The first time I visited Albania there were no guidebooks available. I read some history books, but the most recent one available then was published in 1978. The year was 1992 and the country had just opened up to foreigners. Living within swimming distance, in Corfu, Greece, from 1972-1974 had piqued my curiosity. At that time, no Americans were allowed to visit, due to the harsh policies of Enver Hoxha's severely Stalinist regime.
So my first trip to Albania was like jumping backward off a cliff: I had no idea what to expect until I landed. Once there, the beauty of the country and the generosity of the people blew me away. I am a photographer and in Albania I found my life's work, beginning a project to document the Albanian people, including those living in Kosova and Macedonia. Since 1992 I have spent almost a month each year in this region.
I had looked forward to reading Robert Carver's "The Accursed Mountains", but found so many inaccuracies and author prejudices that I could not possibly recommend this book to anyone seeking to learn more about Albania.
The author overuses such qualifiers as "reputed", "it was said", "widely believed" and "claimed". Was there no way he could have found out if these statements were true or not? The more I read of this book, the more annoyed I became. I was in Albania in 1996, the same year he wrote about, and it was hard to believe that we had traveled in the same country. Whereas he continually met "unsmiling" people wanting to rip him off, I had totally different experiences. Strangers invited me into their homes, fed me and put me up for the night-and refused to accept one lek for their kindness.
Some of his inaccuracies:
"Fifty thousand green card visas had been allocated to Albania on a lottery basis..." (p. 24):
50,000 is the total number of visas granted to all the countries allowed to apply, not just Albania.
"Maps only became legal in 1995...There weren't any for sale anywhere." (p. 29)
I was able to purchase a map of Albania at a kiosk in Skanderbeg Square in 1993.
"There was no driving test in Albania. You just paid the police $10 for a permit. Spectacular crashes were common." (p. 39)
Why not mention that, until 1991, most Albanians were not allowed to own a car? Wouldn't that be an interesting fact to impart?
"There was only one ship left [in Saranda]...a small rusted freighter" (p. 99)
That's strange, because, along with Durres and Vlore, Saranda is a major port and every time I've been there I've seen quite a few boats of all types in the harbor: Freighters, ferries that travel back and forth from Corfu, and fishing boats, among others.
"The police were out in force...collecting cash [bribes from bus drivers]" (p. 115).
I have traveled extensively on buses in Albania, and never was stopped for this reason.
"For Macedonia, you had to have a passport with no Greek stamps at all, or they wouldn't let you in." (p. 133)
Funny, but the Greek stamps on my passport have never kept me out of Macedonia.
"The US Treasury had apparently put five hidden raised serrations on each bill...to detect forgeries" (p. 150)
Please, can someone tell me when this was done?
"...my mistake was to risk taking a photo of the giant equestrian statue of Skanderbeg...Now is a bad time for people with cameras." (p. 157-162)
I have never had a problem taking photos anywhere in Albania. In pre-war Kosova, yes; the Serbs liked throwing their weight around. But in 1996 I was working on a project concerned with the fate of political prisoners in Albania and was able to photograph in former and current prisons and other places that would have been forbidden during the Hoxha regime.
"If a foreigner got a cab it cost $50 [to go to Rinas Airport]." (p. 328)
I have never paid more than $20, either coming or going from Rinas, until 2003, when the lek became based on the euro instead of the US dollar.
What bothered me most about this book was the author's treatment of women. It's obvious that he cares very little for feminists. However, he has no problem in describing the size ("enormous") of a woman's breasts, or lack thereof. He meets two "professional feminists" in Bajram Curri and gives them "no more than a 50-50 chance of getting to Tirana unviolated." It's as if he hopes something bad will befall these women. He tries to track them down in Tirana:
"...when I enquired at the various aid agencies no one had ever heard of them...All sorts of people were disappearing without trace in Albania that summer." (p. 267)
As if he really cared-or as if that were really happening.
The above quotes are taken from the hard cover version published in 1998. If you plan on traveling to Albania, or merely want to learn more about this strange and beautiful country, don't waste your money on this book. James Pettifer's "Blue Guide" is so much more useful. Edith Durham's "High Albania" and Lloyd Jones' "Biografi" are more informative about the Albanian people.
