BEAMET: Tirana, Albania

We ended up waiting for hours in Ulcinj for the bus to Albania, which again turned out to be one of those Montenegrin specials. We got all excited to see that the bus looked half decent, and began to dare to believe that, yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus, and he just might give you an air-conditioned bus to ride in. Alas, Santa didn't deliver this time. The bus ride was ridiculously hot, and the 'air-conditioning'? Why, the open door again!

The border crossing was interesting. Some of us needed to pay an entrance tax of 10 Euros. I was unfortunately one of the unlucky ones, whereas Agata and Agnieszka, with their Polish passports, managed to skip this tax. Apparently I need to pay it again when leaving the country.

So, we arrive in Shkodra, hop off the bus and have a little bit of a wander around before transferring to the bus to Tirana. We were originally a bit apprehensive about the Albanian people thanks to the woman from Ulcinj, who said that they were all pickpockets and that it was very dodgy, but actually, nothing could be further from the truth. Everyone we met was very helpful and eager to please.

The main impression though which we got of Shkodra was the rubbish. Absolutely everywhere, these people seriously have not heard of bins. Or actually, they have, we did see some bins, they just don't use them.

Anyway an hour or so later we picked up the bus to Tirana, which again was not airconditioned, but the journey was ok. We arrived in Tirana late afternoon and wandered off to the youth hostel, which was full, but he sent us on to a hotel called Kalaja. Upon arriving at the hotel we were stunned to see there was no electricity, or any water for a shower. Apparently they do this everyday, turn off the electricity and water for a couple of hours, because the country's power demands exceed supply. Being unable to have a shower, or see to unpack anything, we wandered about the town. This is a bit of a hazard, as the pavements are unfinished, broken and uneven - would make a great BMX track (especially the bit just in front of the train station). Tirana is a bustling, energetic little city, with brightly painted buildings (painted all sorts of interesting colours, probably to try to cover up the drabness of communism as they are all ex-communist buildings) with absolutely mental drivers. The 'little green man' at pedestrian crossings doesn't mean 'walk' but 'run for your lives!' as the drivers completely disregard traffic signals. The only time you're safe is when you see a policeman directing the traffic.

Had dinner in a very nice and cheap restaurant called Era then headed back to the hotel after a long, tiring day.