Albania 2006

AMK-06 - Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo trip Date of travel: July 10 - July 24, 2006 ITINERARY: At noon July 10 I fly from Prague, Czech Republic via Vienna in Austria to Tirana the capital of ALBANIA. The city was founded in 17th century by Turks. About 1.5 days I spend sightseeing the city with its numerous mosques, several museums and many street cafes. One day I made a daytrip by a local bus to the major Albanian harbor Durres. Its natural harbor has been used from the 7th century BC and there are remains from Roman times there, too. On July 13 I take a van to the east through the mountainous region of the country to Lake Ohrid spanning the Albanian-Macedonian border. A taxi drives me the last 3 km from town of Pogradec to the actual border crossing, which is except for both countries passport and customs offices in the middle of nowhere. So now in MACEDONIA I walk with my heavy bag a couple of kilometers when an empty taxi picks me up and takes me about 30 km to a town Ohrid on the shore of the lake of the same name. This town has a long history and due to the beautiful lake it is a Macedonian tourist Mecca. It has an old fort on a mountain ridge above the lake, number of very old orthodox churches and even remains of a Roman amphitheater. I devote a day and half to its sightseeing. It is very appealing place. Then I take a bus to the Macedonian capital Skopje where I have two nights in a hotel. I give the city thorough look from its Kale Fort on the top, through the old city on the side of a hill, to its new parts past the Vardar River on the bottom. The old town is showing that the Turks had ruled here for 500 years and that one third of the Macedonian population are Moslems (Albanians) due to many minarets rising from the city. On July 17 I depart Skopje on a bus going north. North means to KOSOVO and its capital Pristina. I am exploring this city the rest of the day and part of the following. There is a statue of Albanian national hero Skanderbeg here showing where the hearts of Kosovans are. A skeleton of a partly built orthodox church stands on one square. With almost 100% Albanian (Moslems) inhabitants of Pristina its finishing doesn’t look realistic. At present Kosovo is run by UN as KFOR (NATO and Russian forces together). In the afternoon I board a bus for another Kosovo town, Prizren. Until 1389 it was a capital of old Serbia. While waiting on a late evening bus from Prizren back to Albania, three students take me in a car to a local fort and into a mosque. Then I take the overnight bus. Crossing the border and later picking up a private car to Shkoder in northern part of the country, I am back to ALBANIA. The city is at a large lake of the same name. I spend 2 days here getting around on the foot and taking a taxi to the lake and up the mountains to Fort Razafa above the city. On July 21 I go by bus to Tirana and by another one to Berat to visit a local citadel by taxi a exploring the town on foot. Next day by minibus with several locals and 2 live chickens to town of Vlore at Bay of Vlore where the Adriatic an Ionian Seas meet. Under the name Aulon it existed in antiquity. In 1912 an independent Albania was proclaimed here. After 1.5 days and two nights here I take a bus back to Tirana for an afternoon flight via Vienna to Prague where late on July 24. Travel office: Occasionally I contacted various travel offices along the way to arrange a hotel for me. Who took part: I traveled alone using local transportation as I found it available.