Gone with the backpack

Albania may not be on top of your list at the moment but push it up there... The country is still a virgin in the sense that humans have not interfered in nature much....yet. People are still genuinely curious to talk to you and know why you chose their country and are happy to answer all your questions. They don’t want to sell you anything, not yet…And you are not looked at as a walking dollar. Reminded me of what my home country Bulgaria was when I was growing up – no resorts or shiny hotels, lots of wild beaches and camp sites, of course, really bad roads and poor infrastructure but people were much nicer to each other. The poorer, the nicer. Much less to lose, much more to give. So please, hurry up to see one of the few unique places in Europe left…I give it maximum 2 years and all that will change. The big corporations would bring their cranes and excavators to “develop” the country and as a result people would realize that they could actually make money instead of being so nice.
Just want to mention that before going to Albania everyone was telling me "Be careful, it is extremely dangerous! You will get kidnapped, raped, robbed, or whatever bad thing could happen to a solo female traveler. Of course I ignored all that but what I found went even beyond my expectations.
I was already 2 months on the road touring the Balkans when found myself in a beach town in Southern Albania. Being so close to Corfu I couldn´t just not go there. Ferry to Corfu from Saranda is 24 euros (a bit pricey considering that you can almost swim to the island but no competition there). Another alternative exists if you are more flexible with time. If you go 75 km south to Igoumenitsa in Greece, the ferry only costs 10€ to Corfu town or 6,50€ to Lefkini. So that’s what I did. Hitchhiking.

Getting out of town, I quickly got picked up by a guy who not only took me to the other side of town (with my non existing sense of directions I was standing on the wrong side of town) and then to the closest village so I could hitch hike easier and safer. Imagine my surprise when he didn’t let me leave the car without taking a bill of 50 euros! Didn’t help telling him that I have enough money and it is just my way of travelling…He kept insisting and I ended up taking it with the promise that I can return the favor one day by helping someone else on the road! So this little country showed much more generosity and hospitality than any other in Europe.