What a fascinating country!
I knew nothing of Albania prior to arriving here and yet, it's one of the most underrated countries I've visited and a must-do in the next couple of years before it gets too touristy.
From what I learnt on the highly recommended Free Walking Tour in Tirana, Albania's population is 3 mil, although, an additional 9 mil Albanians live overseas. The Albanian name for its country is Shqipëria, which can mean 'land of the eagles'.
Albanians are very friendly. The level of English is quite low in the south, but I was still able to communicate. Once, I met an older man on the bus who shared his life story with me, using only gestures and a few words in English and Greek - then he bought us ice cream!
Some interesting notes on religion in Albania:
In 1967, Albania was declared an atheist country.
The following year, most of the mosques and churches were destroyed.
From 1978-1991, there was a harsh dictatorship in which the Albanian borders were closed, meaning that its citizens could not migrate.
From 1945-1990, 13,692 people escaped the Albanian border...988 of which, died. For the captured civilians, there were detention centres and labour camps, although, many were sentenced to death.
In 1990, following the protests of students in Tirana, religion was once again permitted and the country now lives with 'religious harmony', observing 12 days of religious holidays - a number which they’ll have to reduce when they eventually join the EU.
Currently, the country is 60% Muslim, although 90% of them have never been inside a mosque.
SOUTH
I left Greece with few plans other than to camp on a beach in Albania. Wild camping is completely free and normal in Albania.
The public transport system operates a little differently in Albania... Busses leave when full and are therefore, notoriously late. One time, my bus driver decided to stop for a 5 minute smoko which caused an uproar in the back of the bus and a further 5 minute break out of spite. Private taxis are very popular, but the most affordable method is autostop (‘hitchhiking’) which is very common in Albania, even among the locals.
There was a 3.5 hour Ktel Bus from Thess to Ioannina. Then I found another bus to the border (Kakabia) for €6.20. From the border, I was a bit stuck, but managed to autostop to a bus station before taking a €4 private taxi to Sarande. That was as far as I could get in one day, so I stayed at Mona’s Hostel. Early the next morning, I got a bus to drop me off on the highway for 600lek where I was able to walk down to a secluded beach to camp.
Most of my transport around Albania was just as chaotic.
TIRANA
While making my way up the country, I saw many concrete bunkers which had been built during 60-80s while the dictator Enver Hoxha was Prime Minister. He had wanted wanted to keep official people and assets safe from nuclear attacks. There were 173,371 bunkers built by 1983; it was a drain on the already poor economy.
One of the biggest and most famous bunkers is the BunkArt museum in Tirana. Inspired by the defence system of North Korea, Hoxha commenced the tunnelling of the military shelter in 1972.
The museum effectively shows the destruction of Albania during the Italian and German invasions.
There was an art installation titled 'War Echo' in which a pitch black room is filled with the sound of sirens and bombs. I went in alone and could really feel the fear around me. It's crazy what just some lights and sounds can evoke in a person. I was unable to shut the door behind me, leaving just a sliver of light to come in through the crack.
After the first BunkArt, I decided to see the smaller, sister museum as well. BunkArt2 is located more centrally and focuses more on the manipulative government at the time who had their own population spy on each other. I saw a display set up of a microphone and camera pointed towards a tiny hole in a neighbour’s wall.
Another very interesting (and sad) museum to visit is the House of Leaves. The entry costs 700lek and it takes about one hour to see. The building used to be a private obstetrics clinic in 1931, however, after WWII its purpose shifted to that of an interrogation and torture centre occupied by the Sigurimi (Albanian Directorate of State Segurity 1943-1991). The right to privacy was not recognized by the communist regime and they enforced the spying of and between neighbours, friends, and family to find anyone speaking against the Communist Party. By 1947, and with a population of 1.2 million, there were 18 prisons in Albania which altogether could hold 3,000 inmates. By 1951, 7,168 individuals had been convicted of political and ordinary crimes which lead to the formation of forced labour camps.
Interestingly, Communist propaganda dominated the film industry so much so that China (ally at the time) was showing Albanian movies and calling them ‘European classics’.
NORTH
If you like hiking, then go and stay at the Wanderers Hostel in Shkodër and get them to organise the Valbonë-Theth hike for you. (It's possible you may have to book in advance to secure a spot, but the people are delightful and the hike is incredible.) The walk only goes for one day, however, with the minibus and ferry transfers, you need a night in each town. The Wanderers will organise a bed for you at local guesthouses.
All you need to bring is:
a small backpack
sneakers
walking clothes
warm clothes & lightweight shoes for when you're at the guesthouse
bathers
sun protection
1L drink bottle
snacks (the guesthouses provides meals)
(I also brought my tent to camp in the guesthouse garden)
The walk itself is quite mountainous, but not terribly difficult. The sights are stunning.
Upon arrival in Theth, we dropped our things, then went rockclimbing up to some waterfalls where we relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon.
The next morning, we walked to the Blue Eye which is a gorgeous waterfall/lagoon. We all jumped in, but be warned that the waters are freezing.
I'd recommend staying in the old town of Shkodër on both night either side of the hike as there is a lot to see there as well.
The group I went with were also super kind and entertaining. It is possible to organise the walk yourself, but I was so glad to find myself in a group of other young adults travelling around the Balkans. (In fact, many of us have travelled together or arranged to catch ups since.)
Notes:
- There are many places to exchange currency, but make sure you spend all your lek in Albania as it is a closed currency. You can use the Credins Bank for an ATM without withdrawal fees.
- I bought an Albanian SIM from Vodafone for 2000lek which had 35 GB for 21 days - way too much, but it was the only option. One downside is that it only worked in Albania and included no minutes of international calls.
- As with much of Eastern Europe, I was sad to see the amount of rubbish everywhere, particuarly in the waterways. Remeber to dispose of your rubbish properly and to take it with you when hiking or camping.
- Fun Fact: there's an ironic street in Tirana with the Russian Embassy on one end, the Ukrainian on the other end, and the Swiss one in the middle. Albania renamed this street ‘Free Ukraine’ to show solidarity. This also means that when Russia sends mail to its Embassy, it has to address it to ‘Russian Embassy Free Ukraine’.
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