Pogradec Round 2

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Hey everybody, there’s been a lot going on since the last time I talked to you!

On Sunday morning, after Anna Maria’s departure, I took off from Skopje enroute back to Pogradec, Albania to link up with Andi and get the Fiesta back to the mechanic for the rest of the repairs. Even though I’ve done this drive several times now, the beauty of the countryside was worth a few more pictures..

Approaching Albania, on the Macedonian side of the border
I’m starting to become a regular at this border crossing lol
Overview of Lake Ohrid, on my final approach to Andi’s village – Memelisht – just outside of Pogradec. This is close to place where my accident happened – so you know I pulled over to get the picture this time 😀

Upon arrival to Memelisht, Andi came and met me at the fisherman’s bar that I had been to before, and we took the car to the mechanic about 20 minutes away on the other side of Pogradec and dropped it off first thing. He then took me to a restaurant nearby to Memelisht where we caught up a little and had some traditional food from his region of Albania. Everything was great, but I had a hard time stomaching the beef that was served because it was all organ meat!

First beer, waiting on dinner
A cream cheese like appetizer
Awesome grilled veggies
I couldn’t quite handle this meat. I gave to Andi and ate a double order of veggies instead.
Dessert was unlike anything I’d ever tasted. Sightly sweet and gelatinous.
A feast fit for kings. Of course, no matter what I said, Andi would not let me pay for anything.

After dinner, we went back over to the fisherman’s bar in the village to say hi to some of Andi’s many cousins, including the one who agreed to take the two of us out fishing for the endemic Koran, also known as Lake Ohrid trout, later that night. Plans were set to rest up for a couple hours since the boat would be leaving at 3:30 am. Evidently, Koran fishing is best in the hours leading up to sunrise.

Hanging out with the village fisherman in Memelisht

I got about 3 hours of sleep and at 3:30 sharp Monday morning, Andi was at the hotel to pick me up. Off we went to the shoreline where we met with his cousin, Kristi, to get the boat ready and set off for the fishing. I was very excited to see the method used to fish for Koran!

Prepping the boat. The fisherman leave all the boats together on the shore, but remove and replace the engine and all equipment every day.
Out on the water, setting out the trot line.
The fishing is done with a series of plastic bottles that act as floats with fishing line rigged with staggered hooks wrapped around them. A weight is placed at the bottom of the line and the line is unfurled. When it is completely out, the bottle is tied to a rope and then let out behind the boat, and then the process is repeated with the next bottle. In total, Kristi rigged about 30 bottles to the line.
The final bottle is tied to a stick and used as something like a speedometer while trolling the lake. We trolled for about 3 hours before pulling in the line.
After all the bottles are out, there is not much to do for several hours except steer the boat. So we just relaxed, talked, listened to some music, and waited for the sunrise.
Captain Kristi. He’s only 17, but he does this everyday and has the process down to a science.
Killing time
Here’s about as far out into the lake as we went.

Finally, the sun began to peek out over the mountains and on to the lake. It was one of the prettiest sunrises I’ve ever seen, and it alone would have made the early morning wakeup worth it!

Finally, at about 7:30, it was time to check the line. You have no idea whether there are fish on until you check each bottle individually, and some of the fisherman live and die by what’s on the line. So the excitement and anticipation was palpable at this moment, especially if I put myself in the shoes of a local. In the end, we only caught two Koran – but I guess that’s why they call it fishing and not catching.

Finally time to start bringing in the bottles and checking them one at a time
Wasn’t much for me to do at this juncture, so I just enjoyed the show.
Andi pulling in some line, but Kristi is the real pro.
First Koran
Second Koran
Casual observer here, but it was really a special experience to watch this unique type of fishing that only happens in their region.
Headed back to Memelisht
Direction Macedonia

After we got back to the shore, we ran into some other fisherman returning with their catch. We stowed the boats and equipment and headed back to the fisherman’s bar, where one of Andi’s jobs is to collect all the fish and take them to various restaurants and resell them. While he did that, I went back to the hotel and slept in preparation for our little shindig that afternoon.

Our big Koran. This fish is worth about 4 euros in resale.
Andi weighing out everyone’s catch for the resale.
View from my room at the Victoria hotel in Memelisht

About 1pm, Andi came and got me from the hotel and we loaded up his car and headed up the mountain to a remote spot he picked out for our little party. It wound up just being the two of us and three of his cousins, but we had a great time!

All the essentials
Memelisht
There were some incredibly rough roads getting out to the party locale. It some points, we had to get out of the car so it wouldn’t bottom out!
Andi will take that car anywhere!
Freddie and G-bani
The party crew – that’s Arjan on the left – he’s a chef and works in Italy. All these guys are cousins.
Arjan getting the grill working
Turned out great!
I brought some bourbon just for the occasion and the guys loved partying Kentucky style.
First bottle gone by 2:30 or so
Freddie getting into the Bulleit
It wasn’t long before the guitar came out
Goodbye Bulleit, hello Jack
The guys wanted to hear some country music, so at some point my speaker went from Bluetooth to guitar and mic.
Keep on truckin’ Mama
After a few songs on the guitar, we turned the speaker into a karaoke machine and the Albanian folk songs broke out.
Albanian folk song
The bourbon may have got the best of ole Freddie
Folk dancing. We were all feeling some type of way but that point.
Then we all took a turn on Arjan’s scooter
This gentleman owned the property that we were set up on and couldn’t have been nicer or more happy to meet me.
He brought his work dogs, who were very cautious about meeting me. I made a goal to pet one of them. Here I’m using some chicken to butter them up for the approach.
Getting closer..
Mission accomplished
Hauling everything back up to the car.
Had to keep the car as light as possible on the road out. That hill was a steep climb!

After getting back to the village, Andi took me back to the hotel where I had some food and passed out. It had been a long day and big job to say the least!

Finally got to try Koran at the hotel restaurant. It wasn’t too bad – it tasted a little like Salmon, but milder.

On Tuesday morning, Andi picked me up at 715 am to go back to the fisherman’s bar and accompany him on his day of fish reselling. It was cool to see how all that worked, and how much attention to detail and how many stops it required to get all the work done. We must have picked up and dropped off at least 150 pounds of fish all over the area.

Reviewing film from the party the day before. Everybody got a kick out of the videos.
Not even half the fish that entered and left Andi’s trunk on Tuesday.
Roadside deal making

During the fish runs, we got word that my car was done at the mechanic and that the police had finally been able to locate my crash report that I needed for insurance purposes. So we went and got the car and the report, and my main mission of coming back to Albania had been completed. I couldn’t have done any of it without Andi’s help – between the rides, his time, and the translating, he was truly a godsend.

This crash report was a real pain in the ass to get my hands on due to the police botching a few things up. But ultimately we got it.
The mechanic who did all the work on the Fiesta. He did a great job, was affordable, and was fast.
It looks good as new now!

I decided to spend one more night in Pogradec, since it was already so late by the time I got my car back. Unfortunately, the internet was down at the hotel Tuesday evening. So I went back to the fisherman’s bar until about 1am just to use the WiFi – but when I came back the hotel was all locked up with no way back to my room. So Tuesday night wound up being an unexpected car camping night 😂

Locked out.
That’s life.

This morning, the sun woke me up by about 7am and I was beat (by then the hotel was open) so I went up to my room and passed back out for a few hours. The owner felt terrible about me getting locked out, but I told him not to worry about it. He insisted on giving me some local Brandy and a cigar, so I accepted that and got on the road after breakfast – but not before Andi swung by to say goodbye. I’ll always remember what he did for me and I am going to do my best to try to get him a visa to come to the United States. His parents and sister immigrated to Philadelphia a couple of years ago and for some reason the US government has twice denied him a visa to come over to visit, which I think is ridiculous. I hope to be able to somehow sponsor him to come over, but I need to research how to do it. Anything to repay the hospitality he showed me!

Presents from the owner of the hotel.
Till next time pal

I’m now off to Kumanovo, Macedonia to link up with my buddy Marko – who I meet at my show in Skopje a few weeks back. More music and another new city to explore.

Talk to you guys again soon!

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  1. Linda South

    Very interesting to learn their style of fishing for the Koran. Looked like you had a nice time.Andi was such a Godsend to you when you really needed a hand to get through that bad experience. Hopefully,you’ll be able to sponsor him for a visit to the states.