We landed at about 8.00 am
in Munich to a sunny gorgeous day. I
found a nice strong coffee and headed to my gate to wait to the brief hour
until my flight boarded. I chatted with a delegation on a mission trip, people
from all over the US, sweet folks in their twenties. Most of them second or third generation
American heading to see where their families came from. We boarded our plane to Tirana, Albania for
another short flight, about 1.5 hours.
The views from the plane were amazing, beautiful fields surrounding red
roofed cites led into snow capped mountains which eventually themselves held a
river between them that ran it’s course to meet the sea.
We walked off the plane onto the tarmac and
it was warm, the weather predicted the 90’s and I think it lived up to the
promise. After landing I had the easiest customs experience of my life, I
handed the man my passport, he looked it over, stamped it, and waived me on my
way in under two minutes. All without a
single word spoken. I gathered my bag
and walked through the “nothing to declare” customs door I was on my own in the
airport. I managed to find a cab driver
who interpreted the hand written translation from the internet asking to please
take me to the bus to Saranda. The bus
station is in the middle of the city and once we hit proper city it was quite
an exciting ride. I forget how people
drive in other countries sometimes, lanes and lights are just suggestions,
everyone fitting where they can, horns may expire if not used every minute or
so and coming within inches of someone else is so common you stop being
startled. He delivered me to the bus
area, made sure I had the right bus and my luggage was loaded, and I was happy
to have made it. There are many buses, from small maybe 12 seaters to full tour buses, driven by, from what I
gather, their owners. The destination
city is posted on the front window and I don’t think there is any type of
schedule at all. The driver didn’t speak
English so when I tried to figure out what time the bus was leaving it was
either 20 minutes or six hours, from what I could gather with watch pointing. I hit the food cart across the dirt lot where
all the buses gather and enjoyed a sandwich and beer for 300 Lek, about $3
US. The men sitting in the booth all
smiled and we did the language barrier polite smiles and hand shakes. I think I had a hotdog of sorts, on a
baguette, grilled, covered in some French fries and then ketchup, mayo and mustard. It was delicious and the Beera Tiriana was
cold and refreshing in the sweltering sun.
I was happy when the driver motioned to me and it was confirmed my wait
was merely 20 minutes. We hit the road,
4 of us in the bus the youngest guy, who spoke English, confirmed that I was
indeed on the correct bus. We drove
through the city, stopping at corners with bus signs, opening the slider and
shouting our destination, if no one moved we drove on. This continued the entire trip, which in
total ran almost 6 hours. 
About an hour
or so in a nice older gentleman boarded who spoke decent English, contrary to
his belief. Benny wanted to practice his
English so we sat together as he pointed out sights. He made sure I saw 3 different castles
nestled in the hills, pointed out the bunkers from when the communist rule told
the citizens the Americans would invade, and explained about all road the
construction. A little over three hours
into our journey we stopped at a spot on the mountains called Cold Water, it
was amazing! There is freezing cold
spring water coming out of the mountain there and they have built spigots into
rock. We all got out, drank, washed up
and headed into the little café. Again
Benny was amazing, we sat together and he insisted I try the local yoghurt and
some “father of the lamb” which he said imbibed more oomph than the young
lamb. The meat was roasting whole on
spits along the back wall, which was really the rock face of the mountain. It was all delicious! We ate, talked and
drank lots of cold spring water. Soon it
was time to get back on the road. After
another few hours of breathtaking scenery we turned at a sign pointing into the
hills marked Saranda, at this point Benny explained we were jut a few
kilometers from Greece. After we crested
the hills and headed down into a valley Benny pointed out a large natural
spring in the valley called the Blue Eye due to it’s color. He insisted that I try to come back to see it
up close as it is so beautiful. Shortly thereafter
we arrived in Saranda, it is very Mediterranean with houses nestled into the
hillside as it drops down narrow lanes to the water. We all said our goodbyes, after Benny and the
driver were assured that I was fine and simply waiting for my ride we smiled,
shock hands and there were on their respective ways. Since my plans from the airport to the bus
and our route were unknown when I set out I waited a bit for Derek and Howard
to show up. People are amazingly
friendly and helpful, no less than three people stopped and asked if I needed
help and made sure I was all right and simply awaiting my people. It was so amazing, everyone smiling, the warm
evening light making everything glow, the scents of food drifting about, people
getting on and off buses at the intersection that serves as the bus area. Soon my saviors arrived and we walked a few
blocks down to the waterfront for some dinner.
They just got into town a few days ago and have been hitting all their
favorite spots, tonight is was a waterfront restaurant for pizza. The waiter was excited to see them hugging everyone
and welcoming us all into town. Shortly
after we sat down a local woman, Kayla, joined us as well. From what I gathered she serves as an
interpreter with the locals and helps arrange dive sites. Diving is very new to
Albania as it was forbidden under communist rule, we are the only divers in
town. Technically it is still illegal
but we are allowed for research and have all the appropriate government permits. We had a nice dinner of pizza accompanied by good
conversation and laughs. I found out we
get to go snorkel Blue Eye, which is exciting as I was going to try to get
there somehow after the glowing recommendation that I got. After we finished
the manager let us leave my bags in his office and we wandered the waterfront,
having a gelato and then sitting for a cappuccino. It is election week here in Albania and the
country is gearing up for it, there are party flags and posters everywhere and
many people politicking for their cause on the waterfront. Apparently there may
be a change in power approaching. Eventually
we headed back to our temporary homes, luckily Alma the woman who runs the
housing where the students stay was still up and happy to have me a day earlier
than expected. We stay above the family
business, Mini Market Quirjako, and they live downstairs primarily but the
girls, Emily and Anna-Maria, have rooms on our floor when there aren’t guests
in them.After getting situated, and
finally having a much needed shower, I fell asleep in what will be my bed for
the next few weeks. Nat na mer. (Good
night)
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