CAPITAL TIRANA- POPULATION 3.6 MILLION - AREA 28,748 SQ KM -OFFICIAL LANGUAGE ALBANIAN
Secretive Albania is starting to emerge from its bunker – of which it still has many (courtesy of invasion-paranoid former leader Enver Hoxha), now sitting redundant and pastel-painted on its beaches. A niche destination for now, this last undeveloped slice of the Mediterranean won't stay that way. At the moment you can drive (bumpily) past unspoiled bays, but not to them. Saranda in the south is an exception, a building boom 10 years ago transforming the sleepy port. Head out to the Unesco-listed Ottoman town of Gjirokastra or the many hillside monasteries and you won't see another soul. In the north, the gorge-navigating ferry from Shkodra to Fierza is reputedly one of the world's best ferry trips.
|
