A funny thing happened along the way...

... to Kruja.

The next morning we got up fairly early and made our way to the absolutely mental Zogu i Zi roundabout, where you can get a furgon (minibus) to Kruja. We had heard that Kruja is a nice day trip from Tirana because it is a quaint little town at the top of the Kruja mountain range, and has spectacular views of the region as well as a 13th century castle which is a monument and shrine to the country's national hero, Skanderbeg, who successfully defended the country against the Turks for 2 decades.

Anyway.

After much seeking of directions (the Lonely Planet "Europe on a Shoestring" doesn't really cut it in the map department) we finally find the roundabout, and manage to find the bit of dirt from where the furgons to Kruja go. We were about to get into one, already packed, when we found out it wasn't going direct to Kruja and we would have to change - so another bloke approached us and led us to his minibus. May I just say at this point, he led from behind us, pointing out the way to the bus, whilst he drummed up more customers on the way. This is an important point for later in the story.

Of course, these furgons only go when they have enough people in them to make the trip worthwhile, so we waited for a bit until the driver thought it was appropriate to leave. I didn't actually get in the bus at this stage, as I went to get water. Maybe if I had, we might not have taken this particular furgon.

So eventually the driver comes running around the corner, gets in the van and starts it up - I've been sitting on a bit of grass outside the van as it was so hot so I hurriedly get in the van before he takes off. Once we get underway I notice something. First of all, the windscreen is so badly cracked that I have no idea how the driver can actually see out of it. Secondly, the rearvision mirror is not suspended from the ceiling as in normal vehicles, but resting on the dashboard. How can he actually see what's behind him? And this guy is a complete kamikaze, he has some dramatic deathwish or something, we weave in and out of traffic like nobody's business (which to be honest is how all Albanians drive) - what with all the 'bipping' of horns and overtaking on the wrong side, I begin to wonder whether we're caught somewhere in a cross between Italy and the Middle East. Not surprisingly, we rubbernecked our way past an accident on the road (only one?) - the two vehicles involved looked like complete right-offs. Not hard though when you consider that everyone is driving a clapped out, 20 year old bucket on wheels.

Our furgon is actually full but this doesn't stop the driver pulling over for everyone he sees on the side of the road to see if they want a lift too. I end up jammed in between this woman with her 8 year old son on her lap and this very smelly man.

There's all sorts of interesting things to see on the side of the road after the accident, kids squatting beside a little BBQ where they are grilling corn cobs to sell to motorists, or whoever happens to be passing, little stalls of fruit etc. Oh and a couple of people skinning a cow they just killed.

We go past a wrecker's by the side of the road, not too far past the accident, so maybe this was a bit of a bottleneck intersection or something - not far to go to collect more vehicles for the wrecker's yard, right? Anyway, suddenly our driver slams on the brakes, pulls off the side of the road, jumps out of the car, and that's the first time we see it. His gun. Yes, this guy full on has a gun tucked into the back of his trousers. And no, I didn't think it was an imitation, or a fancy cigarette lighter or something.

So now we have a bit of a predicament, do we get out of the furgon and wait by the side of the road, traffic madly whizzing past, maybe we could get killed by some mad kamikaze driver losing control of his vehicle, or do we stay in the furgon and maybe get killed by some mad kamikaze driver as he takes us on to some destination other than where we want to go... all sorts of scenarios and thoughts go through my head. Finally, the thought occurs to me that all these other people wouldn't be riding in this furgon with a mad gunman - I mean the woman with her 8 year old son saw the gun too and didn't bat an eyelid - maybe that's what you do in Albania. Carry guns. I don't know. We decided though that if at any point it looked like we were going to be the only ones left in the bus, we would get off.

We did eventually make it to Kruja in one piece, and then spent an hour in a cafe overlooking the valley getting over the shock. The town itself was very nice, the castle impressive - but nothing can possibly beat that journey to get there! Fortunately we managed to get a 'proper' bus back to Tirana - so nothing of note to report there, luckily...