A Short Trip to Albania

Alright, everyone I've been away from blogger and disqus, I've been busy, but after France I got a chance to check out a country close to Greece and Italy in Southeastern Europe called Albania. It is a majority Muslim country but it has a small Christian population as well. It is about 60% Muslim. I heard a lot about this one, but wanted to check out the reality for myself. Pay no heed to other bloggers when all they say is amazing things about a country, but I will say that overall this one wasn't that bad.

Now first thing is first, one of the main attractants of this country is the generally low price of things. However, there is one catch to this. The currency cannot be legally purchased outside of the country, so you need to buy cash in the country. The problem is that if you use an ATM each withdrawal will cost you from 5 to 10 euro! If you make several withdrawals it can be 100 euro or more just for that! 

So either make a large withdrawal OR bring another currency and make an exchange. Bank cards are not frequently accepted, although several hotels take them.

There are many cities to visit here. I came to Tirana the capital which is not on the coast. I must say it was considerably warmer than in France. The population seemed relatively homogeneous. Racially they appeared to range from Italian and Greek looking to mid-East looking. Richard Lynn estimates the national average IQ for Albania is about 82, but I wouldn't have assumed it just from seeing the people. 

Tirana seemed fairly racially homogenous, in the sense that I only saw a few Blacks there, and only a few East Asians. It is a large city. The 3 star hotels are fairly cheap from about 20 to 30 eur a night plus.

Food is generally also cheap you can get a good meal for 7 to 8 dollars. Getting around by walking isn't much of a problem. By yourself there isn't all that much to do there. There is a cable car that costs 6 dollars each way that will take you to the top of a high hill where you can walk around. 

There is a pretty shabby bus station where you have drivers taking you to other parts of the country. Dures is on the coast. I was only there for a few hours. There was a fancy restaurant which treated me to great Italian pasta for only $13 with a crab. It was one of the best places I've eaten at. 

I also had a chance to go up to Shkodr, which is a town on the border between Montenegro. There were more Western tourists here, particularly younger ones, which I did not like. Aside from an older castle there was not all that much to see or do there. Be careful as there are many stray dogs that come out at night. I was followed by several of them, and it could be dangerous. 

It would be better to go south in Albania and go swimming on the beach but I had no time for that. It is also good to go North and up into Montenegro. A Slavic country not part of the EU but has some interesting sites and a relaxed vibe outside of tourist areas. Also the prices are not so bad.