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Albania

3,896 bytes removed, 17:27, 4 October 2020
Border Crossing
* [[Theth]] (village & national park)
* [[Borsh]] (village with a wonderful beach)
 
== Border Crossing ==
 
Be careful at the borders, because officers can be corrupted and there are many problems with smuggling of cigarettes, drugs and guns. Border controls are more "exact" than in the rest of the [[Balkans]].
 
* [[Morine border crossing|Kosovo-Albanian border crossing]]
** ''[[User:rozwal|rozwal]] had not issues whatsoever, guards were very friendly and inquired about our purpose of stay (November 2011).''
* [[Ulcinj-Shkoder border crossing|Montenegro-Albanian border crossing]]
** ''[[User:Harveypekar|Harveypekar]] 2010. I tried at Podgorice, but ended up stuck for 2 hours. I made the sign for "a little bit" and made it to Tuzi, where it's better. Even though the touts will discourage you, and shout at cars that you won't pay, I got a ride after 30 mins in an Albanian car. Backsheesh for leaving Montenegro was 5 beers, and entering Albania 200 leks. My drivers paid that. Beware that the road to Skoder is really slow and could take well over an hour. I heard the crossing on the coast is barely visited, and only by tourists, with way less hassle by border guards.
* [[Qafë-Thanës-Struga border crossing]]
** ''[[User:Quarim|Quarim]] had problems at the border check to [[North Macedonia]] (direction [[Struga]], [[Ohrid]]) in 2008, he gave a bribe that the officers let him pass.''
** ''[[User:Klaudyna|Klaudyna]] reports a very different experience: ''We crossed the North Macedonian - Albanian border on foot and started hitchhiking straight after crossing, about 100 meters away from the officers. We thought it's was going to bring us in trouble and we were trying to be as discreet with it as possible. They noticed us of course, but their reaction was quite different from what we expected - they stopped a car for us and told the driver to bring us to Tirana coz there is not much traffic and otherwise we would have waited forever.''
** ''[[User:rozwal|rozwal]] had not issues whatsoever (November 2011).''
** ''[[User:Kutikuti|Kutikuti]] : I crossed the Kosovo - Albanian border in September 2011 without any control whatsoever. There were guards and offices, but noone actually bothered to check if I had a passport. When I arrived in Shkoder, I told the receptionist about the situation, hoping that she would direct me to some police station or anywhere official, but the only thing she said was "never mind...".
** ''[[User:Cebula|Cebula]] and [[User:Damkota14|Damkota14]] Crossed and crossed back to collect Albanian stamp on passport but could not get because they finished stamping. However, everything was smooth and there was no problem. (July 2018).''
* [[Kakavia Greece-Albania border crossing]]
**Arriving from Greece, [[Igoumenitsa]], [[Ioannina]] and Kalpaki, is not a high traffic road but anyway very easy to reach. As crossed the border, you will have a big square, with cafes, shops and so on, you can change money there, but you will be assaulted by anyone try to rip you off. Better move to the petrol stations, you have one, 200m down, closer but a bit less traffic and another one, better, 1 km later, after the junction with kakavia village, already on the way to [[Gjirokaster]], the first albanian city you will meet.
**Arriving from Albania, there are quite frequent busses on the Greek side of the border in the direction of Kalpaki (3,60 eur), Ioannina. (July 2013)
** ''[[User:Fedecicco|Fedecicco]] I passed it (july 2012) without any problem, no corruption nor serious problem met. Only an enormous mass of albanian taxi drivers assault you as you cross the border by foot. Just said them no, almost nobody spoke english, and continued my way.''
** ''[[User:nerd-has-a-shirt|Val]] I passed the border (July 2014) with german passport, not even one question asked. I honestly doubt his english would have been good enough at that point as he looked very shy and not knowing what to say when he gave me back the passport.
== Eating & Drinking ==
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