O c t o b e r 5 2 0 1 3 TRAVEL 7 O c t o b e r 5 2 0 1 3 TRAVEL 6

Albania, the hidden treasure

MENTION that you have decided to
visit the birthplace of King Zog and
Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha, who
shut the country off fromthe rest of
the world for four decades, and peo-
ple simply ask, Why?
Yet Albania, on the western side
of the Balkanpeninsula bordered by
Montenegro, Kosovo, Greece and
Macedonia, and 72km from Italy,
has a surprising amount to offer
from sandy beaches to great food, a
number of UN Educational, Scien-
tific and Cultural Organisation (Un-
esco) world heritage sites, history
going back thousands of years and
300 days of sunshine a year.
It wasnt until after the fall of
communism that Albania opened
up, and it remains one of Europes
undiscovered tourist hotspots. It still
suffers from a negative image, hav-
ing exported Albanian gangsters
who trafficked people, and the disas-
trous financial pyramid scheme that
brought the country, already the
poorest in Europe, to its knees.
Its still very corrupt, but if
youre only going for a week, its a
recherch and niche destinationand
safe for tourists, and while not
wildly friendly, people are helpful
evenwhenyoucant speak Albanian
and they cant speak English.
My introduction began at
Saranda, a 30-minute ferry ride
across the Ionian Sea from Corfu.
The lively port suffers from the ini-
tial growing pains of anunregulated
and developing market too many
package-holiday style hotels.
In its favour, the country does
have anoutstanding coastline and is
a foodie paradise, which is interest-
ing considering that rationing ex-
isted from1986 to 1992.
You do need to know where to go
and what to order, but when you do,
it is a unique experience with culi-
nary influences from Greece, Italy
and 500 years of Ottoman rule. Al-
banianwine canbe unexpectedly de-
licious. Cobo (pronounced Chobo),
both red and white, is as good as
many Italian wines.
One of the many interesting facts
about Albania is its history of reli-
gious tolerance, and in 1967 it be-
came the first and only constitution-
ally atheist country ever to exist.
Mother Teresa is the most famous
Albanian, born in Skopje, Macedo-
nia, whichwas once part of Albania.
During World War II Albania was
a safe haven for European Jews.
With a population of 3.3 million,
30 000 Albanians died fighting the
Nazis, and in Saranda are the re-
mains of a 5th century synagogue.
The first night we drove to
Gjirokastra, a Unesco world
heritage site, known as the City of
Stone, a perfectly preserved 13th
century Ottoman mountain town
and the birthplace of Enver Hoxha
(pronounced Ho-jah).
Hoxha managed to get electricity
across the country in 15 years. The
rest of his accomplishments are
more dubious. There is scant refer-
ence to himat the ethnographic mu-
seum, which was his home. The
house sprawls across multiple levels
and its rooms are airy and large, its
wood staircases, ceilings, banisters
and balconies artfully carved.
The medieval castle dominates
the town, and has great panoramic
views over the mountains.
It has an armaments museum,
and an American plane captured in
1957 at the height of the Cold War. Is-
mail Kadare, one of this years No-
bel candidates for literature, was
also born here.
The first night I stayed at the
Kalemi Hotel, not dissimilar instyle
to Hoxhas house. Dinner was at Ku-
jtimi, a small hillside restaurant
serving local specialities. Try the
qifqi, lighter-than-air meatballs.
Inthe morning, after great coffee,
first at the hotel and another one in
the city centre, we headed off to
Tirana. If you have a penchant for
former communist capitals, stop in
Tirana for a day or two. Its a mix-
ture of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, possi-
bly Istanbul, with a hint of Naples.
The boulevards are wide and
leafy. Youcansee Benito Mussolinis
influence in the government build-
ings dating from when the Italians
occupied Albania during World
War II en route to Greece.
The National Museum has an
evocative Socialist Realist mosaic on
the outside, and the National
Gallery, a prime example of early
1960s architecture, is full of Alban-
ian communist era art, which is
worth seeing. Due to lack of invest-
ment, there is very little upkeep.
The Block is the happening spot.
This is where Hoxha and his crew
exercised their power and during
that time only government officials
were allowed here. It is now full of
trendy bars and restaurants.
This is a coffee-crazy culture and
every leading Italian brand is avail-
able, but Lori Caffe is Albanian. I
had my first one at Juvenilja
Castelo, right near the forest of love.
In communist times young couples
would head to the woodlands; people
use its hilly paths as a place to jog or
run as they did in the past.
Boutique hotels have started to
make an appearance in the city. I
stayed at the Sokrat, located right
near The Block. It is clean, efficient,
withgreat apricot jam-filled cronuts
(croissant-doughnuts) for breakfast,
and excellent, strong iced latte, but
its not one of the boutique hotels. It
was standard, no lifts and lots of
stairs, but staff are friendly, helpful
and accommodating, which makes
up for the gaping holes. When it
comes to the service industry, there
is a long way to go.
Two hours from Tirana, at
Dhermi, is a 12thcentury monastery
with magnificent frescoes of icons.
Shen Meria is worth a stop as you
drive along to the coast.
A further two hours over the
mountains, the sapphire-blue wa-
ters turn a pale azure where the
Adriatic meets the Ionian sea, and
where swaying palms, isolated rocky
coves and inlets dot the coast.
The beaches from Saranda to
Vlore offer the best of the Albanian
Riviera, a combination of Greece,
Italy and the south of France, and
every bit as beautiful. One of my
favourites was Llaman. Its small,
quieter and classier than the
trendier Dhermi resort, if you ig-
nore that giant plastic sea creature
parked between the beach loungers.
Eating is a big part of the culture
and there are great bars and
restaurants to sit and watch the
world go by, and as we spent a week
in Albania we travelled to several
different beaches, including Ksamil.
While the natural landscape is
undeniably beautiful, the towns lack
sophistication. However, the hills
and mountains provide a fabulous
backdrop and the sea is an incredi-
ble blue, as well as being warm,
clean and picturesque.
There are so many extraordinary
beaches, coves, and islets but one
outstanding discovery was Pema e
Thate. We found a secluded part of
the sandy beach with clear, warm
blue water, far away fromthe music
and the inevitable screaming of chil-
dren on holiday. You could stare for
hours at the islands and water that
drifts off to the horizon.
We stayed at the family-runHotel
Villa Park Bujani in Ksamil village.
Its clean and popular, and the fam-
ily is as accommodating and sweet
as can be. The plumbing is still a bit
Stalinistic, as is the dcor and local
architecture.
About a 10-minute drive away is
Butrint National Park, an amaz-
ingly preserved ancient town and
another Unesco site. It is quite as-
tounding to think that Julius Caesar
arrived in 44BC and Virgil gave an
account of it in his epic poem, The
Aeneid. They say about Albania that
every 1.5kmthere is a historical site,
and its sad to think that so much
gets looted.
We barely touched all there is to
do, and that includes visiting the Al-
banian Alps, going white-water raft-
ing, horseback riding, and hiking.
For food lovers its good to knowfes-
tivals are starting to proliferate.
I travelled with Past &Present,
(www.pastandpresent.al), who offer
bespoke trips. The company manag-
ing director DritanXhengos forte is
arranging political tours, whichpro-
vide an insight into this fascinating
destination on the rise.
The tourism industry in this country is not yet refined, but it is definitely worth a visit, writes HHHeeeiiidddiii KKKiiinnngggssstttooonnneee
Despite years of Communist rule and the declaration of the country as atheist, religion still thrives.
Because development was severely limited under Communist rule, Albania is still unspoiled.
Rolling, hills, quaint villages... Albania is waiting to be discovered.