Traveling to a Country that was Closed for 40 Years

Summary by Krater

The creators travel to Albania to explore the country's famous 173,000 abandoned concrete bunkers built during the Cold War. They visit tattoo shops, boat down a river, and conclude that Albania's history of isolation and oppression is being transformed by its people into a vibrant culture of hospitality and tourism.

From the video

Answers: What are the thousands of abandoned concrete bunkers in Albania?

• Albanian bunkers
• Cold War history
• Tattoo culture in Albania
• Albanian hospitality
• Abandoned military architecture

What it concludes

• Albania built over 173,000 bunkers under the dictator Enver Hoxha in preparation for a war that never came.
• In the late 1970s, Albania spent 30 percent of its GDP on defense.
• Most of Albania's bunkers were built on public land, but some ended up on private property.
• Reinventing and reclaiming the past of the bunkers can have the two-sided advantage of remembering history while creating a new future.