Tomorrow I’ll enter Greece. In the hostel I reflect on my time in Albania. My mind overflows with the experiences of the past week. It’s hard to make sense of them. I find it difficult to make sense of this country, to find words for it. It’s like a paradox sometimes. The nature is beautiful, the mountain ranges unforgettable. Yet, it’s full of plastic. I see people empty their garbage from their cars, while driving, into whatever nature is around. Even national parks are infested with trash. Then there’s the grey towns versus the warm people. Architecture and infrastructure in most places are not very welcoming. Yet, the people are open-hearted and kind. I’ve drunken homemade liquor at numerous places while waiting for the rain to pass. I haven’t had to pay at numerous bars, just as a welcome. Whenever I rest or take shelter next to the road, within five minutes a car stops to ask me if I’m alright. And the miracle of the Mercedes keeps intriguing me. By the way, did you know Albania declared itself the first fully atheist state? That was during a time of an oppressive communist dictatorship, but still a quite interesting fact. And then there’s this thing with the unfinished buildings. Everywhere I go I see half built houses. Often mere skeletons than buildings, sometimes seemingly completely finished with just a roof or a wall missing. Apparently, with the country opening up and its population not used to capitalism, pyramid schemes were rampant in the nineties: promises were broken, loads of people lost money, and the buildings simply didn’t get finished. It makes for eery scenes.

On the whole, from its nature to its people and history, Albania has impressed me greatly.

Tip: check out this photo essay about the unfinished buildings.