Destination 》Europe 》Central and Eastern Europe 》Albania
Year Visited: 2018 – September
After a week of exploring historical cities and islands of Greece, we continued our backpacking through the Balkans journey towards North. We took a ferry from Paros to Athens and a overnight bus from Athens to Saranda, Albania, a very long day of travel.
Albania, a Balkan Nation, is a country in the East Europe on the Adriatic and Ionian Sea within the Mediterranean Sea. Historically, the country has been inhabited by numerous civilizations such as the Illyrians, Thracians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians and Ottomans. After the defeat of the Ottomans in the Balkan Wars, the modern nation state of Albania declared independence in 1912. In 1939, the Kingdom of Albania was invaded by Italy which formed Greater Albania. In 1946, after the Second World War, Enver Hoxha formed Communist Albania and launched the Albanians on a path of oppression and decades of isolation. The Revolutions of 1991 concluded the fall of communism in Albania and eventually the establishment of the current Republic of Albania.
Albania is a small country with around three million inhabitants living there, most of them in Tirana, the capital city. But outside Albania, mostly in the neighboring countries of Italy, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro, there are over 10 million Albanians. There are more Albanians outside of the country than in it.
During our travel through Albania, we noticed Albanians are obsessed with two things, first, their National Flag, you can find cool Double-headed Eagle flag at every street corner, and second, they are more obsessed with Mercedes cars. We noticed every 7-8 out of 10 cars were Mercedes of every model you can think of starting from 1970s.
Below are the places we visited during our a week-long travel around Albania. Click on any city to view my travel photos and stories.
After a week in Albania, we continued our backpacking through the Balkans journey towards North to Kotor, a fortified town and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Montenegro.
Window on the World 