Passing into Albania I soon saw the dome shaped bunkers left since Hoxha's rule. They are dotted around the landscape every now and again. There are ruins of a castle outside Skodra that look really intact.
The taxi got me to the minibus just before it took off. I did not have any Albanian money at that point so luckily the driver took euros. The drive was over two hours and it was on bad roads and people dove wherever they wanted to on the road. It really reminded me of being on a matatu in Kenya. After a long day of travelling I had pretty much decided I was going to treat myself to a night in a nice hotel if there was something easy to find. And I did. 100m from where the minibus dropped me was a 4.5 star hotel and it was such a lovely treat. I rested up with the plan to check out Tirana the next morning and figure out what I would do next. I had a vague plan to head into Macedonia.
The next morning I headed into the square i central Tirana in a downpour of rain that really affected my mood. The grey skies, cold weather and rain just made me want to get out of Tirana ASAP. I saw the square which is the major attraction and realized it was difficult to find out for sure, where and when to catch a minibus towards the border of Macedonia. I decided to catch a bus to Korca in southeastern Albania and was told by the hotel concierge how to get to the minibuses that go there. Just catch any yellow bus from behind the mosque in the square he said. Well every yellow bus I approached said they didn't go to where I wanted to go. Disheartened I felt like I would be stuck forever in Tirana. But then I was approached by a lovely guy who spoke English (uncommon in Albania) who asked me where I wanted to go. He took me to the correct bus, got on it with me, paid my fare and would not let me pay him back, took me to the private minibus places which are really nice and are basically a group taxi that don't cost too much. He did not want any payment and got nothing from the driver he took me to (and there was no increase in my fare compared to the other people there so I am sure of this). He only did it to be nice. It was such a lovely thing to do and really improved my mood.
The drive took me through beautiful mountainous scenery of Albania with farmland visible low down in the valleys. As we approached the huge lake at the Macedonian border we were well and truly above the snow line. I started to rethink my plans of going into Macedonia realizing that everywhere would be snow covered and I was not in the mood for snow and cold. And any hikes I would want to do (such as the one up to the monastery I had read about) would not be possible. I decided instead to go to Greece and get to Turkey earlier so I had more days there.
Korca itself was dead quiet due to time of year. It was cold but the people were warm. Again noone spoke English and I found I had to speak German to get by (and my German from school is pretty terrible).
I was getting to the point where I longed for warmth and tourists such that I had someone with whom I could have an English conversation. I had spent so long by myself with my own thoughts and ponderings and I really missed dialogue.
And so I headed to Greece the next day.
