8 October Pukë - Shkodra

Did you know that the most popular car in Albania must be a second-hand Mercedes, and a filling station and the so-called ‘Car Lavazh’ (car wash), the most popular new smaller investments? You see the latter everywhere, popping out of the ground as mushrooms. Another phenomena are new buildings with names like ‘Europa Mobileri’ or ‘Mobileri Modern’, furniture for the newly built homes, because house construction sites for family houses you also see everywhere.

On my bicycle you see these things more clearly. The speed is not as great as in a car and the experience of landscape and surroundings are more intense.

From Pukë, it’s a fast decent for around 20 kilometers. I realize how high up in the mountains I have been and were. For kilometers I bicycle on a plain with only grass and small bushes, with on the left and right of me mountains up till 1600 meters.

I can’t find any rice waffles or gluten-free products, so I safe my Montenegrin packages.

In a bar in Kçirë, I stop for a coffee and get into a conversation with Martin Ded. The locals give me some fresh chestnuts, the bar owner serves me a free coffee. They all think I must be a little crazy to ride my bicycle from The Netherlands into Albanian mountains. Maybe I am!

Martin offers to take me up to the next top, but it appears his Land Rover is not big enough to carry my bicycle. A little later when I have climbed at least another 600 meters, he overhauls and inquires if I am all right. He invites me to his house in Shkodra. I agree and we meet again after the next decent. 

This piece of todays 60 kilometers is ‘Tour de Albania’ at it’s best. No car overhauls me here, dazzling down from hairpin to hairpin. I meet him again at the church and we drink another coffee and cola.

The next 20 kilometers Vau i Dejës to Shkodra are with headwind, but I do them in 50 minutes. It starts to rain more and more.

At the biggest Hotel in the center of Shkodra he meets me and I follow him to their family home. This is in a street unpaved and some 300 meters from the main asphalt street. The large houses with a gate bring back a memory from my Gedaref visits, although the ‘guard’ from there, is here replaced by a barking dog. But the call from the minaret for evening prayers is just the same.

 

Our conversations go on. He lives in Kristiansand Norway. Before he worked on an oilrig at Spitsbergen and made good money. In 1946 in the aftermath of the war a strange mix of communists and freedom fighters shot his grandfather, together and some village residents. His father and mother died both at around the age of 55. But they did everything to give him the best education. They all lived high up in the mountains in a family house. One of the landings during my boat trip from Koman to Fierzë was at the two-hour path up to his village, where today four families still live. At the local school he was treated with disdain and even beaten by the headmaster for the reason that their family saved some Jews during the 2^nd WW. This was the method used to make people understood who had the power now.

As a young boy Martin had a dream about living in Norway. Where it came from he cannot trace. But he has realized it, being a Norwegian citizen now and living in Kristiansand. He holds the opinion that Albanians first need to come to their senses and realize that if they do not change their mentality, there is no reason others should reach out with a helping hand. My argument is that what you don’t know you can’t ask for or change into something else. We exchange thoughts.

One of his other stories, for what it’s worth, is that he was asked to work as a clerk for the municipality. After a half year, he quit because his ethics could not be in line with what was requested. He was asked to create new and false identities for several persons. He claims that there are Albanians, which hold at least three names and identities. They use this for doing business. It’s clear that this is corruption and illegal. For his own protection he has photographed the proof of this. It took him in total 3 days. Then he informed the authorities and he quit his job.

Tired of talking we go to bed and I'll just see if the weather tomorrow gets a little better.