[Saranda-L] Saranda information for a Norwegian

[Silke Blumbach]

This is a reply to a request of the Norwegian Dag Steinum, who is interested in 
Saranda because he thinks that Albania is now the most interesting country in 
Europe and because it is easy to get to Saranda via Corfu.



Dear Dag,

I am so glad that you wish to go to Saranda !!!
First at all I would like to apologize for answering so late. The reason is that 
I wanted to get some concrete information before replying.
How did you come across Saranda, and what awoke your interest in Albania?
I am a board member of the German Cultural Centre in Saranda, wich I represent in 
Western Europe, especially in Germany. We would like to be a bridge between those 
who visit Saranda and those who live there.
So if you have any question about Saranda, you may ask the president of the 
Centre, Skender Muco, with the following phone and fax number:
	+355-732-2972
and the Greek mobile phone:
	+30-944 94 65 80
(As there are only few telephone lines in Saranda, many Sarandians have Greek 
mobile phones.)
Skender speaks "only" Italian and Greek, but he'll find someone who speaks 
English and ring you up. 
Or contact our Tirana representative Eva Kondi at the Ministry for Public Economy 
and Privatization:
	Tel.: +355-42-247 15
	Fax:  +355-42-224 71 or 279 69

Flying to Corfu is indeed the easiest way of going to Saranda, and there are 
daily ferries.

You can stay, for example, at the Hotel Mediterane. It is located in the south of 
Saranda, almost at the entrance of the town, about 300-400 m from the sea. A 
double room with breakfast costs 21-22 DM a day, you can calculate what it is in 
your currency. For full pension you have to add 15-20 DM per day, and you can 
choose what you would like to eat.
You can contact the hotel owner Astrit Zejno at:
	+355-732-28 39 or
	+30-944 15 75 85
It sounds like the Nordic female name Astrid, but in Albanian Astrit is a male 
name. And this is only one of the odds of this fascinating country.

We are also planning to introduce family tourism. This means that guests are 
staying in an Albanian host family. On the one hand this is a direct economic 
benefit for these Albanians, on the other hand it fosters cultural exchange. You 
get into the real Albania and see that hospitality is not the usual promotional 
slogan, but a tradition deeply rooted in history.
If you are interested in this program, let me know.

How would you like to spend the time? What sites would you like to visit? Are you 
also interested in meeting Albanian artists or NGO representatives?
My colleagues at the German Cultural Centre would be glad to help you out and to 
organize some nice excursions according to your interests.
Butrint is almost a must. This archaelogical site belongs to the UNESCO World 
Heritage. This summer there will be a festival called "Butrint 2000", I'll mail 
you soon the exact data. 
If you want to know more about Butrint, you may write to my friend Lida Miraj at 
lmiraj at albnet.net . She is an archaeologist and has worked at Butrint. Her 
husband, my best Albanian friend, is the director of the National Historical 
Museum, the big building on the large square in the centre of Tirana. He had 
known Thor Heyerdal personally.
So let me know if you intend to go to Tirana or Durres or some other place.
>From Saranda you can also visit the national park "The Blue Eye", which is a 
 
magnificent lake.
Some of the excursions are organized by Spiro Vengjeli, who was the first one to 
build up a private business in the tourism area. He speaks an excellent German.

If you go to Saranda, you will be a tourism pioneer. Perhaps you won't find 
everywhere the standard you might be used to, but this is compensated by personal 
attention.

Maps? I have a great detailed map of Albania, which I bought quite expensive in 
Germany. If you are interested, I can send you photocopies or even order the map 
for you.

Saranda on the net? Unfortunately I found only one homepage of a Sarandian, who 
has a computer business, but the homepage had no contact address.
There are some touristical, cultural and NGO links dealing more or less with 
Saranda and Butrint. I can send you the URLs, too.
There is a way of getting (mostly) English information about Saranda and its 
surroundings: my e-group "Saranda Saranda". Please feel free to sign up. It is 
located at:
	www.egroups.com/group/saranda

So in the next e-mail I am going to send you some more useful addresses and 
links.

Heja Norge and
Mirupafshim ne Sarande!!

Yours,
Silke Blumbach