Balkans – Chess in the Snow

Albania/Balkans/furgon/rrogam/shkoder/thethi/Travel/valbone

From the Albania journals

Posted on September 9, 2013 by how_sven / 1 Comment

I got stuck last year in trying to write about my second trip to Albania in September. I kept notes in my journal but couldn’t motivate myself to polish t...

Albania/Balkans/istanbul/Macedonia/Travel/Turkey

Pogradec – Ohrid – Skopje – Istanbul

Posted on November 3, 2012 by how_sven / 0 Comment

The next day in Pogradec I enjoyed my complimentary breakfast of toast, fried eggs and Turkish coffee before departing the hotel. It was a nice, hot sunny day f...

Albania/Balkans/Koman ferry/photos/Travel

Koman Ferry

Posted on October 24, 2012 by how_sven / 0 Comment

The ferry from Fierze to Koman goes down the man-made Lake Koman, cutting through the mountains, which makes for spectacular scenery. The boat was pretty full w...

Albania/Bajram Curri/Balkans/furgon/Koman ferry/photos/Travel/valbone

Bajram Curri

Posted on October 7, 2012 by how_sven / 0 Comment

The furgon from Valbone to Bajram Curri leaves every morning at 7:00. There’s only one furgonper day and I don’t know why it leaves at such a ridicu...

Albania/Balkans/furgon/photos/rrogam/Travel/Uncategorized/valbone

Rogam/Valbone

Posted on September 21, 2012 by how_sven / 0 Comment

I kept going down the hill and eventually the boy on the horse caught up with me and passed me. He said his house was just a little bit further down and I told ...

Albania/Balkans/photos/thethi/Travel/valbone

Hiking from Thethi to Valbone

Posted on September 20, 2012 by how_sven / 0 Comment

I started hiking around 7:30am. I was a bit concerned about how I would fare, as I haven’t done a lot of big hikes like this. I walk a lot in Istanbul and...

Albania/Balkans/furgon/photos/thethi/Travel

Thethi

Posted on September 11, 2012 by how_sven / 0 Comment

The furgon (minibus) I would ride was an old, battered, orange Mercedes. The roads up to the villages aren’t passable by regular cars; the only vehicles...

Albania/Balkans/furgon/photos/shkoder/Travel

Shkoder

Posted on September 6, 2012 by how_sven / 0 Comment

I was Shkoder bound. I didn’t know much about Shkoder, except that it has global recognition because of the blood feuds that still happen in northern Alba...

Albania/Balkans/furgon/photos/tirana/Travel

Tirana

Posted on September 5, 2012 by how_sven / 0 Comment

On the bus from Berat to Tirana I was glued to the window. I remembered on the bus in to Berat we had passed a house that was designed to look like a boat and I...

Albania/Balkans/berat/furgon/photos/Travel

Berat

Posted on September 1, 2012 by how_sven / 0 Comment

I boarded the bus in Sarande and was Berat bound. It’s roughly a 250km journey. Though cities in Albania are never far apart as the crow flies, bus travel...