Macedonia - How, Where, What, How much?

Lately, we have been searching a lot: searching for the right bus, searching for trustworthy people with the right information, searching for accommodations with heating, and searching for a bit of peace.

Our little trip to Macedonia to Lake Ohrid is turning out to be more complicated than expected. So far, our bus journey through the Balkans has been relatively easy. Information about bus connections and schedules is not available online in Albania, and sometimes on Tripadvisor, we find information from other travelers in the forum. However, even this information turns out to be unreliable, probably because of the off-season. This leads us to walk from bus station to bus station, asking passerby and bus drivers for help. From Berat, there is no direct connection to Ohrid in Macedonia, and we are prepared to have to change buses frequently. When we arrive in Elbasan, an intermediate station, it becomes really difficult for us to continue. We are followed by a persistent taxi driver who tells us that there are no buses from Elbasan to Macedonia and he wants to drive us there. We don't believe him because we have heard otherwise on the Internet and from stories, and his aggressiveness raises our suspicion. When we arrive at a bus station and ask a driver, he starts helping us when the taxi driver suddenly reappears and says something to the driver in Albanian, causing the driver to fall silent and turn away from us. Another woman tells us that there used to be another bus station here, but it is now closed. Someone else tells us that in the afternoon, there are no more buses to Macedonia, but when we look at the clock, it is only 12 noon. A kind passerby later turns out to be a mediator for the taxi drivers who demand high sums. We wander around Elbasan, going in circles, talking to many different people, trying to get rid of the taxi driver sticking to us, and in the end, we don't know who to believe and trust anymore. The experience in Elbasan has briefly shaken us because so far, we have experienced the Albanians as very helpful and honest people. We walk from bus stop to bus stop, constantly receiving different information, sometimes waiting for half an hour at a stop, only to realize that it is not the right bus. In the end, we come across three students whom we ask for help. The three are not really sure either, but they accompany us to a major road and wait there with us until a minibus passes by. They flag down the bus and the driver says that he is going in the right direction. A woman traveling with us negotiates a deal with the driver that he will take us to Struga on the Macedonian side. We are happy, but then the driver drops us off at the border. There must have been a misunderstanding, and we have to negotiate with the driver about the price. We don't give up and refuse to pay more than agreed, and we then cross the border on foot in the setting sun. Struga is still 15 kilometers away from the border, and there is no bus. A policeman tells us to get in a taxi - we try hitchhiking, and luckily, the third car, in which a nice Albanian couple is sitting, takes us to Struga. They drop us off at the bus stop to Ohrid, and immediately, a new taxi driver rushes over to us, wanting to take us to Ohrid. He is very frantic and tells us to come with him. But there are many other people around us waiting for the bus, and fortunately, it arrives at that moment. Exhausted, we arrive in Ohrid in the evening. We need to process the many encounters first. We stay at Lake Ohrid for four days in a small cozy and warm apartment. Unfortunately, the weather is quite bad, and we realize that we need a break from traveling. We are already so full of impressions and experiences that we need to rest again. Besides short walks during the day, we now spend more time in the apartment sorting our thoughts.

The onward journey from Ohrid to Gjirokastra in Albania turns out to be difficult again. We have to change buses a lot and spend a night in Pogradec because we were told that the only bus to Gjirokastra leaves at 6 in the morning. So the next day, we wake up at 5 o'clock, only to be told that there is no bus. We decide to drive to Korca to maybe get a bus to Gjirokastra there. But here, too, we are told again that there is only one at 6 in the morning. However, we wait a little longer at the bus stop, and in the end, a bus driver offers to take us a good distance, drop us off on a road where we can catch the bus to Gjirokastra. We accept the offer, and as a result, we drive halfway across Albania, pass through Elbasan again, almost reach Tirana again, wait half an hour on the main road for the second bus, which fortunately actually comes and takes us to our destination. We stay in Gjirokastra for two nights and explore the city, which has been settled since the 3rd century BC, and its large castle.

Getting from point A to point B in Albania is truly an adventure. There are so many people driving buses, minibusses, or taxis, and often all you need to do is stand on the right road, quickly recognize the direction of the vehicle based on the sign in the driver's cabin, and wave if you want to ride along. Sometimes the minibusses are really crowded, and instead of sitting on benches, you take small stools. Sometimes goats ride along, bleating throughout the entire journey. Of course, nobody fastens seat belts, and overtaking is done as often as possible. We have a little taxi driver trauma, but overall, we can laugh about it now.

We spend the Christmas holidays and Jacob's birthday in Ksamil, a sleepy town in southern Albania.