Author: Robert Carver
Publisher: HarperPerennial
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 396
Book Description
The 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.
The Accursed Mountains
Author: Robert Carver
Publisher: HarperPerennial
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 396
Book Description
The 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.
Publisher: HarperPerennial
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 396
Book Description
The 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.
The Peaks of the Balkans Trail
Author: Rudolf Abraham
Publisher: Cicerone Press Limited
ISBN: 1783625562
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 196
Book Description
A guidebook to trekking the Peaks of the Balkans Trail. Passing through Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro, the 183km circular route can be completed in around a fortnight. The walking itself is not difficult, although the route passes through some remote areas and demands a moderate level of fitness. The route is presented anti-clockwise from Theth (Albania) in 10 stages of between 10 and 28km. Also included are a handful of optional detours to climb neighbouring peaks and visit local sites of interest. 1:50,000 mapping and elevation profile provided for each stage Everything you need to plan a successful trip: how to get to the route, when to go, what to take, and information on cross-border permits Accommodation listings included Geology, history, plants and wildlife Language notes and glossary
Publisher: Cicerone Press Limited
ISBN: 1783625562
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 196
Book Description
A guidebook to trekking the Peaks of the Balkans Trail. Passing through Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro, the 183km circular route can be completed in around a fortnight. The walking itself is not difficult, although the route passes through some remote areas and demands a moderate level of fitness. The route is presented anti-clockwise from Theth (Albania) in 10 stages of between 10 and 28km. Also included are a handful of optional detours to climb neighbouring peaks and visit local sites of interest. 1:50,000 mapping and elevation profile provided for each stage Everything you need to plan a successful trip: how to get to the route, when to go, what to take, and information on cross-border permits Accommodation listings included Geology, history, plants and wildlife Language notes and glossary
High Albania
Author: Mary Edith Durham
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Albania
Languages : en
Pages : 394
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Albania
Languages : en
Pages : 394
Book Description
The Slovene Mountain Trail
Author: Justi Carey
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781786310200
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
A guidebook for trekking the Slovene High Level Route across Slovenia. The 500km hike from Maribor, near the Austrian border, to Ankaran on the Adriatic coast, is described as a series of 3 to 6 day treks. The route runs through the regions of Pohorje, the Julian Alps and Kamnik-Savinja Alps, the Karavanke, and the limestone Karst country.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781786310200
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
A guidebook for trekking the Slovene High Level Route across Slovenia. The 500km hike from Maribor, near the Austrian border, to Ankaran on the Adriatic coast, is described as a series of 3 to 6 day treks. The route runs through the regions of Pohorje, the Julian Alps and Kamnik-Savinja Alps, the Karavanke, and the limestone Karst country.
Light and Shadow
Author: Michael L. Galaty
Publisher: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press
ISBN: 1938770919
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 301
Book Description
Employing survey archaeology, excavation, ethnographic study, and multinational archival work, the Shala Valley Project uncovered the many powerful, creative ways whereby the men and women of Shala shaped their world: through dynamic, world-systemic relationships with the powers that surrounded but never fully conquered them. The Shala Valley Project presents the highlanders, the malesore, in the full complexity of their lives, while also unveiling a new, deeper history for the region--a history that reaches back to an unexpected fortified Iron Age site. Light and Shadow tells many stories. Archaeologists, historians, and students of tribes, of empires, of imperial-indigenous relations, of blood feud, of kinship, of the built landscape, of world-systems theory and sustainability science, and more, will find much here to digest. The people of Shala, to which Light and Shadow is dedicated, may serve as an example in our modern age, one in which persistent, tribal peoples still fight for their survival, and seek to preserve some degree of independence from capitalist economies bent on their incorporation.
Publisher: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press
ISBN: 1938770919
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 301
Book Description
Employing survey archaeology, excavation, ethnographic study, and multinational archival work, the Shala Valley Project uncovered the many powerful, creative ways whereby the men and women of Shala shaped their world: through dynamic, world-systemic relationships with the powers that surrounded but never fully conquered them. The Shala Valley Project presents the highlanders, the malesore, in the full complexity of their lives, while also unveiling a new, deeper history for the region--a history that reaches back to an unexpected fortified Iron Age site. Light and Shadow tells many stories. Archaeologists, historians, and students of tribes, of empires, of imperial-indigenous relations, of blood feud, of kinship, of the built landscape, of world-systems theory and sustainability science, and more, will find much here to digest. The people of Shala, to which Light and Shadow is dedicated, may serve as an example in our modern age, one in which persistent, tribal peoples still fight for their survival, and seek to preserve some degree of independence from capitalist economies bent on their incorporation.
Albania
Author: Gillian Gloyer
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
ISBN: 9781841622460
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 260
Book Description
Written by an insider and Albania enthusiast, the Bradt guide to Albania takes a fresh look at how and where to explore the heritage of this hidden corner of eastern Europe.
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
ISBN: 9781841622460
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 260
Book Description
Written by an insider and Albania enthusiast, the Bradt guide to Albania takes a fresh look at how and where to explore the heritage of this hidden corner of eastern Europe.
Travels in Blood and Honey
Author: Elizabeth Gowing
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781904955900
Category : Bee culture
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Kosovo: the name conjures up blood: ethnic cleansing and war. This book reveals another side to the newest country in the world a land of generous families, strong tastes and lush landscapes: a land of honey. Elizabeth Gowing is rushed to Kosovo, on a blind date with the place, when her partner is suddenly offered the position of adviser to Prime Minister Agim ?eku. Knowing nothing of the language or politics, she is thrown into a world of unpronounceable nouns, unfamiliar foods and bewilderingly hospitable people. On her first birthday in Kosovo she is given a beehive as a gift, and starts on a beekeeping apprenticeship with an unknown family; through their friendship and history she begins to understand her new home. Her apprenticeship leads her to other beekeepers too: retired guerrilla fighters, victims of human trafficking, political activists, a women's beekeeping group who teach her how to dance, and the Prime Minister himself. She dons a beekeeper's veil, sees the bees safely through winter, manages to use a smoker, learns about wicker skeps, gets stung, harvests her honey and drizzles it over everything. In between, she starts working at Pristina s forgotten Ethnological Museum, runs a project in a restored stone house below the Accursed Mountains and falls in love with a country she had known only as a war.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781904955900
Category : Bee culture
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Kosovo: the name conjures up blood: ethnic cleansing and war. This book reveals another side to the newest country in the world a land of generous families, strong tastes and lush landscapes: a land of honey. Elizabeth Gowing is rushed to Kosovo, on a blind date with the place, when her partner is suddenly offered the position of adviser to Prime Minister Agim ?eku. Knowing nothing of the language or politics, she is thrown into a world of unpronounceable nouns, unfamiliar foods and bewilderingly hospitable people. On her first birthday in Kosovo she is given a beehive as a gift, and starts on a beekeeping apprenticeship with an unknown family; through their friendship and history she begins to understand her new home. Her apprenticeship leads her to other beekeepers too: retired guerrilla fighters, victims of human trafficking, political activists, a women's beekeeping group who teach her how to dance, and the Prime Minister himself. She dons a beekeeper's veil, sees the bees safely through winter, manages to use a smoker, learns about wicker skeps, gets stung, harvests her honey and drizzles it over everything. In between, she starts working at Pristina s forgotten Ethnological Museum, runs a project in a restored stone house below the Accursed Mountains and falls in love with a country she had known only as a war.
Broken April
Author: Ismail Kadare
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1561310654
Category : Albanian fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 219
Book Description
Two destinies intersect in this novel -- that of Gjorg, a young mountaineer who has just killed a man in order to avenge the death of his older brother, and who expects to be killed himself in keeping with the code of the highlands; and that of a young couple who have come to study the age-old customs, including the blood feud.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1561310654
Category : Albanian fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 219
Book Description
Two destinies intersect in this novel -- that of Gjorg, a young mountaineer who has just killed a man in order to avenge the death of his older brother, and who expects to be killed himself in keeping with the code of the highlands; and that of a young couple who have come to study the age-old customs, including the blood feud.
Via Dinarica
Author: Tim Clancy
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
ISBN: 1784770515
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 180
Book Description
This is the first detailed guide to the Bosnian part of the new Via Dinarica hiking trail that carves its way through the Dinaric Alps, one of Europe's least explored mountain ranges and last true wilderness frontiers, connecting the seven nations of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, and Albania. In total, this trail system will span over 1,350km, 333km of which is in Bosnia Herzegovina. The Via Dinarica consists of three routes - White, Green and Blue - and this guide focuses primarily on the White Trail through Bosnia and Herzegovina, following the natural flow of the highest peaks of the Dinaric Alps. Detailed descriptions of each of the 12 stages of the White Trail through Bosnia and Herzegovina are included, along with maps, altitude charts and helpful tips, as well as recommendations for waypoint visits and nearby highlights. Also included are an overview of the flora and fauna of the region, details of accommodation for each step of the way, and information on local public transport, culture, food and language. The natural and cultural wonders of the Dinaric Alps are the best-kept secret of the Balkans, a region with some of the wildest, most impressive natural beauty in the world. All of the countries along the Via Dinarica boast beautiful mountains, alpine lakes, karst caves, forest preserves and pristine rivers that have forged extraordinary canyons and gorges. Here, there is also an abundance of enduring mountain communities that maintain their traditional ways of life and sustainable reliance on the land. Although the Via Dinarica is primarily a hiking trail, there are opportunities for many different outdoor adventure sports along the way, such as rafting, skiing, mountain biking, rock climbing, canyoning, caving, etc. The Via Dinarica White Trail in Bosnia and Herzegovina is 333km long, takes an estimated 125 hours to complete, climbs the highest, often snow-capped mountains of the Dinaric Alps, and passes through or near over 5 national parks and many nature preserves, as well as one of the two remaining European rainforests, the Perucica primeval forest. With this handy, portably guide, you can discover it all.
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
ISBN: 1784770515
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 180
Book Description
This is the first detailed guide to the Bosnian part of the new Via Dinarica hiking trail that carves its way through the Dinaric Alps, one of Europe's least explored mountain ranges and last true wilderness frontiers, connecting the seven nations of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, and Albania. In total, this trail system will span over 1,350km, 333km of which is in Bosnia Herzegovina. The Via Dinarica consists of three routes - White, Green and Blue - and this guide focuses primarily on the White Trail through Bosnia and Herzegovina, following the natural flow of the highest peaks of the Dinaric Alps. Detailed descriptions of each of the 12 stages of the White Trail through Bosnia and Herzegovina are included, along with maps, altitude charts and helpful tips, as well as recommendations for waypoint visits and nearby highlights. Also included are an overview of the flora and fauna of the region, details of accommodation for each step of the way, and information on local public transport, culture, food and language. The natural and cultural wonders of the Dinaric Alps are the best-kept secret of the Balkans, a region with some of the wildest, most impressive natural beauty in the world. All of the countries along the Via Dinarica boast beautiful mountains, alpine lakes, karst caves, forest preserves and pristine rivers that have forged extraordinary canyons and gorges. Here, there is also an abundance of enduring mountain communities that maintain their traditional ways of life and sustainable reliance on the land. Although the Via Dinarica is primarily a hiking trail, there are opportunities for many different outdoor adventure sports along the way, such as rafting, skiing, mountain biking, rock climbing, canyoning, caving, etc. The Via Dinarica White Trail in Bosnia and Herzegovina is 333km long, takes an estimated 125 hours to complete, climbs the highest, often snow-capped mountains of the Dinaric Alps, and passes through or near over 5 national parks and many nature preserves, as well as one of the two remaining European rainforests, the Perucica primeval forest. With this handy, portably guide, you can discover it all.
Albania's Mountain Queen
Author: Marcus Tanner
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 085772374X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
Whilst young ladies in the Victorian and Edwardian eras were expected to have many creative accomplishments, they were not expected to travel unaccompanied, and certainly not to the remote corners of Southeast Europe, then part of the crumbling Ottoman Empire. But Edith Durham was no ordinary lady. In 1900, at the age of 37, Durham set sail for the Balkans for the first time. Her trip was intended as a means of recovering from a period of ill-health, and as a break from the stifling monotony of caring for her ailing mother. Her experiences on this trip were to change the course of her life, kindling a profound love for the region which saw her return frequently in the following decades. She became a confidante of the King of Montenegro, ran a hospital in Macedonia and, following the outbreak of the First Balkan War in 1912, became one of the world's first female war correspondents. Back in England, she was renowned as an expert on the region, writing the highly successful book High Albania and, along with other aficionados such as the MP Aubrey Herbert, becoming an advocate for the people of the Balkans in British political life and society. King Zog of Albania once said that before Durham visited the Balkans, Albania was but a geographical expression. By the time she left, he added, her championship of his compatriots' desire for freedom had helped add a new state to the map. Durham was tremendously popular in the region itself, earning her the affectionate title 'Queen of the Mountains' and an enduring legacy which continues unabated until this day. Yet she has been all but forgotten in the country of her birth. Marcus Tanner here tells the fascinating story of Durham's relationship with the Balkans, painting a vivid portrait of a remarkable, and sometimes formidable, woman, who was several decades ahead of her time.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 085772374X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
Whilst young ladies in the Victorian and Edwardian eras were expected to have many creative accomplishments, they were not expected to travel unaccompanied, and certainly not to the remote corners of Southeast Europe, then part of the crumbling Ottoman Empire. But Edith Durham was no ordinary lady. In 1900, at the age of 37, Durham set sail for the Balkans for the first time. Her trip was intended as a means of recovering from a period of ill-health, and as a break from the stifling monotony of caring for her ailing mother. Her experiences on this trip were to change the course of her life, kindling a profound love for the region which saw her return frequently in the following decades. She became a confidante of the King of Montenegro, ran a hospital in Macedonia and, following the outbreak of the First Balkan War in 1912, became one of the world's first female war correspondents. Back in England, she was renowned as an expert on the region, writing the highly successful book High Albania and, along with other aficionados such as the MP Aubrey Herbert, becoming an advocate for the people of the Balkans in British political life and society. King Zog of Albania once said that before Durham visited the Balkans, Albania was but a geographical expression. By the time she left, he added, her championship of his compatriots' desire for freedom had helped add a new state to the map. Durham was tremendously popular in the region itself, earning her the affectionate title 'Queen of the Mountains' and an enduring legacy which continues unabated until this day. Yet she has been all but forgotten in the country of her birth. Marcus Tanner here tells the fascinating story of Durham's relationship with the Balkans, painting a vivid portrait of a remarkable, and sometimes formidable, woman, who was several decades ahead of her time.