Vila Verde Hotel Tirana

Kruja was a short day trip out of Tirana.

There is a well preserved fortress that has now been converted into a museum on Albania history of Skanderberg - a prominent Albania figure in 14th century who lead ...

... even the locals readily agree that there is nothing to see in it. I spent the rest of the afternoon walked to a few places of interests and found out that the most interesting thing about the city is fact that a lot of the buildings are covered by bright and contrasting colors with surreal patterns. Later on my CS friend told me that it is the creation of the current mayor, who used to be a painter, thinking that it will beautify this city of ugly buildings, a lot of them have illegal add-ons.

... t smoke- it seemed to be an alien concept to them- I got talking with about four of the lads, a few of whom spoke passable English. "Where your country?" "England" "What name?" "Tom" "You haf a difficult accent for us understands. We hear American accent all time." "Oh, right" I tried speaking in an American accent, but stopped when I realised I was making a total **** out of myself. "So" I asked. "Do many foreigners come this way ...

... is astonishing and one can see the city, the sea and Corfu. Saranda is a small town with nearly 56000 habitants but in the summer it becomes twice or triple. The beaches of Saranda are well known for the crystal sea water and the rocky places. There are many hotels in Saranda varying in qulity and price. 3*** to 5 ***** hotels will help you make your stay in Saranda unforggetable.

... to be in the direction he was walking. He was able to drop me almost to the door. I was intrigued as to why someone such as himself would be living and working in Albania. On the walk he was telling me that with the levels of income tax in America he was actually taking home quite a bit more money while teaching in Albania then he would do at home. He had moved out to Tirana with his family almost a year ago and was renting his house back home so the whole situation was turning ...

... of their way to help us translate - Starova family taking me in after Hotel Tomi was full. Who knew the guy sipping coffee at the same restaurant would come to my rescue? And to refuse any payment for it after two days. - The Berati internet café guy who allowed me to download his slew of MP3 songs, from Albanian, Greek, Turkish, and Spanish ...

Albania was a struggle from start to finish. Granted, it was a communist country, but I just couldn't believe how difficult it was to get there from a city that was just an hour away in Montenegro! After spending hours online and researching the options, we learned that we basically had no options. There were no buses that crossed the border, and though the Albanian train website, which was looking quite fancy and accurate, showed a train that could get us into ...

I cant remember what I said in my last post, so sorry if I repeat myself, but I now have half an hour to write a weeks worth of entries... whew. OK well for a start I was struck by how similar Albania and Uganda are. There are stray dogs everywhere, barking through the night, the roads are fairly dodgy, the driving is crazy and crossing the road lethal! (Centre of tirana also has very few traffic lights- every man for themselves).After Tonin picked me up from the airport, we got most of ...

... the country to become as big a draw as anywhere else in the Balkans, should the information and budget accomodation network develop. Another thing that I enjoyed about the country was the people. They all seemed so warm and friendly, and genuinely pleased to see foreigners. About 2/3 of them were genuinely helpful people, and would go out of their way to help if they could. The other 1/3 were taxi drivers. They would also go well out of their way if at all possible. I like Albania :)

... myself (at least I win!) and awaiting the stories of the rest of the team. That is except for a trip to Tirana to get some lotion to ease this infuriating itching! I can't really remember much except for pill box bunkers, more abandoned cars (mercs!) and the fact that there are no brand names anywhere!