We are on our way to Vlore, Albania, with the intent of getting Salsa groomed before we take her to a Veterinarian for her checkup to head back to Italy. After creating our first Park4Night, we continued on the highway south. We had found a place to stop that had electric and water, but that was it for the services, except for the coffee bar and car washing place that is the main business.

Along the way, we had some snowy mountaintops to view, as well as a road that can be best described as the “Necessity is the Mother of Invention”. We are guessing that when the highway came through, the road was in the way, so they made a big turn to lower ground where vehicles could pass under.

To make us feel even better about our first time parking on gravel again, they had a delivery of fresh stone brought in and spread around. While we had rainy nights, we did have some more of those gorgeous Albanian Sunsets.

We stayed for a couple of nights, and it gave us time to review our travel plans, including getting into Vlore for the grooming appointment. Of course, that is when we realized, it wasn’t in Vlore, but in Tirane. So we are headed back to the capital city.

So, we started to plan our next Happy Detour. Not wanting to make the whole trip in one leg, we found a what looked like a nice campground around a lake. The name also sold us, Wonderful Camping. I made contact through email to make sure they were open, and on solid ground, of course.

Our reply came quickly, and the welcome was warm. They even mentioned they were Subscribers of our YouTube Channel! Make sure you are too, @EmptyNestAdventuresTV.

Along the way, we needed groceries, so we made our way into the town of Fier and a familiar store, SPAR. It lived up to our expectations, and we were stocked for food for a while. We made our way out of town negotiating the streets of Fier.

We made our way to the southern edge of Duress, and to Wonderful Camping. Just before we got there, we had to climb a hill in a construction site. We would see what they are “building” later.

We parked where we could have a lake view, and were quickly greeted by the host, and sister of our fan. In addition, we would be able to take of all our services, and do laundry. But only if we obey the rules, written in English, on the bathroom wall.

We stayed several days in the campground, and only had one other come and go. They were headed north to Montenegro. They had a unique camper set up, but didn’t get a picture because they came in late, and left early.

So about that construction? We are still not sure what they are doing, but it is requiring a lot of dirt, and it being pushed into the valley. When we arrived, we could see that entire stairway down into the valley along the right edge.

We left Wonderful Camping, and headed into and to the other side of Tirane, to be close to the groomer. We ended up taking a route that went through most of the town. That was not the hardest part of the trip. To get to Camp Dajti, we had two very tight switchbacks we had to drive. Tight enough, it required a three point turn. We made it!

We arrived on top of a small mountain to a working farm. Chickens, ducks, and turkeys greeted us. Later, we would see the cows.

Our plan was to drive down to the groomer, there was supposed to be a large parking lot close, then return to this campground. However, after seeing the road up to the site, we decided to go the taxi route. The camp host/owner offered to do the drive for us.

By the way, here is Salsa’s before and after the groomer. Apparently, they also offered beverages for her to unwind while she was having her spa day.

While Salsa was having her day to get trimmed and made beautiful, we visited something called Bunk’Art. It was a history and art museum inside a large bunker. It was the headquarters for the military leadership during WWII and after.

The history starts in 1939, when Italy invaded Albania on Mussolini’s way to attack Greece. Both fought back and after two years Italy ceded control to Germany. The Germans weren’t as restrictive as the fascist regime, but the Albanians still wanted to be free.

After the war, the main General, Enver Hoxha, became the leader of the country, initially having a relationship with The Soviet Union, current day Russia. We are guessing that after Fascism, Communism seemed freeing? That partnership lasted about a decade when allegiance was moved to China. That lasted a bit longer, but in the late 1960’s, up until the 1980’s Albania was isolated and self-supporting.

They still feared being invaded once again, so the Hoxha built bunkers across the country, 171,000 out of 250,000 planned were built. All in a state about the size of Maryland.

The museum is set up where the small rooms that were in the bunker was the exhibit space. It was a vast network of history, dotted with art installations. It overwhelmed us, honestly.

It ended with the Assembly Hall, a large theater are, all under ground, protected by layers of earth and concrete. The are was covered in photos of those who were important to Albania.

One photo reminded us of the religious unity in Albania. Hoxha had banned religion in 1967, making Albania an atheist state. This photo showed the religious leader hand on top of hand celebrating the Decree of Religious Freedom in 1990.

Next was a hallway lined with photos of children. Albania was another country ripe for communism’s fall, and an Embassy was attacked, terrifying Albanians to want to flee the country. Many were children just placed on a a boat. They were referred to as the Pioneers of Democracy.

Hoxha’s hand picked successor certainly eased restrictions, and encouraged education, while furthering physical fitness. One of the rooms was dedicated to education, and feature a creepy doll of a teacher?

We all returned to the campsite, and while out walking Salsa, the host’s father tried to speak to me, but his English was limited. He must had heard that we went to Bunk’Art, as he showed me to the Bunkers that dotted the area. He said there were 10 of them total. It was the opposite of Bunk’Art, small and very utilitarian.