Albanian countryside

8/05/09




Bus trip through Albania (Tirana to Ohrid, Macedonia)


Bunker! (See it in the middle?)



I finally got on the bus to Ohrid after much confusion and frustration. (I was told repeatedly that I could only buy bus tickets at a window where no one was working...the train ticket sellers didn't care, though, and pointed to the phone number for me to call. This was at 8:30AM for a 9AM bus.)



On my map it said it would be about 2-3 hr drive, so of course it was a 7 hr process. I had my first indication we were taking a circuitous route when, after an hour of driving, I looked out the window and saw the ocean. The ocean was the direct opposite of the direction of Ohrid.



We ended up traveling all around the Albanian countryside picking people up here or there. It was nice to see the country, though. One of the fun games to play out the window was "find the bunkers." Apparently under Communist rule the leader decided it would be smart to invest in cement and steel mini-bunkers where the citizens would be safe from invasion. He commissioned an engineer to create something indestructible, and to test it out made the engineer crawl inside while a tank assaulted the bunker. Much to the engineer's relief, I'm sure, the bunker proved hardy and the leader ordered 700,000 of them. Now they can be seen all over the country. Some people try to decorate the ones in their backyards with hanging plants and paint.



The country was very gorgeous, despite these cement eyesores, while we traveled through the mountains. We stopped at a roadside stand and while we were there buying Fanta and oregano-flavored chips a bride and her entourage came through to take pictures in the garden. It was so weird - she looked miserable. I hope I didn't stumble upon some horrific forced marriage or something. I'm gonna assume she was just hot and sweaty in her gigantic dress.






Once I got to Struga, Macedonia I hopped in a taxi and got to my hotel in Ohrid. More on that in the next post!