Monday, August 17, 2009

Remote Albanian mountains drawing tourists

I probably should have provided just the URL so visitors to the Frosina Blog could read this great Reuters story of how a small mountain village in northern Albania is being slowly transormed into a mountain climbers paradise. I don't really believe that Reuters would object if I published its unusual and interesting story about Albania below.

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Reuters Aug. 14, 2009

Remote Albania mountains now drawing tourists
by Benet Koleka

THETH, Albania (Reuters Life!) - A century ago, a famed British travel writer fell in love with the rugged villages of traditional stone houses in northern Albania, a region she praised for its magnificent isolation.

Theth is just as rugged and pure today as when Edith Durham visited in 1909. Following a century of wars, Stalinist rule and economic turmoil, the villagers see its remoteness as a lure for foreigners seeking the thrill of escape.

Theth's traditional two-story stone houses, known as "kullas", with steep wooden roofs are nestled in a valley and the lower slopes of mountains covered with beech, pine and other trees below. The peaks tower above at 2,000 to 2,694 metres, where pockets of snow linger throughout the year.

"I think no place where human beings live has given me such an impression of majestic isolation from all the world," Durham, one of the first outsiders to visit the area, wrote in her 1909 book "High Albania."

Westerners seeking pristine nature pass by Durham's portrait carved on a stone relief and bearing the words "Highland Queen" on the road to Theth among a crown of rugged peaks.

On a recent day, Czech tourist Andrej Rapant, whose father organises tours to Theth, was one of a dozen people who had pitched a tent in a plum tree orchard by the river.

He came to Albania to get away to the mountains but avoid the tourists who crowd the Alps in Central Europe every summer.

"We are looking for pure nature and find it in these mountains, because it is so natural," he said.


SCEPTICAL START

After generations of rugged self-reliance, local highlanders were sceptical about the tourist potential of their region.

Three years ago, locals told an expert from Germany's GTZ agency which encourages international development that his talk of tourism here was that of "an alien from another planet".

In fact, many local landlords had already abandoned the region, citing the lack of power, the absence of schools and doctors, a road blocked by winter snow and other woes.

GTZ official Ismail Beka issued a televised appeal to discuss tourism, and agency experts advised locals how to spruce up their stone houses to receive guests and treat them to local meat, dairy products, honey and tea.

Seven families accepted GTZ's offer of 2,000 euros ($2,855) worth of beds, toilets and showers. Three years on, everyone now wishes they had done the same.

"Money was the smallest thing we invested there," Beka said. "We spent time and energy to win hearts; a big thing was achieved with little. Some 5,000 people came last year."

Beka calculates the initial 14,000 euro cash investment has already translated into 100,000 euros in tourism spending in Theth, sums beyond the dreams of most locals.

"Some 90 percent of tourists are foreigners, unlike the rest of Albania," Beka said. "Theth guest houses have a much higher occupancy rate than the seaside resorts."

Showing his no-frills but clean house with Western style bathrooms funded with a mix of GTZ and his own money, host Prek Harusha said locals felt they were not fully ready for tourism, but "having the best climate in the world" helped a lot.

Harusha's children have picked up English and serve as his translators. His 50 sheep and two cows assure tourists paying 20 euros for board and food that they have a choice of fresh meat, milk, butter, home-made bread and vegetables.

"Communism delayed our development by 100 years. It has always been our tradition to welcome guests, but times have changed and we are now doing it for money," Harusha said.


REAL ESCAPE

Tourists can trek mountain peaks, visit a waterfall, church, water-run grindstone mills and a tower that served as jail for those awaiting trial by elders, after killing rivals under the ancient blood-feud code of the Albanian mountains.

"Because there are not many people in the mountains, people are very nice and they give us bread and (local brandy) raki," said Czech backpacker Jiri Kubec.

The drive from Tirana takes three and a half hours, the last hour and a half of which is on a dirt road. One of two auto routes is a mix of stone and dirt which and dates back to the Italians who annexed Albania during World War Two.

Such isolation has its rewards and risks. Three young Czechs vanished while visiting the area eight years ago. But Dutch hiker Pieter Ovenduin revelled in the remoteness of it all and the thrill of reaching a pristine mountain top.

"Here you really escape. You reach the top by yourself and do not discover a road and a cafe and parking on the other side."

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Kosovo Press Review - August 6

I find that the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) is a great source of up-to-date news about Kosova and Albania so to introduce BIRN to those who aren't familiar with it, check out BalkanInsight.com and note, especially, its "In Brief" column.

Below is a sampling of BIRN's news about Kosova:

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Kosovo Press Review - August 6
Pristina | 06 August 2009 |


Kosovo NewspapersHere are the top stories in Kosovo’s main newspapers. Balkan Insight has not verified the reports and cannot vouch for their accuracy.

KOHA DITORE
Reacting to Serbia's provision of financial aid to parallel Kosovo Serb institutions, the Pristina government has requested that the coordination of financing be conducted solely through the Kosovo authorities.

EXPRESS
The Council for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedom in Pristina argues that the Kosovo government should file charges against Carla Del Ponte. Del Ponte has accused the Kosovo Liberation Army of kidnappings and organ trafficking during the Kosovo conflict.

LAJM
Interior Minister Zenun Pajaziti does not want to use violence against parallel Serb structures in Kosovo. Instead, the minister stressed that he intends to strengthen Kosovo institutions.

ZERI
Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu has met the residents of three villages in the municipality of Leposavic, inhabited by ethnic Albanians. Replying to their questions, he stressed that any change in regional borders would be very dangerous. “Therefore the stance of Republic of Kosovo institutions is unchangeable, every one in their house, every country within its borders,” he said.

INFOPRESS
A teacher at a school in Medrese has accused one of his colleagues of sexual harassment and abuse against female students. The secretary of the Islamic Community of Kosovo, Resul Rexhepi, has confirmed that he has received a letter of complaint.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Same-Sex marriages in Albania?

According to an August 1, 2009 article in The Boston Globe, Albania Plans to allow Same-Sex Marriages, Albania's Prime Minister Sali Berisha's upcoming surprise proposal before the Albanian parliament allowing same-sex marriages has already generated strong objections by Albania's Christian Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Muslim clerical leaders. Moreover, opposition politicians have accused Berisha of using the issue as a ploy to draw attention away from their allegations that a June election was rigged. As a result, Berisha will most assuredly face a tough fight in Parliament, but should he prevail, Albania would become the first country in the Balkans to enact such protective legislation for homosexuals.

Albania, as a candidate for EU membership, will have to pass laws protecting sexual minorities from discrimination, but not necessarily approve gay marriage. However, almost two decades after the fall of communism, Albanian homosexuals still keep their sex lives very secret and private to shield themselves from the scorn and sometimes violent discrimination by members of Albanian society. Albania has, traditionally, had a long history of discrimination against homosexuals, and, under almost 50 years of communism, homosexuals lived in fear of being discovered since they were often given long prison sentences while suffering much verbal and physical abuse by both keepers and inmates.

Is it too soon for Albania to sanction same-sex marriages? Please post your comment below.