Split/Croatia – Elbasan/Albania

There we are, back down to sea level, in Thessaloniki/Greece, as guests of Mary and her friend Christina. It is Sunday the 12th of November 8:45pm and about time to write some lines about our way from Split to Elbasan…

But before I start, I want to say thanks again for all the nice comments – we did not know so far that we had to approve some of them first – so now they are all there to see. It seems that it is a very good way of sharing our thoughts – no matter if they are critical, challenging or philosophical – we are happy about your comments and will also answer questions, when you have some.

So lets rewind, back to Split/Croatia: We stayed there for one night in a hostel and spent the following day taking pictures, doing laundry, enjoying the colourfull markets and the sunset on the sea side before leaving the city on our way South. This is most of the time not as easy, if you are with a bicycle and demands all your concentration, even more if it is getting dark. But you also get used to that and this night we found this wonderful spot for our bikes and the sleepingbags and it was still warm enough to write some lines in my journal! The next morning we continued our way along the coast. The afternoon brought us the first raindrops, while we were enjoying some fresh citrus fruits. Then there is a small strip of Bosnien terretory you have to cross, before you get to the southern part of Croatia. The weather was windy and wet, so we had to put up the tent for the first time, had some diner and were hoping the best for the next day. Then it was still very windy but fortunately no more rain. To get to Dubrovnik from the north you have to cross a long white suspension bridge and because of the strong wind not an easy thing to do. We had to push the bikes slowly forward and also down, over to the other side, where a sign informed you about the wind speed of 95 km/h…

Dubrovnik is well known for its touristic quality and definetly worth a visit, but we stayed there just a few hours. The night was coming… On the border to Montenegro we got our first stamp in our passports and were surprised to pay our breakfast here in Euros again. It is the worlds youngest nation and with about 0,7Mio people also one of the smallest. They celebrated their independence from Serbia just about 5 months ago, on the 3rd of June 2006 and somehow you can feel that they are doing fine. After a pleasant break in a nice park we pushed the pedals again and spent the night next to a beautiful orthodox monastry after asking one of the inhabitants. On our second day in Montenegro you could see, that even a small country like this has its diversity. We left the seaside, a smaler street lead us up the hills and further south, we saw the first donkeys, the first minaret and in the distance snow covered peaks. Albania. Over there, on the other side. It is always a very special feeling to pass a border and this time even a bit more. There they are, 4 soldiers, the backs towards us, patroling and blocking the street, but smiling when we were passing them on our strange vehicles. Then the actual check point. A lonely place with some simple buildings, not really well kept. For this stamp we had to pay – 10 Euros. But now, let’s see what it is like this country, which is for many just known from the news for the Kosovo conflict and the immigrants to Italy. Also for us it was somehow still a mysterious country on the european map, although we grew up on the former socialistic side of Germany. The first city, Shkoeder, is not far, we need money and something to eat for tonight. But we needed some more time to adjust to what we saw, cycling through the outskirts of the city, crossing the river and looking for the centre, a bank, a cash mashine. It needed the first contacts with the people there, the kids, coming closer when I stopped, first loudly, then slowlier, respectful, wanting to shake my hand, what we did, and just have a closer look. Or the woman in the little shop, or the one who sold us some fruits on the street, maybe these first, very positive contacts gave us already a different, a more relaxed view, when we were leaving the city and a little later were looking for our first albanian ‚campsite‘. On Sunday we arrived to Tirana, the capital. On the way we were passing countless unfinished buildings and remarkable many furniture shops. You see almost only german cars and almost only Mercedes, also from time to time very expensive cars, passing a donkey-wagon, or passing slowly the mud holes in the side streets or sections which are ‚under construction‘. Well, these are images, still in my mind, the contrasts between the ones in these cars and behind these furniture shops and the kids playing in the rubbish, the socialistic monuments and mosaic, with a woman holding up a gun and all this damaged trash containers without wheels, the chaotic but still somehow safe feeling on the streets, the many radar controls and policemen in general and very important, the friendly, respectful and helpful people we met. In Tirana we were also looking desperatly for a place to shower – but neither in the sports palast where there were a judo tournament and a woman volleyball match, nor in the hotels where we asked we were successful. So again, after a quick internet shop stop, we left the city to find a place for the night. And this time we decided to ask somebody. Thomas did it. It was already dark and after a while there was a friendly man, who could speak english and also some german and he lead us to a ‚church‘ how he called it, where we finally were invited to stay for the night, to have a shower and some diner together as well. Wow! I was a bit overwhelmed about this change and about the opportunity to talk to some people from here. The headmaster was a friendly man, a missionar from South Korea, then there was Lisa a young albanian woman, two young albanian men and two japanese sisters sitting with us on the table. Afterwards we got a short introduction in their relgious beliefs and their work as a peace organisation and had the chance to exchange some thoughts and opinions. They are part of the Moon movement, founded by Mr. Moon and his wife in South Korea in 1954 and maybe known for their international and interreligious mass weddings, which, I told them right away, looked a bit scary to me and reminded me first hand at the communistic idea of equalization, which does exactly the opposite, it erases individual and cultural differences, which are so important! Wouldn’t it be at least possible to have these mass weddings much more colorfull? Where everybody wears the clothes, which reflect his cultural and religious background? Well, of course Thomas and me exchanged some of these thoughts later on and also got some more information from the world wide web (wikipedia) But again, not to get a wrong impression, we enjoyed our stay there very much and are greatful to these people, who were welcoming us openly.

With rain gear on again we went further east, high up the first mountain range and then down again to Elbasan, where we had the chance to post these pictures…

Maik

pictures to this article: Split/Kroatien – Elbasan/Albanien : Fotos

6. November 2006 - Maik | english texts | Kommentare :: comments :: comentarios | Inhalt drucken