Biografi: Tracking Down a Dictator’s Double in Albania

by Neil Woodburn on

Historical fiction is a popular genre; historical fiction travel writing is not.

And yet, Lloyd Jones has managed to embark on this literary journey and produce a remarkable travel book that expertly combines an insightful travel narrative with a healthy dash of fiction.

Biografi is the story of a man traveling through post-communist Albania in search of a rare animal indeed: a dictator’s double.

Petar Shapallo was a dentist who was plucked from obscurity, forced to undergo plastic surgery, suffers the murder of his entire family, and then spends the rest of dictator Enver Hoxha’s life sitting in on state functions, public appearances, and otherwise doubling for Albania’s communist ruler.

There is little doubt that Hoxha employed the use of a double during his long career as Albania’s leader; the dictator suffered from paranoia after cutting off ties with the Soviet Union, China, and the Western world. In fact, the madman severed all international train lines entering the country and then built 700,000 bunkers–one for every three Albanians–to guard against an inevitable invasion.

If a real Petar Shapallo existed, his name is lost to us. Nonetheless, Biografi takes us on a journey through post-communist Albania and all the troubles and challenges which were facing the nation in 1991 and which continue to face it today.

Despite the fictional accounts of actually tracking down the double, the book reads much like a travelogue; Jones obviously spent much time in the region in the 1990s. Many of the places he passed through are documented very nicely in the book and haven’t really changed very much in the meantime (I visited last summer and found it a very accurate description).

The narrative keeps the book nicely moving and thanks to Shapallo, provides a unique perspective not normally found in travelogues. Digging into what life must have been like for Hoxha’s double was truly enthralling and Jones does such a great job of speculating that you easily buy into it. Even if it all didn’t really happen, you find yourself wishing it had.

I must highly recommend this book for anyone on their way to Albania. It provides wonderful insight, history, and paints an extraordinary picture of a strange, paranoid land governed by an even stranger and more paranoid dictator.

Update: A Town Named WHAT?

by Justin Glow on

Last Friday I put a call-out for readers to share the funny town names they’ve run across in their travels, and we got a ton of great responses! Without further delay, I give you some of the more interesting results of this captivating geographical research:

  • Gadling blogger Neil reminded us that he had the opportunity to visit Puke, Albania last summer, and on the way “a ten year old kid in the minivan lived up to the town’s namesake and lost his lunch out the window of the minivan.” Score one for that kid.
  • Toni happily noted that she lives near the lovely town of Buttsville, New Jersey.
  • B. Cunningham gave us Toad Suck, Arkansas. I wonder how far that is from Weiner?
  • In case you forgot, Divester.com superblogger Willy spent 6/6/06 in Hell.
  • My favorite of the bunch: Cucumber, West Virginia was brought to our attention by ED. Thanks ED!
  • Nick points out Athol, Idaho, which he urges must be said aloud to be fully appreciated. Thufferin’ thuccotash!
  • Last, but certainly not least, my wonderful mom gives us two Texas towns: Comfort and Welfare.

If you’d like to see the full list of suggestions sent in by our readers, visit the comment section of “A Town Named WHAT?” and if you’d like to add to the list, feel free to do so in the comments of this post.

Thanks for sharing!

Word for the Travel Wise (01/20/07)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Don’t let the cat get your tongue when trying to say hello in Albanian. I think you’ll find this one fairly easy to say.

Today’s word is an Albanian word used in Albania:

tung – hello

Albanian is spoken in Albania, Kosovo, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro, and the Republic of Macedonia. It is in its own independent branch of the Indo-European language family with no living close relatives as stated by Wikipedia. Argjiro is a pretty new site with a long way to go, but there are a few things there to help a beginner in the Albanian lang get a foothold. Start with the English-Albanian dictionary. Single-Serving online has an awesome Albanian phrase guide for the tourist with audio files. For history, lessons, and other useful knowledge on the tongue of Albania visit, Albania World.

Past Albanian words: muaj, kujtesë

A town named WHAT?

by Justin Glow on

A recent post on Boing Boing rounded up some funny city names from around the world, including places like Feces (in Spain), Puke (in Albania), and one previously mentioned unmentionable on Gadling a few years back. This got me wondering: how many odd city names can we track down? Boing Boing got us started, but I imagine that collectively, we can come up with quite a bit more.

I’ll start things off with the laughably juvenile Weiner, Arkansas, where I camped just a few miles outside of last summer, and the thrifty town of Tightwad in my home state of Missouri. Now it’s up to you, dear readers, to share in the comments some of the strange town names you’ve run across in your travels.

Albania: New York Times Top Budget Destination for 2007

by Neil Woodburn on

I was pleased to learn that the New York Times has chosen Albania as its budget destination of the year for 2007.

Having traveled through the country last summer, I have to agree with writer Matt Gross’s assessment that Europe’s last hermit kingdom has finally emerged as a legitimate travel destination that is not only chalk full of fascinating sights, but extraordinarily affordable as well. With the dollar performing so poorly against the euro these days, such European bargains are very difficult to pin down indeed.

Gross spent most of his time in the southern part of the country where ancient Greek ruins and UNESCO sites pepper the warm, Mediterranean-like landscape. As if this isn’t reason enough to go, the Albanian coast is probably the last remaining stretch of European beach where crowds are sparse and accommodations cheap. And don’t forget, Albania borders Greece so the topography and climate in the south are very similar.

Having spent much time traveling behind the former Iron Curtain it has been my experience that cheap food in transitional economic backwaters is usually unpalatable. I was pleased to discover, however, that the bread and cheese in Albania, as well as the regional dishes I managed to track down, were top quality and bursting with flavor. As Gross reveals in his New York Times article, a full meal runs about $15, although most of what I ate cost far less.

I spent the majority of my Albanian travels in the northern part of the country which sees far less tourists and as a result, prices were much cheaper. Shuttle vans cost about $1 an hour and took passengers nearly anywhere they wanted to go. The times I didn’t want to wait for the next van to fill up, I opted for $20 taxi rides, some of which were more than two hours in length. Talk about a great deal!

Budget destinations are not for everyone, however. They are cheap for a reason. Don’t expect first-class service and chocolates on your pillows. But, do expect some truly untainted lands and wonderful people who have not yet been jaded by massive tour busses and the gaggles of tourists they regular disgorge.

Go now before it all changes; you’ll be happy you did. And, so will your wallet.