TRAVELING ALBANIA From Tirana to a Mountain Town

An interesting day of traveling in Albania, from the capital city of Tirana to the peaceful mountain town of Kruje. This video is Part 1 of a three part series.
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Music during the video (in order):
"The Unexplored" by Philip Ayers
&
"Gods of Jupiter" by Splasher
&
"Howling" by Gunnar Olsen
&
"Hanin" by Ali Sabah
Need some good music for your KZbin videos? I use and recommend Epidemic Sound. To get a free 30-day trial click here: share.epidemics...
Video created by Gabriel Morris, who is the owner of all video or photo content. Filmed with a DJI Osmo Action: amzn.to/3gSi8rA
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Gabriel is a world traveler and travel writer who has been adventuring around the world off and on since his first trip to Europe in the summer of 1990 when he was 18 years old. He is author of "Gabe's Guide to Budget Travel", "Following My Thumb" and several other books available on Amazon.com and elsewhere.
Thanks a lot for watching and safe journeys!

[@GabrielTravelerVideos]

You can watch Part 2 here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rH3Uep-Fh75_esk

[@mendjelire8392]

She was telling you that she needs money for an operation she had and was showing you the incision site. Then she blessed you saying "may God make you a king" :)

[@dorianbuciza4101]

Më pelqen sa bukur e ke artikulluar në Anglisht.

[@cephalopod7300]

Thanks for the translation

[@SarahandMarek]

Waiting for the bus to fill up can take so long sometimes 😂 but Kruja is so worth it! What a stunning town in the mountains 😍

[@Anonymous_Prole]

Thank you for allowing us to travel vicariously with you through this undiscovered gem of a country. The cobbled streets, minarets and snowcapped mountain scenery are quite evocative and beautiful.

[@SarahandMarek]

Albania was such an interesting and beautiful country to explore for us!😄🙌🏼🇦🇱 Enjoyed watching your experience there!

[@TheWallaceReboot]

We lived in Albania for a year and we miss it!

[@rrecee2639]

He's found a real (hidden) gem here. The town has a spectacular setting, on a mountain side, mountains behind and mountains in the distance on the horizon. What a view in every direction and there is history.

[@YesSirPhil]

09:53 the yellow bus with the white roof on the left looks like the old Postautos we have/had in Switzerland... 😏

[@rumik-stahnke6512]

WOW..what a beautiful mountain town 🤗love the video. Thanks for sharing 👍😁

[@typpit7173]

don`t miss amazing lake Koman and Valbona valley.

[@theadventuresofbrockinthai4325]

Hey Gabriel, after seeing that castle I thought for sure you would spend the night there. What a beautiful little mountain town. I bet you could have found a nice room for a very low price. I am definitely going to retrace some of your trip when I can travel again. The problem is not getting out of Thailand but getting back in. It is very difficult because every week they keep changing all the rules. So it will be a while before I can travel. I guess I will have to travel with you and a few others.

[@AnkleSnapper72]

Whatta great find. Smart move to stop off and check it out.i enjoy seeing you in the lesser known countries, going where the wind blows.

[@marafarnham595]

Wow Gabriel 😀 what a beautiful day in Albania 😎☀️🌊 loved the video! Stay safe my friend ❤🙏

[@mendjelire8392]

The Albanian flag was modeled after Gjergj Kastrioti's family coat of arms. Skanderbeg’s helmet is made of white metal, adorned with a strip dressed in gold. On its top lies the head of a horned goat made of bronze, also dressed in gold. The bottom part bears a copper strip adorned with a monogram separated by rosettes * IN * PE * RA * TO * RE * BT *, which means: Jhezus Nazarenus * Principi Emathie * Regi Albaniae * Terrori Osmanorum * Regi Epirotarum * Benedictat Te (Jesus Nazarene Blesses Thee, Prince of Mat, King of Albania, Terror of the Ottomans, King of Epirus).

[@tigrotom7312]

Your vids are becoming musical master pieces... nice music.

[@maryannknox7158]

This small town was spectacular Gabriel thank you so enjoyed the view from the Castle 🏰 exquisite stone work

[@tike5449]

I admire your fitness 😀 Walking up that hill with 2 backpacks and not even starting to sweat means something.

[@jacksondrake-lost]

Great work Gabe.. another amazing little place hidden away.

[@Matt-qs7uk]

I worked in Albania between 2010 and 2014. One month in one month out. Had lots of time to travel and did so over the 4 years I lived over there. I missed out on visiting Kruja. It looks very interesting. I really enjoy watching your Albania videos. Albania is a wonderful country and I miss it. I did have the chance to go over to Kosovo for a few days. There is a statue of Bill Clinton in a square in Prishtina, unfortunately I never got a picture of it.

[@openup007]

"I am gonna poke around a bit." - G. Traveler

[@ananwongpinyochit4919]

Thanks for sharing. I am sure that Kruje is definitely a good place to visit after viewing your vdo clip. Looking forward to the other part series.

[@effie-montreal]

Gabe fantastic video the town and castle are beautiful

[@TheSwede70]

Wow. Exactly the place I did a day trip to in may 2021.. Great video. I even think I took the exact same minibus from the same bus station. :-) Mountains more beautiful here than in may, with the snow. The town was not busy then either. But hard to say what it would have been in non-covid times.

[@ivonahofman8457]

Wow, what a beautiful mountain town, stunning!

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Hi Gabriel, this is one of my favourite places in Albania. It is possible to hike to the top of Mount Kruja but it's a steep one taking about 90 minutes, the road up heads up towards the left (as you're looking towards the mountain) and then goes around the back before reaching the top. Nice to see the old Bazaar again, looks amazing as you walked through.

[@GabrielTravelerVideos]

Right on, good to know, sounds like a rewarding hike.

[@SarahandMarek]

The two bus stations in Tirana caught us out a few times 😅 nice to see you managed to travel around fairly easily 🙌🏼

[@wilburbonzo]

outstanding museum

[@donstravelsandrants.]

That's a beautiful looking town. 👍😊

[@JakeYorkman]

I had no issues at all with the buses over in Albania. Couldn’t have been easier to catch. Just like in this video, just turn up and board. My latest video is of me travelling from Tirana to Berat 🙂👍🏻.

[@lanamortenson8694]

We're here for Gabriel, not you!

[@mendjelire8392]

@@lanamortenson8694 That is very rude. You can't talk about everybody else. Maybe there are other people who want to see his trip to Berat. You are just one person, why are you using we instead of I, do you suffer from DID?

[@lanamortenson8694]

@@mendjelire8392 Of course it is we, everybody is here because of Gabriel. The rude one is the person on here using Gabriel to lead people towards his own copycat videos! If not rude, it's absoutely unethical.

[@JakeYorkman]

@@lanamortenson8694 sorry you have reacted in this manner to my comment simply saying my latest video is of me travelling from Tirana to Berat. I didn’t mean for this to offend anyone, I was just simply saying I have had a similar experience and basically have the video to prove it. I do not care about subscribers etc and do not comment to ‘lead’ people to my videos. I enjoy Gabriel’s content and have done so for a very long time now and I do comment on his videos from time to time. I do disagree on ‘copycat’ videos, I just make videos as a record of my life and simply because I enjoy it. You will never catch me asking for people to subscribe and to like my videos, if people like my content then this is a bonus. All the best, Jake.

[@JakeYorkman]

@@mendjelire8392 thank you Mendje 🙂.

[@ec249]

That looks like such a nice town! Great video!

[@davenelson9505]

Can't believe you didn't spend the night there. That place looks great. And seems dirt cheap. What's the rush Gabe?

[@wilfredotorres6628]

Hi Gabriel, Very interesting castle this military commander Skanderberg kill 3,000 men over 40 years I've heard him referred to as Conan the Barbarian no wonder he's a national hero.

[@cathybailey6760]

Love your videos Gabe, you’re doing a great job, they are so well done.

[@marklucas8795]

Amazing village !

[@waitaminute2015]

This was a teaser for sure, lol. It's perfectly acceptable to pronounce Kosovo as that is the English spelling and I doubt anyone will hold it against you. Being an American will be to your advantage since I think the US recognizes Kosovo. Russia and Serbia do not. That's my take on it at least from an Albanian American.

[@cl1864]

Hey Gabriel, good video. I hope you will return to Georgia 🇬🇪 again. There is still a lot to see.

[@goostrey4210]

Kruja looks a lot like various places in the fictional Balkan country Syldavia in the Tintin books written by the Belgian animator Herge from the 1920s to the 1980s. Anyone else getting Tintin vibes?

[@carlsontravelsandwildlife]

Hey Gabriel, I went to Albania and Kosovo in 2019. I really liked Kruje! I hope you enjoy Kosovo- I have 2 short videos on my little KZbin channel of Prizren if you are interested- the view from the fort, on the hill, is a must see!

[@fieldbee3211]

At about 0.20 or 0.44 I would have tried to come back just to figure out what they were doing there. Dream time keep the buildings ❤ together. Very nice ride and chance to see where some friends here came from too. Thx again.

[@fancybobbybob]

That’s some high energy music for the intro Gabe!

[@azamjoiya8308]

Gabriel,ur videos r epic adventure,Thank u.

[@emersonq6355]

Gabriel why dont you stay a long time in the same country to show us more regions or cities of each country because your stays are always short in each country

[@dream.machine]

I love your adventures, so intriguing traveling with you!

[@elonmusk9869]

I was at this exact castle March 9

[@GabrielTravelerVideos]

I was there on March 12th.

[@daddyodd6970]

Stay safe Gabe

[@krishabroad9282]

Excellent Sir... 🙏, I am one of your fan and supporter!

[@pasqualeabarno]

Amazing.. Thanks again.. Gabriel 👍👍👍🍀

[@AnamCaraDeMexico]

I'm always just behind you Gabriel leaving Mexico for Albania pronto. Looks like I need warmer clothes

[@GabrielTravelerVideos]

Right on, have a great trip. But I'm not in Albania now, this was a year ago.

[@adrianmece9266]

Albania is the most beautiful country in the world,the most beautiful language and oldest language in the world

[@albanian0160]

We call it Kosova and Kosova is officially a country since 2008 February

[@714rsturk]

I'm a long time subscriber. I've noticed your backpack and gear, is getting larger. How much weight are you carrying. Great videographer

[@deadairconversion]

Safe travels bro.

[@cherylmorrison3]

You have a great camera. Good work.

[@ceyui7875]

Kosovo is a serbian (language) version and Kosova i think its albanian version. From the wikipedia... kos (кос), meaning "blackbird"; -ovo being an adjectival suffix - it is short for the region named the "field of the blackbird" (Serbian: Kosovo polje), ...

[@NomadicFlavors]

Actually a cool little town. The bizarre surprised me with its Dutch architecture

[@DoristhePeskyBrit]

made me laugh when Gab says to woman, i see i see then mumbles he doesn't

[@michaelahass2695]

This castle and mountain village look much better than Tirana in itself..( which really reminded me of any random communist countries..with this same blockhauses..). All this countries had to fight hard and for centuries against the ottomans, who finally conquered some of them, even imposing their religion. Skandenberg was for sure a great history character, defending his country the best way he could. I keep admiring your curiosity , energy and genuine passion for travel , discovering each and every "corner" of our planet...history, culture, architecture... geographie, language, religions...arts... showing us in detail all this hidden gems.. and explaining in the best manner possible...with the highest neutrality , different aspects of their tumultuous history..and their becoming of what they are today. What you are filming , at least part of it, should be used by history teachers..to make their teaching materiel more lively and attractive... Once again, all my admiration for miles and miles of traveling, which surely made you so cool and openminded, full of tolérance..adapting so fast to any new situation, country, language, airport etc etc...giving you for sure alot of selfconfidence . You will love Kosovo, its people, state of mind, ) and observ the big difference with Serbia..another communist , very well refurnished country..but with this same patterns used in all ex counties, under soviet influence..( Roumania, Bulgaria, etc etc). Anyway I love the way you find beautiful things to show us, from wherever you are..which means that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Don't ever change and know that often, when searching for a country or destination we go into your playlist and watch your vlogs. Like I did one of this evenings, after a hard working day, looking up for your Ukraine videos. My best wishes, Gabriel, as always, from Paris 🖐🙏

[@GabrielTravelerVideos]

Right on, thanks a lot for the feedback Michaela. Glad you're enjoying the adventures.

[@andrewpetrie5265]

Hi Gabe. Must be neat. I see. Thank you.

[@mf5531]

interesting. i prefer italy. thanks for your channel.

[@benabroad8872]

Are you close to visiting every country in Europe? It seems like you are pretty close to doing so.

[@GabrielTravelerVideos]

You got it. I'm in Kosovo now so that's checked off the list. Looks like I won't be visiting Russia anytime soon though.

[@GabrielTravelerVideos]

@@imom007 Yes, very debatable, also Georgia and Armenia.

[@normanlee31]

I thought it's Koss-o-vo!

[@cephalopod7300]

Americans tend to pronounce it /ˈkoʊsəvoʊ/ and Brits tend to say /ˈkɒsəvoʊ/. I've always said it like you, and it used to grate with me when I'd see Bill Clinton on the TV saying /ˈkoʊsəvoʊ/, but then pronunciations are usually mangled when they get imported into another language, so it's not a big deal.

[@normanlee31]

@@cephalopod7300 yea that could be it! But anyway doesn't really matter! But as you say it used to grate on my nerves everytime Gabe said 'Koeusavu'

[@692ALBANNACH]

Are you making the trek to Thethi ?

[@itheodo]

If you like castles, you have to visit Monemvasia, Greece. A small city inside a castle.

[@GabrielTravelerVideos]

Yeah that place looks amazing.

[@senseof_outrage9390]

New Dr Who soundtrack version dropped!

[@italogiardina8183]

Little birdy said 'I'm just a traveler who reads history'

[@IamxElusive]

Excellent

[@AnkleSnapper72]

Yay

[@AStupidTourist]

15:40 sometimes I do give some change to beggars as well ... especially elderly women ... young able bodied men is a different story

[@adnanhajdarpasic5019]

Hi Gabriel thank you very much showing us the beautiful world we live in you should try visiting Kosovo it's beautiful country

[@LionofEpirus33]

Shqiperia Zemra Ime!

[@godiswithus4243]

Hi Gab , happy travels ! From Nepal I guess you know me

[@Voxterx]

The music during the start felt out of place haha nevertheless great video as always

[@emptyplenty4730]

That place looks awesome. Thanks for showing us. Masks came off today in Oregon. 2 years since our jobs were made illegal in restaurants. It's almost time to float the river here in Bend. The sun comes out and the girls ditch their clothes. Then the smoke comes and sends everybody running back to the coast. Take us too a ski resort or some hiking in Kosovo

[@GabrielTravelerVideos]

Excellent to hear that Oregon is getting back to normal.

[@andrewpetrie5265]

Just a little bit out of the way...

[@toddboothbee1361]

Consider that you paid for her dramatic performance. Support the arts!

[@JohnnyTree123]

First..I hope all is well.

[@leahfriedman3381]

💗

[@elmarsyla4743]

O bir hajde ne Kosove 😅

[@mercedesmercedes4332]

🇦🇱❤🇦🇱❤🇦🇱❤

[@azdbuk]

I can cross Albania off my bucket list.

[@neversaynever9709]

who cares

[@azdbuk]

@@neversaynever9709 lol...3wk old comment...

[@Talmerigh]

💥

[@Spiritualwarfare587]

Actually there is no castle’s in albania all of them are fortress.

[@cephalopod7300]

What do you see as being the difference?

[@1203wer]

Buy something and send it home. They need to make living. Don’t be frugal.

[@chepinchan]

Are you trying to make your way up to Ukraine border?

[@aldiduka4958]

You would do history a favor and all Albanians (Shqiptar) if you prounced Kosova "Dardania". Kosovo is the slavic name for the region. It was Dardania before the slavic took over. It was part of Shqiperia or Illyria. Ethnic Shqip or "Albanian"

[@carlosvictor8679]

when u gonna visit portugal buddy?

[@GabrielTravelerVideos]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnLIcoR3bM5kqM0

[@goostrey4210]

@@GabrielTravelerVideos You still need to get to Madeira and the Azores, Gabe.

[@GabrielTravelerVideos]

@@goostrey4210 Agree.

[@nebojsa1976]

When are you visiting Kyiv?

[@GabrielTravelerVideos]

kzbin.infosearch?query=Kyiv

[@andrewmastrandonas5123]

I couldn't have asked for more freaking ANNOYING music at the beginning.

[@7uPxTv]

don't show the face of that poor lady come on

[@ttkk6099]

Kosovo is an independent country, kind of dissappointed if u do not are cleare about it.

[@nenad1095]

independent my ass, acording resolution 1244 Kosovo and Metohia is south part of Serbia !

[@alb.ita1]

@@nenad1095 Not even current Serbia is Serbia, let Kosovo alone. Kosovo independent and soon one country with Albania, as it was supposed to be. Goodbye srb

[@ttkk6099]

117 un nations cleared kosovo. So serbia really does not matter :)

[@nenad1095]

@@alb.ita1 only in your dream

[@nenad1095]

@@ttkk6099 Kosovo and Metohia is empty because of your good quality of standard . Kosovo and Metohia will always be south part of Serbia .

[@awkwardowl8835]

My Montenegrin tribe descends from Skender beg, the tribe of Kuci (pronounced Kuchi). He was a Serbian ruler, from the Branilovic minor aristocrat family. Branilovic in Serbian means to defend, braniti = to defend, thus the Turks translated it to Alexandros, which means the same, the male defender, and from that Greek name stems the Turkish Iskander, which later became Skender. Skender - beg was an Orthodox Serbian ruler of minor influence and wealth, the last that was actively fighting Turks, begging Vatican for help, as all the Serbian Orthodox rulers did before him, but Vatican's price was to convert to a Catholic first, which for the Orthodox would be shameful, as the Catholics were the robbers and the destroyers of The Eastern Roman Empire, heavily funded by Venice and Vatican directly, for the domination over the Mediterranean trade routes, as is the case in the present days. Skender - beg in the end became a Muslim and had gained the ease of Turkish life, thus the Turkish title of beg, which is the reason why the Serbs do not take pride in him, as he became a collaborator. The present Albanians, being populated on devastated Serbian land by Turks didn't mind, since they never had a problem with Turks, obviously. The rest of Skender-beg's closest family went to Orthodox monasteries, as was common among the Serbian aristocracy when they would reach the old age and were finally buried in the Serbian monastery of Hilandar, in The Holy Mount of Athos, Greece. (If you haven't been there and are seeking spirituality, you should visit. It is something like Orthodox Christian Tibet, minus the coca-cola.) The rest of his tribe had escaped to the highest Mountains of Montenegro and Herzegovina and had been living there a simple life till the time of new uprise against Turks had dawned, 150 years later, which made Montenegro the first Serbian country liberated from Turks, ~1690. Montenegro and Herzegovina mountains are the symbols of Serbian resistance, because whoever wouldn't agree to Turkish slavery and prefered to trade wealth for freedom went there, because the Turks were about taking over the prosperous cities, trading routes and mines in the planes, which proved to be a mistake. It is interesting to mention that the mountin chain between today's Albania and Serbia is called Prokletije (pronounced Prokletiye), from the Serbian adjective proklet, meaning damned or cursed, thus their spectacular name means The Damned Mountains : )

[@lagjescuni5482]

wtf?? loool 😂..Montenegro is a territory inhabited by Albanians since ancient times from the labeates(Labeatae)...up to the 18th century that territory was called Albania Veneta...instead the term Montenegro is an incorrect translation made by the Venetians of the Albanian word Malesi (highland) with mal i zi which means black mountain...

[@lagjescuni5482]

btw the tribes of montenegro are descended from many different Albanian catholic tribes...some still live there some are Slavicized during the Ottoman Empire times...and after the 19 century when the russians created serbia..for example Dritan Abazović Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro has a Slavic surname ending in vic but he is 100% Albanian like the majority of montenegrins

[@lagjescuni5482]

without forgetting that the so-called Slavs were a mix of different turkic tungistic iranian avar tatar tribes when they emigrated to the Balkans...the Serbs, the Poles, the Bulgarians, the Russians ect they have completely different ancestry origins and history...the Slavs are not an ethnic group is how to say that the Romanians the French ect are Latin because they speak a Latin language 🤣 who are your ancestors? what is the original culture of your ancestors?? tell me?? dear janissary??

[@awkwardowl8835]

@@lagjescuni5482 Abazovic's real name is Abazi, he had changed it, in order to become more acceptable to the 90% Serbian voters living in Montenegro. His election has to do with Serbians being very democratic towards Albanians since the communist times and Tito's regime, which proves to be wrong, as well as the fact that the Albanians, Croats and Slovenians are heavily supported by Brits, Americans, NATO and EU, which further approves the recent shocking discovery that communism and fascism were both brewed by British MI6, as recently unclassified archives document that Lenin and Trocky were equally employed and funded by British MI6 as Hitler, Mussolini, Pavelic and Tito were. In short, communism and fascism had the same mastermind in Vatican. Albanian nation was projected in 1912, by Brits and Habsburgs who had been artificially keeping the Otoman Empire alive, in order to prevent the Russian Empire from reaching the Mediterranean basin with its trade routes, hence it took Serbs, Greeks, Romanians and Bulgarians almost 100 years to finally get rid of the last Turkish troops from Balkan. Unfortunately when they did, Albanian nation was hastily mended from two unrelating Turkic tribes, Toska and Gega, who don't even speak the same language, to the point that they had to learn each other's languages in order to communicate. Austrians were famous for ethno-engeneering as Brits were.

[@lagjescuni5482]

@@awkwardowl8835 liar..their surnames have been forcibly changed in the 19th century immediately after the Russian pan-Slavist invasion of the Balkans...Mario Dedivanovic for example another famous Albanian with a surname ending in vic and he doesn't even live in montenegro but in the usa