10 July 2009 (click photos to get to gallery)
Getting in and out of Albania can be a pain in the ass. If you’re not taking a bus to Tirana you have to navigate a strange path. Going from Skoder you have only a few options including furgon and taxi.
Now the furgons don’t go all that frequently since there aren’t so many people hopping the border on a daily basis. So that means taxi is probably going to be the best bet but it’s going to be expensive. The furgon (when it goes) is between 5 and 8 Euro while a taxi will be about 20. However if you’re lucky you find someone to split the ride with you and you could even pay as little as 8 Euro that way with two people.
Now the taxi drivers are like pit bulls in heat. They will tell you there are no furgons and will hound you throughout the area.
You could even be sitting in a furgon with a sign saying Ulcinj and they will try to tell you there is no furgon to Ulcinj. They’ve even been known to sit and wait for up to an hour and a half if you tell them there’s a bus because I think they just don’t believe there is a bus and who would want to take a bus when you could have the comfort of a taxi.
I got lucky and shook off a particularly rabid taxi driver just in time to have a very nice older Montenegran woman ask if I wanted to split a taxi with her to Ulcinj. I said sure and we had an enjoyable ride. The taxi driver was convinced that I would want him to wait for me and then he would take me all the way up to Budva but I assured him I could and would find and take a bus or maybe a furgon. He was a good sort and not pit bullish in the least which was another reason to take him and the old woman up on the original offer.
Getting into Ulcinj was easy enough and I navigated my way down to the beach. Ulcinj is a travesty. As you can see by the photos tourists flock to the place and even the old walled-in area of town is awash with signs for accommodation and restaurants. there’s very little in the way of redeeming qualities about the place from a sightseeing and backpacking standpoint. It really was just a way-point to get into and out of the country as far as I was concerned and there was no reason to spend more than an hour wandering about. (The Ulcinj Gallery)
Next stop was Budva, in classic fashion I had no place to stay so I emailed Andrew Key (Andrew small from Mostar/Sarajevo) as I knew he was working at Hippo Hostel (18 Euro a night – April to October Owner: Marcus, Staff: Rotating. To the south of the bus station) in Budva. Turned out there was no available bed that night but as I was on the way already arrangements would be made (almost another hostel surfing experience). By the time I arrived someone had canceled their reservation and I was solid gold.
Nilesh was also in town as it happened and so we had a minor Sarajevo reunion though Nilesh and Andrew hadn’t met there. Along with them was a whole new crew of people to meet and try to remember. since it was already getting late we decided to all head out to the clubs and pubs of old town Budva.
Heading into the Stari grad we stopped first at Casper’s Republik for a couple drinks and strung together several tables to make room for everyone. It so happened that one American girl was in the group that also lived in Prague and works for Caledonian there. Kate from the UK and Olivia from down under (New Zealand specifically). A couple girls were from Vancouver and a smattering of Americans from Chicago, New York, etc. Then there was Rob from FollowtheHippo who was Lebanese and American…first one of those on the trip as well.
I also met Martin, the first Swede on the trip and then Jasper and Sofi the first Danes on the trip and another Norwegian so the region was well represented.
It was a fairly uneventful evening as far as those things go and we were all back at the hostel by around 3.30 and that was that.