Chateau Linza Hotel Tirana

... kleiden sich sehr westlich, man sieht we***** Kopftuech** als in Deutschland. Und alle 100m gibt es ein Casino.

Morgen geht es dann weit** gen Norden, sollte morgen Montenegro **reichen. Liege ganz gut in d** Zeit, kann v**mutlich einige Staedte an d** Kueste besichtigen, Inshallah.

Gruss
Ralf

P.S.
Dachte d** Pauschaltourismus ist noch nicht hi** angekommen, ab** im Nationalmuseum lief doch glatt eine deutsche Reisegruppe h**um.

... Stempel in meinem Pass, entweder von der Ausreise aus Mazedonien oder von der Einreise in den Kosovo, ist so schwer zu entziffern.

Die Strasse auf der Albanischen Seite war erstaunlich gut, teilweise bereits ausgebaute vierspurige Autobahn, teilweise noch im Bau. Wo das Geld wohl herkommt? Ich nehme an, aus der Tuerkei.

Gruss
Ralf

... a wi-fi signal is easier then finding a place to plug in. Finding somebody who speaks English seems to be even harder. In these parts, outside of a few people in the tourist industry it's mute barter and wishful thinking. Smile a lot; it helps. Hardest of all is using a credit card. Supposedly I guarantee all my advance ho(s)tel bookings with my credit card with the threat of being charged a night's rent if I no-show, but I can't believe they ...

... down........ and I smilled...... because this country has no pretentions...... what you see is exactly what you get...... the road was bumpy and the Mercedes was flying and avoiding any nasty collisions with the other Mercedes........... because you see the Republic of Shqiperia - a.k.a. Albania - went throught the nineties in a lawless ride..... and part of the fun in those days was to go to Western Europe and steal as many Mercedes as ...

... financial resources building close to 700,000 concrete bunkers up and down the country in order to repel any invasion. I also knew that these bunkers were so strong they could withstand a full tank assault, a fact put to the test when the chief designer and engineer was forced to stand inside a bunker while it was being bombarded by a tank. Interesting facts I think you will agree but all rather useless in the grand scheme of things. It was for this reason and with the words of the ...

... roads going between them; in their hastiness infrastructure was completely ignored, no thoughts of electricity or water connections or where they might put their car when their house is 60m to the nearest road. In the center of the city apartments built during communism remain. They look old and tatty from the outside but inside they are modernly decorated and would make most people in England jealous. A huge step forward from during communism when the couple had ...

... only being in it for less than a day, especially as most people in that country were so kind and helpful. Yet it was mighty gratifying that we made it through as well. As our ferry left, we took photos of the country we were leaving as well as other ferry boats along a 90 minute journey to Corfu, Greece. However, probably the most poignant part of the ferry ride, was being able to take much needed naps in the morning sun over the beautiful water.

This is going to be a real long one... If you dont read it, i understand. So i went to the bus station at Kotor and caught 9:30 bus to Podgorica (Montenegros) capital that took a few hours. I ask the guy at the information desk and he said there are no buses or trains to Albania, you can hitch hike or pay 20 euros for a taxi to the border. That was extortion. I sat down pondering whether to go to albania. A taxi driver walked up and said "Albania, 20 euros" I thought why not ...

After leaving Greece, we made our way to Albania. This was a very very very long drive. The ride was all country, with some odd things, such as a dead cow on the side of the road. I never thought in my life would I ever visit Albania. I am sure I will never return. When we finally got to the capital city, Tirana, it finally showed life. We didn't see people for 5-6 hours, then finally saw some at the capital. Tirana, and all of Albania, is very ...

... cool place, it was nicer than I expected it to be and the people were super friendly. One time we were lost looking for the mini bus to a city in the North and a fast-food vendor walked over to us and asked if we needed help. He gave us directions to the mini bus and we happily set out in the completely wrong direction. We then stood at the biggest dirt round about I have ever seen, giving way to shonky buses, stray animals and a thousand Mercedies (it is literally the only ...