Most haunted
Blog: Send The Bugger Back - 14 October 2009
By: Dan Bowen
I had my 2nd encounter with a cockerel on this odyssey last night/this morning, the 1st being in Chisinau if you remember. They don’t half make a right racket.
That together with this room being absolutely freezing didn’t a good night’s sleep make. The room is that drafty I reckon It might be haunted. Maybe the cockerel was an audio apparition if there is such a thing.
I’ve not used my sleeping bag once yet on this trip but it may well have been worth bringing after all as I’ve a feeling it’s going to get a bit nippy in some hostels yet to come.
Yum, meat burek for breakfast. I’m a fan.
The fridge magnets situation is getting quite daft again, my bag is considerably heavier than when I set out on July 27th. I should really post the spoils so far back but I can’t be arsed is the reality. Here is a list of magnets I need to get hold of retrospectively:
Washington DC, Philladelphia New Orleans, Tucson, Flagstaff, Yosemite National Park, Denver, Rocky Mountain National Park, Luxembourg, Bonn, Hamburg, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Krakow, Timisoara, Sibiu, Chisinau, Tiraspol, Bucharest, Pristina, Podgorica.
It looks a lot but when you consider the amount of towns and cities I’ve been to over the past 6 months or so it’s a pretty small percentage where I’ve been unable to find one or just forgot. By the time I eventually hang up my backpack I’m going to have to buy one of those big f*ck off American fridges to accommodate them all. One thing’s for sure though, it’s going to be the only fridge in town that’s cooler on the outside than on the in.
I’m on the bus to Shkoder now (for €6) and should be crossing over to Albania shortly I’d have thought. Hopefully another passport stamp will be forthcoming.
Off the top of my head (my rough guide is in the luggage hold with my bag) I’ve just been trying to figure out what’s left for the 6 weeks or so before I return to England. What I’ve come up with is probably too ambitious in that amount of time but is potentially achievable dependent on how long it will take to travel between them. It’s a very rough list and the order is only an indicative outline too. Anyway, here goes:
Tirana, Ohrid, Thessaloniki, Athens, Palermo, Naples, Rome, Vatican City, San Marino, Florence, Venice, Milan, Geneva, Zurich, Bern, Vaduz, Munich, Monaco, Andorra, Valencia, Madrid, Seville, Lisbon, Saint-Jean-d’Angély (to see Nimrod), Normandy (not sure where exactly yet) Paris.
If you’re lucky readers I might throw another list in later just to complete the hat-trick.
Okay, this time there really was no customs at the border (on the Albanian side). Very odd. So obviously another lost stamp.
Shkoder seems a bit of a crazy place. Lots of hustle and bustle with a mix of new Mercedes and old horse and carts. We just went past a tall skinny man in a suit with short wavy hair and driving a tractor, it was impossible not to think Borat.
No sooner had I got off the bus than I’d spotted one across a busy roundabout that was heading to Tirana. It cost 3 Euros which seems about right as I spotted the locals giving 500 lek notes and getting 200 back, €3 is about 400 lek so one of the currency converter apps on my phone tells me anyway. I’m not entirely sure how long the bus takes but I think it’s more than 2 and less than 4 hours, 3 might be a good estimate to go with based on that I reckon.
When I get there I need to try and figure out the best way to get to Lake Ohrid. If I can I want to only stay tonight in Tirana and use tomorrow to see it before heading off to Ohrid in the evening. I’ve booked 2 nights in Tirana but I’m hoping to be able to cancel one. The pace must be quickened considering the destinations outlined above.
We’ve just gone past a pretty baron area where there were literally around 20 decent sized independent furniture shops in a row, flogging some horrifically garish gear too. These tricky Albis must love their sofas.
Now going through some town close to Tirana within 500 metres there is a Barcelona Cafe, a Bayern Munich Cafe and an AC Milan Cafe. Not sure what that’s all about though I expect the City one to follow shortly, or maybe it’s already at a more affluent area of town.
Okey dokey I’m there now and the hostel where I’m staying tonight is not bad at all. Freddy’s Hostel is it’s moniker and I have indeed me Freddy, a lively chap at that. I’m in a 2 single bed room and another Englisman checked in a few hours after me so I’ve not got it to myself like I have in most of the places I’ve stayed at of late, he is a photographer from Brighton and seems like a nice fella.
I was listening to the ‘The Flying Clup Cup’ by Beirut earlier on the bus, it’s the only one of their three so far that I hadn’t yet heard and it’s another winner. Haunting stuff as ever.
I’ve found out that I can get a bus at 19:00 tomorrow that gets to Struga at about 23:30, Struga is 15KMs from Ohrid. The hostel that I’ve booked does a pickup so hopefully they still do it at that time, otherwise a likely expensive taxi ride will be my only option.
Today’s photo is of Skopje and not Tirana, for the usual reasons readers.
Over.
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