2018.10.17 \u2013 Budva (Montenegro) \u2013 Tirana (Albania) \u2013 On the way to bus station, we stopped at a bakery for snacks to help appease any potential craving during our 5h long bus ride to Tirana. We knew we were clearly venturing off the tourist path when we boarded the small bus at 8:30am with only two other (Asian) passengers. For almost two hours, it felt like we had our own private bus driver. The bus climbed from the coastal road to the top of the mountain plateau. We finally picked up a dozen more passengers in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. At the Albanian border crossing, we were switched buses for the remainder of our journey. Half the passengers stepped off the bus in the town of Shkod\u00ebr while we continued on to Tirana, the capital of Albania. We walked from the bus station to our hotel. We were very pleased with our spacious and modern room at the small boutique hotel located in the city center. After reviewing some restaurant options, we set out to find a Chinese restaurant. We struggled to find this newly opened restaurant after asking many locals on the way for some directions. We quickly discovered that English was not widely spoken or even understood. It felt most of the time we were playing a mime game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
2018.10.18 \u2013 Tirana (Albania) \u2013 It was nice once again to enjoy a complementary breakfast in a hotel. As our hotel was right across from the main square, it was quite easy to start our sightseeing day. Beyond some museums and art galleries around the main square, there were not a lot more to explore there. We opted to walk a few kms south to a lake with some nice walking paths. The area seemed to be favored by the locals. We enjoyed the vibrant vibe of Tirana as we walked on its streets. Late afternoon, we decided to take the city bus to the regional bus stations as to familiarize ourselves with the commute as we would be leaving from there next day. It was an interesting experience to see the ticket agent collecting the fee on route. It was pretty amazing that they could identify any new passengers that had recently boarded the bus. After briefly visiting the regional bus station, we confirmed that there were no ways to reserve seats on the bus. The buses simply left the station whenever they were full. We opted to walk back and stopped along the way for a great evening meal \u2013 for half the price of our previous Chinese meal.<\/p>\n\n\n
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