My four-day trip to Albania is coming to an end and I’m already on the plane on the way home. This trip was a real adventure and an exploration of a new country, its people, its landscapes and maybe even some aspects of Albanian culture. My previous knowledge was based on just under a month of googling and I realised that it is definitely worth experiencing things for yourself before forming any preconceived ideas.

I admit that my trip to Albania, on the one hand, is only a small step in wisdom, but it is a big leap for myself. My tight itinerary ensured that every hour spent in the country was an adventure that will be chewed on for a long time. So much so, in fact, that I’ll probably want to savour more of it and order new tickets to Albania for my next holiday.

It’s a great feeling when you find yourself sighing in wonder and laughing with delight as you drive alone from Saranda along the mountain road to Vlora. A new thing for me, as I usually behave very discreetly and don’t show too much emotion unnecessarily. I’ve always wondered about people who talk to themselves and found them a bit odd. Now I find myself feeling the same way when I see goats climbing an almost vertical mountain face or cows walking along the road.

Equally incredible is the sight of a shepherd leading his flock across the road, looking both ways as if he knows the rules of the road for schoolchildren.

Here begins my blog about my first trip to Albania in December 2019.

As the plane landed in Tirana, I thought about everything I had read about over the past few weeks. The first thing I had to do was get a car from the rental agency. I was already a little nervous about the traffic in Albania, which was described as downright scary. At the airport, I asked in English where I could find a “Surprise car rental”.

Now the first myth I had read about was shattered. You can’t get around in Albania in English. I marched to the car rental agency following the instructions I had been given, around a long fence and crossed the road, glancing in several directions just to be sure, and I think I glanced back at the end. This was another myth about Albanian traffic busted, because I survived the first crossing of the street just fine. The car rental shops were easy to find on the other side of the road.

While waiting for my turn at the rental agency, a young man came in with the car keys and asked for my name. It turned out that he had met me at the airport, but I didn’t know that. This was my first experience of Albanian service, and in my case it was a complete waste. I apologised and then the rental process started, which didn’t go smoothly.

I had taken out comprehensive insurance for the car online to save a few euros compared to the insurance taken out at the rental agency. Without the insurance, I wouldn’t have dared to try what it feels like to drive in traffic without rules, as I had read on many blogs.

Definitely had to have a Credit card – not one with Debit/Credit. I didn’t understand why this was the case, but I dug a Credit card out of my wallet. For some reason my card didn’t work and the clerk told me that I had entered the wrong ID number. After trying a couple of times, I didn’t dare try a third time, as this would have resulted in the card being blocked.

My cheeks flushed a little, I began to doubt my own memory and asked what to do now. The customer service agent told me that the only way to rent a car was to take out a comprehensive insurance policy with them, which could be paid for by debit/credit card. This was done and the comprehensive insurance cost €60 on top of the €34 insurance I had taken out earlier. Once again we saw that it doesn’t pay to be cheap. The car rental itself was only 35€ for four days!

As a small side note, I can mention that the same Credit card worked everywhere else except at the car rental company and with exactly the same password that I had entered there. I was also a little disappointed with the feedback I received, as I did not have the heart to complain about it later. Next time I think I will rent my car somewhere else.

However, I did get a car and in the dark I was able to drive from Tirana airport to Durres. First-timers had been warned about driving in the dark in blogs and travelogues. The journey went well, however, because Durres was found and there were no scratches on the car’s panels or anywhere else. 

Durres was hit hard and sadly by earthquakes recently. Seeing closed streets and pole-supported apartment blocks for the first time in my life put me in the middle of one. Police cars stood beside houses in danger of collapsing to make sure that people did not sneak into their homes without permission to collect their belongings. But life goes on, and at my late-night seaside eatery, music plays. People were partying and laughing. I ate deep-fried squid rings and drank a good Albanian beer.

Earthquakes and the damage they cause are a sad way of showing a lack of building skills or building against good building practice. I wonder if this might have something in common with the damp damaged houses in Finland. Admittedly, the damage cannot be compared. Some of the builders had already been arrested and some had managed to escape abroad. I met a couple of Finnish philanthropists on a flight who had collected relief supplies for those who had lost their homes and were now delivering them at their own expense to those in need.

The next morning I set off for the next stage, Vlores. But before that, I admired the open sea, smelling the scent of the sea and listening to the waves crashing on the sandy beach. The beach was deserted at this time of year, as December is not the tourist season in Albania. From the few pedal boats lying in the sand and the closed beach bars, you can foresee four months ahead and see holidaymakers enjoying the beach life, sipping drinks and brushing sunscreen on their skin. I don’t see myself in that crowd, because I’m much more interested in the mighty mountains and the Albanian nature, which I didn’t get to admire while driving in the dark.

The journey started in heavy traffic, taking directions from the satnav every now and then. There seemed to be policemen everywhere. Apparently, there are efforts to eradicate Albania’s famously wild traffic culture. I, too, got my share of police guidance when, at a roundabout, a policeman waved at me and told me to stay in the outside lane. In no hurry, I decided to stop at a neat-looking service station for a coffee. There were only a few men sitting in the café, talking to each other in a calm voice.

I ordered a coffee: “one coffee, please!” and the salesman asked me if I wanted a regular or a large coffee. I didn’t have much coffee pain and mainly just wanted to stop by and check out the local café culture. So I replied, “Regular coffee, please”, after which the vendor instructed me to go to a table and wait. Soon he brought a tiny espresso to the table. I could probably have handled a bigger one. I later learned that I should have ordered an americano.

The journey continued with the taste of a strong coffee in my mouth, until a strange rubbing noise started coming from the car and the motorists passing me waved and pointed under the car. in fact, all the motorists passed me, because I was just practising driving on this rally track. I stopped and looked around the car and didn’t notice anything special. I even kicked the tyres a bit for form’s sake. As I bent down to look under the car, another car stopped in front of me and three dark, young men got out of the car. They were waving and, clearly in Albanian, trying to find out what was wrong.

They immediately noticed that the plastic bottom armour was hanging on the ground. Together, they tried to get it right with a handshake. The oldest of the men thought of what to do and told the younger one to get something from the car.

The man walked to the car and brought a screwdriver. By then two men were already under the car and I was worried about their soiled clothes. They didn’t seem to mind. However, the screwdriver was not the answer, the oldest gave new instructions and this time the youngest looking one was already running to the car with a plastic thread. They used it to tie the bottom plate shut. I thanked the men and shook their hands, and then the journey continued. The Albanians’ famous kindness was thus demonstrated.

At this point, the flatness of Durres began to fade and the mountains became visible. I admired the beauty of the mountains as they appeared on many levels on the horizon and the desolation of the air created a magnificent spectrum of blue hues between the darkly rising mountains. Ten kilometres before Vlore, after the roundabout, there were crowds of people on both sides of the road and queues of stopped cars at least a hundred metres long. It was probably a market place, because people were carrying slaughtered turkeys in their hands. I didn’t have time to observe the situation closely, because the traffic increased significantly and I had to get back on the road.

I had already learned in previous roundabouts that you have to try to read the minds of other motorists and try to keep an eye on them. This was really the only way to get through the roundabout at rush hour. Hesitation was the worst thing you could do. It was immediately exploited by the Albanians. But even if I say so, there was still a noticeable understanding and consideration for others in the traffic. Traffic behaviour was not arrogant and at times it seemed that driving in Helsinki was much more difficult. Perhaps I will analyse more closely after the next trip.

After driving from roundabout to roundabout and who knows how many roundabouts, I ended up in the traffic jam on the main street of Vlore. I couldn’t help wondering what the traffic was like during the peak holiday season, because even now, in mid-winter, every lane was full of cars, walkers and here and there a cyclist had ventured in. Surprisingly, however, the traffic flowed well and there were no long stops, and it was easy to get into groups when you didn’t have to. All you had to do was drive, changing lanes depending on where there was space.

Eventually I reached the coastal boulevard, where the traffic jams dissipated and the search for a parking space began. I was told the street had just been built the year before. Previously, it had been nothing but a bumpy, dirt road. Now it was a magnificent street – with the Adriatic Sea on one side and cafés and restaurants, bumper cars, tennis courts and everything a tourist could imagine needing on the other. The sidewalks on both sides of the road were wider than the scenic road for cars. I found a free parking space that would not have been allowed in Finland. I dared to leave my car there because others had done so. Just to be sure, I asked an older man in English if I could leave my car there. The man replied: “No, problem!” I locked the car and set off walking in the sunshine to a café, where ordering a coffee would be better than at a roadside service station. This time I decided to enjoy a cappuccino.

However, I found a pizzeria before the café and realised that I was actually quite hungry from the day’s traffic adventures. While eating a tasty tuna patty, I listened to a group of women at the next table chatting away, laughing loudly and having a good time. Although I didn’t understand any Albanian, it was clear that they were having a good time, because the pizza maker was smiling and smiling as he looked at the women. The bar’s TV was showing a video of scantily clad women on the beach with Albanian music. The pizza was so big that the video had already started again. The pizza cost 550 lei, or about €4.50. I left a few coins on the table as I left and thanked him for a good meal. Once on the street, I realised that I must have tipped a fortune compared to the price of the pizza. I’m not quite sure, but the coins may have had a 100 lek number on them.

I walked along the seaside boulevard as the evening sun set behind the horizon. The hustle and bustle of the city was starting to die down and I took some traditional sunset photos to send home. As I walked, I searched Booking.com for a suitable hotel where I could take a shower and relax a bit from the day’s adventures. I decided to get a room at the 4-star Hotel Marine. The price was a reasonable 30€/night.

After a shower, I went for an evening walk into the already darkened evening of Vlora. The bars were starting to fill up again with people and music was playing in the streets. A few boys were taking a head start into the new year, detonating bombs on the beach 24 hours before the turn of the year. No one seemed to pay any attention, even though the bangs were not small. I passed a supermarket and then reversed back because I decided to go in search of the famous Rak. I had come across it on many different blogs and on Latela’s trip to Albania. Rakia is a must-bring in Albania. It’s an alcoholic drink that I’m told is made in almost every village with its own recipe and is awfully tasty. I bought the most expensive one I could find in the shop and I think it cost about 1000 leis, so not very expensive. But the taste was… hmm. there was plenty of taste. You have to taste it for yourself. The label on the bottle said the percentage was 19. Must have been a mistake because it was a spirit if anything.

Then it was back to the hotel and I took the elevator to the 8th floor restaurant for dinner. I ordered a steak, which arrived after a reasonably long time. I was the only customer in the restaurant apart from three waiters. I did receive first class service and the food was also absolutely fantastic. I enjoyed the food in a long formula with wine and beer. I was the first customer to arrive and the last to leave. So no customer disturbed my dining peace. A luxury compared to school catering, where there are no jerks or noisy students.

However, sometimes you had to leave and the bed in the hotel room was calling. I’ll certainly never get used to cold beds and the feeling of having to tread barefoot on the wet tiles of the bathroom. Why on earth do people not heat these apartments when it is winter anyway, even if it is barely freezing. I’m sure not many people in Albania have heard of underfloor heating. Fortunately, however, an air-source heat pump gradually brings heat into the apartment, but I still had to sneak into bed in long underwear and a shirt. A tip for travellers: it’s a good idea to turn on the air-source heat pump as soon as you enter the room. Note: This was the “out of season” and the coldest winter season. In summer, this problem does not exist. But sleep came quickly and I didn’t have time to count too many sheep. At night I had to reduce my clothes a bit.

In the morning, I had a choice of breakfast from several menus at the Regina City Hotel restaurant. The waiter was so quick to list everything on the menu that I couldn’t keep up with him. I then chose the last one, which the waiter presented. Accompanied by the waitress, I sat down at the table to wait for the omelette. The view was stunning; a rooftop terrace with a swimming pool. Overlooking it was the Adriatic Sea. I took a few pictures to send home and thought to myself, “I’ve never had breakfast in such scenery in a four-star hotel for €30 a night.

There are a few nice groups on Facebook for Albania fly bites. The Finns of Saranda is a group of mostly Finns who have an apartment or holiday home in Saranda. The Travel to Albania group is otherwise only for people interested in Albania. There is also a new group, the Finns of Vlore. During the month I have already had time to get many good tips from the groups, and in addition I have received a guide for a trip to Saranda.

We set off for a drive along the coast road and as soon as we left the town I was able to hand over the driver’s seat to the guide. It would have been far too dangerous to drive the beautiful route while admiring the stunning and indescribable scenery. As I took each photo, I regretted that my mobile phone camera didn’t capture the images as I saw them. Along the way, my guide told me to stop for lamb and the next restaurant specialised in something else, like turkey or beef.

At first the route followed the sea with its turquoise blue shoreline and then we started climbing a good mile up into the mountains with some snow on the roadside. Fine pine forests and steep steep bends where you had to honk your car horn at the oncoming traffic. In Finland people blow their horns red in the face in anger and in Albania it’s more of an announcement of existence.

As we started to descend from the mountains back towards the sea, I pointed out to the driver that there was a lot of aloe vera growing on that slope. However, my plant identification skills took a knock when I learned that they were something else entirely. I had heard that during the communist era the Russians had advised planting them in militarily important places to prevent invasion. Their thorns reduced the motivation to attack, or at least significantly slowed the enemy’s advance. A short distance away, we watched as if the canopy of a rainforest had shrunk. My guide couldn’t tell us what kind of tree it was, but it was a conifer of some kind. Maybe I’ll find out one day.

There was another scraping sound from the bottom of the car. A couple of days ago, the friendly Albanian men had failed a quick repair on the bottom bumper and my guide said that this fault could be dangerous here on the mountain roads. So we started looking for a garage where the fault could be repaired. Soon we found a garage that didn’t look like a garage. There were two men working under the car in the yard, despite it being a Sunday. My guide spoke fluent Albanian and explained the problem. The men set to work and in about half an hour the job was done. The price was 500 leks, or about 4.50 euros. No more bottom armour hanging on the ground for the rest of the trip.

The journey continued and before we reached Saranda we saw, among other things, a magnificent waterfall in the backyard of the café. I drank the clear, fresh water from the mountain from a tap on the wall of the cliff. We stopped at a small village on the coastal boulevard and bought a few bananas for a snack. According to the guide, a storm a couple of years ago had blown the beach sand up onto the streets. Now there was no sign of a storm, as the sun shone every day of my trip. In Albania, the sun shines well over 300 days a year, so you get good value for your holiday money if you like the sun.

The three-hour drive went by quickly, with stunning scenery and a guide to tell you all about it. In Saranda we drove straight to the centre and to a place the guide knew for dinner. There we had a cheap Albanian traditional meal. My dish was mostly green in colour due to the vegetable content – spinach, beans, aubergine and onion. In the middle was a delicious tasting meat. Hunger moved a little further away and we headed to the harbour for a walk and to watch Saranda go by.

The evening began to dim and the huge Christmas tree in the middle of the market looked gorgeous in the twinkling lights. The Christmas carols were played through the speakers and there were a lot of people on the move. The guide showed me the hotel and I went to book a room there before I actually jumped behind the wheel of a car. I took my guide to a relative on the city border. I was a little excited to know because my phone was low on battery. However, the route was fairly easy and I parked across the street a short distance from the hotel. I took my suitcase to the room and, wise from experience, I first looked for the remote control of the air source heat pump. This room was as cool as all the other rooms had been. There have been underfloor heating in Albania and rocky floors require at least this way to get used to the winter season or the inner shoes. Fortunately, the hotel rooms were pre-booked.

My intention was to jog in the evenings and get to know Vlora and Saranda even more. In the evenings, however, I was so exhausted that I was no longer amused to go jogging, but rather relaxed at the local bars with a glass of beer and some nice little food. Admiring the intoxicating scenery and rocking back and forth the mountains more than a mile high did their job and confused the head, which then manifested itself as fatigue. So I had packed my sneakers, several running shirts and pants in my bag. However, the idea was good and even awesome. Yes, I admitted at home after the trip that I didn’t go on a single run.

This hotel was also very clean and I could be the only customer of the hotel because I was able to enjoy breakfast alone this time as well. What was different about this hotel was that not even the staff was visible. I was able to gather my breakfast from the table myself, but it didn’t bother me, because that’s what is always done in Finland as well. I drank a couple of glasses of the best orange juice in the world and then I checked out of the hotel. I took my bag to the car and went for a walk in still sunny weather before returning.

I had heard of Albanian street dogs roaming the streets. I had seen some of them, but somehow I had expected them to be tangled and untidy. However, most of the dogs were just like companion dogs – only the handlers were missing. These were playful and well-being animals that roamed among people or just sat on the streets. I once saw a puppy challenging to play with a street worker sweeping leaves off the street. The dog ran after the leaves and was clearly unaccompanied. Sad. I heard that the number of dogs has been reduced by collecting them from the streets to be killed. Animal activists would have liked to have eliminated the problem by lighter means such as sterilizing them, but I do understand that it would have been a much slower and more expensive way.

Before the return trip, I went to buy a car charger for my phone. There was a constant fear of running out of battery on this trip because the navigator consumed a lot of power. Great that on the second to last day I got it bought. There would have been shops along the way, and the euro was used as a means of payment for this trade as well. I had read on some old blogs that Albania is not a place to shop because there are no shops. I even bought a beanie and leather gloves. I walked past so many interesting shops that I would buy more on my next trip. Possibly summer shirts and maybe a holiday home. I already booked the tickets for the winter holidays in a couple of months.

There was still a long way to go and the adventure continued in the inland mountains. I wanted to drive a different route than when coming. I was surprised at how good these roads I were driving were. I was prepared for much worse and worse roads. However, on this trip I only drove along the main roads. It may be that next time I will have experiences with other kinds of roads. Next was the upward direction and had to be swallowed a little at a time as the ears were constantly locked. There were no signs along the way to show the steepness of the ascent.

The vegetation changed and the road meandered like a serpentine. The navigator made me feel much safer when I knew I was on the right track. At times, the road narrowed so much that he would not have thought he was on the main road from Saranda to Tirana. It was still my intention today to get back to Vlore because I had one housing tour there.

On an upward bend, with a deep gorge on one side and a mountain slope rising to heights on the other, a cyclist came up with tremendous momentum. Soon the second and even the third cyclist with his side bags rushed past me. I was just wondering how the brakes can withstand such a pace. I was reminded vividly of the cycling tours of my youth in Norway, where there were also ten kilometers of downhill skiing on narrow roads. Unfortunately, there are only about the same number of ups and downs, and after the downhill, the journey uphill usually begins. In a terrain like this, sometimes a sense of balance and an introverted vass passport trick because the buildings seemed to be crooked and the river next to the road flowed, I think, in the wrong direction.

Suddenly a huge valley surrounded by mountains opened up in front of me. The view before my eyes was the most beautiful I had ever seen. I dreamed and saw myself sitting on that hill in a hurry enjoying thermal coffee and scenery. Now I didn’t dare stop because I didn’t know how much time it would take on the rest of the trip to think about my appointment. I had to continue and, sighing, I set off down a winding road. At the bottom of the valley, as a small strip, there was a road where I thought I would be in half an hour.

On the side of the cliff there were cast iron edges to prevent derailments. The journey stopped in a queue of a few cars that suddenly appeared in front of me. Behind the concrete barrier in front of the front of the car, the head of a sheep appeared, turning in both directions before crossing the road. These sheep apparently knew the traffic rules that children have been taught several times in school. After finding the road safe, the sheep farm crossed the road, but the sweetest thing was a few years later. The cars politely gave way to a few more families of sheep before the journey could continue.

The rest of the way was folded through the small villages, looking at the handsome scenery. On a trip like this, you realize what the travel club would mean. When traveling alone, one can engage in self-talk and sigh, but it is not the same as sharing thoughts. The same feeling comes from watching a good movie. It feels like almost half of the movie enjoyment is lost when you can’t share feelings with anyone. Fortunately, this trip was not a unique experience, because already during the winter holidays, the wife goes on a new trip.

This trip was a short dive into the new land and its landscapes. But now it is already clear that I want more of these. I can’t yet say that I really know anything about this mighty land of opposites that the two-headed eagle mystically symbolizes. The character of the Albanian flag also has a symbolism of power and military power. It has an old tradition of an ancient Hindu bird with magical powers in Byzantine times and still a state symbol of Russia.

There were plenty of adventures for the last day as I drove past Durres past the airport junction. I only managed to turn on the highway after driving just over ten miles and still couldn’t get back on the same road. I decided to rely on a navigator that took the little roads forward and yet the distance was getting shorter all the time. At the same time, the road gradually shrank with suspicion. Eventually I drove down a small dirt road in the middle of a field litter and didn’t see a single sign of the airport.

However, I had the courage to move forward as I asked the old woman at the airport, who was holding a bike. The woman signaled to drive forward. I was a little skeptical if the woman even understood what I had been asking. After driving maybe another mile, I came to a t-junction. Joy was at its peak because I saw the airport. The only thing that flattened the mood was the high fence that separated me from the airport. Now I had to choose whether to go right or left. As I thought about that intersection, an old mersu passed me, turning right.

I no longer had an hour to leave the plane and still had time to return the rental car. That’s when I decided that if if ever! I’ll catch that car and ask if I’m on the right track. Until now, the roads had been better than in many parts of Finland. There were 30-cent pits on this horse path between which I tried to bend. Now if there had been dentures, they would have fallen out of the mouth. The rental car was already starting to get sad. However, I caught Mersu and drove alongside. I gestured to the driver and asked if the right direction was. The driver said nothing but gestured for me to drive after him.

The kindness of the Albanians once again saved me from trouble and I got to the airport, but then I was already in a hurry to get the car back and run. Fortunately, I was able to get through the formalities quickly. The gate was already closed, but the clerk called the plane crew and the gate opened. Soon I was already sitting on the plane and I was able to breathe. You need to get here again soon!