Kirsten Goes Driving

On Thursday afternoon, I hopped a bus to Pristina to pick up my rental car. There's no rental places in Prizren, which is quite a drag because it takes 2 hours to get to Pristina by bus and 70-90 minutes by car. That's time I could have spent enjoying myself even more than I did.

At 50 Euros per day (about $70), renting a car to drive abroad isn't cheap (Kosovo-only rentals can be had for 20 Euros/$30). The price of gas is a bit steep, too (in the neighborhood of $8 per gallon), but it was worth it.

The first leg of the journey, Pristina to Prizren, was an easy drive. On the way back to my apartment, I stopped at the store to stock up on water and toilet paper (having a car has benefits that walking doesn't, mainly the ability to carry lots of stuff). I spent the night at home then left around 9am Friday morning. Destination: Ohrid, Macedonia.

A random church on the side of the road in southern Kosovo.

The drive into Macedonia was smooth. I left Prizren and headed east through the Sharr mountains and past the ski resort of Brezovice. Instead of using the main border crossing of Dimce (which is on the main road south of Ferizaj heading towards Skopje) and I crossed at Qafeshqipe, which is in the direction of Tetovo. Crossing was easy and quick. Upon entering Macedonia, I had to buy insurance for 3,5 Euros, and there's no toilet. From there it was a couple-of-hours drive to Lake Ohrid, called by many the "jewel of the Macedonian crown."

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ohrid is a beautiful town to walk around. In fact, I spent so much time strolling about, I decided to spend the night.

The Church of Saint John at Kaneo

Outer church wall detail

A night in Ohrid was 15 Euros. I'm not sure the name of the place I stayed. It was some random apartment that I went in to inquire about. It had a kitchenette and a terrific lake view. In the summer time, I think it would have been much noiser, but as it is mid-October and there aren't so many people milling about in the evening, I had a fairly quiet sleep.

Early Saturday morning, after a stop at a bakery where I picked up a mystery-filled roll, I headed around Lake Ohrid towards the border with Albania.

This is along the road to Albania. These truck had been here a while. Weird.

The drive into Albania was easy. No traffic. The border was quick to get through. However, once one enters Albania, there's an extreme need to be aware of other drivers. I was serious in my claim before that driving in Albania is like playing a video game. The roads were decent, though, and I was in Tirana by mid-afternoon.

Tirana, Tirana, Tirana. Tirana is so much more cosmopolitan than Pristina. Pristina has a loooong ways to go before it becomes a capital city worth visiting just for the sake of visiting. Tirana, however, has charm, grace, and much less trash. Plus, the grocery stores are better (the measurement by which I judge all cities). My stop at the QTU netted me ricotta cheese, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, canned stuffed grape leaves, dark chocolate, and a few other odds and ends.

The Sheraton in Tirana has a nice little movie theater on the ground floor. Each room (there are two, I think) seats about 25 people in big, cushy, plush, red chairs. The only film playing at the time I arrived was Iron Man, so that's what I saw. Not bad. I spent the night in the same hotel as before, the Hotel Europa. I looked at rooms in other hotels and even stopped at a travel agent for help with finding a place, but no one could offer me anything decent for less than 70 Euros. The Hotel Europa set me back 35. Not bad.

On Sunday morning, I was up early to drive about 3 hours to make the ferry that crosses Lake Fierezes. The ferry was scheduled to leave at 10am. I arrived at 10:15, and the boat left at 10:30. I should have budgeted 3.5 hours to make the trip, but, luckily, schedules in the Balkans are flexible.

The ferry runs from Koman to Fierze. Entering into Kosovo via this route avoids the twisty-turning-vomit-inducing road through Kukes. I think that the ferry route is actually quicker although travellers are limited to the scheduling of the 10 am ferry.

The seats on the upper deck were graffitied. I didn't venture into the enclosed seating area downstairs mainly because I didn't want to sit in a smoke-clogged, badly ventilated room.

The shores along Lake Fierze are sometimes compared to the fjords of SE Alaska and Norway. I wouldn't go that far, but the scenery is pretty stunning.

Albania doesn't have much infrastructure for tourists. For example, the roads into Koman and out of Fierze were slow going. Into Koman, there was 30-odd km of potholey, narrow, dusty roads that were impossible to go faster than 30 km per hour on. Coming off the boat at Fierze, the situation was similar exept that many of the drivers on the boat were in an extreme hurry to get to where ever they were going. These drivers passed in inappropriate places, rode their horns, tailgated....yeesh. Like a video game.

Leaving the ferry.

I passed back into Kosovo at Qafa e Morines. Once again, crossing the border was simple and hassle-free. I stopped for lunch at a lovely restaurant overlooking Gjakova. I took my rental car back to Prizren, dropped off my luggage and cheese, took the car back to Pristina, rode the bus back to Prizren, took a shower, and collapsed into bed.

The mystery-filled roll I bought in Ohrid turned out to contain ham, mayonnaise, and ketchup. I got about two bites in and had to abandon it in favor of two bananas.