tree.
Well, walking around this city for the past day, I'll retract my earlier statement about Albanian women - there are definitely good looking ones here in Tirana! But I'll also add one more observation: If I am sitting at a cafe on one extreme side and 100 empty tables around me, it is a guarantee someone or group will sit right next to my table and proceed to light-up. Unbelievable!
22.Sept.09
Pogradec, Albania
Sitting out on the vine-covered (with loads of grapes - smells like a big jar of Welch's Grape Jelly!) balcony at my hotel here in Pogradec.
Earlier today back in Tirana, after having my new favorite coffee, went back to the (now open!) National Historical Museum to see some great exhibits on Albanian history.
Grabbed the next furgon (taxi van) that was heading out of town, and braced myself most of the way as the van sped around the curvy road along the mountain cliffs, most of the road without guard railing!
Arrived in Pogradec and got checked-in to this hotel, but neither confirming the destination in the furgon, nor the availability of rooms in the hotel, was easy (More cultural observations): Albanians shake their head (or rather, kind of wobble) back and forth when they mean "yes", and nod up and down when they mean "no". I was so confused about whether the damn furgon was going to Pogradec or not, and "Do you have a single room available? Yes?Ok? Yes or no??" I then remembered reading about that custom in my guidebook, but it was the funniest thing to see this in practice. Wandered around the town with all its torn-up streets (seems like every street's pipes are being replaced or something) and then down to the lake, which is really pretty. Overall, the town is pretty quiet, it seems the busy summer season's over!
23.Sept.09
Ohrid, Macedonia-FYROM
I must say, Ohrid is sure living up to its reputation as an amazing place - beautiful town bordering lake with the same name, in Macedonia.
This morning I got in a taxi to the Albanian/Macedonian border (with a wallet full of Albanian Leke that I couldn't exchange!! - WTF, what border crossing has no exchange offices or even black-marketeers working??), and waited for the bus to take me up here to Ohrid town. As soon as I got off the bus a couple different guys approached me asking if I needed a place to sleep, they have "apartments" available for 15 Euro. Ordinarily I would have been very skeptical, but I had heard about this from another traveller back in Albania, this is how they do it in Ohrid - most of the accommodation in the town is spare rooms in someone's house. My place, Stephan's apartment, is actually pretty nice (but I still negotiated down to 10 Euro!). Had a coffee with Stephan, he got me registered with the tourist police and an exchange office to change my Leke for Macedonian Denar (phew!), then I was off to stroll around the Old Town. Many ancient cathedrals,
some with recovered (removing the Turkish whitewash covering) painted frescoes dating back to the 11th c.
Climbed up Samoil's Fortress for some great views of the town/lake,
then over to the ancient amphitheatre, which according to the guidebook, dates from the birth of Christ. But was altered during Roman era when the first 10 rows were removed & wall put up for allowing blood sport events (sweet!).
24.Sept.09
Today was spent in Ohrid at a pretty slow pace. Slept in a bit, had a great omelette & coffee at the restaurant down the road from my "apartment", then back into Old Town to visit a couple churches I missed yesterday, as well as the National Museum. Pretty weird setup, 5 floors but a good number of display cases were empty, and of those containing items, majority were without any description - not even in cyrillic! They did have a random drawing of G. Washington up on the wall for some reason.
Read my book (novel) down by the lake and then did some shopping, where I finally bought a new pair of black shoes to replace the Doc Martins - sort of sad to give them up after around ~ 15 years and countless miles hiked in all over the world, sort of like losing an old friend (a completely beat-up, worn out old friend!).
25.Sept.09
Skopje, Macedonia-FYROM
I'm about to head out and check out Skopje nightlife a bit; arrived a while ago from my bus trip from Ohrid & got checked-in to the nice, but definitely cramped, hostel. While the Macedonian countryside is really pretty - mountains and rivers running through, from the initial looks of the capital Skopje, seems a bit run down!
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