Interesting park in Shkoder, Albania
Mosque - Shkoder, Albania
Mountainous area of Montenegro
A look off my hotel balcony
A look off my hotel balconySaturday, November 20th
AHHH---HAAAAA! I made it. Coming to you live from the friendly confines of Milan, Italy. It's 10:15pm here on Sunday, November 21st. Whewwww! About 5pm yesterday, when I was stranded in the country of Albania, this was only a dream. Explanations to follow!
I arrived into Bar, Montenegro on Saturday morning about 10am. I was in a sleeper car with 2 other dudes. I was on the bottom bunk of 3. A little clautrophobic - as I could barely lift up my head without knocking myself out on the bunk above me. It was fine - slept for a few hours. They woke us up at 4am when we crossed the Serbia/Montenegro border. I handed over my passport to some official-looking person in a sleepy haze. Then, they woke us up again about 45 minutes later. We had to hand over the passport a second time. Must have been the last stop in Serbia and the first stop in Montenegro.
I have a new theory ----- "When you're ever in trouble - head for the water". Examples: If you're lost in the woods or a city -- find a stream, river, lake, or ocean -- this will generally lead you somewhere you can identify. If you're stressed out and need a break -- go for a boat ride, sit out by the pool, or just take a walk around the lake -- you'll feel at peace pretty quickly. Along those lines, if you're through with getting hassled in war-torn ex-Yugoslavia -- head to the ocean. Generally speaking, places on the water cost more, tourist like these places more, it's more hospitable. There's no surprise that the main tourist destinations in all of ex-Yugoslavia are Croatia and Montenegro -- they're on the water. Next time you're in trouble - you know what to do. It may be as simple as taking a shower to make you feel better - just get it done.
Before I could leave peacefully for my Italian getaway, I needed to get aggressive 1 last time. With aggressive I mean -- visiting arguably one of the most questionable countries in Europe - Albania. No worries - I'm 60ft in the open ocean during the daytime.
I had talked with folks and read on the internet that a small town near Bar, Montenegro to visit is Shkoder, Albania. I lined up a bus to take me the 1-1/2 hour journey (30 minutes at the border) - departing at 12:30pm. The city was pretty neat. It had some interesting mosques and scenery. I had a great lunch. I had it all worked out that I would take the last bus departing at 4pm for my return. I checked this with 4 different sources: (1) I saw it on the internet, (2) I asked the lady at my hotel in Bar and she called to confirm, (3) I asked the bus station in Bar when I left what time the return was, (4) and when I arrived in Shkoder - I asked them if 4pm was the departure. They confirmed and told me they would be at this spot at 4pm. Even with all this backup - I still got to the pickup point at 3:30pm just to be sure. Waited - waited, waited somemore. A couple minutes before 4 - I'm starting to get nervous. I go over to a police officer. I communicate in single words. Note - Albania and Kosovo speak Albanian. Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia all speak Serbian. The 2 languages are very diffferent and people do not generally speak both. The officer informs me that the bus left at 3:45pm from here. I said: "No, I've been here since 3:30pm". He said: "Sorry, that's what they told me". Solid!!!
Not so good. I'm now stranded in Albania. What to I do? This place was OK to visit for a couple hours in the afternoon, but I do not intend to stay the night. I now have "people" around me. "I'll bring you to the border". The officer says that I can get to the border and then take a bus across. I ask him: "I was just at the border, I did not see any buses - what are you referring to?" He didn't respond. No way was I going to go with someone and have them dump me off at the border. What was I going to do then? It was starting to get colder - in the 40's. I was not dressed to sleep in the woods at the Albania/Montenegro border.
I flash the officer some cash. I say: "I'll pay whatever it takes for someone to get me to my hotel in Montenegro". Luckily, the officer was legit. He could see my desperation. He told me to follow him. We walk across the street and the officer talks with a taxi driver. He tells me that this guy can take me for 25 euro - roughly $33. Sold - I would have paid 5 times that amount to get me out of this situation. Luckily, this area is very poor and a little money goes a long way.
I got into this taxi and the guy took me all the way back to my hotel. Over a 3 hour round trip for him - for just over $30. Wow - that would have costs hundreds of dollars in the states. I had read on the internet that taxis can cross the border - but sometimes it can cause some trouble. I had no other option. Things went smoothly.
On my return into Bar, I had a great dinner alongside the ocean. My hotel room was spectacular - and cheap. Nobody else was in the hotel. I had this full suite which overlooked the ocean - see pictures. In the summertime, this would have been paradise.
No internet - so early to bed. Tomorrow - I fly away to another land.
No comments:
Post a Comment