Albania has it all, beautiful adriatic coast, the albanian alps, charming and culturally rich UNESCO cities, but going there also means traveling back in time to a period, where it was the most locked country in the world, completely detached from the world, I have never been to North Korea and I am sure those countries are not comparable at all, but diving into the history of this country gives you a hint of how it must feel to live in a country far away from the rest of the world.
1. What made me go to Albania in the first place
If you live in Berlin, chances are, you already had some culinary experiences with the albanian cuisine and for me travel like love always goes through the stomach to end up at my heart, so I wanted to visit the country of this unpretentious, but delicious little balcan country to get to know the real flavor. Second, I heard of the amazing alpine region and the very famous Theth to Valbona (or verse visa) hike and thought this could be a perfect alternative to the overcrowded (though still amazing) German or Austrian alps, which moreover can only be hiked during the summer months. Last, but not least I wanted to feel the history of a country that has been closed up for decades (and I am talking no international relations/alliances), where people told us that they tried bananas for the first time only less than 30 years ago and where actually more Albanians live outside the country than inside.
"Wherever you go, go with all your heart" by Confucius 
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