Hotel Restaurant Baron 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.

... and safty belt donont really exist...

Arrived in Tirane at around 2pm, i was standing with a sign on the street. A taxi driver waved me to come it, which was for a moment a wrong decision.. He braught me to the busstation again, where i tried hard to explain that i am hh and will not pay. They didnīt understand that, because nobody speaks any english down there. So the taxi driver asked a girl on the sidewalk, if she speaks english ...

... by men with Eastern European accents. We went into a backroom and he directed me to sit down on one of the two swivel chairs. I considered spinning around on it just to be able to say I'd span around on a chair on the Albanian border- but decided against it on the grounds this bloke didn't look like the kind of man who appreciated visual comedy, especially not in the middle of a freezing cold night. The room itself was filled with ...

... a Communist government here for fifty years and even though they have been a democracy for over ten years the old habits die hard. The roads are terrible, the drivers crazy and there is rubbish and run down areas all round. It took 2 hours from the border into Tirana and the suburbs of the capital were unappealing to say the least. The centre of the city is better with many buildings painted bright colours to counteract the grey, gloomy ,Communist ...

... this verbal tennis match of wrestling stars was how the duration of the train journey would pass. We were still shouting names as we exited the station in Tirana and made our way down the street, but in opposite directions. As I went off on my way I was openly grinning from ear to ear. You couldn't make stuff like this up, it's just incredible, and it's these experiences that make traveling so fulfilling for me. I've visited many countries over the years and on one hand I've ...

... back. Funny though. - The owner of a restaurant in Skodhra telling us to not patron her restaurant and instead take the next bus to Tirana - Half of the bus pitching in and teaching us Albanian from Skodhra to Tirana - Albanians are extremely honest. Unlike other third world countries, I did not feel like they took advantage of me or ripped ...

... Union office, we happen to pass the Albanian Police Headquarters, an imposing square edifice with several stony-faced policemen standing around outside. Jane walks up to one of them and asks if he speaks English. He doesn't, and neither do any of his colleagues. Fortunately, a couple of English-speaking young men passing by overhear our inquiries and come to help. We explain the situation to the young guys who translate into Albanian. "He will call someone ...

We left early Sunday morning for the bumpy ride back to Tirana- I went in the girls' minibus (as opposed to the English one) which was fun, but Jamie, Lucy and me managed to sleep most of the way! 2 and a half hours in the other minibus got a puncture (I think), so we were all kicked off in the middle of nowhere while our driver went back to help them. No warning though, and no indication of when they'd be back, so we ...

... up, I had to force the person sitting next to me out of her seat to make room. Despite having been up since 4 and on my feet for most of the day, at least I was still willing to do what anyone should have. I kind of regretted it when the drivers saw fit to allow about another twenty people on to crowd out the aisle, especially as the road was involved in possibly the worst traffic jam I've seen since leaving England. It took another two slow, tortuous hours to reach Tirana. I ...

... at this monastery). Eventually, he was persuaded to see if we were indeed telling the truth...and...returned to his post to make the necessary calls... Time passed... Soldiers looked upon us in a not-too-pleasant manner... Time passed... More soldiers arrived on the scene...an additional KFOR Military Assault vehicle too... Things didn't seem all that positive...then... The Italian Soldier emerged again...instructed us that he would retain our passports but ...