As promised here is my short note about our one day in Bitola and couple of days in Skopje, containing never before seen details of Jade actually finding Roman ruins interesting.
As I have mentioned before, compared to Albania, everything seems really easy in Macedonia. On our last day in Ochrid, we woke up, packed, had breakfast and got a taxi to the bus station. We bought a ticket to Bitola and said goodbye to Nick, who was going to Skopje directly, and got on a bus that just happened to be there and on time (just like the bus timetable had said it would be). Bitola isn't very far from Ochrid and so we were only on the bus for just over an hour before we could get off and settle down in our lovely private room with its own ensuite - sad how little things like a clean bathroom become so exciting after you have put up with other people's hair on the floor for four weeks.
Bitola is really a bit of a nothing town. It's located on a plateau and so the drive there was full of winding climbs, followed by long straights through flat areas of farm land and orchards... all very quaint and pretty. The original town (Heraclea) was a prosperous trade center (founded by Philip II of Macedon, Alex the Great's dad), which later became even more prosperous because it sat right on the via Ignatius - the Roman road linking Italy and Greece (essentially the road that joined the western and eastern halves of the empire) - so you can imagine there was a lot of trade (and consequently duty and tariffs). It continued to be important during the Byzantine period because it had a lot of religious influence, and then, under the Ottomans, the town became a trade center again, with a large artisan population. So, in short, I wanted to stop for a day in Bitola to see the Roman ruins that they are still excavating... secretly knowing that, due to the general lack of health and safety, I would be able to climb over the ruins and, hopefully, in the diggings!
So, as well as some ruins and a nice guest house to stay in, Bitola has a pretty and relaxed town center, which Jade and I, (becoming less inclined to look at churches, mosques and museums as the days pass), decided to go for a wander around. The first thing we noted (or were reminded of) was how bad the Lonely Planet maps are - we followed the map and ended up at the far end of the center (and then got lost on the way home too). There is a pedestrian area that leads down to the 'river' (aka. rubbish filled riverbed and small creek) - there are lots of nice cafes and, again due to general lethargy, we spent a while people watching over a glass of red wine. We also had a wander around the old bizarre area, which used to have over 3000 artisan stalls and now plays home everything from shops selling shrines to wedding dresses. Jade and I did decide to look inside one church, (where I had to put on a wrap-around skirt); the main draw card here was some amazing ceiling frescoes and a really detailed altar screen but, if we're honesty, we were both more taken with the huge chandeliers and both secretly fancied one in our houses one day... or maybe that was just me and my delusions of grandeur.
We did go to the supermarket and get some snacks, which proved our downfall later in the evening. Our private room had about 80 channels so when we got home (at about five), we each got into bed, turned on the TV and watched 'Fox Crime' until ten thirty, while eating ALL our snacks... which inevitably made both of us feel a little ill.
Because everything seems so much easier in Macedonia, we decided to be daring the next day and try to go to the ruins in the morning and then catch the bus to Skopje in the afternoon. (This is not the start of a paragraph on all the things that went wrong because that was our plan and it actually worked without any hitches - amazing!) Heraclea was a large provincial center during the Roman Empire but, because of where the modern buildings are, there is only so much that can be excavated. We spent the morning climbing over the ruins and looking at some really well preserved mosaics. Again, I turned into Teacher Rose and had fun explaining about the baths and hypocausts, courts and basilicas to Jade - who said that, usually she would finds all the Roman stuff really boring but, because I explained it so well, she really liked it and that I should be a tour guide - thanks, Jade!!!
Then it was back on the bus and to Skopje, (a bus journey I slept through most of - the lack of proper nutrition has hit me well and truly now and I am really tired a lot of the time...and sometimes a little snappy, which can raise the level of tension somewhat between two such stubborn taureans!) Skopje isn't a very pretty city but it has a nice feel about it, although this may be partly due to the fact that a lot of the population are currently on holiday at Ochrid and on the Adriatic Coast. There was a major earthquake here in 1963 and many of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian buildings had to be flattened... result: a lot of gray, communist style apartments and civic buildings. The clock at the old train station (which is now the city museum) stopped at the moment the earthquake struck... hmmmmm, 'Back-to-the-future' anyone? There is a really nice central pedestrian area (again), with cafe filled streets radiating out from a central square next to the old Turkish bridge. Across the river is the old town, or the Turkish quarter.
Our sightseeing in Skopje has been limited to wandering. We spent most of yesterday morning in the old town, looking in the shops and markets. There are a lot of mosques in this part of the city and it was really cool to hear the call to midday prayer, as we were coming down from the town fortress, as it echoed from all parts of the old town. We did go into one church; a monastery on the hill below the fortress, which had to be built underground because of an Ottoman law that a church building could not be higher than a mosque. One of the Macedonia freedom fighters is buried in the courtyard and, inside the monastery church, there was an amazing altar screen, carved with flowers, leaves and birds which boarder carvings of bible stories and amazing painted icons. (Pretty cool... and I managed to get some sneaking photos in before a woman came to explain it all to us.) Apart from the church and wandering the old town, we went to see the Mother Theresa memorial... and then went to the shops. (Not a word! I got some really nice shoes.)
Today, we went to Lake Matka, which is 30 mins outside of Skopje and was created by the building a hydro-station in a narrow canyon. The canyon, itself, is pretty amazing with craggy rock-faces rising almost straight up out of the water in some parts and, in other parts, beautiful, lush bush coming right to the water... according to the wildlife signs there are a lot of protected bird species in the area, including 4 breeds of vulture! We had lunch in a cafe, which was on a terrace which overhung the water, and then we went for a boat trip up the canyon to see a cave. The guide was telling us that there have recently been a number of underwater cave systems discovered in the area including one, that they were diving when we were there, which may be the largest in Europe. After that we sat around for a bit waiting for our taxi driver to take us back to the hostel.
Hmmmm... I seem to recall using the work 'short' at the start of this! Anyway, we are catching a midnight bus to Sofia tonight and to be quite honest, although we are both still really enjoying seeing new things and being away, I, at least, am really ready to come home. I think in the end it has really come down to the food situation - I did do a lot of research before I left but there isn't much you can do if the traditional food that you found out about isn't served anywhere. I'm pretty proud of myself for sticking to the decision I made to go vegan but it has been really hard (and boring!) especially when I've really wanted an ice cream and all you can order off the menu is a tomato and cucumber salad... maybe next year I'll choose my holiday destination based solely on the local food!
I'll write one more little snippet, either from Sofia on Tuesday morning or from London - I think a little sum up may be in order.
Rose x
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Into Macedonia
After the insane, chaos of Albania, (regardless of what people keep stating), Macedonia has so far proved to be model of order… well in so far as the street lights exist (and work), there are road markings (which are generally adhered to) and the ratio of men to women, in public places, seems a bit closer to normal.
We had one final night in Tirana, after our random road-trip to the coast and before we embarked on what threatened to be (and ultimately was) a slightly trying attempt to go to Macedonia. Generally, the hostel owners (and random other people) had been really helpful and have given some good advice about buses, things to see etc – in Tirana, we managed to get a taxi ordered for us and to get to the minivan stop…
…however, it became apparent, after sitting in a stinking hot van for 15mins that we wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon and, owing to a lack of linguistic prowess, we couldn’t figure out if we were waiting for a specific time or for the whole van to fill. We were under the impression that the guy standing by the door and, (you guessed it), staring at us, was the drivers little helper, so we vented a lot of annoyed looks in his direction. Finally, with the help of the ‘point-at-a-phrase-in-the-phrase-book’ technique, we managed to figure out that we had to wait ‘til 1:15 before we would leave… almost an hour after we had arrived!! Not a good start but we soldiered on and were quickly distracted both by the erratic driving of the van-driver and the amazing view out of the windows – the road wound up through a mountain pass and then along a ridge so that there were sheer drops (and AMAZING views) out both sides of the van. It was literally like we were driving through the sky.
Apart from scary, staring man (whom both Jade and I had a turn sitting next too and who made a point of not only staring but looking us up and down – ew!) and the view, the only major event of the actual trip was when we stopped to pick people up and we took the opportunity to raid a roadside stall for its water and crisps, resulting in general laughter from the rest of the van. We stopped for lunch about half an hour later… oh well, our bagel crisps only cost 30p!
There are four boarder crossings between Albania and Macedonia, and we had assumed that (considering the general correctness of the advice given to us) that we had caught the mini-van from the best station, to go to the easiest boarder crossing, to get to Macedonia and Ochrid… it became apparent rather quickly that this was not the case and, as has been mentioned before, due to how useless the Lonely Planet has been about the ‘less visited’ Balkan states, we only had a very rough idea of how to get to our desired destination. And when we got out of the van in Pogridec, near the boarder, the fun began…
First, there was (again) a language issue – we couldn’t explain what we wanted (a taxi/mini-van to the boarder) and couldn’t understand the replies we were getting. (And while this was happening, Jade’s pack got partially run over by one of the million Albanian, Mercedes Benzes – typical!) Finally, we got a mini-van, which dropped us off at Albanian boarder control (see FB for photos – it was very pretty). There was nobody there (because they were all on the other side of the lake at the boarder crossing we should have gone to!) so we got through really quickly and, as per the sparse Lonely Planet instructions, walked to the Macedonian entry check.
The next problem we met, again owing to the LP, was that there are only 4 buses per day from the boarder to Ochrid town… and the LP doesn’t give the times. Added to this was the fact that neither Jade nor I had any Macedonian money… in fact between us we had a total of 8 Euros (and, as Sveti Naum consists of a church and a camping ground there wasn’t much hope of fixing the situation)! So with no money and no idea of when a bus would come, we ventured into the camp ground between the lake and the entry check point, in search of some help. Again, using the point-to-the-phrase technique, we managed to get an old man (with a boat) to accept the 8 Euros and take us somewhere where, he ‘implied/said’, we could a) find an ATM and b) get a bus.
The boat ride was lovely, and a nice break from the bus (and Albania in general), but it turned out that the old man’s plan was to drop us by a few batches, with a 10 min walk to the main road… and we still didn’t know if there would be a bus… luckily for us, there was a taxi sitting right where we came out onto the road. (Although, he did end up ripping us off when he got to our hostel… but at least we got there in the end.)
Right, so that was our little adventure to boarder… now for a few Macedonia facts – I feel like you may have missed out on the joy of informative information, while we were in Albania.
So... hopefully, most of you know that Alexander the Great was born in Macedonia and this piece of historical fame has been the cause of a lot of problems for Macedonia, in the recent past (and still today). The modern republic is only one third of the original area called Macedonia, with Greece and Bulgaria each stealing bits in the 1800s - Greece took the bit that dirty old Alex the Great was born in and now they say that modern Macedonia doesn't even have the right to call itself Macedonia!!! (There have already been changes to the flag and name of the country since its split from Yugoslavia... and Greece's continued protests may make it impossible for Macedonia to ever be accepted into the EU.) Anyway, as well as getting picked on by Greece, Macedonia has some amazing historical and archaeological sites... one near Ochrid is rumoured to be the possible resting place of the aforementioned Alex the Great... now that would piss the Greeks off! Apart from that, my only other interesting fact is that Macedonia is the only former Yugoslav state to split from Yugoslavia without a bullet being fired. (Now that is some pretty good negotiating!)
Our hostel in Ochrid was really great - nice and big, with a bit of a lived in feel (lots of maps, lists of bus times and discarded novels). There was a really good group of people staying there and on our first full day there, a group decided to go down the lake (yes 'Sveti Naum - the return!) - however, there was a polish group booked onto the ferry so there was apparently no room for us - they never showed up but the ferry people still wouldn't give us their seats... so we had the brainwave of chartering a boat instead. Unfortunately, our one-armed Captain Birdseye didn't check that both his outboard motors were working BEFORE he left port so we ended up on a 3 hour, 4 horsepower, dinghy ride - not so much fun when you're busting for the loo after an hour!
In Sveti Nuam we had a quick look in the monastery and then spent most of our time there looking at the tat in the little market. Jade and I lost the others and walked to the main road to catch the bus, only to find that we couldn't catch it there - luckily, we were offered a taxi ride for less than the bus would have cost. (We then went to the beautician and got a pedicure, acrylics and our eyebrows done... only 25 pounds each!! Hey - we've been backpacking for nearly five weeks and were going to get it done in London... we see this as a money saving operation!)
Day two saw me turning back into Teacher Rose, (combined with my alter-ego 'Tourguide Barbie'), so that we could go on a walking tour of the Old Town with one of the kiwi guys we had met at the hostel. So we had a look at some of the churches, the ancient theater and the fortress, before having lunch beside the lake. There are 365 churches in Ochrid (one for each day of the year) and it has been called the Jerusalem of the Balkans - we didn't visit all of them but we did go to a couple, including one where the ticket lady turned out to have a PhD on the frescoes in the church and was willing to explain their meanings to us.
It was a beautiful day so I left Jade by the lake (for a bit more sunbathing) and had a wander on my own... before going back to the hostel for a nana nap. It has been stinking hot for most of the time I have been traveling, so it was actually quite a welcome relief to see thunder clouds roll across the mountains from Albania. I think both Jade and I were starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by the number of places we have been and things we have seen over the last two weeks - we pretty much veged for the afternoon and evening... I was even so desperate for football that I ended up watching a third-round Champions League qualifying game.
We actually got to Skopje this afternoon, after a day in Bitola but I will write a little short entry tomorrow about that. We're flying home on Tuesday morning, from Sofia, so I will do one last entry from there on Monday evening... and then I'll see some of you soon, in London!
Rose x
We had one final night in Tirana, after our random road-trip to the coast and before we embarked on what threatened to be (and ultimately was) a slightly trying attempt to go to Macedonia. Generally, the hostel owners (and random other people) had been really helpful and have given some good advice about buses, things to see etc – in Tirana, we managed to get a taxi ordered for us and to get to the minivan stop…
…however, it became apparent, after sitting in a stinking hot van for 15mins that we wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon and, owing to a lack of linguistic prowess, we couldn’t figure out if we were waiting for a specific time or for the whole van to fill. We were under the impression that the guy standing by the door and, (you guessed it), staring at us, was the drivers little helper, so we vented a lot of annoyed looks in his direction. Finally, with the help of the ‘point-at-a-phrase-in-the-phrase-book’ technique, we managed to figure out that we had to wait ‘til 1:15 before we would leave… almost an hour after we had arrived!! Not a good start but we soldiered on and were quickly distracted both by the erratic driving of the van-driver and the amazing view out of the windows – the road wound up through a mountain pass and then along a ridge so that there were sheer drops (and AMAZING views) out both sides of the van. It was literally like we were driving through the sky.
Apart from scary, staring man (whom both Jade and I had a turn sitting next too and who made a point of not only staring but looking us up and down – ew!) and the view, the only major event of the actual trip was when we stopped to pick people up and we took the opportunity to raid a roadside stall for its water and crisps, resulting in general laughter from the rest of the van. We stopped for lunch about half an hour later… oh well, our bagel crisps only cost 30p!
There are four boarder crossings between Albania and Macedonia, and we had assumed that (considering the general correctness of the advice given to us) that we had caught the mini-van from the best station, to go to the easiest boarder crossing, to get to Macedonia and Ochrid… it became apparent rather quickly that this was not the case and, as has been mentioned before, due to how useless the Lonely Planet has been about the ‘less visited’ Balkan states, we only had a very rough idea of how to get to our desired destination. And when we got out of the van in Pogridec, near the boarder, the fun began…
First, there was (again) a language issue – we couldn’t explain what we wanted (a taxi/mini-van to the boarder) and couldn’t understand the replies we were getting. (And while this was happening, Jade’s pack got partially run over by one of the million Albanian, Mercedes Benzes – typical!) Finally, we got a mini-van, which dropped us off at Albanian boarder control (see FB for photos – it was very pretty). There was nobody there (because they were all on the other side of the lake at the boarder crossing we should have gone to!) so we got through really quickly and, as per the sparse Lonely Planet instructions, walked to the Macedonian entry check.
The next problem we met, again owing to the LP, was that there are only 4 buses per day from the boarder to Ochrid town… and the LP doesn’t give the times. Added to this was the fact that neither Jade nor I had any Macedonian money… in fact between us we had a total of 8 Euros (and, as Sveti Naum consists of a church and a camping ground there wasn’t much hope of fixing the situation)! So with no money and no idea of when a bus would come, we ventured into the camp ground between the lake and the entry check point, in search of some help. Again, using the point-to-the-phrase technique, we managed to get an old man (with a boat) to accept the 8 Euros and take us somewhere where, he ‘implied/said’, we could a) find an ATM and b) get a bus.
The boat ride was lovely, and a nice break from the bus (and Albania in general), but it turned out that the old man’s plan was to drop us by a few batches, with a 10 min walk to the main road… and we still didn’t know if there would be a bus… luckily for us, there was a taxi sitting right where we came out onto the road. (Although, he did end up ripping us off when he got to our hostel… but at least we got there in the end.)
Right, so that was our little adventure to boarder… now for a few Macedonia facts – I feel like you may have missed out on the joy of informative information, while we were in Albania.
So... hopefully, most of you know that Alexander the Great was born in Macedonia and this piece of historical fame has been the cause of a lot of problems for Macedonia, in the recent past (and still today). The modern republic is only one third of the original area called Macedonia, with Greece and Bulgaria each stealing bits in the 1800s - Greece took the bit that dirty old Alex the Great was born in and now they say that modern Macedonia doesn't even have the right to call itself Macedonia!!! (There have already been changes to the flag and name of the country since its split from Yugoslavia... and Greece's continued protests may make it impossible for Macedonia to ever be accepted into the EU.) Anyway, as well as getting picked on by Greece, Macedonia has some amazing historical and archaeological sites... one near Ochrid is rumoured to be the possible resting place of the aforementioned Alex the Great... now that would piss the Greeks off! Apart from that, my only other interesting fact is that Macedonia is the only former Yugoslav state to split from Yugoslavia without a bullet being fired. (Now that is some pretty good negotiating!)
Our hostel in Ochrid was really great - nice and big, with a bit of a lived in feel (lots of maps, lists of bus times and discarded novels). There was a really good group of people staying there and on our first full day there, a group decided to go down the lake (yes 'Sveti Naum - the return!) - however, there was a polish group booked onto the ferry so there was apparently no room for us - they never showed up but the ferry people still wouldn't give us their seats... so we had the brainwave of chartering a boat instead. Unfortunately, our one-armed Captain Birdseye didn't check that both his outboard motors were working BEFORE he left port so we ended up on a 3 hour, 4 horsepower, dinghy ride - not so much fun when you're busting for the loo after an hour!
In Sveti Nuam we had a quick look in the monastery and then spent most of our time there looking at the tat in the little market. Jade and I lost the others and walked to the main road to catch the bus, only to find that we couldn't catch it there - luckily, we were offered a taxi ride for less than the bus would have cost. (We then went to the beautician and got a pedicure, acrylics and our eyebrows done... only 25 pounds each!! Hey - we've been backpacking for nearly five weeks and were going to get it done in London... we see this as a money saving operation!)
Day two saw me turning back into Teacher Rose, (combined with my alter-ego 'Tourguide Barbie'), so that we could go on a walking tour of the Old Town with one of the kiwi guys we had met at the hostel. So we had a look at some of the churches, the ancient theater and the fortress, before having lunch beside the lake. There are 365 churches in Ochrid (one for each day of the year) and it has been called the Jerusalem of the Balkans - we didn't visit all of them but we did go to a couple, including one where the ticket lady turned out to have a PhD on the frescoes in the church and was willing to explain their meanings to us.
It was a beautiful day so I left Jade by the lake (for a bit more sunbathing) and had a wander on my own... before going back to the hostel for a nana nap. It has been stinking hot for most of the time I have been traveling, so it was actually quite a welcome relief to see thunder clouds roll across the mountains from Albania. I think both Jade and I were starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by the number of places we have been and things we have seen over the last two weeks - we pretty much veged for the afternoon and evening... I was even so desperate for football that I ended up watching a third-round Champions League qualifying game.
We actually got to Skopje this afternoon, after a day in Bitola but I will write a little short entry tomorrow about that. We're flying home on Tuesday morning, from Sofia, so I will do one last entry from there on Monday evening... and then I'll see some of you soon, in London!
Rose x
Sunday, 2 August 2009
And we're still in Albania
So after the closing words of my last post, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Jade and I are still in Albania. (Jade tried her best to get run over but couldn't quite manage it - there is something innately difficult about looking left and then right before crossing the road... habit of a lifetime?)
Albania is really a country of extremes, not just in its scenery, which ranges from beautiful beaches to barren cliffs to green fields, but socially and economically. During communist rule, (if Yugoslavia was the best advert for communism, Albania was the worst), the leaders of the communist party lived in luxury, in an area called the Bllocku. (Meanwhile, the people remained, essentially, in a pre-industrialised society, carrying out strange laws - like the construction of tens of thousands of concrete bunkers... just in case someone invaded.) Today the extremes are still there but for a different reason - while the whole country is crazy with bad roads, half completed houses and people driving donkeys and carts, there are a lot of multi-national companies pumping money into Albania, and this has created a huge wealth and lifestyle gap.
Jade and I went out on Friday night, to the Bllocku, which is now full of lovely bars (and the noveau riche), and got a glimpse of this foreign money first hand - the young people (who go out every night in Tirana!) are well educated, very western in their attitudes and ideas and have money to burn because, even working as a bank teller, they can earn up to five times the monthly average income. Some of the bars where amazing and the two clubs we ended up in were really good (beautiful and great music). I do need to admit that the night wasn't that straightforward - as the bars emptied out, we couldn't figure out where everyone was going and we were about to go home. Then we heard the faint sound of bass and so we followed a group of girls until they ended up at this great outdoor club. Apparently, we stick out like sore (foreign) thumbs - not only was there a lot of staring, we actually got told that you could tell we were foreign because of attitudes (eh?). We did meet a whole group of people though... and this is the reason why we are still in Albania.
The main problem with being a backpacker is that you need to rely on public transport and, especially in a country like Albania, this can be really very hard - not only does the public transport system not always make sense but, when you have time constraints, taking 7 hours to cover a distance that should take 2 hours can mean you just scrap going to certain places... this was what happened to the south of Albania - luckily, we met some locals who had a car and were going there anyway. Apparently, a lot of people from Tirana go to the coast every weekend and so, on Saturday, Jade and I tagged along with our new friends and spent Saturday night and Sunday at Dhermi, in the south, right on the Adriatic. (Oh yes, this is the life!)
After our late night on Friday, we got picked up at 11am and spent the next five hours(!) driving down the coast - had a really nice lunch at a great, 'expensive' seafood restaurant, (where I was a pain and made them make me something that wasn't on the menu). It was such a beautiful drive, not just for the sea views but also for the huge gorge and mountain pass that we drove over - the mountains are right next to the sea but are so high that, in winter, they are covered in snow. The road down from the main road down to the beach is unsealed (reminds me of Martin's Bay 15 years ago but really, really bumpy) and took about 20mins to drive - once down, the beach was so unspoilt, with hardly anyone on it. We stayed in these really cute little chalets, surrounded by palm trees and 5mins walk to the beach. That night we went to the other end of the beach (where the rich and glamorous live), to another outdoor club called Havana - yes, we have been everywhere on this holiday! Jade and I were wearing shorts and singlets - everyone else was in their best clothes... lucky we're still living according to the 'meh, we're tourists' mentality.
The next day, we slept in (Yay! Air conditioning!) and then lay on the beach until 4 o'clock - the water was amazingly clear, like it is in the islands, and really warm. (The fact that you could walk 5mins to a restaurant and get drinks delivered to you on the beach just made the whole things that much better - if that's possible!) So after lounging around on the beach all day we drove back to Tirana and had another really good nights sleep back at the hostel - Having read back over what I have written, the last few days have, comparatively, been pretty lacking in interesting events... except for the whole meeting random people and going on a road trip with them thing. (Jade and I did tell some people that we were an Educational Psychologist and a Lawyer respectively, and I made up a fake lawyer email, but that is pretty much it, in terms of crazy behaviour.)
We are definitely going to Macedonia later today - I have booked the accommodation so there will be no change of plans!! We've got a week and one day left of our trip, which is going to be spent in Macedonia.
Will write again from Skopje.
Rose x
Albania is really a country of extremes, not just in its scenery, which ranges from beautiful beaches to barren cliffs to green fields, but socially and economically. During communist rule, (if Yugoslavia was the best advert for communism, Albania was the worst), the leaders of the communist party lived in luxury, in an area called the Bllocku. (Meanwhile, the people remained, essentially, in a pre-industrialised society, carrying out strange laws - like the construction of tens of thousands of concrete bunkers... just in case someone invaded.) Today the extremes are still there but for a different reason - while the whole country is crazy with bad roads, half completed houses and people driving donkeys and carts, there are a lot of multi-national companies pumping money into Albania, and this has created a huge wealth and lifestyle gap.
Jade and I went out on Friday night, to the Bllocku, which is now full of lovely bars (and the noveau riche), and got a glimpse of this foreign money first hand - the young people (who go out every night in Tirana!) are well educated, very western in their attitudes and ideas and have money to burn because, even working as a bank teller, they can earn up to five times the monthly average income. Some of the bars where amazing and the two clubs we ended up in were really good (beautiful and great music). I do need to admit that the night wasn't that straightforward - as the bars emptied out, we couldn't figure out where everyone was going and we were about to go home. Then we heard the faint sound of bass and so we followed a group of girls until they ended up at this great outdoor club. Apparently, we stick out like sore (foreign) thumbs - not only was there a lot of staring, we actually got told that you could tell we were foreign because of attitudes (eh?). We did meet a whole group of people though... and this is the reason why we are still in Albania.
The main problem with being a backpacker is that you need to rely on public transport and, especially in a country like Albania, this can be really very hard - not only does the public transport system not always make sense but, when you have time constraints, taking 7 hours to cover a distance that should take 2 hours can mean you just scrap going to certain places... this was what happened to the south of Albania - luckily, we met some locals who had a car and were going there anyway. Apparently, a lot of people from Tirana go to the coast every weekend and so, on Saturday, Jade and I tagged along with our new friends and spent Saturday night and Sunday at Dhermi, in the south, right on the Adriatic. (Oh yes, this is the life!)
After our late night on Friday, we got picked up at 11am and spent the next five hours(!) driving down the coast - had a really nice lunch at a great, 'expensive' seafood restaurant, (where I was a pain and made them make me something that wasn't on the menu). It was such a beautiful drive, not just for the sea views but also for the huge gorge and mountain pass that we drove over - the mountains are right next to the sea but are so high that, in winter, they are covered in snow. The road down from the main road down to the beach is unsealed (reminds me of Martin's Bay 15 years ago but really, really bumpy) and took about 20mins to drive - once down, the beach was so unspoilt, with hardly anyone on it. We stayed in these really cute little chalets, surrounded by palm trees and 5mins walk to the beach. That night we went to the other end of the beach (where the rich and glamorous live), to another outdoor club called Havana - yes, we have been everywhere on this holiday! Jade and I were wearing shorts and singlets - everyone else was in their best clothes... lucky we're still living according to the 'meh, we're tourists' mentality.
The next day, we slept in (Yay! Air conditioning!) and then lay on the beach until 4 o'clock - the water was amazingly clear, like it is in the islands, and really warm. (The fact that you could walk 5mins to a restaurant and get drinks delivered to you on the beach just made the whole things that much better - if that's possible!) So after lounging around on the beach all day we drove back to Tirana and had another really good nights sleep back at the hostel - Having read back over what I have written, the last few days have, comparatively, been pretty lacking in interesting events... except for the whole meeting random people and going on a road trip with them thing. (Jade and I did tell some people that we were an Educational Psychologist and a Lawyer respectively, and I made up a fake lawyer email, but that is pretty much it, in terms of crazy behaviour.)
We are definitely going to Macedonia later today - I have booked the accommodation so there will be no change of plans!! We've got a week and one day left of our trip, which is going to be spent in Macedonia.
Will write again from Skopje.
Rose x
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)