I think there is something quite fun about exploring a country by local bus. I am certainly not saying it’s for everyone or that it’s necessarily the best or quickest way to get somewhere but in a lot of the developing countries that we visit it’s the most used and most affordable way of getting around and usually there is a lot to see along the way. So it was with this sense of adventure in mind that we decided to take a day trip by bus to visit an archaeological site at Apollonia just 60km away.
Our first bus was just a quick 3km local bus to the main bus station where we had to find our van (furgon) to take us to Fier (the closest town to the site still about 12km away). We were receiving lots of mixed and often inaccurate information about buses in Albania so it was brilliant to see that just as we pulled up a bright orange van with “Fier” on the front was getting ready to leave so we ran over and jumped on. Easy
The van (and to be fair all subsequent vans we travelled in too) was old but spotlessly clean and to be fair fairly comfortable. There wasn’t much conversation so we plugged our headphones in put some music on and relaxed into the trip. As we drove between towns we would slow for just about everyone stood beside the road and they would either indicate that the wanted a lift and jump on or dismiss the driver with a wave. For the locals there didn’t seem to be any designated stops and we would often pick up and drop people off right outside their houses.
It wasn’t just for people either, a lot of the vans we have caught were used to deliver parcels and the driver would stop and drop off the parcel in return for a fare. The whole system looks fairly disorderly but once you see it for a while it’s actually quite a good system.
Apart from the goings on of the van itself our drive through the countryside let us have a quick look at life outside the cities and we soon noticed that life seemed a little poorer. We saw scythes being used to cut crops as well as donkeys to carry loads or tow trailers. We also saw plenty of Shepards tending their sheep and on many occasion turkeys!! It turns out that turkeys are traditionally eaten for both Christmas and New Year so are quite a valuable commodity and we saw more than I have seen previously.
I wouldn’t say the scenery was spectacular but it was enjoyable to drive through what seemed like endless rows of olive and orange trees and after an hour we arrived at Fier. I had been hoping that we would have been dropped off at a central bus station where there would have been a bus with “Apollonia” on it but alas not we were dumped on the road side in the middle of town. We thought we would get a quick bite to eat and managed to get a delicious giro in a park while watching old men playing dominoes.
We didn’t linger for long though as we wanted to get to Apollonia and so starting asking people how we should get there and they all indicated that we should head down the main road. So off we headed. We kept walking and asking and after a while started to come towards the end of town where the chop shops full of Range Rovers no doubt recently “imported” were. It was at this point that we realised that we weren’t heading to a bus station and out of nowhere appeared a guy who in a perfect American accent introduced himself and asked if we were lost. Yes.
It turns out he used to live in Detroit but had returned to have some dental work done as attested by his singular front tooth. He proceeded to offer his help and we gratefully accepted and were soon at the right spot and the right bus. He didn’t stop there though as it soon became clear that as it was a holiday the Apollonia site was actually closed and so the bus wasn’t going to be running all afternoon. We thought we would have to give up and go home. Not so though. Our friend and the bus driver came up with a plan that they would take the bus and drop us off at the site, our bus driver would then give the security guard his number and ensure that we could get in. Later when we wanted to leave the security guard would call home and he would come and pick us up in his car and take us back to Fier.
It says something about the genuine civility and generosity that we have come to expect from Albanians that we accepted their kind offer and jumped on the bus thanking everyone profoundly.
The bus dropped us off as planned and a phone number was given to a security guard and while the site was technically shut the security guards were obviously known to be amenable to allowing entry anyway as we certainly weren’t alone wandering around the ancient Illyrian city.
We managed to have a great walk around all the various ruins for a couple of hours. There was quite a lot to see and it seemed as if there might be even more that could be excavated in the future. You certainly had to use your imagination to fill in the gaps but it was pretty awesome to see the remains of a city that dated back to the Roman times.
While we were looking around we did have a little concern as to our return journey and this was exacerbated when we returned to the car park to find a different guard who wasn’t quite so friendly when we approached. He simply gruffly asked “Problem” and glared at us.
We decided to search out another guard as without help we were pretty stranded and sure enough guard number 2 was much more helpful and explained that the message about a couple needing a lift had been passed on and he called our bus driver who turned up very promptly and dropped us off at the correct bus stop in Fier for our journey home.
We allowed ourselves a high five when we were safely on our way back to Berat laughing as to how lucky and exciting the day trip had been. It’s very amusing indeed that the most memorable aspects of the day were not the amazing Illyrian city that we got to explore but the journey there and back. Definitely a lot of fun. T