This little series is all about KT and her recent travel to the highlights of Albania to visit her best friend in the whole world, Hoox. I have no idea how many parts this is going to be because I haven’t started writing it yet. That’s how it happens. I just write and then hit submit, for the most part. This is going to be slightly different because we are going to start off directly with word from the horses mouth. Yip, KT is doing most of the writing from her perspective. I might add lib from time to time. Our free time here soon became rarer than rocking horse shit so she ended up bullet pointing our time together with strict instructions to me to fill in the gaps, and make her look good. No actually I added in the last bit cos she always looks good!
Here we go.
** KT’s input in blue:
The planing:
None!
1 phone call, 2 online booking sites and 3 fists full of dollars and it was done. After some minor hiccups on the passport detail and pops, Peet, doing some miraculous life saving driving to save the day, the Wonderful KT was heading to Albania. The final frontier.
The execution:
KT Albania Log Book Day 1
Three transfer connecting flights from Cape Town via Germany (Frankfurt and Munich) later and I arrived to surprisingly good weather in Tirana Airport. I came outside of the arrival gates to a sea of faces who all looked like Hoox
After a lovely cup of tea and a frustrating conversation with our waiter who refused to believe we were from Africa as we were not black, we commenced our long trip to Reps.
Half way up to Reps we stopped at a small coffee shop called Europa in Rubik (no, not where the Rubix cube was invented… seems they get asked this a lot…LOL)
This place is insane. The people drive like they are completely nuts and Hoox hasn’t lied about anything that we have been told about this place. However I want to fill you in on the gaps he has left out:
These mountain ranges are crazy. There are random old men walking very hairy goats and fat cows up long passes in the mountain. They drive, as far as I am used to, on the wrong side of the road. I tried desperately to stop myself from screaming as I look down to the right and see the steep, sharp, unforgiving cliffs that plummet down to a tiny river gorge below. Lets just say Hoox and I had a boxing session about driving further away from the edge which has no barrier for the most part and driving at a speed that I was much happier with (under 30kms an hour). I think I remember screaming, “I don’t care about the fucking view. You have seen it a million times. Just slow down and concentrate on the road. When I get the nerve I will look over and see this lovely scenery but until then please just get me to your camp ASAP…. but slowly!” I know, I was being completely ridiculous.
We made another stop in another town called Rreshen for pizza which was lovely and greasy and filled the spot nicely. We watched a guy cut down a tree that he was perched on top of and we both thought, “do you think he realizes that when the tree is cut down, he goes with it?” We then continued up the road and passed more quaint houses with goats and cows. A truck on a roof??? Arb! And beautiful little chapels nested into the majestic mountain slopes. Totally surreal and stunning.
I regretted eating the greasy pizza when we passed a young Albanian girl hurling up her lunch and I knew we were in for a curvy journey. Throw in a touch of vertigo and some old abandoned copper mines which look seriously haunted and you will have the correct idea.
As we arrived at the Reps camp I had no idea what to expect but the work they are doing here building this road is clearly needed and is evident as you pass massive clearings, huge concrete pylons and temporary electrical cables.
The camp fits into the middle of a beautiful mountain range with a very cold looking, bright blue icy river. Hoox’s bedroom is much nicer than he makes out and although his Finding Nemo bed covers are not on, it’s small, tidy and warm. Since Hoox sorted his shower no flooding happened when I washed 20 hours of flying and a bloody scary road trip off my exhausted body.
Hoox opened his Xmas pressies from Maude and I which contained choccies, chips (SA style), sweets and a top that reads POFFADDER.
Edski, Hoox’s Albanian friend, popped over for some Spanish merlot and pizza before we joined the others I have heard so much about. They are all fabulous and kind and I can see why Hoox loves them. My Albanian vocabulary is “not so good” but I did manage to say “funny hollamendaris (sp?)” which means “Thank you / Thanks” to the bar lady who hates Hoox yet congratulated him on his very pretty friend, me. To Verna the bar lady, “I love you? Ek het jou lief? je t’aime? Ich liebe dich?” Oh fuck it! Hugs say it all. At least she seems to have warmed to Hoox now. He He He.
8 bottles of incredible wine later we lay our tipsy weary heads down to sleep. So good to be here with my friend. So good to meet these wonderful people. And finally SO SO SO SO good to have the opportunity to experience project life first hand
Goodnight all you blogging babies. It’s time to hit the hay.
Albania is amazing.
ZZZZZZZ
The rest of this wonderful story will be continued later.
~~~ TBC ~~~
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