Tirana, Albania 18.05.2024

Next stop - Tirana, Albania.

Travel day (18th May 2024)

Solo trip no.4. 

Nice 6am flight, up at 12.30am, packed and ready to go, off to Stansted for this one.

Not so keen on stansted and i don’t know why but all went ok and departed on time. Landed in Tirana

on time at 10am, fasted border control ever, literally off the plane and straight through the passport e-gates.

Outside and my taxi driver was waiting with my name 🙂. (Used a guy from FB group called Taxi Landi, was very good at communicating and cost 20 euro each way which was average price for taxi)

Got to the hotel within about 25 mins, the Albanians are crazy drivers, no rules on the roads.

Lovely room with my own little patio right by the pool. (Hotel Restaurant Bujtina e Gjelit - £136 - 3 night incl breakfast)

Once I had arrived I chilled out for an hour or so until my room was ready, found out the hotel has

some cool little friends roaming around - Turtles! They were pretty cool and loved how they just

had the freedom to roam around the pool. 

Unpacked my things and then decided I may as well go for a walk so walked the half hr

to the city centre. Very hot, 30 degrees so it was a bit of a tough walk but it was good to see the city, I felt safe the whole walk from hotel to city considering I had no idea where I was going, before I left the hotel I used the wifi to find places on google maps and download them offline as in Albania you need an e-sim to use your phone which I did get from Airalo for think it was about £10 but wasn't very good, took a long time for data to load.

I just had a quick walk round before I walked back, stopped at a sports bar on the way back and had a pint,

found out it was only £1.54 a pint! 

Day 1 (19th May 2024)

Slept really well, certainly needed it after a long day yesterday. Another 30 degree day,

no clouds, just perfect for a chill day.

I did think about exploring the city more but you know what, solo travel is the best because I just couldn’t be bothered to walk around so I didn't !! I just relaxed by the pool all day, had a few beers, burger and chips for lunch, had a siesta at 3pm for a couple of hours before finding a lovely restaurant called BOSCO for dinner in the evening. 

                                          

Had lovely veil meatballs on a bed of cheese, some bread with garlic butter and a pint of beer,

really enjoyed it and only ending up costing 12 euro. Grabbed an ice cream from across the road

again for 2 scopes was only £1.20 so absolute bargain.

Day 2 (20th May 2024).

Day trip today, off to Gamti mountain & Bovilla lake. Klevi the tour guide picked me

up from my hotel at 9.30am and then off to pick up some other people. (From Tirana: Gamti Mountain and Bovilla Lake Hiking tour - £55)

There was 8 of us in the end, took about an hour to get to the mountain over some very bumpy roads.

1st stop was at a lovely waterfall on the way up.

Was beautiful and looked amazing. Once everyone had taken their pictures we then made our way up to

the part of the mountain we was then going to climb, looking at it from a far it looked alright and not much trouble, however getting closer and starting the walk up, it was terrifying, it was a small single track walkway with lots of rocks and boulders to climb. All was worth it though as the view from the top was just incredible, one of the best things I've seen, it’s almost like you can’t believe what you’re seeing. 

After spending around 45-60 min at the top taking pictures and just relaxing after the taxing walk up

there we then descended again to the cafe just below, had some chips and a pint of course,

well deserved after the hard work!

Once everyone had finished it was time to make our way back, we stopped on the

way back down, supposed to be for a swim but because you’re not actually allowed to swim in the

water there was a security guard there, we just had some time to take in the scenery and we got a group photo.

In the group there were 2 girls from France, 3 from Belgium, 1 from the Netherlands and 2 of us from the UK.

We all got on well and swapped insta details. Another bunch of people that were lovely,

I can’t get over how many people you meet along the way and for me is a huge thing as I'm not one to talk to other people as I'm so shy and introverted. 

Arrived back at the hotel about 5pm, went and dropped by bag and back out to BOSCO for

dinner again as i enjoyed it so much last time, I also knew they spoke English well and what to expect

as the food was delicious. This time I had pork belly and mash potato.

Back at the hotel, I showered and chilled out with a beer before going to bed ready for a long day tomorrow.

Home Time (21st May 2024)

Chilled morning, got up about 8ish, dressed, packed and grabbed some breakfast.

Made sure I had everything before my taxi man turned up at 11.15. Off to the airport I go.

Usual airport wait, through security and had a mooch around before gate was called at 14.25,

however once at the gate as instructed nothing happened ….

Turns out the flight was delayed until 16.50 but wasn’t relayed this information. Anyway, it didn't ruin anything

and I still got home by 20.30 which wasn’t awful. Unpacked and time to relax before work again tomorrow.