VIAJE A ALBANIA, EL PAÍS HERMÉTICO | ALBANIA #1

Well it's starting a new journey once again already in motion And nothing else it's been a few months since I was in Norway with Alex And I was already thinking of taking another little trip So now I've come to another European country but I've come to the Balkans region But anyway I don't know why I'm making such a big deal about it if it's in the title Yes I have come to Albania It's the only Balkan country I had left to visit Back then when I visited other countries in the region like Macedonia Kosovo Serbia and so on I was just about to visit him but I had car rental issues in Bulgaria and such Well I told you back then but I couldn't So well I've had that thorn in my side for a few years now And now I finally could come and I'm going to dedicate a few days to it I will be here for more than 10 days to visit much of the country I think I'll have time to see the most important things Well it's May It starts in May but it's already quite hot It will be around 20 degrees I am now in the car I just rented a car for these days The best way to get around Albania is to rent a car I'm at the airport It won't be visible but anyway there's the Madre Teresa Airport back there Well it's quite early It's 9 in the morning The issue is that I came yesterday Flights from Madrid at least as of today arrive quite late They leave at 1:30 AM from Madrid and arrive here at 12:45 AM The issue is that Wizz Air the airline I flew with has had a history of many delays So if you take it keep that in mind The flight was supposed to leave at 9:30 PM last night but it took off at 12 Then we got here at a quarter to three or something like that That is almost three hours later than we should have Then of course we got here Well I got here at a quarter to three I went directly to a hotel a hotel that's right here around there The Garden View The truth is it's very good I just used it to sleep But really nice people because they sent me before landing They sent me a video showing how to get to the hotel from the airport It's simple but honestly it's nice that they sent you a video With all the journey made in an accelerated way because when I arrived it was direct and it took no more than two minutes to get from the airport to the hotel And in five minutes she was already in bed So in that part perfect I haven't slept much I must have slept about five hours plus whatever I managed to sleep yesterday on the plane Well I'm feeling pretty good right now Enough to get through the day Then I'll rest at night I'm getting in the car now and we're heading to our first destination Lake Ohrid I'm already arriving at the first destination which is the town of Lin It is a settlement located next to a huge lake here Okay now I'll show you But I wanted to stop along the way There are very few highways in Albania practically none All are quite a few winding paths that are crossing the mountain Oh for example in this case it's always following this river here Well there was a rest stop with a gas station here I have seen this river which I have been watching all along the way And since there was a good break to see it I mean well I'll take a quick look anyway I make a little stop I take some photos with the drone And then I rest for a few minutes Then well the truth is that the trip is very nice Because it's quite natural There's a lot of mountain a lot of green And I like that a lot He has already arrived at Lin A town that as I have mentioned to you is located next to Lake Ogrid It is a place I wanted to visit a few years ago In fact when I was in Macedonia I wanted to visit it But due to lack of time I couldn't make it And then well initially it's more beautiful to visit it from the northern Macedonia side Because well the town of Ogrid there is more historical and more beautiful But anyway if not from Albania it's also cool I'm going to make a few stops along the lake I won't be here for long Lin is a very very small town What I'm going to do is take a look from here Then I will go around part of the lake until I reach the place where I will sleep tonight That is the town of Korcha Well and about Albania in general The main motivation for wanting to visit it On one hand because it was the country I was missing from the Balkans And because it was getting a lot of attention I've really been liking these places lately so they're more unknown Instead of going to the typical most touristy places I like to go now to discover places that are a bit more unknown Or that are not so popular And moreover many of these sites still have a bad reputation today For example Kosovo which I also visited a few years ago I'll leave the video from then here Albania has places that when you tell people about them they have a bad reputation Due to historical reasons But in principle they are really quiet today They are pleasant to visit It is true that they still do not have a very strong infrastructure for tourism But that is part of the charm Then that's why I was getting so much attention I want to discover that other Albania And show it to you And even that someone is convinced and decides to come after watching those videos I have arrived here to a viewpoint located in Linn The path is not the most intuitive But the truth is that if you keep going straight there's a moment when there are the typical red and white stripes found in the mountains To mark the path You're following them around you're going to check out the small houses in the area but okay You will reach a point where you will surely find a donkey that marks the viewpoint and the Truly it's an incredible view because they tell you it's a lake but it's actually a reservoir It looks like an ocean It's so big I think it has a surface area of 355 square kilometers Well this area around Lake Ogrid is really nice I highly recommend it the viewpo It's very good and I'm not going to leave anything alone because there's a burrito here and I don't want to bother it Because I was recording a story and it scared me because it turned into a genre and I Because it was bothering him It's a place that has always had a bad reputation historically Just like Kosovo and other countries in the Balkan region Damn that donkey just gave me a scare So well it's kept me a bit away so nothing if you see him give him my greetings and tell him I'm very sorry I have just arrived in about 20 minutes by driving along the road that runs alongside Lake Ogrid to the e town of Pogradec which is the capital of this entire Pogradec region and is like a kind of Coming from the resort city it's a very vacation-oriented place with many resort-style hotels but it's good basically where many Albanians come to spend the weekend especially In the summer to enjoy the beach This beach where I am which is not very big well it is It's a bit long but considering how big Lake Ogrid is it's not that big after all Okay here come many Albanians to spend a few days in the summer because it's big What is the Ogrid Lake which is shared by both Macedonia and Albania this is the only beach What is there in the whole lake Well if you want to swim here it's one of the best places best spots to do it The truth is it's tempting to slide down that slide If you don't take some illness from the rust left on the remains of the slide then when in the par When you fall with your back on the beam you already have to fall perfectly Now as you can see there is no one on the beach there are people and quite a few walking around we are at the end but it's true that there isn't the same level of activity as there surely is in the summer It has been months that I wanted to avoid it for two reasons especially the amount of people mostly tourists Come here because in the end Albania is a small country think that Albania is the size of Galicia and also has a population of about three million people Then well in summer as tourism comes which is increasingly coming in International here because it fills up quickly and besides the heat here in summer can reach high levels It's 40 degrees so I would just come to the beach there wouldn't be any problem But since I want to visit some towns and such I prefer to do it with milder temperatures because if I don't I'll die and after taking a walk along the beach I went to eat at a place tha They had recommended that the restaurant is called The Change it's right there next to the Playa and it's very good I really loved it Also if you like fish a lot there you can Try the typical fish from Lake Ohrid for example there is a type of fish that I can't remember Now the name but it is like salmon very similar to salmon and it is caught here Lago is then a good place to try local products and nothing I have eaten great food there A plate of carbonara pasta that's really delicious al dente and then a plate of stea Here you will see in Albania what cuisine is it has a very strong influence of Countries in the area for example have a lot of influence especially from Greece and Italy And some from Turkey as well at the end well people who have been here and the other thing of The best thing is that it's very cheap for example the pasta dish I think it was three euros and It was something like that and the meat would have been about five euros so all the food came out to that One for ten euros then amazing and I have come now to a place that is nothing less tha Ten minutes by car from that area of the beach in Pogradec which is the Drilon National Par I was expecting quite a bit more from the national park but the truth is it's a nice place What's there is nice but it's just a park with four ducks and not much else so it's just a regular area The wetlands have a small river running through them and you can take small boats for a ride It's very small meaning that even if you take the boat you have enough for a tour About four minutes from end to end that's all and the only things there are a couple of restaurants and bars where you can have a drink so it seems like they're still expanding a little A little later I understand that if you come within a few years the infrastructure will Much larger and more accessible but as of today at least the walkable parts where There's a path to walk it's very small in five or ten minutes you'll see it so it's nice It's worth taking the detour if you're in the area but don't come all the way here specifically to see this because there's not much more to say