Skenderbeg's old stronghold
Trip Start
Apr 08, 2007
1
73
144
Trip End
Oct 01, 2007
Kruja,
Albania
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Navigating the furgon system this morning was a little on the frustrating side, at least briefly. I caught a ride with a bubbly taxi driver from near the hostel over to the "Kruja furgon depot" - or however you might call it - and then proceeded over to the next outbound minivan. Since a group of us stayed up late chatting over a bottle of raki, it was kind of a late start as it was, but then I had to sit around and wait for passengers to show. Meanwhile I knew that if I didn't get to Kruja before one o' clock, the museums would close for their three hour siesta and I'd miss them. Although I got to the furgon around 10am, it wasn't until a little before 11:30 that we finally had enough people and left. Funniest of all, there were only three passengers (including myself) up until about three minutes before departure. Silly system. On the plus side, it did take me direct to Kruja; many of the furgons only go so far as Forshe-Kruja, from where you have to take another furgon for the remaining, short leg. Again . . . silly.
Kruja's a pretty tiny place and most of it is modern (with an awful lot of new construction going on). It's beautifully set on the edge of a jagged, grey mountain range though, with the lowland plains of western Albania stretching out below it. The main point of interest is its castle, which was once the seat of power for the medieval Albanian kingdom. It was from here that the acclaimed warlord and leader Skenderbeg ruled over the area and led the Albanian clans against the Turks in the 15th century. If you don't know who Skenderbeg is before coming to Albania, you'll soon find out as his likeness decorates about every city's main square. The double-headed eagle at the center of the red Albanian flag is in fact his crest - and the banner under which he led the Albanian armies against the Ottomans. In Albanian eyes (and also those of some other Europeans), he was one of Christendom's greatest warriors against the Islamic threat and therefore played a vital role in protecting the West from invasion.
It doesn't take a whole lot of time to see Kruja's main attractions. The castle and its primary museum were interesting to see, but required about an hour at most. Then the rest of the town is mostly attractive just on a scenic level, apart from the small but charming bazaar below. Still, since the last thing I need is more things to carry, I didn't spend too long looking through the numerous souvenir shops. So, by the time I'd seen the fortress, had a relaxing lunch and wandered through the bazaar, I'd managed to see the lion's share of Kruja's sights within three hours.
I was hoping to go down to Durrėsi on the coast as well, but I decided against it by the time I got back to the furgon rank. Getting there would require a change of furgons down the road a ways and on top of that I would have to wait for the damned minibuses to fill up - something that takes longer and longer to happen as the day progresses. Instead I just hopped one bound for Tirana again and then had another walk around before going back to the hostel to relax for a spell. It's best not to overdo it in a country where transportation doesn't really work the way you'd expect it to.
I'm heading down southwards then from tomorrow, with the plan to check out the historic UNESCO-listed towns of Berati and Gjirokastra. After that I'll pop back into Tirana one more time and then make for Macedonia. If there's time in there on that last day, maybe I'll have a look at Durrėsi. We'll see.
