The Accursed Mountains: Journeys in AlbaniaThe remarkable tale of a series of journeys through remote, extraordinary Albania in the brief period between Communism and anarchy before it was again closed to Western travellers. Travelling by bus, on foot, by mule and horse, staying with Albanians in their houses and crumbling Stalinist tower blocks, Robert Carver meets Vlach shepherds and village intellectuals, ex-Communist Special Forces officers and juvenile heroin smugglers, missionaries with jeeps and light planes, and ex-prisoners of Enver Hoxha who have spent 45 years in the Albanian gulag. In the remote villages of the Accursed Mountains of the far north, he is the first Briton seen since the Second World War, when Intelligence officers were parachuted in to help fight the German occupiers. On his journey to Lake Gashit, high above the snowline on the Serb-Montenegrin border, Carver survives murder attempts and suicidal bus rides. He sees villages last visited by outsiders in 1933, which had effectively been hermetically sealed off from the rest of the world. In Tirana he experiences the contrasting side to life in Albania when he finds himself in the diplomatic set, inadvertantly consorting with Balkan highlife and involved with eccentrics worthy of an Evelyn Waugh novel. High adventure, danger and comedy alike are recounted in this sharp and spirited narrative, a highly original experience of a mysterious mountain land. |
Contents
Prelude | 1 |
Prelude to a Balkan Election | 19 |
The Enemy behind your Head | 34 |
Copyright | |
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Accursed Mountains Albanian armed asked Bajram Curri Balkans bandits Berisha bjeshkë blood feud border Butrint café Christian cigarettes clan coffee Communist culture Democrat donkeys Dr Shkrelli driver Durrës Edith Durham Egrem England English Enver Hoxha eyes foreign friends Gabriel German Gheg Ghegeria girls Gjirokastra Greece Greek guard guest guns highland honour inside Italian Italy jeep Jules Kalashnikov kanun Kanun of Lek Karl killed knew Korça Kosovo Kukes Lake Gashit lived looked Lorelei machine-guns Major-Doctor Mehmet Mercedes minibus missionaries mules murdered Natasha never night Ottoman palatti Party passport Peshkopi pistol police policeman political Rafiq raki replied rifles road round Rustem Sali Berisha Serbia shepherd Shkodra shot Sigurimi Skanderbeg smiled Socialist spoke streets talk Tepelena things Thomas Tirana told town Tropoja Valbona valley village walked wanted Western wife women Yezidi young