2013 - Albania and Macedonia
Hi
Welcome one welcome all
This is a tale of travel, of food, of a small young family, of gadgets and of backpacking with a child. This year we return to the Balkans as we last year spent 19 days travelling around most of the former Yugoslavia. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to return this year. So - there is a lot of things that I would like to cover before I get to the actual travelling part.
First of, let me tell you a little bit about me, That small part of me is that I am a project kind of guy which I will elaborate some more later. (by the way, Kristian writing here) But I tend to want to make things evolve, and so it is with this blog as well. We ended up buying this blog (www.bpwc.net) after last year we had approx. 2000 page views and I want that number to grow this year. Unfortunately Like I said I am a project kind of guy, and the last year have been filled with projects (mostly work related - besides the move from a small flat to a huge flat) and that have left me very little time to work on this project. Fortunately I have a lot of time the next 16 days to work on it. What I will work on is the form, not the content. But we have agreed to work more in depth with the content part as well. One thing is the personal story for our families and friends sitting bored/anxiously waiting for our story, another thing is what we actually learn about the places we visit and learn about travelling with a small child and a backpack.
And that it is backpacking is very essential to us. We seek the authentic and we seek the contact with the local people who actually live and work the places we visit. We are not interested in talking to people who service us where we go - we are interested in the culture and the history in the places, and people capable of conveying that information. We want to visit places with a local culture. The western culture, however convenient and accessible it is, is not what we want to experience. Even if at least one of us (me) have a very hard addiction to espresso based caffeine fixes in the morning, which is not always accessible in these parts, i have to admit - one more thing i will elaborate on later in this entry.
One of the effects of my need to project work things in our daily life is, that we will try to test some of the gear that we are travelling with. This is because we have updated our travelling gear since last year where we had some things that were good but not great and there is a common saying in Danish "Don't go down on gear". There are two levels of gear for me. One is electronic gadgets. This year i have brought along - my work laptop - a Sony Vaio computer (which just works it has a back lit keyboard upon touch of it - good battery and a brilliant screen) for the next trip it would be nice to have one of the new Vaio Pro touch screen machines - I have seen the specks online and saw one in Brussels (where we had stopover going to Corfu) and I got a gadget crush - it was small, light and the touchscreen looks amazing. I have got a iPhone 4 - we will use a hotspot (a simcard with 1 gb internet is about 5 Euros) my Sony Xperia V - a Android based Smartphone (4.1) which just works - It can handle water and a serious beating. A Nexus 7 (tablet) for information gathering of our next stop over and commute information. Another level of gadgets are practical things - I have (for me) brought a Handpresso to make espresso in the morning (there are some places in the Balkans where they don't make espresso!). I have six haglöfs items - three shorts, three shirts, I suffer from some perspiration issues and their clothing seems to handle that quite well (very well - speaking for the two days here). We have bought an Osprey Poco Plus - with a daylight backpack - to carry Saya around (practically hasn't been used yet). Besides that we have a lot of small stuff (wine openers for instance) which we use.
Now - getting all the technicalities aside, here is where we are now. Its Tuesday the 27 of august- we have been on this trip for about 2 days which we have been planning for about a year. Last year we had an amazing experience. We saw some jaw dropping things, both in beauty and in echoes of the war that was fought in these parts, something that seems no more than a breath away. Unfortunately we did not have the possibility last year to visit everything we wanted to visit. For instance Albania and Macedonia which is why these places are the goal of this year. And we are well underway to do that now.
This trip have started long ago, well the planning of it. But for my part, I realized it was a reality sitting on the second plane yesterday after our layover in Brussels. Things have been busy, on a personal level, and on a professional level, mostly the last one. The last year has been crazy, crazy good, but crazy. I have realized that this trip have to be an exercise in being here, right now, and put all the work things where they belong, at work. This is a once in a life time experience (which some would argue that everything is, but that's another discussion), and I want to make the best of it. We have discussed it and we have agreed that this is a perfect time to start exercising mindfulness. The rest of the year will be filled with work and study (for my part).
I went on holiday from work Friday, spent the entire weekend getting tutoring and was (finally) free Sunday afternoon. The rest of the day and the start of Monday was spent packing and cleaning the flat (it is rented out through the whole period via AirBNB, which gives us a little bit of extra money to spend on the trip) - we where very uncertain what to bring along, since we didn't know how hot it would be. We ended up packing for hot weather.
Saya was in a splendid mood both Sunday and Monday, since we have been talking to her about the trip for quite a while now, Unfortunately she had a little accident between Sunday and Monday, as we tried to let her sleep without her nappy. She was awake for some time during the night - because we had to change her sheets and pyjamas. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since she was very tired Monday and we managed to make her get a nap - we had a long trip ahead of us. We left our flat just after 1 pm and headed for the airport. Moving to Amager has been the smartest thing we have done for many reasons - one of them being that it only takes 10 minutes to get to the airport. We had to check in at the counter and not via self service because we had connecting flights. We delivered our bags in the odd size luggage because the Osprey is - well - odd sized.
We got in - got pasta, BLT and a beer (milk for Saya) at O'learys. We were looking at the planes out of the windows. Saya was in a splendid mood and were amazed by the planes "they are big!" she exclaimed quite some times ("de er godt nok store!" "det er en lang flyvemaskine!"). Finally it was time for boarding. The first flight was to Brussels - after a bit of scuffling back and forth - Saya was put between the two of us. She was not very keen on the belt, but we bribed her with sweets and it was acceptable for her. She loved the take off. Shes just such a cool little kid, there are few things that scares her. She got a bit tired on the flight (I think it's the pressure - I always get tired as well) We had a bag full of things to entertain her - so that flight went quite well. Our flight was a SAS machine - why does it seem to be that old machines always get really hot right before taxing out and when waiting to get of the machine?
We had three hours in Brussels before the flight to Corfu. Saya was full of energy and bad manners - it was kind of cute and a bit of a strain.But we sad down and got some Tapas and she loved that, so it was quiet for some time (btw - Brussels EU terminal is small and boring, but if you are in those parts - please try the Tapas restaurant - its very good and reasonably priced).
The 3 hours wait went surprisingly fast. We went on the flight which was a Aegean machine, very good service and it seemed to be a fairly new machine. Saya fell asleep after about 30 minutes. The flight was 2½ hours and was boring. After being in transit for about 10 hours - we arrived in Corfu - it was midnight local time (11 Danish time) - and it was humid and hot (about 28 degrees). Saya woke up and was tired but in a good mood. "look at the all the pretty lights!" she exclaimed as soon as she opened her eyes! Luckliy it only took 10 minutes to walk to the hotel (a kind of trashy two star thing - but it fulfilled our needs). When we arrived I started writing this blog entry and Jannie tried to get Saya to sleep. I went down to the bar and got a cold beer (two gulps and it was down) after about 20 minutes i went back up to the room. Saya was still awake and I quietly typed on the blog again. When Saya finally fell asleep, we drank one more beer and went to bed. There was one small window in the room and you could blog out the light completely. So we all went into a coma for 9 hours straight.
The next day, tuesday the 27, I was the first one up - as always. I wanted to use my handpresso - but unfortunately i had left a coffee pad in it from the last time, so i need to have it cleaned, After a short while reading news on the tablet the girls awoke. We got some uninspiring breakfast at the hotel, the most exiting thing we experienced was a priest and his wife (in their 60 i would guess) shamelessly staring at us (i guess we did look quite out of place). We decided to go right ahead and get to the harbor - even if we had some hours before the ship sailed.
That choice turned out to be a good idea, the taxi put us off right next to the ticket office. The taxi driver told us that he have worked without having a holiday since 2009 because of the financial crisis in Greece. But, something that should not come as a surprise for us, they did not accept credit card, so I had to walk back to town (sweating - it was hot and humid!) The poverty was very outspoken. I saw a man begging - with papers put out in front of him, probably something about being fired or losing his house or something like that. Poverty is a horrible thing, and there seem to be different kinds. There is the born poor, and then the losing everything poor. Both are horrible, but in the last one you can see that there is a pride that has been broken. That look was the look on that man begging in that street. A guy i know, Christian D, has once said "you can't really own anything" and I guess he is right about that. He said it prior to 2008. The poverty and its ghost was also very outspoken in the bank, there was about 20 people sitting waiting, holding their papers and they had hunted scared looks on their faces. I do not think it's nice to live in Greece these years (or Spain and Portugal for that matter). I do not really want to politicize this blog, but sometimes the actions of the few hurt the many, and i consider myself lucky to live in a place where there is basic level of security and I have a job that i am good at. I guess that is one of the things travelling someplace very different from where you live teaches you.
Well finally we got the tickets and went to where the ship was to depart. We waited for some time, and the ship was delayed. Saya is just so good at being patient and we consider us very lucky.
When we finally shipped of, it was on a very small boat that could hold a few cars and about 20-25 people. It was a very scenic and beautiful boat ride. It was very hot and Saya and I were suffering (Jannie have a very unnatural ability to withstand the heat). It took about 1½ hour to get from Corfu to Sarandë. During the trip I saw flying fish - twice! What an amazing thing, the first time I initially thought it was some strange birds, unfortunately i did not get any pictures of them. David Attenborough is narrating it in my mind.
When we arrived we went through customs we got a stamp (to Jannie's joy) We went with a taxi to our hotel. The Taxi driver really wanted to get us as his customers for some drives around the place. It was a bit annoying and a bit funny at the same time as his English was very bad. The hotel we are staying at is the Sarandë International Hotel - which is surprisingly nice, it's a 3 star but seems more like a four star. It has some strange quirks and odd building decisions. But we have a huge room for the same price as the small 2 star room in Corfu. The area surrounding the hotel is not very nice, its more or less a building site, where they are putting up new apartment buildings and hotels, we have a balcony and it is facing t a hotel that is being build right next door. But it has a private beach where we went after checking in. We got a very nice dinner in the restaurant that is attached to the beach. We got the most expensive thing on the menu (Grilled Seabass) and a pasta for Saya, two salads and some beers (I was thirsty) for about 200 kr (app 30 Euros) and I think that is a very expensive place. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening there, bathing and relaxing - it was amazing and much needed. We went back to the hotel and put Saya to bed. I got a couple more beers and Jannie some white wine. We planned the next couple of days and decided to drop Vlorë and go inland - beach is nice, but it gets boring very fast. We will go to Berat tomorrow and then to Elbassan after that, We have booked an apartment in Berat via AirBNB, We went to bed around midnight and maybe a bit lightheaded - I think it's the climate and that it had nothing to do with the beers ;)
Today was lazy until noon, there is two reasons for that. One is that we need it and two there was a thunder storm which left us incapable of doing anything else but stay at the hotel, Late afternoon we took a taxi around two local sights. We saw something called Blue eye springs and secondly something called Butrint. We got a taxi driver that knew about 3 words in English, but he was the sweetest most considerable man we have ever driven with. Saya has trouble driving in cars and busses - she gets car sick. And it almost happened today as well, since the drive around took three hours. But our driver was very observant on Saya and when she started to look bad, he pulled over right away and waited all the time it took for her to get better. He was warm and laughing. We were reminded about the open mindedness and friendliness of the Balkans. Another thing that reminded about the Balkans was the ride. After about 30 minutes (after getting some money at a ATM) we drove over the mountain towards Blue Eyes Springs. The route was amazingly beautiful. Somehow I keep comparing it to Sergio Leones cowboy movies. The horizon is filled with mountains, some so far in the distance that they are blurred by the humility and the clouds. In the valley where we are driving, there are a lot of houses and settlements but there are also long stretches of just corn fields or wild vegetation. We are bordering tropical fields here. There are palm trees and cacti and some of the vegetation looks something like jungle. The mountains are rocky, which means that there is very little vegetation on them, a few trees, some green, and a lot of white or grey rock areas. You could almost imagine Clint Eastwood come riding along on his horse with his poncho and wide ranged cowboy hat.
You cannot really explain the rough beauty of this place, the pictures looks great, but they do not capture the feel - that feel of being very small in a very large place. Specially if you have grown up and live in a place where 50 meters above sea level is considered high up. The nature here is amazing, and wild. We went to the Blue Eye Spring as the first thing. It's a river that runs below the mountain and comes out through the rocks - it's estimated that it is about 40 meters deep, the current is very strong and it's a whole river that comes out of this place. I do not know what happens to the water, but it is very clear when it comes out of the mountain. It is the clearest water I have ever seen, and it distorts the way you look at it. Even if you can see that the current is very strong, you can look directly to the bottom of the 40 odd meters, but it doesn't look like it's so deep. Its just odd - its a big wide river (app 10 meters across from the beginning and growing wider very fast) just starting from nowhere and the current is just very strong. The area around the phenomenon is very fertile and really seemed like a jungle.
After spending some time there, we went to Butrint - the first place in the Balkans we have seen that have so much history attached to it - there are settlements that are over 2500 years old there. It was a bit like visiting Forum Romanum, History is thick and you can tell that it was something important. Unfortunately we did only have about 30 minutes there, and then it closed. Besides the ruins the jungle like feel was very strong there. Big Cacti and palm trees were to be found here as well. There were huge insects and we saw a lot of crabs and big fish in the waters surrounding the place. In the theater ruins it as almost swamp looking water where turtles swam. I found itkind of funny that the turtles - turtles that probably haven't changed in several thousands years before this place existed, didn't really care that they were swimming around a UNESCO sight. Their kind are probably going to be here several thousands years after we are gone.
After staying at the sight we went home and ate at a restaurant at top of a nearby hotel - which had an elevator that made us both very nervous, it was made outside the building of material that is very much not rust proof. After surviving that experience, we got a decent meal and saw the sun set on the Adriatic sea (!). Then we went home and Saya and Jannie have gone to bed, i am sitting on the balcony writing this and working on the pictures and the blog.
I Guess this is it - three wild days in a few words and a lot of spelling errors and grammatical errors - luckily Jannie will fix this tomorrow.