Shkoder, Albania: Not in Northern Africa

Traveling around, telling people I was planning to go to Albania most often elicited a confused look as if to say, "really? why Albania?" The next most common response was either "oh, me too!" or "I've been there, it was awesome/terrible." Finally, and most horrifyingly, three people responded with "isn't that in Africa?" No, no it is not. Only one of these was American. Wandering the Balkans I've actually met a handful of Americans who have been in and around Albania and with the exception of this one individual, I'm happy to announce they all knew where Albania was and it's capital, Tirana. We do get a bit of an unfair rep for bad geography.

While believing Albania is in Africa is a staggering folly, it isn't entirely impossible to see how this country is so oft overlooked as a part of Europe. One, it's wedged into a little space on the south end of the Adriatic coast sharing a border with Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Greece. With Croatia and Bosnia also nearby, there's a lot of action drawing attention away from Albania. Second, during the communist period Albania essentially existed in a black hole. The regime physically and culturally isolated the country from the rest of mainland Europe and the effects of the regime have likely set them back decades in terms of development and infrastructure.

To make matters worse, and add insult to injury for most Albanians, Enver Hoxha, their dictator for 41 years, elected to use the nation's funds to construct well over half a million heavy-artillery-proof concrete bunkers all over Albania. The theory was to use them to defend every inch of Albania in a bunker/trench-like warfare should the country come under siege. According to my host, Florian, and other Albanians I spoke to, the cost of these bunkers was so high that every Albanian could have purchased four houses for the equivalent sum. As you might imagine, they were never used and now sit in various forms of decay- an eyesore and ever present reminder of the communist regime and the fiscal damage done to the country.

Most people that I met who went to Albania either did a long tour, hitting four or five cities and spending some time on the reputedly beautiful Lake Ohrid, or they went straight to Tirana and then on into either Montenegro or Macedonia. I, on the other hand, decided on an alternative route. I wanted to proceed next into Kosovo and I had read about a great route from the Albanian city of Shkoder to Kosovo via a ferry along Lake Koman that was reputedly one of the most beautiful boat rides on the planet. Not exactly sure how to manage the full trip, I nevertheless decided on Shkoder as my Albanian destination. The other thing that drew me to Shkoder was a quick search on hostelbookers which revealed the Florian Guesthouse.

This looks totally legit... So guesthouse may a bit of an overstatement. In actuality it is the home of Florian, and Albanian of Catholic descent, and his entire family. His extended family occupy the neighboring houses making it a large family complex. Within Florian's house and plot is a beautiful garden where grape vines hang overhead.

There is a main house where the family lives and a smaller house that is used as hostel-style accommodation. The house itself is about 3 miles outside the city center down some slightly windy roads so I elected to get a taxi from the bus station. One note about Albanian "bus stations." Specifically, there are none. It is usually just a spot along a road or near a roundabout where the buses are known to stop. You go there at the specified time and when the bus comes by stick out your hand to flag it. You buy your ticket on board, generally at the end of the bus ride.

When I arrived Florian greeted me with a Turkish coffee and showed me to my room. I was sharing a room with a girl, Rachel, who was volunteering with Florian for room and board, and a Finnish guy who had contracted a bout of food poisoning and was thereby laid up for the majority of my time there. The accommodations at Florian's are a bit Spartan. The bed was an old-school mattress set up on concrete blocks. There was no A/C or heat but we didn't really need it. There was internet and a shower, when the power was on which was usually for a few hours late in the day. Since we had to leave the windows open to get air circulation you had to live with the fact that flies and mosquitoes were likely to buzz about you at night. But if you're not incredibly picky and are looking for an authentic Albanian experience, I can heartily recommend Florian's.

That night his mother cooked us all a homemade meal of simple Albanian food. I should note that they grew in their garden and made nearly everything that we ate. First there were plates of sauteed carrots, eggplant, and peppers. I'm usually not a huge fan of eggplant but this was awesome!

Then came an onslaught of more food: fresh tomatoes, onion and cucumber, a beef noodle soup, Albanian bread, fresh sheep's cheese, and fried potatoes. The table was completely packed with food. After we ate, Florian came by with some wine that they make from the grapes hanging about the garden. It's a red wine, a little bit sweet with an earthy tangy finish. Perhaps not my favorite wine but it went well with the simple cuisine we were having. We chatted about Albania's history and politics and finally retired. After two buses starting at 8am I was beat. Unfortunately, the night wasn't as restful as I had hoped. Florian and his family keep a number of animals including chickens, pigs, and roosters around the house. Here was my notes early in the morning from my bed at Florian's:

"Impossible to sleep. Rooster crows every 30 seconds from 3:30am through 6:30am and intermittently during the day. It's so noisy here, even with earplugs, between the rooster, the chickens, the generator, the people milling about, and now the blood curdling screams of a pig which sounds as if it's being butchered alive. The shrieks are gruesome. This must be what hell sounds like."

I ended up getting only about 3 hours of sleep with all of the noise. I drug myself form bed still exhausted but excited to see Shkoder. Florian was gracious enough to let Rachel and I borrow bicycles for a ride around Shkoder. It takes about 15 minutes to bike into the main part of town. From there we stopped by the Shkoder Mosque, an ancient and recently refurbished mosque in the center of the city. As Albania is predominately Muslim, you will find mosques scattered about the landscape in cities and in the countryside.

Nearby is a recently renovated street designated as pedestrian only. It's lined with coffee shops, bars, and restaurants and is considered one of the main social venues of the city. According to Rachel, most nights of the week Albanian girls and guys will get dressed up to more or less peacock up and down this several-block boulevard. During the day you will see Albanians, almost entirely men, sitting at the various cafes and restaurants having a coffee and smoking. We walked up and down it twice and I never once saw an Albanian eating anything.

This is a curious phenomenon but one that I would later notice again in Kosovo. In fact, the only time I ever saw Albanians eat was if they grabbed a sandwich or pastry from a street vendor and ate it on the go. I guess you don't have time for a sit down meal when the bulk of your day is occupied with sitting for coffee and cigarettes, or walking around smoking cigarettes. Did I mention the Albanians love to smoke? Not just the Albanians, the whole of the Balkans is like this. After a few weeks I was beginning to think Balkan people didn't know how to breath without a cigarette.

Our next stop was the Shkoder fortress. This fortress dates back centuries, no melennia, to antiquity and was ultimately captured by the Romans in the year 167 BC. It has grown and evolved in the thousands of years past. On the way to the fortress we passed the old bridge where on the other side the Shokder gypsies occupy some of the best real estate in and around the city. We would later pass through here on our way to the lake.

After making a few wrong turns we finally found the road up to the fortress. Since Rachel had been before she decided to camp out in the shade and wait for me. So I left the bike and proceeded on foot. At the top I was surprised by just how large it was. It took me a good hour to walk around it, and there a number of structures still standing.

Additionally, they have converted one to a restaurant just in case you get a bit hungry after your climb. On other interesting element, I've been visiting a lot of forts and castles now and have always wondered how they got water up there. Well the Shokder fortress had that well covered, no pun intended. There were probably 6 or 7 wells scattered around the complex.

You can probably guess what I'm going to say next, "the fortress also has some great views of the city." Clearly. So here you go. Shkoder lake is off to the left a little bit.

Since I had seen the lake from afar I figured it was high time to visit it. Rachel and I made our way back down, across the bridge, and around to the start of the lake. We cycled past a few small towns and finally came to a beach (rocks!) where we could take a swim. One of Rachel's Albanian friends also joined us at this point. The water was actually the perfect temperature but we didn't swim for too long. About 20 minutes after we got in we saw a water snake swim by a few feet away (very common on this lake) and decided that our swimming desire was now fully satisfied for the day. Here we are after emerging unscathed from our encounter with the snake:

By this point the sun was beginning to set on Shkoder and my time in Albania. We headed back along the bridge and toward the main part of town where we stopped for a brief snack. We sat in a park for a bit people watching. According to Rachel's friend, during the communist days there were a huge number of spies in and around the city reporting on the various goings and comings of the citizens.

After the collapse of communism these people resumed their daily lives but continued to keep tabs on people out of habit. As we sat there we tried to identify who was a spy and who wasn't. The conclusion we came to was that nearly everyone was a spy, especially the most unassuming. Such as the old man with telescopic glasses who could barely walk. Or the old woman leisurely riding her bicycle through the park. Or the main looking for chess partners. All spies. We eventually parted ways with Rachel's friend and back at the guesthouse Rachel too this picture of me and my rad pink bicycle:

That night Florian's mother prepared us another home cooked meal. This one was very similar to the previous night with one very remarkable exception. Instead of the beef noodle soup, she cooked us a soup of tripe. If you aren't familiar with tripe, it's another word for intestine. I've had tripe before in other dishes such as pho, but I Was a bit unprepared for this one. As soon as it came out I dug right in and upon the first bite I immediately thought, "this tastes a bit like tri-" and right at that moment Florian's mom goes, "-this is soup of stomach- uh intestine!" Rachel couldn't quite stomach it but I thought it was very tasty.

We finished the meal with a bit of rakija and a glass of Florian's wine and then headed off to bed. That night we had a new guest, Gary, from the UK who was also planning to take the lake Koman ferry in the morning. We decided to team up and Florian called for the bus to pick us up at 6 am. Whoo hoo! Early day. It was going to be an adventure getting to Prizren, Kosovo as apparently I would need to take a bus to a ferry to a mini-bus, to another mini-bus, then hitch a lift to the next bus stop where I could catch another mini-bus to Prizren. I had a great feeling about this new adventure- so much so that I could hardly sleep. This was the type of crazy logistics travel I had been hoping for!