And there we were.
This really has been the road trip from hell. The drive to our camps called “Reps” and “Kukes” is on some really crappy old roads through the mountains with up to 2000ft drops off right next to the road without barriers. Albanians still think they are driving some high speed pursuit down into the valley. It really is quite scary at times. What is worse though is the windy windy windy windy of the road. Left, right, left, right like going along the worlds longest slalom course. People get so car sickon this roadbut there is rarely any place to stop off and throw up. Which is why I think these street signs just sum it up perfectly:
Reps is the first camp we got to. This is going to be our “home sweet home” for the duration of the project. My duration is still hopefully only going to be a few months. Some people will be staying here 3 years. You have to understand however that this place is quite obviously still under construction and I’m guessing it could be an ok place to stay once it is 100% complete in a month or two. After a tough 3 hours on the road, we pop over yet another hill and see our camp Reps in the distance:
Nothing for MILES
Under Construction
We spent a very interesting hour walking around and looking at what and where our offices and camp accommodation is going to be. It seems very basic but should be quite clean and even though the rooms are small I think they will be fairly comfortable. “Not quite the Ritz” comes to mind. This place really is in the middle of nowhere. The only other structure around is an old copper mine on the hill that has long been discontinued. I have heard this area was also once used as a prison and concentration camp back in the WW’s.
Back on the road and off to our north region camp of Kukes. Just when I thought the roads couldn’t get much worse, I was wrong. Windier, tighter, steeper and the locals driving faster. Damn man, this is their national road. They treat it like the Autobahn. The drop-offs on the side of the road really make you feel that you are either on top of the world or at the end of the world. It really is quite sad to see all the memorials that have been erected on the edge of the road where family members or friends have obviously driven off to their death. This is just one of so many along the way. It also shows the edge of the road and the sheer drop behind it:
After a couple more hours on this really crappy road we made it to the Kukes camp which is about a 20 minute drive from the town of Kukes. It was too late and dark to really see but it looked quite good all lit up on the hillside. We stopped in the office for a about an hour and then made our way to the town to find our hotel and check in before dinner. Basic is all I have to say about my first impression. At least it was dry, had a bed and hot running water. I swear this place is stuck in the 20’s. Tea cups look like old gold leaf antique porcelain. The rooms look about 70 years old. After dinner I climbed into a bed that was a little less than comfortable but not unbearable. I have slept in worse. My shower in the morning was more than amusing. What is wrong with this picture? This is a place, which brings true meaning to the term, and where you can quite literally “shit, shower and shave” - all at the same time! (check the shower water) And brush your teeth and wash your other bits and pieces:
Breakfast was horrendous and consisted of something that looked like a couple off eggs smashed in a frying pan with red tomato looking sludge on top and floating on a plate of manky cooking oil. They named it Omelette. Thank you Stoo for the strawberry jam! A cup of tea and toast was the answer. Off to the office:
We spent the day on the Kukes camp just sorting one or two things out and then after a drive to go and see where we are blowing holes in the mountains we took a drive to Prezren in Kosovo. The border was very interesting but sadly, since I didn’t want to get shot by some trigger happy border official, I didn’t get to take any photos. Crossing from Albania to Kosovo is something else really. It really is like passing through a time warp or a teleport machine. From rugged bad roads, banged up old cars and falling down houses and odd restaurants on the side of the road to a brand new world with good roads and new buildings. There are hotels and restaurants that look like amazing places to stay. There is a restaurant that is built completely to look like a castle. Unfortunately the light was too bad to get a photo but I will be sure to visit there again sometime.
Prezren, Kosovo itself is a very nice place. Loads of interesting little pubs and shops and restaurants. We stopped in one place that sold every possible kind of nut. It reminded me of a quaint Austrian ski village without the snow. It is at quite an altitude so is a lot cooler than we have been experiencing down in Albania. We stopped in a pub and asked for a couple of beers and were offered Becks as I’m sure we stood out as foreigners like a sore thumb. I asked if we could possibly have a local beer from Kosovo.This guy was so happy it looked like we had made mates for life. Foreigners asking for local beer??? It was actually really good. He insisted on taking a photo of his new friends in his pub with his local beer:
After dinner we reluctantly headed back down. Going back through the border a few hours later perplexed the immigration and customs quite a bit as I’m pretty sure they didn’t believe that we were just popping across the border for dinner. Some confused looks and smiles from the authorities, big waves and greetings from us the crazy foreigners, taxes paid and passport stamps dug out of pockets, and we were back in Albania. Back on the roller-coaster, twisty, potholed and dug up roads. We were almost home. Back to Kukes town and into bed.
We are just in the office in Kukes now finalizing a few things and then we head back to Tirana. End of the road trip. 5 hours including a stop for coffee on the way. Another trip through hell. I have video clips and heaps of photos if anyone is interested.
Tally ho good people. See you later! On the road again…
X
HooX
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