Hotel Mondial Tirana

Hallo zusammen,

von B**at ging es wied** zurueck in die Hauptstadt (**neut 45in Wartezeit und etwas ueb** 2h Fahrt, wenigstens sind die Strassen in Albanien recht gut). Hatte dann nur ein paar Stunden Tageslicht, ab** das reicht aus, um Tirana zu sehen.

Das Nationalmuseum ist ganz nett und etwas groes** als das Museum des Kosovo. Die Geschichte Albaniens ho**t mit 1945 auf, man schein noch nicht b**eit zu sein die kommunistische A**a zu bew**ten. Das ...

After saying goodbye to Sasa, who dropped me at a good spot for continue my hh trip, i expected to arrive in Greece this day. Althought i heard hh in Albania shall be hard, 3 cars have stopped after 5 minutes. The first and the second were asking for money, as it seems to be common to be a private taxi. The third car, which were 3 workers, agreed taking me for free, after trying to get money for it... They did not speak any english or italian, so ...

... I had both handy in my pocket (not in the same one as the Serbian dinars from earlier- I try not to make the same mistake twice, not when there are new and exciting mistakes to make). The Albanian guard pulled himself aboard, for a man who had obviously lived most of his life under a demented communist dictator he wasn't exactly underfed. Naturally the Albanians passports were collected without a second glance and at first he took mine ...

... compris qu'il n'y allait pas et j'ai demande ou il fallait le prendre; il m'a fait signe de montewr... c'est ainsi qau'un albanais me disait:" quand tout le monde dit non, les albanais disent oui..." voila c'est tout pour ce soir... j'ai bien peur de trouver la fin de semaine longue... je serais pret a partir avant mardi, mais mon billet dit mardi, alors je vais m'occuper... je vous en reparlerai...

... and saying "Tony Montana" and me duly responding with the same finger motion and "say hello to my little friend". They were suitably impressed with themselves, holding court with a foreigner from a strange land. It was not long before the repetition of the same phrase was starting to bore them and the scene went quiet for a little while. With their eyes fixed on me I couldn't help but wonder what they might have been thinking, what must they have been making of me? The silence was then ...

I remember my first day in Albania, I asked a fellow traveler whether Albania has been safe. She said offhandedly "they are too busy helping you to rob you." In retrospect, this statement can not be more true. The people do not speak much English, the country does not have many jeweled attractions; people are pretty poor, but they are rich in ...

... dinars we have left over equates to about 323 Canadian dollars. The man behind the plexiglass window, a squat, short-necked man with an Elvis-like lip, changes our money into Albanian leks, prints out a tiny receipt and pushes it all back to our side of the window. The Slovaks are waiting so we quickly make sure that the amount in our hands equals the amount printed on the receipt and catch up with them. We settle into the hotel, thankfully payable in cash but ...

... Probably a good idea as we were all split into pairs to stay in various homes across the town. Lucy and I were staying the furthest away, with a fantastic family. Then they asked us 'Why are you in Albania and what are you bringing to the team/Kruje'- starting with me! Trev in particular always speaks his mind, which overall I think is a good thing. I felt quite stressed not knowing exactly where I was meant to be when- took me ...

... sleep on the street, they then offered to take me to a place where I could catch a furgon, for only 30 euro. Bargain as that was, I still refused. Finally, one rare, honest taxi driver held up a furgon just leaving that could take me to the place from where I could catch another onto Tirana. Quite unsure of where I was going, I jumped in anyway on the principle that it would probably be taking me somewhere a bit closer to Tirana, where I might have more luck. Along the way, I ...

... to be the next region to separate...but...probably without much bloodshed... SECTION 2--THE MOMENT Here is the scene: Winter in December...newly-fallen snow all around. A day and night of "sightseeing" has seen us cross a tense Border Region...traverse 3 war-torn towns...and into the tightest of military-patrolled regions--The UNESCO World Heritage sight of the Decani Monastery! You can hardly imagine the feeling inside upon approach! First...trudging through ...