Today we set off for another two countries (‘The Amazing Race’ episode 2!) and first crossed the border into Albania. This border didn’t take too long at all which was good.
We enjoyed some beautiful scenery, and I continued to find it fascinating as I did yesterday in Montenegro that most of the houses here have about 27 balconies (I’m exaggerating, but they do have a fair few) but quite a number of houses have no fences on these. Just a bit of concrete jutting out. Wouldn’t be approved at home!
Before today, all I knew of Albania was that in the movie ‘Taken’, the “baddies” Liam Neeson fights off are Albanian, and also that take part in Eurovision.
We passed through Shkodër and saw it’s beautiful fort, and then continued on to the capital, Tirana. Albania gets its name from the ‘Albi’ mountain tribe that inhabited here, and the two eagles on their flag are due to it often being referred to as the ‘Land of the Eagles’.
In the 15th century, Skanderbeg (whose actual name was George Castriot) was a hero in this area as he organised the biggest uprising against the Turks, who had conquered this land in 1389.
The Albanian language was taught here in schools from 1889, but Albania didn’t become an independent country until 1912. Tirana was proclaimed as the capital in 1920 and now has 1.8 million inhabitants. On arrival we were stuck in terrible traffic. The roads aren’t very well organised so we had to drive all around to get to the bus parking. We noticed during this time that in certain parts of the city, no women were present. Once we got closer to the main area though, plenty were.
Albania was called the ‘Principality of Albania’ from 1914-1925, the ‘Albanian Republic’ from 1925-1928 and then the ‘Kingdom of Albania’ from 1928-1939. It was then occupied by the Italians during World War II. When the axis powers fell, communism came to Albania, and it was then the ‘Socialist People’s Republic of Albania’, led by Enver Hoxha. Albania started off aligned with the USSR, but in the early 1960s the USSR was no longer interested in this alliance. Albania then aligned with the Chinese who gave them supplies etc. They became the most isolated country in Europe, surrounded by Yugoslavia and Greece (who were not communist due to having a civil war just after World War II).
Our walk through the town took us up the Main Street to Skanderbeg Square, where a big statue of the man himself on a horse was. Previously, a statue of Stalin stood here. There was also a FIFA World Cup big screen, a carousel and the Ethem Bej Mosque. Mum and I then decided to ascend the clock tower which was built in 1822. It had a very narrow viewing balcony, and from here we could take in views of the city. Most of the city is quite run down and not exactly “pretty” like many other European cities. We were about to find out why.
We stumbled across a bunker labelled ‘Bunkerart 2’. Thinking it was some kind of art exhibition, we decided to have a quick look. It turned out to be a museum about the communist era here and was so interesting and informative, but also very sad. Currency is really confusing here. We paid in euros and received both euros and Lek (the actual currency of Albania) as change.
For the next 30 minutes (we could have spent much longer, but we had to meet the bus) we read and explored. The bunker was huge and underneath the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It, like 175 000 others in Albania, was built during the Cold War due to paranoia over a possible nuclear or chemical attack.
During communist times, around 6000 Albanian people were killed. Communism here was not like Yugoslavia. Unlike Yugoslavians, Albanians could not visit the west and were essentially trapped within their country. Due to this, Yugoslavian passports were worth even more on the black market than US passports as people could use them to leave and go wherever they pleased. Macedonian people who had moved to Albania for work just before communism arrived were unable to return home, a bit like what happened with the Berlin Wall. The borders were shut very suddenly and people were stuck and separated from their friends and families.
The people who were executed here were killed without a court order, and were usually shot or hanged. Many prisoners also died in labour camps. In total about 34 000 people were sent to prison for their political beliefs, and there were concentration camps and mass graves as well.
In the rooms of the bunker, we saw videos and artefacts. I saw a coat that had been used in the training of dogs to attack people trying to flee across the border, as many did. We also saw a jail cell and the quarters for the minister to sleep and work in. We read that communism was so extreme here that hotel rooms were bugged to hear what foreigners were saying about Albania, and barbers were only allowed to cut peoples’ hair in a certain way.
In 1985, Enver Hoxha died. The communist era ended in Albania in 1990 after uprisings here. An economic collapse followed, as did a lot of social unrest.
Nowadays, Albania is finding its feet more and more but is still struggling. We saw many bunkers on our way into the city from the bus, as well as many dilapidated and communist era buildings. Albania was a bit of a haven a couple of years ago when Greece had their economic crisis. Many Greek people came to Albania to work, and Albanians make up most of the immigrants to Greece.
The people that we dealt with in Tirana were so friendly. After the museum, we had a quick lunch at a local cafe - a yummy fritter and some roasted vegetables. One lady in the shop spoke English and was so welcoming and lovely. In total our lunch cost $7 Aussie, and the lady was so grateful when we tipped her the equivalent of an extra $2. I hope tourists continue to come here so that the country can continue to get back on its feet. My first impressions were that it wasn’t a very pretty place, but when you learn about why that is, you can completely understand. The people in Albania have certainly been through a lot.
We left the city and made our way towards the Macedonian border. We were treated once again to sunny, scenic views. This border also didn’t take very long!
We arrived about 6.30pm, and are taking the opportunity to have a pretty chill night.
There was a Macedonian dinner and dance night on offer tonight, but we decided not to go. We’ve been to some similar nights before and they’re just geared at tourists and can be a bit tacky. Our tour group is also a bit weird. There is a “back of the bus” group who are quite rude and obnoxious, and all they seem to care about is drinking. I’ve tried to be polite but they look straight through us whenever we gather as a group. We always sit towards the front of the bus with the other people who are interested in learning about where we are, history etc. Meanwhile, the others talk over the guide. We haven’t let them worry us, but I’m pretty embarrassed to be from the same part of the world as them! They’re very self centred. As soon as we realised they were all going to the dinner, we were very happy with our decision not to go.
Tonight we are staying outside of Ohrid. We are planning on hanging out by Lake Ohrid which our hotel faces onto and having dinner with two Aussie girls and two Canadian girls we have become friendly with.
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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