It was May end;  time to stuff my backpack and gear up for a long adventure.
As I mentioned earlier, it was my first solo backpacking trip and I was super excited about it. My first stop on this long adventure was going to be Tirana – the capital city of Albania. I took an early morning flight so that I could have the whole day to explore the city. I took a late night bus from Nottingham to Luton on the 22nd of May to catch the flight. It was a 3 hour flight and by 11am ( Albanian time) I landed on Albanian soil. As I had my BRP (Biometric Resident Permit), I didn’t need a visa. I exchanged some money from the airport so that I could take the bus to the city. It’s always recommended  not to exchange money at the airport as the rates are very high.

The Albanian Lek is a closed currency which means you won’t get it outside Albania  nor  can you exchange it  elsewhere outside the country. Albania is outside the EU but you can still use Euros. It is always good to have cash here as most of the places are cash only and it is advisable to keep Albanian Lek as it is much more used. The bus from the airport to the city cost me 400 Lek (3.3 pounds / 350 INR) and it runs every hour; so it’s very convenient.The bus journey takes around 30 minutes and drops you right in the city centre at the famous Skanderberg Square.

My hostel was just a 10-minute walk. I was staying at the “Trip ‘n’ Hostel”. It is the perfect place to stay if you are a solo traveller. A very social and party hostel with lots of drinking too!I checked in and immediately met a few fellow travellers who invited me for lunch. I joined them as I was very hungry after the long travel.  A hostel volunteer also joined us and she took us to a place called ‘Logu’ – a traditional Albanian restaurant near the new bazaar. We ordered some traditional fare which I was quite excited to taste. And to top it all, the owner got us some home-made red wine as well which was absolutely amazing.

We ordered Tarotar, Dolma, Pork meatballs, Musaka and baked chicken which I had zero clue about. I was really keen on trying a different cuisine. The food was mouth-watering and stomach-filling. The tarotar is like a cold cucumber yogurt soup. Dolma is vine leaves stuffed with minced pork and rice. All these foods were very different with a blend of flavours which reminded me of Indian cuisine. The food was quite inexpensive and it cost around 700 Lek per person (5.8 Pounds / 620 INR). It was so sweet of the owner to offer a Raki Shot in the end. Raki is an alcoholic drink from the Balkans which has around 40-50% alcohol in it. It is a very strong Albanian drink made out of grapes; but a must try.

After the heavy lunch, I decided to rest at the hostel where I befriended fellow travellers. The evening was reserved for the free walking tour which runs at 10am and 6pm. The walking tour starts from the Skanderberg Square near the Opera House. It’s a 2 hour tour and is a must to do if you want to see and learn about the history of this beautiful country.

The guide was quite knowledgeable and had a lot to share about the communist times and many fun facts about the country too. A fun fact which I will share is that Bananas were not a thing in Albania before 1992. But after they arrived, they were considered precious and expensive. There are several such facts, but to know more, you definitely have to do this walk.  It covers all the main attractions in the city centre such as the Clock Tower, Bunk Art 2, Mother Teresa church, some bunkers, Et’hem Bej Mosque, Tirana Castle, Pyramid of Tirana and Blloku. Those 2 hours made me feel very connected to the country as if I belonged here. The tour runs on donations; so make sure to donate in the end!.

My day ended at Oda, another very famous traditional Albanian restaurant which is always crowded.  It took us some time to get in but finally we managed to get through. I tried the stuffed eggplant which is another lip smacking delicacy.I am going to talk a lot about food in this series and so let me warn you guys – Don’t blame me if your mouth starts watering!A very long and amazing day ended with some more raki cause that’s how it’s done here. The next morning, I ate some breakfast at the hostel, packed a small bag along with my camera and left to explore the whole city through my lens.

I started the day at Tanners Bridge which is an 18th-century Ottoman period stone footbridge. When you walk on the stones of the bridge, you begin to visualise as to how the city went about with its business 300 years ago. The bridge was reconstructed in the 1990s and is now used only by pedestrians. It’s an important architectural landmark and is a testament to the construction employed in Tirana during those times. This was followed by a visit to all the places which I had seen  during the walking tour. I wanted to capture them through my lens. I went inside the Bunk Art 2 which is a nuclear bunker turned museum which shows the horrific past of this country. The museum has many rooms and you will be introduced to “Enver Hoxha”, the dictator of Albania. If you want to see a bigger and much better version of this, you must visit Bunk Art 1 which is a 20-minute bus ride from the city centre. While going to Bunk Art 1, take the cable car up the Dajti Mountain to enjoy the whole view of the city. Unfortunately, I missed it due to lack of time. Another place for history lovers would be the National History Museum, which I wanted to visit, but was closed on that day.

I strolled through the castle, the new bazaar, visited  both the Mother Teresa church and the Mother Teresa Square as well, and saw Enver Hoxha’s house, which is in Blloku. I plonked myself at the Grand Park after lunch. I specifically mentioned Blloku and you must be wondering what’s so special about it. In current times, Blloku is a very social and happening place with all the shopping, cafes, clubs and bars. But during the communist regime, it was a closed off neighbourhood for all the elite upper class people and politicians where Enver Hoxha also lived. The sun was about to set; so I quickly went to the Pyramid of Tirana and enjoyed a warm sunset from the top.  This mesmerizing sunset brought an end to my tour of Tirana. I enjoyed the night in the hostel with some drinking games and music. I along with a few others, also went to some bars and clubs. Oh what a memorable ending to my day!

The next morning, I was heading to my next destination “Berat”, a small town on the Osum river called “The City of a Thousand Windows”.
Tirana is an amazing, social city as it is the heart of Albania. My Hostel too had a very different vibe which I thoroughly enjoyed as a solo traveller. I paid 2200 Lek (18 pounds / 1900 INR) for 2 nights which is quite ok for a budget solo traveller. I would be coming back to Tirana on my last day of the trip, but before that, I have a long road ahead! Stay Tuned for the next adventures from Berat!