I visited Albania three times in total: once with Rosaline where we spent a few days in Shkoder and Tirana; once to do the Valbone - Theth hike; and then two weeks travelling around the South. If I were to have written this post after my first visit, my review of Albania would have been lukewarm. We had an enjoyable time in Shkoder, playing cards in a bird watching hide looking over the lake. But beyond that, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience. I was eaten alive by insects by the lake. Our visit to Lumi i Shales (a beautiful river area) was fun but it was so strange with lots of weird restaurants and there was a lot of litter, and the organisation of the buses was carnage. I convinced myself we were being trafficked whilst on the bus from Shkoder to Tirana. The museums in Tirana were abysmal, featuring English translations so poor that Rosaline and I would finish reading them and give each other a look that said “do have any understanding of what that said?” (I’ve included my favourite one below). We were met with bad, almost rude, service at every restaurant. The taxi drivers at the bus station were aggressive. Tirana itself gave me the most bad vibes of any city I’ve visited. The angry red and black flag of Albania hung from flag poles every 10 metres down the main street in a war-like fashion. The buildings were ugly. The only saving grace was the walking tour we did, which was one of my favourite ones so far. I had no idea about Albanian history and it’s now the one I’m most interested in, especially their communist period. My reading list is filled with Albanian history books! My favourite titbits are the fact that Albania fell out with both the Soviet Union and China for them not being “communist enough”, and the crazy ponzi schemes that occurred after communism fell in the 1990s. My second visit to Albania was amazing, and is covered in the post about the Valbone - Theth hike. But this was because of the hike, and not really because of Albania in a more full sense. Now my third visit, that was quite a different story.
I visited the medieval towns of Berat and Gjirokaster. Berat was fine, nothing much to see. Gjirokaster was wonderful. The castle and the old houses were brilliantly done, with plentiful information boards in good English and even an included tour at the house. There was a festival taking place at the castle in the evenings, with live music. I’ve been lucky enough to see quite a lot of live music over my trip, but the band on the first night was the best so far. Who knew Albanian indie rock would be so good! One evening a group of us walked over to Ali Pasha’s bridge and we witnessed a very rural sight. We came round the corner and suddenly we had a view of the valley and the impressive, old, stone bridge branching across it. We made our way down to the bridge, walking across carefully and sitting on the other side. We chatted and just observed the surroundings. Slowly, we saw the farmers bringing in their animals from the hillside. First was a solitary donkey. Then some sheep on the opposite side of the valley. And finally, from the hill behind us, a herd of goats! We watched as they crossed the bridge. It was really beautiful.
Over the past few months I’d been banking lots of reviews about places along the Albanian coast, and subconsciously forming an opinion of which sounded best. This resulted in me only visiting Himare, and skipping the more famous towns of Sarande and Ksamil. Himare was so peaceful and I really loved it. Mainly because of the hostel. It was my favourite hostel so far (Sun Bakers if anyone is wanting to go!). I can’t explain why I loved it so much, I just did. I gave me such feelings of warmth and comfort, a real home away from home. Maybe because I was with people I’d spent the last week with - friends I’d originally made in Kotor or met in previous places in Albania. Maybe because I allowed myself to properly relax here. Maybe because the french toast at breakfast was so good. The only activity I did was hire kayaks with a few others. We were aiming for a little beach around the headland but found a small cove on the way and spent a few hours here. Our very own private beach. Complete with a cave and high rocks perfect for climbing.
Albania and I have been on a journey. At the moment I’m still not sure of my opinion. But I definitely look upon it fondly, and I find myself talking about my time there a lot so it definitely made an impression. It’s not my favourite country - still Slovenia - but it is a country that takes up a lot of space in my head. Its history is insane. Its current state remains pretty insane, as I learnt from my discussion with an Albanian girl on the bus, including her own mafia ties… Its mountains are beautiful, but the mountain towns are strange. The coast is beautiful in places, but tacky and ugly in others. It is very very cheap. My time there was fun and odd. I don’t think I’d go back. Not because I don’t recommend it, but because I don’t want to tarnish the experience I had there. I think it will change a lot in the coming years, with tourism increasing, and I’d like to remember it as the strange, wacky county I experienced.