European and Asian Bargains
Albania and Laos Offer Low Costs and Superb Sightseeing
You don't need to spend a fortune to enjoy the sights and sounds of relatively undiscovered nations Albania and Laos.
The U.S. dollar has weakened considerably against the Euro and as a result, affordable getaways in Europe are hard to come by. Transportation, food and accommodation are all fairly expensive on the western side of the continent. But, there is one country where your hard earned dollars will carry you a long way, and it's ripe for discovery.
Albania
The New York Times has voted this nation as one of the most affordable destinations in 2007. The capital, Tirana, is surprisingly safe and is loaded with Italian style bistros and brightly painted apartment blocks. It would be hard to spend more than U.S. $15 on a meal in a fancy restaurant. The southern city of Gjirokastra is the town famous for two reasons, and they are both men. The dictator Enver Hoxha and the intellectual author Ismail Kadare hailed from this town. Alas, Kadare's home no longer exists (it was burned down). Hoxha's old residence had also been destroyed by a fire but was rebuilt and turned into an ethnographic museum. The cost to enter is 200 Albanian lek, which comes to about U.S. $2. Moving further south towards the Greek border visitors will arrive at a town called Butrint, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. First excavated in the 1920's, the dig revealed an amphitheater and several bathhouses. The proprietors of the Villa Kaoni bed and breakfast offer tours of this area, with a picnic lunch and a visit to the Mesopotamian Byzantine church for U.S. $30.
Getting to Albania is easy enough, there are regular ferries from the Greek island of Corfu, and flights are available from Italy and Hungary. Within Albanian borders, buses are the cheapest way to get around and some of them go to Macedonia and Greece.
Laos
This landlocked nation wedged between Thailand and Vietnam is the least visited country in Southeast Asia, but many argue that it's a better bargain for budget travellers and much more relaxed. The Lao capital, Vientiane, is the centre for all domestic and international travel in the country. The cheapest way to get into town from the airport is to take a tuk-tuk (the same as the three- wheeled motor vehicle found in Bangkok) for about U.S. $1. At current exchange rates, one American dollar will buy 9,500 kip (the local currency). There are no coins at all being circulated in Laos at the moment, and credit cards are not useful except in Vientiane and Luang Prabang. Cheap beds can go for as little as 1,000 kip in Vientiane, a double room with a fan and shared bathroom will set you back 10,000 kip. Eating is always a great pleasure since Lao cuisine closely resembles Thai and Vietnamese food. Expect to pay 1,000-2,000 kip for street food, and 10,000 kip for a meal in a restaurant. The Sisaket museum, which was built in 1818 contains several Buddhist artifacts and is open on a daily basis. The price of admission is 25 cents U.S. Travelling by boat along the Mekong River is a great way to see the natural splendor of the Lao countryside, and are much more comfortable and cheaper than the similar boats used in Thailand.
Getting to Laos is easy, but only if you catch a flight from Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh or Hanoi. There are no direct flights from Europe, North America or Australia.
