Day 5 (July 23, 2015): The bus ride from Hades

When I was a kid, all I knew about Albania is that the communist regime in the country was the hardest-nosed behind the Iron Curtain and was particularly brutal when it came to religious freedom. So it was with great intrigue that we got up at 4:30am to catch our 6am bus from Skopje to the coastal resort town of Durres, Albania. For the first time, I was about to witness life (albeit post-Communist life) in the country I'd heard about from my parents for much of my growing up years. 

Our bus left Skopje on time, about half full of passengers, with no English spoken or understood by anyone. We were supposed to arrive Durres 12:15pm, after stops in the Macedonian cities of Tetovo, Gostivar, Ohrid and one in Albania, plus clearing both Macedonian and Albanian customs. Although there was a hint of air conditioning for the first couple of hours, by late morning, the bus was literally like a sauna with a temperature well into the 90s. To say it was unbearable is an understatement. Add schedule slippage of two hours and a couple of kids kicking our seats, and we almost went crazy. Somehow, however, we made it here to Durres at 2pm. 

Don't be fooled by the ice cream treat and the smile. It was THE bus ride from Hades!

Our first impressions of Albania:

- It is very mountainous. 

- Wow, there is a lot of trash everywhere!

- The "hi-ways" are poor:  they are twisty and few sections of freeway exist, so getting around takes forever. 

Just over the border into Albania. 

Besides those impressions, we saw three things on our crossing of the country today that intrigued us:

Intrigue #1: the delapidated relics of state-run industry from the communist era. 

Intrigue #2:  Albanians stack their hay in these high pyramids, in a manner we haven't seen anywhere else. 

Intrigue #3: These concrete domed bomb bunkers were built EVERWHERE here from 1950-1985. Today they are used for everything from tattoo parlours to youth hostels. 

Durres is our planned rest stop for one and a half days. The city itself is a typical kaboom of condo and hotel beachfront development, just with a lot less planning than one might expect. Fortunately, Durres has a 10-kilometre stretch of beach to its credit. And given the hordes that are here, it needs every inch of it!  

There are places where the rows of beach chairs for rent are stacked ten deep. 

We spent a nice, relaxing afternoon on the beach, watching the world go by. We couldn't believe all the things that actually did go by -- from cotton candy machines to wheelbarrows containing corn-on-the-cob BBQs. 

And then we enjoyed a quiet dinner at the hotel by the pool. Tomorrow is another mid-vacation rest day. And I can't wait!  Good night from the place that gave me communist nightmares as a kid!

We couldn't believe all the things that went by on the beach!

A quiet dinner by the hotel pool