My exploratory tour of the Balkans has been abruptly delayed because of lack of transportation!
But let me start at the beginning. The sound of rain kept waking me up, but when I was finally ready to leave for the "bus station", at about 7 am, the heavy rain had turned into a cold drizzle. Fortunately I found a taxi right away, and when we drove into the "station" there was already a bus loading passengers for Shkodër, a northern Albanian town close to the border with Montenegro. Who organizes what bus goes to where, and at what time it departs, is a bit of a mystery, but the system has so far worked for me. I planned to make a stop at Shkodër because there is a large lake there that is designated a National Park, and because somewhere in the internet I learned that it was possible to take a bus from there to Dubrovnik, Croatia. To give me enough time to take a look around the lake I decided to spend the night there, and with the help of Booking.com found an inexpensive apartment close to downtown.
The bus ride from Tirana to Shkodër was only one and a half hours long, and I was lucky enough to meet my landlord at the small flat, where he had come to open the curtains and put a bottle of water in the small fridge. It was 9:30 am, but he was happy to check me in so I could put down my backpack and have a cup of coffee before going out to find out the time and place to take the bus to Dubrovnik tomorrow. In the best of spirits I headed to the center of town, glad to see that the clouds had parted and the sun was making its shy appearance. Experience had taught me that for lack of a proper bus station the likely point of bus departures would be a park only known to locals. So I asked around and eventually was directed to the Rozmor Hotel, where I found that yes, buses often start and end their runs on the street where the hotel is located, but no, they had no idea at what time the Dubrovnik bus departed. A friendly young woman told me that I should do a Google search for "Bus from Shkodër to Dubrovnik", which I did, only to find out that the bus does not run tomorrow Wednesday, so I will have to wait until Thursday afternoon. Rats!
Fortunately my landlord was glad to extend my stay for another night, but I am not sure there is enough to keep me entertained in this small town. Mind you, it is a nice town, with a large mosque, a Roman Catholic church, and an Orthodox cathedral, and has a nice promenade by the river that drains out of the lake, but I have already covered those touristy places, so I am going to find little to do tomorrow Wednesday and on Thursday morning. I can always stay home and watch You Tube videos in my iPad, but the apartment is a bit chilly for comfort. Speaking of which, I am not quite sure what to make of this small flat. I think it is a bachelor flat, with a very basic kitchenette, and a definite "lived in" feeling to it (washing machine with four different types of detergents, good wi-fi, an espresso machine, and overstuffed chairs in the small living room). Whoever lives or lived here, I am glad I could have it for the two nights I will need to "shelter in place".
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