Finally on the way to Albania.

[Cessna 180]

Decided I best make a trip report as much for myself as others..!



Today at this time, I am seated in 1A on QF37.

This time last year I was in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. However, I really wished to go to Albania and some more of The Balkan countries. As I soon discovered, three weeks is not enough to explore that amount of area. So not long after arriving home I had myself a classic ticket to Dubrovnik via BKK. This did not exactly suit me but it was a start.

I did not give it much thought for a few months until things were a bit quiet at work earlier in the year and started looking into things a bit further. Added to this a good friend of mine needed to go to Sicily for a few days to attend to some things. So after a few phone calls to QFF and a couple of reward changes I ended up with a completely different ticket via SIN, DBX and MLA.

This new trip involves a few “firsts”. First time in SIN. First time (well second but a long time ago) in EK and first time in FIRST! Oh, and also second time on A380. Now I am not really a “F” type of person, but as the taxes are the same and for a few more points than J it seemed worth it. Also, as an a side, the taxes are significantly less via Asia than beginning in AUS. Around $800 from MEL to MLA plus the standard points.

A night in Malta, a ~$100 RyanAir trip to Catania then a few days in Sicily followed by another RyanAIr to Sofia and I will finally be where I need to be!. Bloody puffed out already haha.

I have already realised I will not get to Bosnia and Croatia this trip so yesterday I was able to book a start to next years trip. MEL-DFW-LHR-DBV. This planning ahead business is great when it only cost 5000 points to change. My idea is to add the returns when available next month to turn it in to a classic RTW.

 

[kpc]

We just came back from a Balkan trip including Shkoder and Tirane in Albania....so will be interesting to read your TR. You must visit Sarajevo in Bosnia & Herzegovina...in fact that country is amazingly beautiful!

 

[Cessna 180]

We just came back of a Balkan trip including Albania

Oh good grief! tell us more? I have no real plans, other than a bus through Macedonia thence hiring a car in TIA and driving around.

 

[kpc]

Oh good grief! tell us more? I have no real plans, other than a bus through Macedonia thence hiring a car in TIA and driving around.

We did a small group tour, starting in Sofia, --> Belgrade-->Sarajevo-->Mostar-->Trebinje-->Dubrovnik-->Kotor-->Shkoder-->Tirana-->Ohrid-->Skopje-->Sofia.

We also did a very quick side evening trip to Pristina, Kosovo from Skopje, North Macedonia. After the tour ended, we went by ourselves to Bucharest and Chisinau.

The only Balkan country we missed is Slovenia so will try and do that next year.

Ps...double check about hiring cars in Albania as our guide said there are major issues with car insurance there and advised not to if we ever came back ourselves to Albania.

 

[RooFlyer]

I'll be doing a small group tour of Bosnia Herzegovina and Montenegro in a few weeks so that TR might give you some ideas for next year.

 

[Cessna 180]

We did a small group tour, starting in Sofia, --> Belgrade-->Sarajevo-->Mostar-->Trebinje-->Dubrovnik-->Kotor-->Shkoder-->Tirana-->Ohrid-->Skopje-->Sofia.

We also did a very quick side evening trip to Pristina, Kosovo from Skopje, North Macedonia. After the tour ended, we went by ourselves to Bucharest and Chisinau.

The only Balkan country we missed is Slovenia so will try and do that next year.

Ps...double check about hiring cars in Albania as our guide said there are major issues with car insurance there and advised not to if we ever came back ourselves to Albania.

Quick update, I did make some notes last week but have been re miss in updating. Just arrived at Permet where I will stat for two nights.

I have never done a tour, I probably miss out on a bit and definitely solo can get a bit lonely, but I do not think I would do well with my day being organized by others.

For now anyway, after Macedonia, I arrived in Tirana by bus Saturday evening. Had a couple of days in the city on foot and then picked up the SixT car in town Tuesday. I have since driven around for four day with no issues (touch wood).

I have never used SixT before but their service both in Skopje and here was great. They met me each time in town for pick up and delivery and only charged my card for the basic amount, no extra for insurance as I just told them " I have my own insurance", which I do. circa $50 a day for Albania and a little more in Macedonia.

 

[Cessna 180]

OK, so I arrived back four weeks ago now and just could not get into much writing, plus work was a bit busy. I have been making a few notes again so I will start pasting them here with a couple of photos.

 

[Cessna 180]

Anyway, arriving in SIN went for a walk to find my next gate for EK. Quite a walk past a lot of shops. I do not really understand the point of high end shops at an airport, I mean: who think “oh, might just nip down to the airport and pay a lot of money for high end goods and then carry them on a flight somewhere?”

Found the QF F lounge. Seemed nice but I was not particularly hungry so had a shower and decamped to the EK lounge for a bit before heading back to the gate. More security to go through. Another first for me. Security check at the gate. Was pretty quick anyway and then in to suite 2K.

Now plenty has been written about EK F so I will not elaborate too much.

Service was impeccable and the multiple crew I interacted with seemed genuinely friendly and could not do enough for me. I was pretty worn out so in between the odd glass of Dom and Hennessy I snoozed as much as I could. I went and checked out the bar too, not much going on there at that time of night.

I still enjoy exploring new airports so I ended up having three train rides in Dubai . I followed the signs to where my gate was and thence found the lounge. Upon chatting with the people there I learned that the lounge in the terminal from where I had just come was better (Terminal A) I think. I do agree that the shower suite was better there, so after taking advantage of this and a bit of a look around, I was back on the train to C for a bight to eat before boarding my suite in 2K again for Malta. I was a bit more awake by now so took advantage of the service a bit more for the next 8 or so hours.

Arriving in Malta to clear sunny skies and about 25 deg. Uber into “Viktorja106” at Senglea. Nice accom in a peaceful spot.

Oh. I just dismembered too at Dubai. I had been walking around a bit and had just hopped on the train to the next terminal when a bloke with an airport or Emirates uniform hopped on concurrently. I nodded politely at him and he said " Are you Mr 180 by any chance?" A bit baffled my initial reaction was to say no because I was thinking ' what have I done'?

Now to this day I am still baffled as to how he knew who i was. Apparently because I was in F he was designated to escort me to the next gate and he had been looking for me! We had a bit of a chat and a laugh and I thanked him very much but insisted I was all sorted and keen to stretch my legs and explore.

 

[Cessna 180]

iiI

 

[Cessna 180]

As an occasional international flyer, I still get a little bit excited about some lounges but not all.
I rate the MEL F as one of my favorite ways to start a trip.

A bite of caviar along the way.

After all that rich food and booze I just wanted my normal breakfast of a banana and a coffee. The F lounge host in DXB seemed a little perplexed by my simple request.

Window pix along the way and a little stopover in Cyprus. Onward pax did not dis embark, just sat in the seat and consumed more champagne and television.

 

[VPS]

You might want to remove your name and bar code from the photos here

 

[Cessna 180]

You might want to remove your name and bar code from the photos here

Good grief. I did not notice that. Thankyou. I only just checked back in now.

 

[Cessna 180]

So after that faux pa of posting my boarding pass, I guess everyone does indeed now "KWIA!"

I put the words on my laptop and then post pictures from my phone, I suppose there must be a simpler way of doing it I just do not know how.

 

[Cessna 180]

Really only had time to scratch the surface here before being back in the Uber for the trip to Catania. They drive on the left there, same as us I noted as an interesting point. The MLA airport seemed ok until after security. Pretty small space absolutely jammed with people and no seats spare. Oh well, not long to wait for the 45 min hop.

I have found with RyanAir, if anyone is interested the key is to pay for a cabin bag and front row seating. Get in the line early and even if your bag is a bit fat just look confident, and I have not been challenged. With these extras it cost me ~$120.

Arrival Sicily and caught up with my friend and we took the bus into town, a short easy ride.

Next morning back to the airport to collect a renta car. Quick stop at Mt Etna and onwards to Sant’Agata di Militello. I would have liked to spend a bit more time at the volcano but that is the joys of traveling with others. Friend had to meet with some family by a set time so off we went, following the coast around to Sant’Agata di Militello.

The next couple of days we spent poking around there whilst he caught up with his cousins and did what he had to do. I will probably get a bit of flack for saying the following. I was not really impressed by the food in Sicily, the bread and pizza did not seem that good to me, plenty of sugary treats as well. I did find some very good cheese however in a supermarket on the way back to CTA. The food that my friends family cooked for us was excellent though I am glad to say.

Back at CTA we parted ways and I had a bit of a wait for my 2230 flight to Sofia. After many years of lounge access and free drinks/snacks I suppose it did not kill me to pay for a ridiculously overpriced beer and snack at the airport!

FR looked pretty full again and I was grateful for m1A seat with ample room to stretch. Arrival into a cold SOF at ~ 0130 am. I booked the airport IBIS with points and there was a shuttle for which I was glad of by this time of night.

Next morning, I navigated the metro buses to the international bus station to get me across the border to Macedonia. I kind of enjoy these little challenges, finding my way around a strange place where little English is spoken and in this case the Cyrillic alphabet makes it more challenging for me. Also more fun.

 

[Cessna 180]

e

 

[Cessna 180]

A little bit of Malta.

Crowded MLA departures.

Tiny bit of Catania

Sicilian kitchen. I like the drying rack over the sink. I saw quite a few of these subsequently.

Around Sofia, and thence the rest of the trip, I found the food much better and half the price of Sicily.

 

[Cessna 180]

On the international bus to Skopje. Departed on time at 1400, a pleasant journey on decent roads to the border check point. There were only five pax on the bus. A bit like an old V-line bus. Comfy enough for what it was. On arrival at the border the driver decamped to a booth with his passport, shortly after, arriving back and informing us to go to a different booth. I was second inline, passport stamped and no trauma. One of our fellow pax was not so lucky. He was at the booth for a while and the agent was on the phone for a bit. The rest of us got back on the bus. From here we could see him then outside with three border patrol. A bit of hand waving and standing around smoking. A bit later they came and got his bag. A bit more waiting and we drove the hundred or so metres to the Macedonian side and repeated the on and off process. We never saw our comrade again. Must have been too important to be allowed out of Bulgaria….

A further pretty drive and arrival at Skopje bus stop. Now I do my best to not look like a tourist but must have failed dismally on this day. As the door opened about five blokes were there and my immediate thought was they were keen to get on the bus promptly for the next leg!, Turned out to be bloody taxi drivers desperate for my custom. They all followed me around the bus as I collected my bag and as I started off on foot they were still following me. I kind of became annoyed by this within about ten seconds, so I then less than politely informed them it would be in their best interest to cease following me. Whatever I said made them scatter and that was the last I heard from them.

Couple of days on foot around Skopje. Seemed a pretty interesting place.

I then took a car with SixT. I found them good. They met me in town at a hotel and had a bit of a desk there with a few cars. I only had to pay the amount for the car, no extra for insurance and so on, about $50/day for the car. Off I went in the general direction of Ohrid. I found driving around Macedonia pretty reasonable.
I could take the car in Skopje and deliver at Ohrid for the same price.

 

[Cessna 180]

Hungry bird at bus stop

International bus.

Border crossing.

Skopje.

After a week of stuffing around since leaving home I finally felt like my real reason for travelling had begun.
Back in the Balkans

 

[Cessna 180]

Accommodation from now on was a bit basic but functional and usually around $60night. So a pretty fair deal really. I know booking.com is a bit controversial, but I just find it works for my past Europe travels.

One day of exploring on foot then the next day it bucketed down all day, so I drove a little bit but was not in the mood for that really, given the inclement conditions so sadly the only thing I could really think to do was to decamp to one of about fifty bars/cafes around the lake edge. There is a lovely old town with the obligatory ruined castle on top of the hill.

The people around these parts seem to do a lot of sitting around drinking coffee and smoking. Like a lot of coffee and a lot of smoking!. Some of the bars only sell coffee and drink, not much food or some sugary pastry perhaps. I think Ohrid has a lot of tourists, especially from Turkey. In hindsight I would have spent a day less here and explored more of Macedonia properly. The weather did not help and I suppose it is ok to have a day of doing not much sometimes.

Anyway, I best get to Albania. So I turned up to the station and booked the ticket for the next day.

When it came to dropping the SixT off, the bloke met me at a random car wash and drove me to the bus stop. The car was ticked off all good. The car was called “Duster” It was a decent car and had a clutch pedal. I wish hire cars in Aus still had clutch pedals.

 

[Cessna 180]

I was just musing to myself: the beauty of doing this report a few weeks after the event is going through the photos and remembering the things I did and saw. Kind of re living the memories and wishing I was still there. I had completely forgotten about this beautiful old church at the top of the hill in Ohrid. The paintings in these places just completely amaze me every time.