Showing posts with label qiell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label qiell. Show all posts

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Smoke in the sky

[caption id="attachment_2548" align="alignnone" width="660"]Smoke in the sky Smoke in the sky[/caption]

Nothing serious, perhaps burning plastic or tires. Last time there was smoking in the sky, it was in 2008. Bad times... I remember I was at my fiancee's house, laying on the bed (doing nothing actually). Suddenly a thunder like sound and earthquake like tremors swept through for a fraction of a second. A couple of minutes later all TV stations stopped broadcasting their regular programs and there were breaking news about a large explosion some 15 km away.


Long story short, some 21 year old guy from The States had won a contract with Pentagon to supply Afghan troops with ammunition. Sneaky motherfucker that he was, came here and bought Chinese and Soviet ammunition that was being prepared for dismantling. And funny thing is that US forces had contributed monetary for the dismantling process. So, this guy and his Albanian counterparts (including ex PM's son) would sell to Pentagon the same ammunition Pentagon was paying Albanians to dismantle. Also, there is some sort of embargo against using Chinese and Soviet ammunition for American purposes. So they would repack it as Made In Albania and fly it to Afghanistan.


All this process was uncovered from a partner of the American guy, whom they pushed outside the business. Some time later he was found dead in an hunting accident but it is clear he got executed from ex PM's people.


This was a black page in Albania's history and the now-PM vowed to make things right. Unfortunately that was a political stunt and now, 7 years later, together with 26 souls, everything lays under the dusty mantle of  forgetfulness...

Friday, November 28, 2014

View from the top of mount Tomorr

View from the top View from the top

The brownish patch seen down there is ice and it never melts, they say. There were people going down there and touching it but the path was very steep and it would take some 30 minutes to go there and back. Ain't nobody got time for that :D


View from the top View from the top View from the top

Thursday, November 27, 2014

The Shrine of Abbas Ali

[caption id="attachment_2361" align="alignnone" width="660"]Shrine of Abbas ibn Ali Shrine of Abbas ibn Ali[/caption]

This is the top of Mount Tomorr, the Partisan's Peak, the Shrine of Abbas Ibn Ali. The shrine has a tomb inside but Abbas wasn't buried there. He is actually buried at that ground where he fell from his horse in Karbalā, Iraq. The tomb is covered by gifts, clothes and money. It is said that the money that gets collected up here and down at the holy ground (look my previous posts), is transported via helicopter (needs citation, I have no source besides word of mouth). I suppose it goes to the Bektashis Community but I don't have further info on how it is spent. Never heard them financing anything but then again, never heard them living la vida loca either.


The weather is clear, the air is cold, I guess some 5-10 degrees Celsius. The people are not wearing heavy clothes because down the mountain is quite hot. They just visit the shrine for a couple of minutes.




[caption id="attachment_2359" align="alignnone" width="660"]Abbas ibn Ali Abbas ibn Ali[/caption]

Here is the statue of Abbas ibn Ali, on his horse and with two children (the other one is behind the horse's head). The statue's size is lifelike. The sculptor must have been on acid I guess. look them eyes :D The statue is also seen on the far left of the next photo.

[caption id="attachment_2360" align="alignnone" width="660"]Praying Praying[/caption]

The people here are burning candles and praying for their loved ones, dead or alive. Although Albanians don't pray much on their dead, it isn't our custom. We pray for health and money (Albanian: Shnet e Pare).

As you can see, the parking place is not a parking actually. The road ends here and cars are parked on both sides of the road. When you step out of the car, if anyone approaches you to ask for money for parking, don't pay. You can give money if you want someone to look after your car not to get scratched (accidentally) or blocked by other cars (due to small space) but this is entirely up to you. There might be beggars as well, I wonder how they get up here. Perhaps they collect enough money to pay the ride which is fairly expensive.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Trip to Baba Tomor - Stary Night

[caption id="attachment_2333" align="alignnone" width="660"]Stary Night Stary Night[/caption]

Beside a sky free of light pollution, the moon as well, was nowhere to be seen. The landscape looks well lit because of strong lights from the water processing plant a few kilometers away. The photo is a 10 sec. exposure, ISO-800, shot with a SMC Pentax-M 50 mm F1.7 on my K-x.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Paraglider

[caption id="attachment_2229" align="alignnone" width="660"]Paraglider Paraglider[/caption]

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Dark Horses

[caption id="attachment_2120" align="alignnone" width="950"]Dark Horses Dark Horses[/caption]

When you cross from Gjirokaster to Saranda there is only one way for the moment, the Muzine's neck. There are some hard turns and when you reach the peak, the view is amazing. There are  mountains all around but there is the sea in front of you, albeit far away. It was afternoon and we had the sun in front of us, hence the silhouettes. Those horses are not wild, there are no wild horses in Albania. They run free though, there is nowhere to go and they have plenty of grass where they are. There are no houses near, only a gas station and a bar-restaurant. Great place for a stop, especially for bikers (or photographers).

Monday, July 21, 2014

Saturday, July 12, 2014

I See Land

[caption id="attachment_1947" align="alignnone" width="950"]I See Land I See Land[/caption]

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Raindrops

[caption id="attachment_1761" align="alignnone" width="950"]Raindrops Raindrops[/caption]

Monday, April 7, 2014

Old Mosque in Prizren, Kosovo

[caption id="attachment_1737" align="alignnone" width="950"]Old Mosque in Prizren, Kosovo Old Mosque in Prizren, Kosovo[/caption]

Friday, March 21, 2014

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Monday, February 17, 2014

Passenger Plane

[caption id="attachment_1642" align="alignnone" width="950"]Passenger Plane Passenger Plane[/caption]

Thursday, January 30, 2014

UP.

[caption id="attachment_1622" align="alignnone" width="950"]UP UP[/caption]

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Sun rising over Sharre

[caption id="attachment_1607" align="alignnone" width="950"]Sun rising over Sharre Sun rising over Sharre[/caption]

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Good Bye 2013

[caption id="attachment_1570" align="alignnone" width="950"]Good Bye 2013 Good Bye 2013[/caption]

Monday, December 30, 2013

Airbus A320-214

[caption id="attachment_1567" align="alignnone" width="950"]Airbus A320-214 Airbus A320-214[/caption]

Thursday, December 19, 2013

To the unknown...

[caption id="attachment_1539" align="alignnone" width="950"]To the unknown... To the unknown...[/caption]