Albania on your own.
David Stanley.
Until recently a visit to Albania meant booking a package tour with a set itinerary two months in advance. Americans, journalists, and various others were excluded, as was much of the adventure of un-programmed travel. Even today there's considerable uncertainty about what will follow the old Albturist order and one wonders if Albania is really ready for uncontrolled individuals eager to get out and explore. Based on my unescorted, unplanned visit in April 1992, I'd answer yes.
I was on my way to Slovenia and before leaving Holland I'd heard so many horror stories about conditions in Albania that I didn't really think I'd be able to extend my trip in that direction. I'd planned to break the train ride from Amsterdam to Ljubljana in Bonn to visit a friend and just for fun I suggested we drop by the Albanian Embassy for a visa. My friend was taken aback when I had my visa in 15 minutes with a few questions asked.
Conflicting information.
The travel agencies we then visited in Bonn gave conflicting information about the ferry service from Trieste to Durres but a quick phone call to Agenzia Marittima 'Agemar' (Tel 39-40-363737) in Triest confirmed that the ferry operated nine times a month, taking 25 hours to reach Durres at a cost of US$100 deck or USE130 for a bed in the cheapest four bed cabin. A few hours later I was back on the train to Ljubljana well supplied with German water purification pills.
I'd intended to pop over from Koper to Trieste to check on the ferry, then spend any necessary waiting period in Slovenia, only returning to expensive Italy to catch the boat.
By chance I happened to ask a travel agency in Ljubljana if there was a ferry from Slovenia to Albania and was delighted to hear that Adria Airways had just begun direct service from Ljubljana to Tirana with 30-day excursion fares of $273 return, only slightly more than the boat. I later learned that the flights from Budapest and Athens are a bit cheaper.
A contact in Albania.
Now I must share a little secret. I did have a contact in Albania in the form of the phone number of a family in Tirana who had put up a friend a few months earlier. When I called them from a pay phone in Ljubljana they immediately offered to be there waiting at Rinas Airport when my flight arrived, which was lucky since we were scheduled to land at 1Opm. I'm now convinced I could have arrived without that contact and got my visa upon arrival, but it was nice to be greeted like that and the Shapllos were gracious hosts during my time in the country.
I'd been to Albania on a Regent Holidays bus tour in 1986 so I knew my way around a bit. Fortunately the mass starvation, lawless roads and social chaos the western press was reporting at the time weren't part of the picture and I ended up giving away the stack of chocolate bars I expected to live on. A medical student I met in Skanderbeg Square the first morning became my tour guide for the rest of my stay, an arrangement which made everything much easier for me and earned him a healthy bit of pocket money.
We made daytrips.
Artan and I made daytrips to Kruja, Durres, Elbasan, and Berat, usually going by public bus and returning by shared taxi. The buses seldom had destination signs but it was easy for us to guess where they might be going from the letters on the license plate: Berat (BR), Durres (DR), Elbasan (EL), Fier (FR), Gjirokastra (GJ), Korca (KO), Kruja (KR), Lezha (LE), Pogradec (PG), Saranda (SR) Shkodra (SH), Tirana (TR), Vlora (VL). State owned vehicles have white license plates, while private vehicles have black ones.
There was no problem about getting meals in local hotel restaurants. Though I was staying with the Shapllos I asked prices at a few hotels and was told that the six storey Hotel Arbana overlooking the Lana River in Tirana was $30 single, double or triple; the 5O room Hotel Iliria near the port in Durres WAS $5/10 single/double; the Hotel Skenderbeu in Kruja was $15/30 single/double without bath, $15/ 30 with bath, and the 56 room Hotel Tomori in Berat where I'd previously stayed on my Regent Holidays tour was $12/l 5 single/double without bath, $25-40 with bath.
Dinner for two.
We had dinner a few times at Arilta, one of Tirana's new private restaurants which the Guardian Weekly had reported was defended like a fortress at night. The only defence I saw was a burly waiter leaning against the door who quickly ushered us in when it became clear that I could afford $5 for dinner for two.
We didn't meet the US ambassador at Arilta but I understand he eats there. Frankly, I prefer the Restaurant Donika on ex-Stalin Boulevard behind Hotel Tirana where I'd splashed out one night way back in 1986 as the Regent Holidays crew dined o n hotel fare Last April Donika still had the same earthy atmosphere it did before but rumours of impending changes were in the air.
Travel information.
What follows is a bit of travel information I picked up during my visit. A bus leaves Tirana for Sofia every Tuesday at 9am ($25 plus $7 tax). Sunday at 10 am there's a Turkish bus from Tirana to Istanbul ($40 plus $7 tax).
Tickets are available from Albtransport, Rruga Congresi I Permetit, Tirana. An even easier way to come or go is by bus to/from Greece. Ten Greek buses a day run from Ioannina to the Albanian border at Kakavija. YOU must arrive at the border before noon to connect with the regular Albanian bus on to Tirana. Otherwise it should be possible to get a taxi to Gjirokastra or Saranda. In the other direction the bus to Kakavija leaves Tirana at 3.30am. Tickets are sold at a kiosk behind the Palace of Culture (north side). It's also possible to go from Korca to Florin via Kapshtica.
The Albanian consul in Bonn gave me a complete list of telephone numbers of Albanian embassies around the world:Ankara 90 4 274954, Athens 30 1 723 4412, Beijing 86 1 532 1120, Belgrade 38 11 646864, Bonn 49 228 351044, Bucharest 40 0 793180, Budapest 36 1 1227251, Cairo 20 2 341 5651, Geneva 41 22 311143, Havana 53 7 320788, Istanbul 90 1 613726, New York 212 249 2059, Paris 33 1 4553 5132, Prague 42 2 379329, Rome 39 6 838 0725, Sofia 359 2 44 1110, Stockholm 46 8 732 0920, Vienna 43 222 364628 and Warsaw 48 22 498427. It's always a good idea to pick up a tourist visa beforehand at one of these, although I was assured they were also obtainable upon arrival.
Instant coffee and hard currency.
I found the two most useful things to bring along were a big jar of instant coffee (unobtainable in Albania) and hard currency in small bills. It's also good to bring a litre of duty-free alcohol, which makes an excellent gift, but don't bother bringing the permitted carton of duty-free cigarettes, as these are readily available from street vendors inside Albania. Albanian women appreciate western cosmetics. The reported food shortages in Albania won't affect you, but you could bring tea bags, toilet paper, tampons, paper napkins, soap, razor blades, a diarrhoea remedy, pens, writing paper, envelopes, spare batteries, ample rolls of film and any personal supplies you'll need.
The best travel guidebook I saw was Nagel Encyclopaedia Guide Albania (Nagel Publishers, 5-7 rue de I'Orangerie, 12 11 Geneva 7, Switzerland), published in English and German editions in 1990. The International Bookstore in Tirana has them for £l8 cash! As for potential problems, it's sometimes dangerous to go out alone in the towns late at night. If planning a hike or picnic in rural areas don't advertise your plans (by discussing them on a bus, for example) as some people are desperate for hard currency and you may be seen as a source.
Beware of pickpockets on crowded city buses and don't flash money around! Be aware of theft. Take special care if accosted by colourfully dressed women and children begging as they target foreigners and are very aggressive. If you give them money once they'll stick to you like glue whenever they see you again. My visit to Albania had a happy ending as I've since heard that my hosts, Besa and Agron Shapllo, took my advice and established Albania's first private travel agency!