Monday, 23 May 2016

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Albania is located in South Eastern Europe and is blessed with 362km of the Adriatrc Sea's coastline. Albania is growing heavily in travel, tourism and adventure. Judging from the photo above, is there any surprise why?

This country has an array of stunning beaches, amazing mountainous terrain and stunning bustling cities.

Up until 1991 Albania was under a communist regime, it is a shock that travel  and tourism in Albania didn't rocket into success straight after the collapse of communism in the country. With Greece at the border this shocks me even more as Greece has flocked the tourists in for decades.

Albania now is an up and coming destination for tourism with Lonely Planet recommending Albania as a top travel destination. 10% of the country's GDP is from tourism but I can see this rising heavily in the coming years.

Quick Facts

Capital: Tirana

Size: 11,100 sq mi.

Currency: Albanian Lek (L)
£1 = 175L
€1 = 141L
$1 = 124L

Neighboring Countries: 4
 - Montenegro; North.
 - Kosovo; North East.
 - Macedonia; East.
 - Greece; South East.

Language: Albanian.

Getting There

Albania is an easily accessible country. Nearly all visitors can travel to Albania visa free. This includes all the countries in the EU. More information regarding Albania's visa policies can be found here: www.mfa.gov.al.

Albania has 1 international airport located in the capital Tirana and 6 domestic airports dotted around the country.

Price of Living

The exchange rate works out pretty well for tourists in Albania; the price of living is fairly cheap, when I say fairly, for Europe we're talking very cheap.

 - At a pretty normal/standard (inexpensive) restaurant you will expect to pay 630L.
 - For an upper class 3 course meal type restaurant you'll be looking at 2500L
 - A pint of domestic beer can be found at 120L
 - Imported beer is 150L
 - A coffee will be around 135L

So as for your feeding, your money will go far.

Hotels and hostels obviously depend on what you want and where you want to be located in the country, if you're looking for a beachy touristy destination in the country, you will be paying significantly more money than a hostel in the city. 

What to Do and See

Albania of course is littered with stunning beaches, coves, rivers, mountains and lush terrain, but there is more to see than the postcard views.

Urban
The capital Tirana is a bustling city with amazing nightlife, culture and fancy restaurants. There is the National Art and the National History museum located in the city center along with the Tirana pyramid (no, not a tomb for a Pharaoh), the pyramid is one of the cities best night clubs.

There are many excursions offered from the capital city, see the adventure section for more information on this,

Areas of Natural Beauty.
There are many places of natural beauty located in Albania, I don't think many people are aware of how stunning Albania actually is.

Butrint - Located in the deep south of the country Burtrint is An UNESCO world heritage site of an ancient Greek city with the original architecture still standing.


Mount Dajiti National Park - Located centrally in the country 50km East from the Tirana international airport. Mount Dajiti is the highest point in Albania; the national park boasts rivers, waterfalls and lush forests.


Divjaka Karavasata - Another national park, Divjaka Karavasata is located in the West of Albania, the highlight of this national park is the Karavasta Lagoon; cut from the Adriatic sea by a sand bar the lagoon is the largest in the country. An incredible location for bird watching... if you're into that.


Lure/Lura - Once again another national park (are you seeing repetition here?) Lure national park is stunning; located in the north east, situated at the foothills of the Lure mountains which of course boasts an amazing view of the mountains and a good opportunity for a decent instagram pic #lookatdatmountainrange.



Theti - In the extreme north you will find Theti National Park which is part of the Albanian alps #forgetlura.

Albanian Riviera - Some of the most amazing beaches can be found here such as Ksamil, Himara and Bunec.


There are so many more places of natural beauty that I could blab on about for days but I was trying to keep this short and sweet...

Adventure

My favorite topic. Albania being such a free country with an amazing vast landscape creates perfect opportunity for many types of land adventures.

There are opportunities for softer adventure available from Tirana by tour companies;  
 - Jeep Tours
 - Boat Tours
 - Bunkers and Beach Tours
 - Walking Tours
 - Rafting Tours

Outdoor Albania is a perfect tour company for an inexpensive taste of Albanian adventure, this company does activities such as climbing, hiking, sea and river rafting, alp hikes ETC, much more up my street! http://www.outdooralbania.com/

Other adventure companies operate in Albania that offer similar activities and adventures, these include;


Obviously this is all safe commodified adventure. Real adventure lies in the heart of the adventurer! Get out there and find it!

Stay Safe

Generally Albania is an extremely safe place to travel, travelers are not usually targeted, however, pick pocketing can occur.

Let me know about your trip and tips about Albania in the comments!

Albania.

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This amazing country is blessed with a rich culture and beautiful landscape that has unfortunately been plagued and tortured with wars. Afghanistan has been in and out of constant wars for a long time. The "Second Afghan Civil War" was started in 1978 and is still ongoing.

The constant war has unfortunately made Afghanistan a dangerous and difficult country to travel to. The tourism industry is very small and niche (Afghanistan however has a growing adventure tourism sector) but nevertheless an amazing country that I personally would love to experience.

Afghanistan is a hard country to discuss tourism as there isn't a huge deal of media coverage about it.

I must add that most foreign governments would advise travel not to be made to Afghanistan unless essential.

Quick Facts

Capital: Kabul 

Size: 251,827 sq mi.

Currency: Afghan Afghani/AFN (؋)
£1 = 97.70 AFN
€1 = 78.23 AFN
$1 = 68.65 AFN


Neighboring Countries: 6.
 - Pakistan; South, East.
 - Iran; West.
 - Turkmenistan; North.
 - Uzbekistan: North.
 - Tajikistan: North.
 - China: North, East. 

Language: Pashto, Dari.

Getting There

A Single Entry Visa (Stay for 60 days but might be extended for one extra moth after 60 days stay over inside Afghanistan) will be required for any tourist wanting to enter Afghanistan, this usually costs around 52,000 AFN.

Afghanistan has 3 main international airports; Kabul, Kandahar & Herat. Flights to Afghanistan will vary on what country you are flying from.

Price of Living

Afghanistan from a tourist perspective is a inexpensive place to travel, this is with the exception of alcohol; as drinking alcohol is illegal for most of it's citizens there isn't a huge demand for it. However various bars and pubs do sell alcohol to foreign tourists, with the average price of 1 pint being around 200 - 300AFN and a bottle of wine being around 900AFN, this is expensive compared to the average price of living.

In Afghanistan you could expect a meal from a restaurant to be around 450AFN.
A coffee is around 130AFN
A bottle of water is around 20AFN
Hotels vary in Afghanistan. What you pay can depend on where you stay as I would advise any travelers to go with a guide/someone who knows the country.
A local bus ticket (one way) will cost around 20AFN
1 km in a taxi will cost around 50AFN depending on the taxi driver.


What to Do and See

Urban.
Afghanistan has array of many beautiful cities towns and villages, Kabul being the capital city is probably the first place you would think of visiting. Since the Taliban was eradicated in 2001 Kabul has built and grown in beauty. There are many bars and fancy restaurants dotted around the city. Kabul museum was once of the greatest museums in the world, with an admission price of 20 AFN (100 AFN if you want to take a camera) it's a great way to learn about Kabul's history. With a population of around 3.5 million Kabul is very busy, once again traveling to Kabul is advised against unless essential.

Herat is located in the north west of the country and the third largest city. Herat is another place that could be high on a travelers list as there is an international airport situated in the city. As a tourist there is  not a huge deal to do in Herat except to see this beautiful city, there are currently only 2 hotels but another is due to be open soon.

Areas of Natural Beauty.
Afghanistan has no shortage of beautiful landscapes which shocks a lot of tourists just because of Afghanistan's media coverage, all you really hear about is the war and violence. 

Band E - Amir is a national park located just south of the Bande Pitaw Wildlife Refuge, it's a stunning national park that almost looks like it's photo shopped.


Band E Amir holds 6 of the bluest lakes you can ever see, the lakes are situated at the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountain range, the 2nd highest mountain range in the world. When visiting Band E Amir, it's not uncommon to have the vast mountain range with the snowy mountain tops surrounding you. A truly awe inspiring sight.


You can read more about Band E Amir here: http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/04/deep-blue-lakes-of-band-e-amir.html

Another area of natural beauty is the Wakhan Corridor, it is a narrow strip of land that connect Afghanistan to China in the North East, this land also separates Tajikistan from Pakistan. The Wakhan corridor is extremely hard to travel through but still an area of outstanding beauty.

Adventure

Just travelling to Afghanistan is adventure enough but one up and coming adventure activity (besides mountaineering and hiking) is skiing, with mountains and high peaks that sit in Afghanistan it would be silly not to utilize the area as a place for skiing.


Few tourist make the trip to Bamyan every year for the fresh virgin snow and warm hospitality. Bamyan is located in central Afghanistan just East of the Band E Amir. A British adventure company offers 10 day ski tours for around £1700. One downside to the ski industry in Bamyan is that there isn't a ski lift, anyone who wants to ski the untouched slopes must first hike up the mountain, it's around an hours hike for a minutes ride. Is it worth it? I would say yes, not only will you be some of the only people to ski on some of the greatest mountains but you also get the opportunity to visit an untouched area of the world.

Unlike many areas in Afghanistan Bamyan is fairly safe and is not in any threat from insurgents. The tour companies when visiting Afghanistan keep a low profile when travelling from Kabul to Bamyan (Around a 100 mile journey).

Stay Safe

It must be noted that no area of Afghanistan is considered immune from violence. A lot of the country is still littered in land mines so stick to the paths. 

Afghanistan is known as a dusty country, you will realize this as soon as you visit so if you suffer with chest problems, consult your doctor.

Respect is a big deal in Afghanistan, the countries religion is Islam so maybe try to get to understand the religion before you visit.

Another thing to note: it is considered disrespectful to show the bottom of your feet in Afghanistan.

Thanks for reading!

Let me know about your trips and tips about Afghanistan in the comments below!

Afghanistan.

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