“Albania Traveling to Shkoder City”

• July 2, 2020
• By Daryl
• 3 Comments

We drive along the roadway, enjoying good conversation. We watch as expensive cars pass at high speed, risking chance and physics. The morning is bright and we skirt the majestic mountains to the right of us and crops of corn between. Another set of mountains are North of us, out of sight, due to haze. 

We have daydreams of fish jumping in the lake we have set our course to. Beside the road are stacks of hay, tall and shaped like pointed hats. Similar stacks of hay, we have seen in Nepal and Uganda. New hotels and large buildings are built to look like castles. They are too small but interesting architecture. 

Most of the buildings have a Soviet plain look. The newest ones are a little more stylish. English is spoken by a select few. We stopped for gas, simple enough. We could not get it across to fill the car up or what type of gas we needed. The type of gas is simple, diesel or gas. The other option is benzin that requires a special fitting like filling up propane. He tells us to go to that pump. He knew we did not and could not get that. A lady starts begging at our window, so we drive off to another gas station. Younger locals seem to have no issue. But fill her up doesn’t mean anything. Instead, we show them in their currency what we want to spend. 

Soviet factories lay in ruins with tall chimneys reaching for the sky,making landmarks of bygone era. Stone walls are the norm, a lasting testament to the masons who will point to their work, as they age. Simple fruit stands dot the roadside, some only selling melons, the families toil in the fields, as their only current crop. Corn will be their next crop to barter for.

The hills are growing and popping up, randomly. The mountains up North are visible in shades of blue, as the haze filters a translucent image. High on a hill in town, is an old castle called, Kalaja e Rozafes. We climb a steep road with stone walls flanking the narrow road. These are remnants of the old village surrounding the castle. We enter the royal gates, past the old food stalls  carved into the walls adjacent to the road into an arched tunnel. We pass several yards of the old village grounds. Then, we come to an ancient jail. Next to the jail is a church that later was commandeered into a mosque during the Ottoman era. 

We enter an administrative building that has been turned into a museum. The walls are five feet thick. The little windows lets a glimpse of light in. As we walk down the stone pathway, a narrow trench made of stone, is the exposed sewer system. To the left is a pedestrian walkway adjacent to the cobblestone cart path. The stones are worn smooth with the passage of time. The sound of the call to prayer can be heard echoing and filtering through the canyon. 

As we walk down the smoothed stones with safety on our minds, we venture to the edge of the stone path that proved to be a more sure-footed access. Back at the car, the guzzled sweet water to quench our thirst, as everyday on tour is a hot and sweaty activity.

Spotting a lake on the map, we ventured on. Another narrow road takes us to the edge of a huge lake. The sky is still hazy as we look for a place to lay our head. A horse drawn cart catches our eyes, the driver waved his hands in contempt for having his photo taken. 

We find a nice hotel back in town. As we wander to find a restaurant, a great stone street leads us on an adventure as we search out just the right place to eat. We found it, in a patio area with an ancient is an old well, citizens of the past use to gather at together, and fetch pails of water for their daily needs.