Day 144: Osumi River Valley

Aug 25 - Today go on a paid tour, the first since Kotor, Montenegro. The price, 55 Euros/person (Odette is free) wasn’t so bad considering the destination is hours of driving and public transport sparse. There are a fair number of tourists in Berat, but the tourist industry as such is still just opening up.

Berat sits on the Osumi River, so this is just a trip up the same valley. The way is winding and heavy rains the last few days have left a lot of sediment on the roads. The driver, Fartune (meaning ‘fortune’) is chatty, so I press him on life in Albania. Predictably, he has no good words for the period 1946-1990, calling it the ‘dark times’. Says his grandfather was executed for some minor crime and no one knows where he is buried. Also says that Albanians generally have a very high opinion of the USA, since nothing could be more in opposition to the regime of Hoxha than the ideals of democracy. And he is happy that the US, through NATO (though not approved by the UN Security Council), bombed the Yugoslav army when they attacked and displaced so many Kosovar Albanians in 1999.

I have heard from others about family members who escaped the ‘dark times’ by fleeing across the border to Greece, from where they often were given asylum in the US. Of course, it was very risky, as soldiers along that border just shot anyone they saw trying to leave. Hence, many people, upon finding out where we are from, say that they have this or that family member still living in the US. These days, the draining of young people from Albania to other parts of Europe follows the typical pattern we’ve seen nearly everywhere since Estonia. No longer because of oppression, but rather because it is so hard to make a living in Eastern Europe. If Albania does succeed in its application to be an EU member, this exodus will probably accelerate (as it did in Croatia).

We pass Poliçan, a mass of apartment blocks squeezed into a junction of valleys. This town did not exist before 1945, and was created for the sole purpose of housing workers for a large arms manufacturing complex.

Further up the valley we turn off to a smaller canyon.

Back down to the main valley and upriver further to the best overlook for the Osumi Canyon.

A bit of pre-explanation for the place we go to next:

Albanian Muslims have their own take on what happened Husayn’s youngest brother Abbas, after the defeat of Muhammad’s family at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD. This battle, integral to history of Islam for both Sunnis and Shi’as, occurred when the family members of the Prophet Muhammad (led by his grandson Husayn) declined to acknowledge the ascent of Yazid as the Umayyad caliph, and went to confront his army. The much smaller force of Husayn’s family and allies was defeated and killed, including Abbas. The Battle of Karbala (which occurred in Karbala, present day Iraq), ever since, has become a focal point of religious pilgrimage and strong religious sentiment.

According to the Albanian legend, Abbas’s spirit, once it left his dead body on the field of battle, flew to Albania. Hence Albania has a special pilgrimage that honors him, that goes up the mountain of Tomorr. This mountain is the highest in central Albania.

To complete the pre-explanation, it is necessary to describe an important aspect of the local religion. Albania is headquarters of the Bektashi Order, a Shi’a-based Sufi sect that began in the Ottoman Empire in the 13th Century. As with all Sufis, the leaders and top adherents renounced all wealth and trappings of personal gain, and espoused the mystical teachings of its founder, the saint Haji Bektashi Wali. When Ataturk came to power in the newly named Turkey in 1923, he banned the Bektashi Order, as it was not on the list of officially-recognized religious sects. The leadership then moved to Tiranë, Albania, where it has stayed since. About 20% of the Muslims in Albania follow the Bekstashis. The leader of the order is not an imam, but rather is called a ‘baba’ or ‘father’. The Bektashis were strong supporters of the popular revolts that toppled the Communist regime in 1991.

So, the next place we visit is a sanctuary to Abbas (Gjurma e Abaz Aliut), located at the start of the pilgrimage route going up Mt. Tomorr.

Besides the footprints above at the sanctuary, there is another set about halfway up Mt. Tomorr, and a third set at the top. These three occurrences trace the pilgrimage route. Any similarity a geologist might draw between the shape of these prints and the characteristic weathering of vertically-tilted limestone beds is completely coincidental.

Carry on upriver to a spot where the steep canyon gives way to a flat valley floor, at a footbridge called Ura E Vjeter E Zaberzanit (the Old Zaberzan Bridge).

The drive back is long, punctuated by a lot of ‘are we there yet’ by Odette. Go out for dinner as night falls in Berat. Have some more great local food and walk the pedestrian mall. Perhaps because it is Thursday night, there are loads of people out, many dressed their best to be seen. It is a lively scene, similar to what we saw at night while walking around Shkodër. There is something special about the social nature of Albanians.