Travelling In Albania – Our Final Thoughts

Travelling in Albania is an experience. It has breathtakingly beautiful landscapes and for us it was our first big culture change. Travelling in Albania gave us a different perspective on immigration – legal and illegal. We rubbed shoulders with people who have migrated to England. Someone we met was even deported from the U.K. but what can we say – he was good to us!

Everyone – and I mean everyone was helpful and kind.

Injury

If you followed us on social media (Instagram and Facebook) you might already know that our plans to get to Kukes, Albania didn’t go to plan.  Stew’s front wheel hit my back wheel at 20mph (14kph) and Stew made an attempt to slow himself from skidding across the hot tarmac with his knees. Yep. Ouch.

I was lucky enough to recover myself, but Stew fell hard. It was one of the worst moments of my life. I heard a shout and a crash and the fear flooded. Everything happened in slow motion. I realised what was happening, stopped my bike and turned around and still managed to catch Stew skidding along the hot tarmac. It felt like he was falling forever.

The biggest fear were the oncoming vehicles, but luckily they acted before it was too late. Two cars stopped and helped Stew – one rushing to get a first aid kit and ice cold water and the other, named Abdullah, flagged down a van to take Stew to the nearest hospital in Krume.

There was a total language barrier, but it was clear from the van drivers shaking head that he could not take us both. I have the worst sense of direction and followed Stew every inch of the ride from England to Albania. He put on a brave face and said he’d ride, but there was just no way – and it didn’t feel safe. We had to make sure he was okay.

Travelling in Albania solo

The drivers loaded Stew, his bike and the kit into the van. They motioned that I needed to cycle ten kilometere (six miles) to the hospital. I was terrified.

Although it was Stew with the injury, I was sure that he was more worried about me travelling in Albania solo. Not because of the country, but because I really have no sense of direction. As soon as Stew left, I topped up my giffgaff phone and text him to let him know I was enjoying my ride and felt safe.

I was so nervous about this six mile bike ride. Even though I was twenty-nine, I could not help but think what my dad would say about me travelling in Albania alone. He always told me and Stew to stick together, but this was completely out of our control.

I rode as hard as I could and even though I’d been told I simply had to right on one road for six miles I stopped numerous times – pointed in the direction I was heading and said: ‘Krume?’. Locals reassured me that I was heading the right way.

I rolled into Krume expecting to start looking for a hospital, but instead Stew called me from a balcony – he’d been taken to the nearest restaurant, Jupa.

His pale face was a little warmer and he was managing to walk around, which pleased me greatly. I breathed a huge side of relief.  He was still bruised and in a little shock, but he’d eaten and drank something. Everything was going to be okay, but there were no doubts that we were going to be stuck in Krume for a while.

Krume

With Stew looking a lot brighter he decided not to go to hospital. We had medical supplies to treat his injuries, so we took it easy and ended up in Krume for four nights. Abdullah took amazing care of us, offered us food and got us a room in a hotel, which he kindly walked us to, carrying Stew’s bags.

Krume is a unique place! It’s tiny and we would never have stayed here if it wasn’t for the knee injury; it wasn’t on our world cycling tour route. Krume is  comparable in size to Much Wenlock, possibly a little smaller. It’s a small Albanian village. Everyone knew everyone and those we met took great care of us.

There wasn’t a lot to do in Krume, but luckily for us the hero, Abdullah who flagged down the van made sure our stay was pleasant. He checked in daily and introduced us to his English-speaking cousin who was as real treasure, telling us more about Krume.

Albanian’s love England!

Locals informed us that everyone has a family member living in England and I trust this to be true. England is a very desirable place to live – unlike North Albania there are jobs and salaries are much better.

We were given a tour of Krume by car and it was during this tour we had a real appreciation for the Albanian/British relationship from their point of view.

Our driver laughed as we put our seat belts on, Albania isn’t quite as health and safety conscious as the UK! Every driver out of the European Union will laugh at you for wearing a seatbelt – we were assured that they knew the police.

Building homes with ‘English money’

We drove a short distance out of Krume to see the houses in development, many flying the Union Flag alongside the Albanian flag. These houses have been built using, “English money”, to quote the locals. They fly the Union Flag alongside the Albanian flag to mark the homes.

As we toured Krume we were told: “We respect England…all this was just land and trees, but with thanks to English money we can come home, buy land and build our homes.”

There’s a sense of pride in my new Albanian friends voice as he talks about what they’ve accomplished and a genuine respect for England, “this garage, [is here thanks to] English money – or French or German. We buy land, and build our house exactly as we like it. No one tells us what to do. We own it.”

I can’t put how he came across in words – genuine, joyful, pride – but nicely so.

I started to well up as I see the difference the locals have made to their country thanks to their hardwork and money they earn in England. Before this moment I had never appreciated immigration like this. It was heartwarming.

Our lovely friends who gave us a tour did so much for us. They’ve took Stew and I around the town, bought us a drink in a beautiful garden, showed us a glorious hotel, shared with us two great restaurants and overall just cared for our wellbeing. There were frequent offers to take Stew to the hospital but we insisted he was fine.

Visas and rejection

I’m told that England is hard to get into, legally, from Albania. But Albanian’s can enter France and Germany easily.

For those who are determined to visit England – no natter what the law says – they can do so illegally. Albanian families pay 7,000 euros to be smuggled into England in the back of a van. Locals in Krume told us that every family in Krume has a member of family living in the U.K. – legally or illegally.

Staying in Krume gave us a different perspective on immigration. You really can’t blame people for trying to get a better quality of life. It’s difficult too when it is so difficult to visit the U.K. – it leaves people with no choice.

One evening we went to eat in a small restaurant, the owner was an elderly man. Naturally he didn’t speak English. To help us order he called a young man who spoke almost perfect English.

He showed us an email he received that day. It was his visa rejection. The young man was an engineer, a talented person, well dressed, intelligent, but he was rejected. We were genuinely disappointed for him. He helped us order, sat with us for our entire lunch sharing stories and made sure we were totally happy with everything before he left.

Pharmacist

Over the 4 nights in Krume we visited a pharmacist twice. On our first visit we wanted to pick up some treatment for Stew’s knee. The pharmacist who spoke good English inspected the grazed and swollen knee and suggested antibiotic cream and ibuprofen. He opened the cream in front of Stew and slid it across the counter. Leke (the Albanian currency) in hand, I was ready to pay , but the pharmacist refused.

“For free” he said, shaking Stew’s hand, “all the best with your journey.”

We were speechless.

The second visit to the pharmacy we wanted to buy a dressing for the huge graze on Stew’s knee to keep it clean on the bike ride. A different pharmacist helped this time, a female. She dressed Stew’s leg and refused payment.

“Where we are from?” She asked.

“England”

“Sister, sister England” she said with a knowing nod.

Albanian’s are kind and respectful

Albanians are kind beyond belief. On top of the medical help, we were given a loaf of bread, baked fresh for 29p. We appreciated the gifts, but often tried to pay extra.  Albania had been so good to us, so we wanted to give back to people, but they rarely allowed it.

One evening we were buying bread, a young girl was able to communicate with us a little and told us how much the bread was. I handed over the money and gestured that I did not want change, but the shop assistant handed back my change and as she did, she tapped her heart.

In our hotel we ordered four drinks – it was about ten in the morning, but we were curious to try Rakia, the national drink. A strong alcoholic spirit. We ordered it with coffees – as you do.

The hotel owner laughed as we ordered it and gave us quite a dose and it was strong! Definitely too strong for a morning beverage!

Back at the cafe-bar/our hotel ocn our last day – we buy 4 drinks, 2 of them alcoholic. They are all given to us “on the house”. We are speechless. Once again I tried to hand over my cash, but the drinks were free.

Respect is incredibly important in Albania. I see this from the older men especially, many are in shirts. They shake hands to greet each other and when someone leaves the table rises. You can feel the importance of respect when travelling through Albania.

It is with great pleasure that we receive the respect for England. It really means something here.

Travelling in Albania: Kukes!

After 4 days, Stew and I head to Kuke’s, our original destination! It’s just 18 miles away, so Stew would be okay. We settle down at a coffee-bar-restaurant to find our hotel for the night.

The owner comes out – we engage in the same small talk and tell him we are from England.

“I have a Union Jack in my bar! Come and see!” He says enthusiastically, camera in hand I follow him and see the Union Jack proudly hanging next to the Albanian flag.

“What is the reason for this?” I ask

“To me, it [Albania/England] is the same” he tells me.

This gentleman hopes to move to the UK one day. He has an Albanian son, named Ian after his Scottish friend.

Post written by: Zoe Ashbridge