Albanian Riviera

"Albania is Dangerous

I've heard this a couple of times in Western Europe and the only way to decode such stereotype is to venture into the country, go on the streets and talk to the people.

As a country still emerging from its communist era isolation, Albania is picking up on a lot of 'go now before it changes' travel lists. For me it was a country sort of shrouded in myths and stereotypes. What's great about it being undiscovered from hoards of tourists like in Paris or Prague is that Albanians are actually happy to meet and see tourists.

Tourism was unthinkable during their bizzare dictatorship. Enver Hoxha was one of these very rare communist dictators that aligned himself to Mao.There are plenty of Funky communist remnants littered around the country today. A weird trademark of Albania is the paranoia of the Hoxha regime. They feared invasion at any moment which led to the building of over 700,000 concrete pillbox bunkers that dot the country, along roads, in fields and even along beaches, including some massive Nuclear bunkers that you can still visit.

Tirana still showcases some fantastically awfulist communist architecture I've ever seen throughout this trip.

I've also never been anywhere more mountainous in my life.

Its appealing for its natural wonders, remnance of its communist nightmare, natural and historical sites, but really it's the people that's a surprise bonus of going to Albania. They are absolutely thrilled and fascinated that there are people coming and taking an interest their country. You go into a cafe, sit down, and before you know it, people will come over wanting to know where you're from, what you're doing here, and ask, do you like Albania? When you say yes, a huge smile appears on their face.

I feel its very rewarding to go to a place like that because you are something new, not just another tourist."