Saranda has gone from a small fishing village to a tourist hub with no end to expansion in sight. There are still bargains to be had, if you want to buy an apartment by the seaside; you can get a 1-bedroom apartment with €34 k, and that's just the tourist price. (In my experience, there is one price for tourists, and another for locals on everything.)
There are many unfinished buildings all around Saranda and Albania. I was told this was because of the complicated building permit, title ownership and documentation practices in Albania. It appears you can start building, but if a recent change in the council regulations require your building to be 2 floors, instead of the 3 you were approved for, the building will be halted. Or it might not be clear who actually originally owns the land, even though you've got a title for it. (We had same issues in Nicaragua.) Sometimes this is handled by passing some 'incentive' to the appropriate hands.
The Bay area of the town is really the tourist hub of all. The Promenade is a gathering point for tourists and locals alike, a place to see and to be seen in the evenings.
Children with their parents come out to play and it's finally cool enough for the dogs to come out with their owners. One thing I appreciated was that dogs were allowed to swim in the sea and go to the beach, which is unlike so many other countries. And yet, there was no dog poop on the beaches that I could see.
It was also nice to observe all the different yachts and cruise ships that anchored on the bay. The passengers were ambling around the Promenade, and different vendors set up their goods just for the occasion of having the passengers come visit.
We even met a lovely elderly gentleman from Florida, who had given the cruise for himself as a birthday present 💓He had almost skipped Saranda altogether, being wary of the bad things he'd been told, but as we talked to him, he said he was very happy to have taken the chance and explored the lovely place. I do hope the rest of his trip went well.
Saranda was built on a hillside, just like so many Albanian coastal villages, as the country is very mountainous. Therefore, there were lots of steps to climb if you wanted to explore the city away from the Promenade. Most streets closest to the beach were unsurprisingly littered with souvenir - and tourist shops, but on the 2nd street from the Promenade, there started to be more mainstream shops, grocery stores and local fruit stalls. This is where the locals lived, as they've been priced out from the beach areas.
This picture is probably a more well-to-do area in any case.
During the hottest part of the day, you could see locals set up a cardboard mattress under a tree in the central park, and families sat there watching their children play as the tourists were grilling themselves on the beach.
There were a few beggars on the streets too, and the women unabashedly used their children as preps. There were also children walking around selling fruits and berries in cups. Mom often mumbled about child labor...
So, there aren't any traces of the communist regime that I can plainly see in the town. In Saranda, tourists can have a good standard of living, even on the inexpensive side when you know where to go. The beach restaurants are obviously more expensive than those further away. But there are also differences between the beach restaurants themselves. such as Restaurant Gostivari and its neighbor Fresh Fish Joni. Having enjoyed a relatively inexpensive meal at Gostivari, we thought the Joni next to it would be about the same price. It certainly wasn't! And the food was badly made, but that's something for TripAdvisor, not here.
Which reminds me of this yummy dessert though, I don't know its name unfortunately, was something local and Albanian. Very sweet and filling. It had some sort of cake on the bottom, then some custardy kind of filling, fruit and whipped cream... As you can see, I was half way done with it, before I realized I should probably take a pic of it before it was all gone. It doesn't look as pretty as it did untouched.
If you want to exchange currency, the several money exchange offices on the 2nd street from the Promenade have much better rates than e.g. banks, or even taking money out of the ATM. Even then, there are slight differences in the rates they give, so if you're particular about it as I am, do check them, they are clearly posted.
Had we spent all our holiday in Saranda, it would've been a little boring. You really should be mobile and explore all the different areas around Saranda and Southern Albania. More about that later though...
There's a lot to see up north too, but that would be for another time.
The main roads aren't in such a bad shape as years ago. There are still some improvements to be made when it comes to traffic culture, but as long as you are aware of our surroundings and don't go competing with local drivers, you should be good. However, if the police stop you, you shouldn't get out of the car, or pay them what they request, as it is against the law. That might have been my only point of hesitancy in this driving yourself business.
If you'd like to explore the country with someone else doing the driving, and a very knowledgeable guide, I would definitely recommend contacting Arjon Hila. He speaks both English and Finnish, and as a local, knows the country, its history and people. He can be found on Facebook, or you can ask me for his WhatsApp information.
Most of the time, however, we took the bus or the furgon, which is a kind of a minibus. Definitely an experience all by itself. Just be aware that you will get the tourist rates that the locals don't have to pay...
You may also see places having 2 different forms of names, such as Saranda and Sarandë. The first is the definite form, which is alright to use speaking English, and the second is the indefinite form, which is often seen on street signs or buses.
No comments:
Post a Comment