Weird Albania
We bought a tour to Albania in one of the travel agencies in Minsk. The agent honestly admitted to us that he knows nothing about the country, but it is very good there))). The flight was scheduled for mid-August from Kyiv, because the tour from Minsk was $300-400 more expensive. The tour cost for two 715 euros for 10 days without meals + $ 130 transfer to Kyiv. Accommodation was supposed to be in a 3* hotel.
It should be noted that Kyiv airports are famous for regular transfer of flights, which happened to us, the flight was delayed for 4 hours, namely from 5 am to 9 am, so I had to wait at the hotel, because we arrived in advance and had to wait 12 hours. The hotel is near the airport and it was from him that it cost 222 hryvnia for two. Her level is -100* )) but she fulfilled the function of “stretching her legs”. You will be told about it at the information center of the Zhuliany airport. In Boryspil, the choice of prices for short-term hotels / hostels is even richer.
Flying with Bravo. By the way, I would like to note that on the Internet I found a lot of negative, malicious reviews about the quality of aircraft and flight delays of this company. Fortunately, we were lucky and only the flight to Albania was delayed. Aircraft are not large for 110 seats. In-flight drinks only, no food. 2 rows of seats for 3 seats. Both on the way to Albania and back, there is no security pass at the airport, so you can safely take food and drink on the flight.
Arriving in Albania, namely in the capital of Tirana, we were met by a Ukrainian guide and with other tourists took us to the hotels on a normal bus. On the way, we were told stories about good-natured and sympathetic Albanians, about their color and extraordinary patriotism. About national cuisine and delicious delicacies, about the fact that because of their kindness they can feed us in a restaurant for free, about excellent alcoholic drinks, etc.
We were brought to the Mali Robit area. To make it clear, the streets, namely one street of which the embankment consists, is the embankment of Alushta ala 70s. The street is narrow, a bunch of some shops with consumer goods, which you don’t even look at at home. Everything is littered with hotels and apartments. There is such a feature among the inhabitants of Albania, to pour water on the roads, probably so that dust does not rise, but I think that it should not be hot from the asphalt. From this, after watering, there are puddles everywhere and constantly mud fly on your feet and clothes when walking.
Be prepared for the fact that you will get into a normal dutik when you fly only to Albania. When flying back from Tirana, you will find a very unpleasant surprise in the form of a very meager dutik with a small amount of alcohol for a lot of money. The same choice of another product regarding dutik.
Hotel Kolaveri3* is located 20 km from the city of Durres. Arriving at the hotel, we were not much surprised that there was no one at the reception at all, that is, at all. There was no one to accommodate us. The guide searched for the administrator for some time and found him. It turned out to be a guy who looks like a tourist in clothes, i. e. they don’t have any special uniforms like in Egypt or Turkey.
We were settled in an ala villa two floors to the second floor. The room was a room with one small window on the side)). Two single beds, poorly working unnecessary TV because all the channels are in Albanian, a broken TV stand)) mini fridge that did not work well, but still worked. The bathroom was quite tolerable, but there was a wild surprise that there was no toilet ruff in the toilet))) The audibility in the room is just excellent, you can hear the neighbors opening their bags, talking, and later in the evening, something else was heard in detail)) ). Very strange but the neighbor's room keys fit our room and vice versa. Cleaned the room tolerably and as expected every 3-4 days. At the same time, such a trifle as toilet paper was given out one roll for a given period)). Our floor was served by one boiler, so if the neighbors washed, we might not have enough warm water.
The hotel has 2 basses + a paddling pool, quite tolerable and comfortable.
The food at the hotel is terrible, so you shouldn't take food in this or any other hotel. If possible, then you need to take a room with a kitchen, but if you don’t want to cook, then you can eat in cafes.
Beach. The sea here is Adriatic and very warm, but not calm and therefore muddy. Not suitable for diving, so you can leave your mask and snorkel at home. Diving is developed on the Ionian Sea, it is further and south of Durras. Dai center I saw only in Durres on the coast. The beaches here are fine sand. The sea is not deep. To go down 1.5 meters, you need to walk along the bottom from the shore for about 300-400 meters, so for those who can especially swim and children, that’s it. The beaches are relatively clean. Relatively, because in Albania the locals throw away everything and immediately anywhere. All sun loungers and umbrellas are paid. You will have to pay $ 3-4 per day for one set. But no one canceled the opportunity to lie on the sand on your towel or bedspread. It's free here and you can do it on any beach, because the entire promenade and beaches are municipal, i. e. free.
On the beaches, as it should be, resourceful Albanians sell all sorts of nonsense, but I would especially like to mention donuts cooked in front of you, they cost from 100-200 lek (1-2 $) depending on the size of the bag and are sooo delicious.
There are enough people on the beach, there were few Russian speakers in August 2017. The most amazing thing is that cedars with huge cones grow on the beaches near the sea, and the aroma of the air is simply amazing from this. At high tide, a lot of black algae is thrown ashore, which are raked into large piles from the beach at night. There are small jellyfish in the sea that can occasionally pinch you.
Entertainment. Rest in Albania is entertainment in the form of visiting many cafes and searching for original surroundings and delicious dishes. You will not find entertainment in the form of karaoke, night discos, concerts, bars in its original form. The spirit of a boarding house calm rest prevails here, that is, in the morning the sea, lunch, sleep, sea / bass, dinner in a cafe and sleep. That's all entertainment. In Mali Robit there were some attractions for children in the form of carousels and electric cars (cost from $ 0.5 - $ 1)
Rental of jet skis and catamarans is organized on the beach. Thank God there are no slides and noisy entertainment on the beach. The presence of water entertainment rental is not noticeable.
The most important entertainment is tourism and excursions. We ourselves did not go to them, but we went to the mountains on our own, because next to the hotel there were mountains in the lowlands of which there were three large fresh lakes, it took about an hour to go to them and it was very exciting. We looked at how watermelons, melons, grapes, dogwoods grow in the mountains and naturally tried them. Watermelons are so-so, and the grapes are apparently small wine, and the dogwood is dumb (so it’s better to buy). They take them on excursions mainly either to the cities (Tirana, Berat, Durres), or to the lakes. Of course, people are delighted with lakes in the mountains. Excursions are long from early morning until late in the evening and food and water are not included. There are also jeep safari, kayaking from the mountains, but in 2017. the rivers in the mountains were crushed, so this type of recreation was not available.
And I forgot to mention the fact that our ladies should not take a lot of evening clothes with them, but they should not be taken at all))). Take a minimum of clothes and bags with you, there is nowhere to go and nothing to buy with you! Everything you need in Albania is sold in duty free).
About food, I would like to say right away that we managed to take with us a mini gas stove with 2 gas cylinders of 200g of gas each. This stove helped us save about $150, because Belarusian stew + Italian pasta is divine, as well as freshly caught fried Albanian sea fish is a miracle. You can also take a kettle with you, because in the morning and in the evening it is nice to drink coffee while sitting on the balcony.
By the way, fish, fishermen who sometimes come to the tourist street to sell their products, the cost of fish is 50% of its cost in a cafe.
It is better not to take food at the hotel, because it is simply not tasty. It is better to eat on your own (for some time, or in mixed mode with a cafe). From a cafe in Mali Robit I can advise Teast summer, Zgar, Ujara. In general, Albanian cuisine is mixed. Here there are dishes of Italy, Turkey and their national cuisine (which is very difficult to find, easy to lose and impossible to forget))). Local alcoholic drinks are 80% (and maybe more) counterfeit. Drinking them is unpleasant, and sometimes dangerous (duty free will save us when flying to Albania).
Tap water is also advised not to drink and everyone buys bottled water in a 10-liter can (costs $ 1).
The lion's share of food is fast food in all its manifestations, namely french fries, sandwiches, hamburgers, 10 types of pizza (not particularly different in taste from each other).
Service. As such, it is absent from the concept of Egypt and Turkey and the like. Take for example the friendliness of the staff. Mostly young people under 25 worked at the hotel. We lacked one chair in the room because there were two of us, and there was only one chair. Upon checking in, I noticed this and asked for an administrator chair. He agreed, but during the day no one brought the chair. Later, the next day, I caught this person and asked where the chair is? . To this, he said that he had a lot to do, but I could go with him and take the chair myself. We went to some hotel building under construction, where I took a dusty but not broken chair. This is the question of responsiveness and the struggle for the tourist. It was also very unpleasant to see how the hotel staff juggles peaches and apples, and during the day flirts and walks with vacationers. Also on Sundays after 14-15 they are allowed to swim in the common pool with vacationers. Considering the age of the staff (18-25 years old), you can imagine how cheerfully and noisily they frolic banging on the ball that quickly flies around the pool, rushing around your face. In general, I have not seen such a “merger” of personnel with tourists anywhere and there is little pleasure from this.
Prices. Prices in Albania are comparable to those in Belarus and the CIS countries. You can not listen to fairy tales about low prices, although if you compare them with Italy or Spain, they are certainly higher, but this is Italy and Spain! Let's say a meal for two in a cafe costs an average of $15-20. It seems that this is not much, but when your order is brought, you understand that the price is pretty high. The portions in the cafe are not large, so it will not be difficult to eat them. There is really nothing to buy here. All goods are either from China or Turkey and are of very poor quality. The average price of wine is $3.5-25. The wine here is either red or white and dry. Buying wine here in large containers about 2 liters ($5) is not worth it, because it's a swill from which it's bad later (checked several times)).
Prices for excursions are $40-60 per person.
About food prices, I would like to note that they are also not small as they describe. 10 eggs cost $1.3. Pasta from Italy $1. Chicken breasts $5-6 kg. Fresh shrimps are not large $5-6 per kg, potatoes 70 cents, peaches from 80 cents to $1.5, watermelons and melons from 25 cents per kg and more, tomatoes from 60 cents to $1, the price of wine for 0.75 liters from Albania from $3.5 -$25, beer 0.5l from 90 cents and more, magnets from $1.7, cheeses from $5 per kg (very salty and not familiar to our perception, and more like pressed cottage cheese) .
For comparison, we went from the resort area to Durres to the market. The fare costs 60 cents to go 21km. Prices on the market were on average lower by no more than 10-15 cents. So you can safely buy everything in the place where you live without thinking about overpaying.
Public transport costs about 50 cents (this is 21 km to Durres, 80 cents to Tirana).
If you have a small budget, do not have a visa, are active, tired of Egypt, Turkey, Crimea and Odessa, or if this is your first unspoiled trip and you are ready for a small adventure, then you definitely need to visit Albania. If you are used to service, cleanliness, entertainment and exotic nature, food, etc. , then save money, get a visa and the whole world is in front of you.
Have a nice holiday! I will be glad if my essay will help future tourists in Albania.