Unfortunately not all hotel owners are experienced with online booking in Albania. One thing I do is I make sure I've seen the hotel on Google Street view, or check if they have a Facebook page. As for the taxis, there are several taxi companies in Vlora that can be found on the internet and you can call them for free even. As regards buses, there is a bus station for your destination and a bus departs from there every one hour. It's not too complicated but of course not as simple as with terminals. But the situation there is chaotic, with bus owners shouting the destination to get a last minute traveler. I understand how you may get confused there. However, you don't have to call the bus, unless you want to travel specifically with that bus. There is always another bus, especially for bigger cities like Vlora. It is true that there are no terminals yet, they are under construction. You just get on the bus that has "Vlore" on the window and take a seat that is available. What astonished me is what you said about the guy with passports. I've lived in Albania for my entire life, 40 years old, and it is the first time I hear about passports being sold. I haven't heard about such a thing even during the hard '90s. Are you sure you haven't seen an old man selling "Libreze Pune" or stuff like that? Because that's common. Or maybe souvenirs for collectors? I don't know. Passports are biometric. There's nothing you can do with somebody else's passport in Albania. Whoever you might have seen I guarantee you that's not something common in Albania.
You seem like a genuine and very nice person. We absolutely loved Albania and cannot wait to come back and explore more, with much more experience, understanding and open mind, we cannot wait to meet local people. Passports were real, but it doesnt matter. Thanks for your insights.
Hi guys, I really appreciate the fact you are breaking these stereotypes. I just wanted to give you some context about the addresses in Albania. For quite some time we have had a problem with street numbers. This is because after the 90s there was a construction boom, both legal and illegal (which later got legalized or never did). You can imagine that everything was so chaotic that it was difficult to keep up with the numbering. In some cities they numbered a couple of times, so buildings ended up having 2 or more numbers, in others they didn't even bother. As a result we ended up having favella like addresses, where if you don't see the number, you should basically call. I don't think what you experienced was a scam, but i think it was inconsiderate of their part to assume the foreigners would know that that is not the full address. Regarding the guy selling passports, are you sure those were not plastic passport covers? I mean is not forging doesn't happen here, but nobody does that in the center of the city.
Hello Jay and Alina, we had similar situation happen in Lithuania. It can happen anywhere around the world. Again, the Lithuanian people we met were so helpful and so warm. As you did, we went on to have an enjoyable time in the city of Vilnius. They are lessons you learn when traveling. Love you guys 😍😍😍. Sending you lots of love. Jim and Harriet and Yuki. Richmond, Va.
Great video - by the way we just got back from bali (Legian 11 nights , Sanur 3 ) - great time and not too many tourists . Would love to hear your stories on Budapest as my daughter is heading there in a month and attending a music festival . ( we have her booked into a nice hotel )
We just came back from dürres, and i have to say the normal people are verry helpfull and nice, we were with 3 girls they tried to scam us with the rental cars do we just started a big fight
This also happened to me in Istanbul twice through Airbnb; After walking for three blocks and uphill sweating all over, I ended up at a completely wrong address. The other was the taxi driver just could not find the address given on Airbnb. I thought I was scammed too but it was all caused by mis-communication of the hosts. It was a mess, but luckily some nice people helped me find them.
The passports are not valid , they are just like a souvenir of the designs during different times...also buy a sim card and call the hotel srsly... And how is that a scam , that hotel owner is just an idiot , he probably refused to pay someone to sort the social media stuff and said i can do it myself. Keep in mind Albania is pretty new to all apps and social media advertising and people don't understand the importance of it, and google maps it's not the most reliable source of info in Albania , just ask locals. Hope you enjoyed your stay.
yeah it can be tricky ... it is a bit different but reminded me how some people book a hostel or hotel in a certain area in Vancouver, BC, thinking it's great central area and a good deal and get right into where drug addicts and homeless live on Hastings st. (that area is close to one of the fanciest so unless you do some research you might not realize).
I don't know where are you from guys, and I don't want to know that. But your review is full of misleadings and lies. It's is impossible to be an old man who sells ID and passports, only is they were for fun. The police don't allow this kind of things, trust me. You have to clarify this on or show any photo/evidenced, if not this one was the first untruth in your narration. Second one is true that Vlora and Albania have difficulty with addresses by is impossible than one hotel your booked was in middle of bushes if it was 2.5 km far from city center. And you didn't go there to see where it was located. Second untruth. Is impossible in a bus station not have taxis, unless you have problems with seeing/vision. Third untruth. Anyway, hope for you to be free from prejudices and enjoy your visit.! Ps: To be a turist in Albania is for people who love advetures and all sort of difficulties that sometime make a trip more interesting. You can't visit Albanian and pretend to be similar to Monaco, this is why is cheaper than Monaco.
Gerald i wish you were free from prejudice, aggravated judgement and defensive attitute, there is no need for that. It was just a funny situation, we experienced, and told you about with the smile on our face and laughts. This is not a review. Breath …
@@jayandalina I'm free thanks God 🙏🏻! But starting from the title "we were scammed in Albania" which was the scam, mislocation between the hotel and Google maps, sometimes as I sad this happens couse since lot of areas are under construction,street and locations chage. Not speaking for other things you speak in video. People who view can't figure out you are joking couse you smile, they hear what you say. Maybe you did it to "sell" more you video but could have chose a different way for that. Keep in mind Albania is one of the poorest country in Europe, the services they offer are best you can get from a country with that economic development.
What a great experience we had at the first weeks of our travels haha. However, loved our time in Albania and cannot wait to visit again 😍
Unfortunately not all hotel owners are experienced with online booking in Albania. One thing I do is I make sure I've seen the hotel on Google Street view, or check if they have a Facebook page.
As for the taxis, there are several taxi companies in Vlora that can be found on the internet and you can call them for free even.
As regards buses, there is a bus station for your destination and a bus departs from there every one hour. It's not too complicated but of course not as simple as with terminals. But the situation there is chaotic, with bus owners shouting the destination to get a last minute traveler. I understand how you may get confused there. However, you don't have to call the bus, unless you want to travel specifically with that bus. There is always another bus, especially for bigger cities like Vlora. It is true that there are no terminals yet, they are under construction. You just get on the bus that has "Vlore" on the window and take a seat that is available.
What astonished me is what you said about the guy with passports. I've lived in Albania for my entire life, 40 years old, and it is the first time I hear about passports being sold. I haven't heard about such a thing even during the hard '90s. Are you sure you haven't seen an old man selling "Libreze Pune" or stuff like that? Because that's common. Or maybe souvenirs for collectors? I don't know. Passports are biometric. There's nothing you can do with somebody else's passport in Albania. Whoever you might have seen I guarantee you that's not something common in Albania.
You seem like a genuine and very nice person. We absolutely loved Albania and cannot wait to come back and explore more, with much more experience, understanding and open mind, we cannot wait to meet local people. Passports were real, but it doesnt matter. Thanks for your insights.
@@jayandalina those “passports” are not real they are souvenirs and they are sold everywhere 🤦🏻♂️
Hi guys, I really appreciate the fact you are breaking these stereotypes. I just wanted to give you some context about the addresses in Albania. For quite some time we have had a problem with street numbers. This is because after the 90s there was a construction boom, both legal and illegal (which later got legalized or never did). You can imagine that everything was so chaotic that it was difficult to keep up with the numbering. In some cities they numbered a couple of times, so buildings ended up having 2 or more numbers, in others they didn't even bother. As a result we ended up having favella like addresses, where if you don't see the number, you should basically call. I don't think what you experienced was a scam, but i think it was inconsiderate of their part to assume the foreigners would know that that is not the full address. Regarding the guy selling passports, are you sure those were not plastic passport covers? I mean is not forging doesn't happen here, but nobody does that in the center of the city.
Will always support your channel brothers and sisters
I’m glad at the end you had good experience from Albania and their people. Cheers body 👍
Hello Jay and Alina, we had similar situation happen in Lithuania. It can happen anywhere around the world. Again, the Lithuanian people we met were so helpful and so warm. As you did, we went on to have an enjoyable time in the city of Vilnius. They are lessons you learn when traveling. Love you guys 😍😍😍. Sending you lots of love. Jim and Harriet and Yuki. Richmond, Va.
Great video - by the way we just got back from bali (Legian 11 nights , Sanur 3 ) - great time and not too many tourists .
Would love to hear your stories on Budapest as my daughter is heading there in a month and attending a music festival . ( we have her booked into a nice hotel )
We just came back from dürres, and i have to say the normal people are verry helpfull and nice, we were with 3 girls they tried to scam us with the rental cars do we just started a big fight
This also happened to me in Istanbul twice through Airbnb; After walking for three blocks and uphill sweating all over, I ended up at a completely wrong address. The other was the taxi driver just could not find the address given on Airbnb. I thought I was scammed too but it was all caused by mis-communication of the hosts. It was a mess, but luckily some nice people helped me find them.
The passports are not valid , they are just like a souvenir of the designs during different times...also buy a sim card and call the hotel srsly...
And how is that a scam , that hotel owner is just an idiot , he probably refused to pay someone to sort the social media stuff and said i can do it myself.
Keep in mind Albania is pretty new to all apps and social media advertising and people don't understand the importance of it, and google maps it's not the most reliable source of info in Albania , just ask locals.
Hope you enjoyed your stay.
Yep, we loved it👍🏻😊
yeah it can be tricky ... it is a bit different but reminded me how some people book a hostel or hotel in a certain area in Vancouver, BC, thinking it's great central area and a good deal and get right into where drug addicts and homeless live on Hastings st. (that area is close to one of the fanciest so unless you do some research you might not realize).
Shame on your video . You should respect the country you visit . Not calling scam . I think you are the scam here .
👏🏼👏🏼
I don't know where are you from guys, and I don't want to know that. But your review is full of misleadings and lies. It's is impossible to be an old man who sells ID and passports, only is they were for fun. The police don't allow this kind of things, trust me. You have to clarify this on or show any photo/evidenced, if not this one was the first untruth in your narration. Second one is true that Vlora and Albania have difficulty with addresses by is impossible than one hotel your booked was in middle of bushes if it was 2.5 km far from city center. And you didn't go there to see where it was located. Second untruth. Is impossible in a bus station not have taxis, unless you have problems with seeing/vision. Third untruth. Anyway, hope for you to be free from prejudices and enjoy your visit.! Ps: To be a turist in Albania is for people who love advetures and all sort of difficulties that sometime make a trip more interesting. You can't visit Albanian and pretend to be similar to Monaco, this is why is cheaper than Monaco.
Gerald i wish you were free from prejudice, aggravated judgement and defensive attitute, there is no need for that. It was just a funny situation, we experienced, and told you about with the smile on our face and laughts. This is not a review. Breath …
@@jayandalina I'm free thanks God 🙏🏻! But starting from the title "we were scammed in Albania" which was the scam, mislocation between the hotel and Google maps, sometimes as I sad this happens couse since lot of areas are under construction,street and locations chage. Not speaking for other things you speak in video. People who view can't figure out you are joking couse you smile, they hear what you say. Maybe you did it to "sell" more you video but could have chose a different way for that. Keep in mind Albania is one of the poorest country in Europe, the services they offer are best you can get from a country with that economic development.