Justin's Odyssey: An Alternate History Blog

I'm Back!

Posted by Justin Moreland

Saturday, February 2, 2002

Hey guys. As most of my readers have noticed, I've haven't been on for a while. Well, if you count two years as just 'a while'. To alleviated any concerns, I think I should explain. When I stopped posting, I decided to focus all my attentions on working as hard as possible in my final few years down at Tony's place; partly to get paid (of course), but also partly to plan my own special trip. Remember back in November of 2000 when I said I was piling all my money towards something big? Well this is what that 'big' thing was. After retiring just before Christmas last year (probably the second-most happiest day in my life), I finally did it. I finally saved up enough money to support my very own journey across the world!

You read it right; I'm finally going to be travelling across the entire planet Earth! For anyone who's read this weblog since the very beginning, you'd now that going for a travel to every country in the world has been just a small dream of mine; but since I sold the house back in April 2000, as well as pooled all my cash towards just this one journey (I really should call it something more spectacular; perhaps odyssey will do), that dream will finally have a chance to become a reality! If you can't tell already, I'll just have to come out and say it directly; I'm really, really excited.

Furthermore (and here's the kicker); I'm going to be travelling to each country based on alphabetical order (just for the fun of it as well)! If you're worried that I haven't saved enough up to hop, skip and jump my way around the world in such a manner (and to be honest, I was concerned as well at first), don't worry; I've done all the calculations. Working forty years at the chemists really does leave one with some skills in mathematics; and when I drew all the plans up late last year, I found out that I very likely will be able to make such an odyssey with the amount of money that I've put together!

Wow. Even now, months after I first put this all together, I still get shivers at the idea. Fulfilling a lifelong dream can be hard for even the most affluent people; but here I am, living at a bunkhouse and getting ready to fly to every country in the world. It's close to insane when you really think about it?

Anyway; you'd probably want to here what I plan to do on each trip. Well, since I'm going to every country that I can possibly hope to get into (some will be harder than others; trust me, I've done the research), I'll keep you guys up to date when possible on what I've being doing in each country, some facts about the country, and a little bit of that country's citizen's everyday life. It's all I can really do for everyone after letting the world give me so much over the last sixty years. Plus; I'll be the one experiencing most of it for the first time, so it will be like a win for both of us; I get the journey, and my readers get the information. How about that!

Look at the time; it's almost 11:30. Well, everyone, I must say it's good to finally be back on and posting for what seems like an eternity. Hell, just my announcement this evening has been enough to make my day. After living and breathing the Australian air for the past sixty years, I'm finally going on the journey that everyone dreams of once in their life! I cannot wait; and I hope all of my readers on the ICN can't wait either! My first trip will begin in about three weeks from now, and as I said, I'll try to keep everyone as up to date as possible when I have the chance. I believe my first country (I drew up a digital map to show where it just is; I'll post the image down below) will have the ICN, though I have to check back over my notes tomorrow.

Goodnight everyone; it was good posting for all of you again.

First stop; Afghanistan!

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Afghanistan

Posted by Justin Moreland

Monday, March 11, 2002

Hey guys. Sorry I’ve been silent for the past five or so weeks now, but finding a computer in Kabul that is actually connected to the ICN has been exceedingly difficult; the problems I've been having most likely being worsened by the fact that I decided to book one of the more cheaper hotels in the Afghan city. It's been tough (I've had to pay one of my neighbours for the privilege of using their private English server), but here I am again, writing out to all of my beloved readers; welcome to Afghanistan!

As you can tell, I've finally set off on my 'great odyssey' (and yes, that is the name I'm giving it) around the world, and so far, my time in Afghanistan has been going great. Before I get into all the nitty-gritty details of my stay however, I should tell everyone how I exactly got into this landlocked country in the first place.

To begin; I left Perth International Airport on February 24. Since there were no planes going directly in or out of Afghanistan on that day from Australia (I had to pick the tickets on the Sunday; as my daughter said, they're always cheapest on the Sabbath), I decided to catch a flight to the neighbouring country of Iran where I stopped briefly at the Reza Pahlavi Airport in Tehran (the steamed rice I had there for lunch was superb by the way) before chartering another plane for the Afghan capital (Kabul) itself.

By the time I landed on February 25, it was luckily 9:20 in the morning, so I had plenty of time throughout the day to find one of the least expensive hotels that I'd been looking for months earlier. As I had very rudimentary knowledge of either French or Russian (two languages that many professional Afghan workers are forced to learn), I had to rely on a worn Pashtun dictionary that was supplied by the Kabul Airport to help navigate myself around the capital. By the time I finally got dropped off (by my third taxi driver of the day no less) at 3:00 in the afternoon, I found myself at the cheapest hotel that I could find, about fifteen miles from where I touched down. After getting settled in rather smoothly with help from two rather nice housekeepers, the realization finally settled in; I was in Afghanistan!

It wasn't as jarring as an experience as I first imagined. Apart from some of the more oriental clothing and architecture that floated about in both the airport and on the streets, the differences between Perth and the Afghan capital weren't as much a canyon; but rather, they were a crack in the pavement. After years of being the 'crossroads of empire', Afghanistan has ultimately proven itself over the years as being a nation of the 21st century; stable, clean and orderly, all of which I could see with my own two eyes when I stepped onto the rather warm pathways of the rather new kingdom. As I said in my first post, I promised to tell a little bit of my host country's backstory every time I visited, and this seems like a perfectly good opportunity to do so.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Afghanistan was like, say, Africa is today. Dirty, disorderly and chaotic, with tribal wars and dissenters often rending apart the fragile nature of the state. After a few decades however, this barbarous culture began to evolve into something a tad bit more modern. One king (whose name I can't recall right now) fighting against the forces of old Britain in the early 1920's; winning the complete diplomatic freedom of his country whilst the Empire was entangled in the Middle East. Being a driving force behind efforts to westernise, this king would ultimately be succeeded by an even more entrepreneurial son (or perhaps nephew) in 1933; the successor quickening the scope and pace of social and land reforms in the 1940's and 1950's. Whilst the nation was indeed somewhat destabilized by the influx of immigrants from India during their war, as well as the rise of anti-modern sentiment in the countryside, Afghanistan nevertheless continued on its rise to became a more European nation in Asia.

And, really, that's were the story of Afghanistan sort of ends. Yes, the kingdom has continued to exist and continued to evolve politically; however, nothing overtly shattering to the nation has occured since the final tribal conflicts in the 1960's when the monarchy finally broke the power of the tribal leaders. Afghanistan, along with its people, has continued to grow and thrive, nestled between four large neighbours (Iran, Russia, East Turkestan and Pakistan); becoming more modern day by day, year by year; this modernity being clearly shown off in their spectacular capital. From the mosques (Mohammedan temples) to the hospitals, everything has a slight veneer of the 21st century to it; with many of these buildings even employing computer technology to some degree or another (though their machines are a little dated by today's standards).

The people themselves even exude this modernity in their lifestyles. Despite only being here for around two and a half weeks, I've seen many people walking around on the streets; dressed in suits and ties, the women wearing the newest fashions of Paris or Rome; these families eating in modern diners with clean utensils after going out for the day and catching a recent movie coming straight from Moscow. I even came across a few young savvy college students who'd picked up a few words of English that they'd try (and often fail at) to use in conversion with me. For my first international trip, it was rather, what would be the word...humanising. When I read the history of Afghanistan over the ICN, I'd imagined much of the talk of the kingdom being a 'modern, orderly country' was merely blatant advertising, but after my short stay here in Kabul, I now know that assumption to be false.

Even the food is excellent. The food! Being so close to Iran perhaps makes Afghan food more palatable in hindsight, but when I first read of foods like 'kabab' and 'mantu', I wasn't really that excited or enthralled, even though trying new cuisine was partially the reason I always wanted to travel the globe. Soon after I arrived in Kabul however, I was proven completely wrong. Both those foods and more were excellent; the Afghan cooks in all restaurants I visited being quite good in whipping up anything you'd want, and more (though I must warn my readers from trying 'qoroot' though; even when it is offered for free).

It's getting on in the day now, and I'll have to hurry over back to my room soon. I'll spend a few more days in Kabul, looking around and feasting my eyes (and mouth) on whatever Afghanistan has to offer me next (I may even make just one more post on my first international country after I publish this one); and after that I'll be off again, ready for new adventures and new sights. Hopefully, I'll have more luck finding my way around my second country, though I have a sneaking suspicion that things (such as taking taxis) may get worse as I go along. I hope all my readers across the ICN have enjoined my ramblings, and I'll write to you all later when I finally have the chance to.

Have a good next few days wherever you are, because soon, I'll be back on a plane headed for Albania!

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My Top 5 Things About Afghanistan

Posted by Justin Moreland

Wednesday, March 13, 2002

Hey guys. Staying in Kabul for one more night before I'm suppose to head out tomorrow (my plane leaves for Tirana at 1 o'clock, so I have to get up early); and I decided to follow through on my promise of an update on Afghanistan. I wanted it to be short, because I can't wait up too much longer because, as I said, my flight leaves at 1:00 (and a trip back to Kabul Airport will take at least three hours), so here's a small list of my five favourite things that I've enjoyed about Afghanistan during my stay in its capital. Enjoy!

1. The name of the currency. Yes, you read it right; the name of the currency. Coming from Australia where our currency sounds like a washing detergent brand (seriously; which of our Prime Ministers came up with the name 'Austral' again?), its rather poetic to use a cash and coins with the name 'Afghanis'. Yes, it is a tad bit hypocritical to make fun of the home country's Austral whilst praising the Afghani, but its very clear that the latter sounds so much more poetic. Just say it out loud. A currency named after both the country and its people; very, very beautiful indeed.

2. The history of the country. Alright, whilst I wasn't completely enraptured by the sights and sounds of all of Afghanistan, I must say from what I've seen in its capital, the kingdoms history is by far one of the most breathtaking aspects of the country. After visiting the Kabul National Museum yesterday, I got to experience a lot of this history up front, seeing artefacts of Alexander's Empire to the Ancient Caliphate (back when the Moslem leader was an actual king; though I'll get into that when I visit Turkey) and much, much more; Afghanistan just seems to have it all. Even just taking a brisk walk from the outskirts of town (where I'm staying) to the city center, it is possible to see the evolution of homes from century-year old shacks to modern high-rise hotels. One thing I hope to do if I ever visit again is take a look at the Buddhas of Bamiyan; I've heard from many other tourists here that they're quite the site to behold!

3. The flag. Okay, maybe this is a bit of a cop out, but the flag of Afghanistan could be seen everywhere I looked during my stay here. From just normal homes in even the more obscene parts of Kabul to the top of sky scrapers in the downtown; the black, red and green tricolour could be seen everywhere; even by the blind. It is a magnificent flag, (perhaps even on par with Australia), with the crest in the middle representing the dawning modernity that has most certainly peaked in the country since it was introduced in, I believe, the 1930's. I shall embed an image of the flag at the bottom of this post when I'm done; but if any of my readers are avid flag collectors, I highly suggest they seek out and purchase Afghanistan's.

4. The food. Ah, food; it's one of the primary reasons I've always dreamed of visiting the world, but the sheer surprise that was the cuisine of Afghanistan made my first international journey far more worthwhile. Though there's so much to get through (I did try a lot when I was here), perhaps the greatest dish that I was served during my stay in Kabul was the so-called 'kebab'. It's really just meat and vegetables on a skewer; however, the way in which my cooks prepared it made it far, far greater than it otherwise looked! I've from British tourists I've come across that the Kebab is growing over in Great Britain; however, this makes it more saddening that I was never able to find it back in Australia. In any case; if you have the opportunity, go out and try some Afghan cuisine today!

5. The people. When I was reading up about Afghanistan on the ICN back when I was planning this great odyssey, I often heard from other visitors that it truly was the people that made this kingdom what it is; and after visiting, I must say this is indeed the case. From the way they dress to the way they talk (though I certainly can't understand them!), there is a veneer of modernity and civilization present in everything they do; made even more spectacular that it is landlocked between four very large neighbours. Kabul is a true city of the 21st century in every way possible; and the people that live in it are true 21st century citizens. That's all a have to say.

Well, there's my list. If you's have any questions, feel free to email me, and I'll try to get back to you all when I can next get on the ICN and actually access the English server. I hope next time I won't have to pay 85 Austral an hour (or about 30 Afghanis) to pay for the privilege from a hotel neighbour a few doors down; but if it comes to that, I'll gladly take up the opportunity to hear from all my readers again!

Well, I'm off to bed. Have a good day or good night wherever you are; and the next time you'll hear from me, I'll hopefully be in Albania!

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I've Arrived in Albania

Posted by Justin Moreland

Saturday, March 16, 2002

Hey guys. Well, here I am; I've finally arrived in Albania. I took a plane out from the Kabul Airport yesterday (and I only had to hop in two taxis to do so this time!) on their only flight from Afghanistan into Tirana (Albania's capital) this week. It's about ten past nine right now in the morning, and I've just got out of my bed and made some nice, warm green tea. Currently, I'm staying in a relatively cheap hotel just on the outskirts of Tirana's city centre (the hotel provided me with a computer in their lounge at a price); and, luckily for me, I managed to get here in a more orderly fashion than how I did in Kabul. All I had to do was just ring up a number that I got from Tirana Airport for a taxi service, and then requested an English speaking driver. How about that! Whilst the driver I eventually got could only speak a few good sentences of my mother tongue, I nevertheless got a decent night-time ride through the streets of the Albanian capital on my way to my present location. So far, so good.

Anyway, I've seen a lot of you have been messaging me over my email asking for a little more information regarding the pasts of some of the countries I visit. Well, since one of the reasons I've set out on this odyssey in the first place is to become more aware of national histories (one of my lifetime passions if you're not a long time reader of my weblog), I've decided to indulged your requests. It's early in the morning; I haven't set foot out onto the streets of Tirana yet; so it's a perfectly good opportunity to go into the 20th century history of the great nation of Albania.

For those that don't know about national geography in the slightest, I'll explain a little of Albania's situation. Nestled on the shores of the Adriatic Sea across from Italy, this Balkan republic is bordered by four other countries; Yugoslavia and Montenegro to the north, and Greece to the south, with Italy holding the city of Valona as an enclave surrounded by Albania and bordered by the Adriatic. How, you may be asking, has this small, Moslem nation (the only one located in Europe as well; though it does had a pretty large Catholic minority) managed to survive being surrounding by these nations throughout their short history. I mean, even people in Australia an entire world away have heard or read about the wars in the Balkans; conflicts between that pocket of mountainous, violent nations located at the southwest end of Europe. How exactly did Albania survive that violence? Well, I'll tell you.

Back in the early part of the 20th century, just after the first set of Balkan Wars, Albania was born under the guidance of the great powers as a principality after a revolution shrugged off the hold of the decaying Ottoman Empire; the prince that would rule this country being one William of Wied. Granting the new monarchical position of a largely Moslem and Catholic nation to a Protestant German count was, in hindsight, not a very bright move on the part of the great powers; and coupled with the fact that this new prince could not speak a single word of his new subject's language, it was very clear that resentment with this western backed ruler would soon begin to sprout the seeds of insurrection.

'Soon', as it happens, is much 'sooner' than it might have otherwise appeared; for only six months after Prince William took the throne of Albania did the War of 1914 erupt. With tension throughout his country growing as a result of this continental war, William decided to flee amidst riots and protests led by Albanian nationalists (though he maintained that he was still the nation's monarch). Soon afterwards, the War of 1914 would come to a close. With stability returning to much of the rest of the continent the following year, Albania was slow to learn that war had ended for now; civil war erupting between different political groups within the nation as Greek soldiers stormed across the border to take the country's south.

In order to protect their national interests in Albania (as well as try and take slices of territory along the way), countries along the Adriatic (Italy, Montenegro, and the newly formed Yugoslavia) invaded in early 1916 to 'return the prince to power and restore stability'. Whilst their words were in a sense positive, their joint occupation of Albania eventually led to an even greater insurrection than what occured under William, who, in 1917 (at the request of the King of Italy) returned to his realm to add a veneer of legitimacy to Italian operations. This joyous return, as we interested in obscure European history know today, would not be as joyous as the occupiers initially hoped; for as soon as William stepped of his boat at Valona (I'm pretty sure it was known under a different name back in the day, but I'm not entirely sure), he was shot three times by a conspiracy of Albanian nationalists who echoed the events of Sarajevo three years earlier.

Without their figurehead (William's son and heir was only three or four years old at the time), the occupiers were forced to clamp down on the Albanians with ferocity unseen since the Austrian invasion of Serbia (the old name of Yugoslavia) back in the War of 1914. This led, however, to more and more revolts against the Italians, Greeks, Yugoslavs and Montenegrins by the local partisans; a plan to divide the country up between the four kingdoms in 1919 falling by the wayside as much of the male (and female!) population ran into the hills and took up arms. Slowly, the occupiers were forced to leave one by one over the course of the 1920's. In 1927, as the last of the Yugoslavians left Tirana, an army led by a partisan leader and local noble known as Ahmet Zogu marched in and claimed power over the country.

Soon, problems began to emerge. Zogu himself, as I've read on the ICN, is considered in Albania to be a tad bit narcissistic and eccentric (with a sprinkling of bloodthirsty along with them). Over three years between 1927 and 1930 as he reigned as President (he principality abolished the principality shortly after coming to power), he went about restructuring and modernizing his country with French and Italian funds; eradicating his opponents and any remaining rebels that still lived in the hilltops. In 1930, his narcissism became clear as, shortly after another assassination attempt, he proclaimed himself 'Zog I; King of Albania'. It wasn't well received.

As the country underwent a series of spats in stability over the next few decades (Zog requesting Italian protection in 1943 during the Great War), riots became more and more frequent as Italy became a greater influence on the small, self-proclaimed kingdom. After Zog's death in 1958 (which has been rumoured to be a result of poising by his heir), Leka I came to the throne in Tirana. Considered even more despotic and narcissistic than his father, Zog I's eldest son led his country through a series of economic troubles and weakening of the state army throughout the 1960's; even as an expansionist Yugoslavia loomed over his northern border. In 1969, Albania defaulted on its debts, and amidst a wave of violent protests in the capital that almost overwhelmed the nation, Yugoslavia invaded using the same pretence it had in the earlier occupation.

Calling on Italy to come to its aid, Leka handed over much of his remaining strength in governance to the Italians who proceeded to war with Yugoslavia in the north and the south (the latter front primarily set in Albania) for three more years. In 1972, as a result of the Treaty of Venice, the threatening Yugoslavia was divided into four parts; saving Albania. Anti-monarchist attitudes still ran high however, and in 1974, King Leka was forced to flee to Italy as an army of peasants flooded the capital. After refusing to accept support from the Italians to help him retake his country (why he refused still remains one of Albania's greatest mysteries), Leka resided himself to a quiet retirement as the Italians struct a deal with the new republican Albania. The republic would officially hand over Valona to the Italians (their royal army having occupied it since the 1940's) in exchange for continued protection and monetary support. The deal was reluctantly accepted.

That event ultimately led up to today. Although some other events happened in Albania over the next two and a half decades (a military led coup occurring in the late 1980's if I remember correctly), the new republic has just continued to exist much as it has since in the 1970's. Every once in a while, religious tensions would flare (my taxi driver describing a violent fight between orthodox, catholic and moslem clans he once witnessed); however, the Albanian people, as a whole and as a country, would just continue to live out their days under the still watchful eyes of the Kingdom of Italy.

That's it. Well, of course there's more, but it's getting on in the day now, and I've finished by green tea. In about ten minutes, I'm going to be walking out the front doors of my Tirana hotel (equipped with an Albanian dictionary of useful phrases) and taking my first look around this obscure Balkan country. Hey, I might even try and catch another taxi to a nearby town if I can (one of the few things I've been regretting about my visit to Afghanistan is that I stayed only in Kabul)! In a few more days, I'll hop back on this weblog and tell you all about what I've seen during my stay here.

In any case; I hope you all enjoyed this post. If you have a question or query you want answered, just remember to send the message over my email, and I'll check it out as soon as possible. Have a good day or night wherever you are, and I hope to be able to publish another Albanian update as soon as possible!
 
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