Albania, Tirana -

Again. Flights to Pristina are full, and they won't even let people without confirmed seats to try and get on. And of course my reasons for avoiding Macedonia: the rebel insurgency has come near the airport, and I am not interested in haggling for cab rides under the guise of a journalist with a very large expense account, which I do not have. As well, the Skopje- Pristina route is touted as terribly busy in the best of times, so imagine it now with a whole new wave of refugees. So here I am again, a little over a month later, in Albania. I paid the taxi driver an extra 20DM for the ride; I was feeling friendly(and I bargained him down from 100DM anyway).

They took the ferris wheel down in central Tirana, and tore up a sidewalk to put in some new underground pipes. Otherwise, it's the same place - nice to visit, great mountain scenery, and so completely backward by European standards you cannot help but feel sorry for the expats posted here. Although at least they can spend their days off in Greece or Italy.
So it looks like I will get to see Kukes after all - one of two towns in Albania I wanted to visit last time, but missed. The other is Berat - and who knows when I will get there. I'm surprised I've even come back to Albania a second time - when you leave Tirana's foul little airport it's tempting to think "never again". But never say never in the Balkans.
When will I reach Pristina? Early morning? Would it be a six or seven hour bus ride from Tirana? It was 50DM for the ticket, rather high for a bus ride in Albania.
Ideas still swarm in my head about the current state of Kosovo and what it may become. Enver expressed to me many opinions about Kosovo and Albania and the Balkans in general - unification with Albania doesn't seem to be something he wants for his home country. Nor reunification with Yugoslavia. He also told me that after a year of war and three months of NATO bombing, Kosovo is still a better place to be than Albania. Which makes me all the more fascinated by Albania, and its place in Europe.

I am keen on seeing the Kosovo of now - post-war, pre-referendum, barely stable and trying hard not to fall into the trap of Being completely involved with the conflict in Macedonia.


We took a different road out of Tirana, and avoided Shkodre altogether. Within two hours we were winding high into the Carpathians, deep into fog and lush, stout forests; and yet there was still plenty of garbage on the side of the road. It became dark and we were still nowwhere near Kukes; I drifted in and out of sleep, trying to make sure I didn't miss anything but also trying to make sure I would be refreshed for tomorrow. We passed through a decent sized town, which I never did catch the name of. The road became steadily worse from there, in the late evening, and at 11:20pm we reached a checkpoint: a small car with two officers inside wielding a requisite AK-47 each. The bus driver went out to speak to them. An english speaking girl told me that the police do not think we are safe, and are contemplating escorting us through the next several kilometres of the road. It's either that or wait until early morning. I also believe that we are still far from the Kosovo Border.

Something else of interest is how many of these people on the bus speak german; this made it relatively easy for me to communicate to the many people on the bus, between several guys my age fluent in german and the girl who was fluent in english. All expressed surprise that I was just a tourist, and not something "important" like a UN worker or journalist.

But in the end we headed back to the mid-sized town, and found a restaurant that was open, and all of us piled in. Someone bought me a cappucino, and the english speaking girl and her boyfriend invited me to their table.
Usual banter, broken by her translating, and me chatting in broken German with a Kosovo-Swiss guy, was interjected by the girl drifting into political conversation. I wasn't going to bring it up, not sure if it was taboo territory or not - but she was more than willing to discuss these things with me.
"That the occupation by the Serbs has been replaced by occupation with KFOR and UNMIK troops," she said. "I hope that in a generation my kids will learn to live with the Serbs as neighbours and we can build connections with them."
"But not your generation?" I asked the 22 year old.
"No, it is not possible for me. But that is what the Serbs wanted."
She was keen on Kosovo being represented as its own country; some seem to already be calling it as such. "Maybe in ten years it will be okay for KFOR to leave," she said. I found it interesting that they would so openly talk about these things - then again, they must be used to talking to foreigners about them. I asked her the population of Kosovo."
"Two million."
"Does that include the foreigners?"
"Oh yes, two and a half million."

Once again, the people are much friendlier here than in other parts of Europe I have visited. Bosnians were not nearly as open to foreigners. Kosovars may rival the Albanians for friendliness.

We headed back into the bus and all fell asleep. Kukes came and went very quickly, and was a very forgettable town. Soon enough we were at the border, lined up beside the bus, and all of our identification was checked by a German KFOR soldier. No stamps; but tight security.

Pristina



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