Sarajevo, Bosnia Hercegovina

We traveled along the coast looking down on the beautiful blue waters and little villages below and it was gorgeous. In a higher part of the hills were some thin pencil-like conifers, I think they may well be called pencil pines.

Much of the rocky countryside reminds us of Greece. We passed many mussel, and fish farms in the small bays.

We looked down over Dubrovnik but didn't stop there. We both visited there in the early 70s. It's a stunning place.

The bus driver stopped at a restaurant so people could have lunch and it specialized in spit-roast lamb. None of the 'lambs' looked like lambs at all. They seem to call all sheep meat lamb. There were about 3 spits set up like this one with 3 or 4 animals per spit, including their heads, sitting over hot charcoal.

In Sarajevo we stayed at a hostel near the old city. It was a pretty noisy place with thin walls and full of 19 -21 year old English uni students on very tight budgets. The hostel provided tea, coffee, and packets of pasta, and instant soup so they were eating that for every meal.

We remember seeing many reports about the war of 1992-95, so the city seemed strangely familiar. We saw the yellow coloured Holiday Inn building where the journalists were staying and reporting on the snipers.

We walked down Sniper Alley and saw the bombed buildings and apartment blocks peppered with bullet holes. Some buildings have had the holes filled with cement and have been left unpainted while others have been completely renovated and you would never know that they had suffered a lot of shelling.

On the footpaths are huge holes made from the shellings and some of them have been filled with symbolic red cement and are called 'Sarajevo roses'- the red is slowly fading. You have to be careful where you walk as there are still unfilled pits where shells have exploded in the footpaths.

We visited the National Museum where there was a static display of what was happening in everyday life for the Sarajevans. It showed children studying at rooms turned into schools, children carrying water from the river up to the 14th floor of their apartment block, the cigarette factory produced cigarettes daily, while the newspaper presses continued to roll and print the news. The markets were empty and there was nothing to buy (sometimes donated food was for sale). People made cookers out of all kinds of metal cans and drums and cut the trees from the parks for fuel. Apartments were filled with sandbags to protect them from further sniper fire and the green spaces between the apartment blocks were turned into vegetable gardens. The balconies were safer to grow the family vegetables because as soon as the shallots popped out of the soil a decision had to be made on whether to leave them longer or risk some other hungry family stealing them.

The old town is now a bustling place with cafes outside and loads of restaurants. We ate at a local place and met a young girl (18 or 19) who was born in Sarajevo but her family fled to the US during the war. She was home for the summer holidays with her grandmother but hoped to return to Sarajevo in the future. She helped us translate the menu and order our food and we were surprised when she paid for it.


We walked about the city and visited the old Turkish Quarter. This building of Austro-Hungarian style with Moorish touches used to house Bosnian books and manuscripts but was shelled in 1992 and many books may be irreplaceable.

In the old city, Morica Han, was a tavern where the caravans stopped on the ancient trading route between the east and the west.

We passed the spot where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Bosnian Serb and so began WW1.

It has been a really interesting visit that we enjoyed a lot.

Herceg Novi, Montenegro

We planned to take a bus to Kotor along the coast and look around the old town and then continue on to Herceg Novi but the Kotor bus station did not have a sign so we missed our destination. This would be the first time that we have not got where we have wanted to go. Nevertheless we continued on the bus to Herceg Novi.

The route took us around a beautiful fjord and Perast. This looked like a lovely quiet small town that would have been worth a visit if we had time. Maybe next time.

We have not seen many Asians in Eastern Europe but two Japanese girls got off at the Perast junction probably to take a tour boat out to an island called our Lady of the Rock.

We were met again, at the station, by the local female touts and followed one to her place. It didn't take long for us to spot the 10 litre bottles of water in the bathroom and realize that she had a poor water supply so we headed off in search of somewhere else to stay.

On the hill overlooking the sea and old town we found an elderly lady with a sign on her gate so we checked it out. She spoke pretty good English and the place was spacious and clean and there were no 10 litre water bottles in sight. We did see two huge water tanks outside so knew we would have a decent shower after all.

Growing all over her balcony were grape and kiwifruit vines and reminded us of New Zealand. We also saw kiwifruit growing around Lake Ohrid. In this area they grow the vine for shade from the sun rather than to sell. Most of the kiwifruit we have seen in the shops is from Chile.

We took a walk down the stone steps through the old town and onto the beach. The old town was quiet and very pleasant. The beach was not as crowded as others along the coast and looked very clean.

Our landlady recommended a restaurant in the old city square. It had traditional food she said was fresh and cheap. We enjoyed eating the garlic sausages and goulash.

Budvar, Montenegro

Montenegro is famous for being the world's newest country. The Serbia and Montenegro union ended with a narrow vote for independence in 2006. It has a population of only 673,000 and became the 192nd member of the UN.

It didn't take long to notice that we had left Albania. The roads were smoothly sealed and there were street signs and streets had names.

We drove along the beautiful coast road from Bar to Budvar. On the way, the bus was stopped and the driver fined for not having some documentation.

The station at Budvar was well organized with lanes and barriers. We could see the female touts on the other side of the barrier ready to pounce on us. We went with a lady, called Stayna, to her apartment and she showed us her room for rent. It was still really hot so we chose a place with air conditioning.

Stayna lived on the top floor of an apartment block. We took our shoes off and left them at the door. She had one bedroom (which she also rented) with a balcony at the rear and a lounge and balcony at the front facing the sea. The couch in the lounge converted into a narrow double bed so we slept there. She also had a small sofa that converted into a single bed in the same room. we used it as a sofa. We were able to watch TV and see some of the Olympic Games with the commentary in Serbian. unfortunately we didn't see any New Zealand competitors.

Stayna was very nice but didn't speak any English. She slept in in her tiny kitchen on a camp bed. She showed us photos of her 3 adult children who lived in other cities.

Stayna showed us where to find the 10 litre bottles of water to use to flush the toilet, shower and cook with when the water supply was cut off. After the first day we realized that the water was off most of the time and there drums, pails, and various containers of water scattered about the apartment.

The beach was quite pebbly and jam packed with deck chairs, sun loungers, and umbrellas. there were signs saying what percentage of the beach was free space and what was not but it always seemed to us that there was a lot less free space than they said.

Along the beach were bars, cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops and restaurants. Each place pumped out loud music and at night it was difficult to move at all.

Budvar is a popular place for the East European celebrities to holiday and we saw magazines featuring their visits to Budvar- in bikinis, water skiing, paragliding etc.

At a point at the end of the beach was an old walled city. It was flattened by two earthquakes in 1979 and has been rebuilt. Now it houses clothing stores and more restaurants but is very pretty.

At the opposite end of the beach was a bungee jump.

From the apartment balcony we were able to see several fires burning in the hills and then two helicopters with huge buckets dumped sea water on the flames.

Shkodra, Albania

Two hours from Tirana and near the Montenegro border is Skhodra. There is not much to see or do there but it was a convenient stop for the border.

In the main square was a statue of the 5 heroes. It was a fine example of socialist- realism sculpture. The men have square jaws and firearms and hold hands or grasp each others shoulders. Some countries are getting rid of such symbols so it was good to see that this one survived. When we arrived there was a group of elderly men dressed in black putting wreaths at the base of the statue and they were being filmed by a TV crew.


This was another place where we had a lot of problems finding a bus out of the place. We met a French couple who were headed for the hills and the national park so we were able to get some information from their guide book.

We found the travel agency that was organising the mini buses but they told us that the 'financial police' were in town and that it was pretty sure that the minibus would not be going to Montenegro but that we would have to take a taxi across the border. We had seen many policemen with their whistles and ticket books stopping cars with foreign number plates and checking their documents.

We met an Albanian man called Matt and he used to live in Australia for a few years. He worked as a dishwasher in several pizza restaurants in Melbourne and sent money home to his wife and children. Now he lives full time in Shkodra and works as a builder. We shared a taxi with him and another lady and were able to cross into Montenegro without being ripped -off!

Tirana, Albania

After a breakfast of typical Albanian fare: salted cheese, bread, butter, cherry jam, and Turkish coffee, we caught the bus to the capital city Tirana.

The road was only two lanes and there are no passing bays or lanes for traffic to turn left so this causes the two lanes of traffic to stop whenever anyone turns left. The same thing happens whenever anyone crosses the intersection through the two lanes of vehicles. Consequently, it took us 4 hours to cover what should have taken 2 1/2 hours to Tirana. When the traffic stops there is inevitably a policeman with a whistle directing traffic at an intersection or roundabout and it tends to make things worse.

We have seen many car wash businesses. Usually a shelter covered with PVC cloth is erected over a pipe frame and a water blaster is hooked up and a car wash is set up. With all the dusty roads there is no shortage of custom.

We booked into one of only two hostels in Tirana. The directions to the place included walking down unsealed roads so we were surprised to find that it was right near the centre of the city.

We did a nice walking tour of the city and could cover all the main sights in no time at all. The National Museum has a great mural on the front of the building and the original red soviet star on the flag was replaced with the current Albanian flag featuring a black eagle.

The mosque off the main square.


We visited the Blloku district, which was where the communist party members lived and was closed to the general population. We also saw Hoxha's old house and now the whole area is a trendy place to live. The streets were lined with cafes and as soon as people finished work they arrived to have their coffee and set the world right.

We visited a restaurant that served typical Albanian food and wanted to try the stuffed peppers but they were all gone. However we were able to have stuffed eggplant and stuffed zucchini which was very tasty.

Tirana used to be a very grey place as the concrete soviet style residential buildings were unpainted. Now there are huge blocks painted in interesting patterns and bright colours.

There are also several new stylish glass buildings. there is quite a bit of construction going on too.

These men wait at this roundabout with their drills and hammers for someone to come and give them construction work.

Ionian Coast, Vlora, Albania

Many buses leave at 5 or 6am so we have to get up early. The buses in Albania have air conditioning and many have windows that do not open and when it is 35-40 Celsius outside it is stifling inside the bus. The driver likes to smoke so he has his window open and the air conditioning cannot cool the bus interior. Under those conditions it is very difficult to stay awake the whole bus trip. The locals don't like the sun coming in so they close all the curtains and it can be difficult to see the scenery through the gap in the curtains - when we are awake!

The bus to Vlora was very full with 8 or 9 people standing in the aisle. Luckily it had windows that opened so we could get some air through.

We had read that it would take us 2 1/2 hours to chug our way up the Llogaraja Pass at 1027 m. Fortunately it only took 35 minutes as the road was recently upgraded. At the top we stopped so everyone could eat in the restaurant. They served rice, stewed mutton soup, tomato and onion salad with feta cheese. This is the farmers standard meal. Many of the locals don't eat breakfast when they take the early buses and those that get motion sickness don't eat till after the windy pass.

We had no accommodation booked as there are no hostels so we found an older style hotel near the ferry terminal and managed to get a lovely room there. All day the ferries were arriving and leaving for Greece and Italy.

During the day we saw groups of men catching some kind of sea creature with long pieces of wire. We were unable to find out what they were.

Vlora is a large city and other than a 16th century Muradi Mosque and an old square there was not much to see or do. We headed for an internet shop to catch up on some blogs as there is no Wifi in Albania (so we cannot use our computer) and some internet paces have had terrible equipment.

We had a lot of difficulty trying to find bus stations in Albania. The places where the furgons (small buses) or tour buses leave from changes often. It seems only the taxi drivers know where they leave from. Because of this it has been difficult traveling and we have to keep asking and get sent in various directions by different people. of course the taxi drivers don't have meters. They put a plastic sign on the roof and call themselves a taxi.

So far we have managed to get where we want to go!

Ionian Coast, Himara, Albania

We caught a bus to Himara and as soon as we got off it we were confronted with a collapsed old building covered with litter and stinking overflowing rubbish carts. It was not a nice sight.


We were given a contact for a hotel on the waterfront by Kent and Ali, two travelers from Australia. We booked in there and enjoyed spending time wandering about the small seaside town.

Most of the cars we saw in town had Italian number plates and probably belonged to Albanians from there.

We found a small store that sold fresh fruit. it is such a treat to eat nectarines, peaches, grapes and melons and they are so cheap.

There are many 'burek' shops that sell filo-like pastries stuffed with salty feta cheese, feta and spinach, and minced meat. The locals usually have a burek for breakfast.

We looked at having fish for dinner but the prices were as high as in New Zealand so didn't bother and got a pizza instead. You can always find pizza and pasta restaurants in Eastern Europe.

From the pizza restaurant we could see several fires burning in the hills around Himara. The hotel owner told us they were accidental but it seems common practice here to burn off old dry vegetation to get new growth for the goats and sheep. It was an amazing sight as the wind fanned the fames and they raced along the ridge tops above the town. By morning the fires seemed to have run out of fuel.

Ionian Coast, Saranda, Albania

August is the busiest time in Albania and lots of Albanians living overseas return for their summer holidays so accommodation is difficult to get. We couldn't book any accommodation online so we arrived by bus and waited for the touts to find us. It was really hot here so we wanted a place with air-conditioning. The first tout took us to a place that was pretty cramped and up an unsealed street on a hill above the town. We headed back closer to the town and asked at a hotel. They phoned someone and we ended following him back to Lili Hotel. The hotel had a lovely balcony overlooking the street and with a glimpse of the sea. In the hall was a refrigerator for all the guests to use and below was a cafe.

Some cafes appear to be men only places. They spend hours drinking rakia (fruit wine) and Turkish style coffee: thick, 'dusty', and sweet without milk and served in a tiny cup, accompanied by a large glass of water. The cafes don't serve food and we wonder how they make any money as most customers sit for hours fiddling with their 'worry beads' and chatting. The trendier cafes do serve some food and there are usually families eating ice creams and drinking soft drinks at these, especially after work.


It is common to see newly constructed buildings with some kind of toy tacked to the front of the building. We have seen yellow haired plastic dolls, Santa bears, monkeys, and this teddy bear was tied to the reinforcing steel of a new shop. It had a garland of garlic around its neck. We have also see the garlic tied to the mirror in some taxis. Beside the teddy bear was the horned-skull of a goat as well.

Saranda is a popular place for Albanians to visit. The sea is a beautiful colour but unfortunately, everyone leaves their litter where ever they are even if there are bins nearby and it ends up in the sea. In the evening they stroll along the waterfront promenade and dine in the dozens of outdoor restaurants. During the day they lie on the beach from 8am to about 4pm working on their tans. Across the bay from Saranda is Corfu in Greece with ferries taking the holiday makers to and fro.

Albania has 290 days of sunshine a year!

Gjirokaster, Albania

We got up early to catch a bus to Gjirokaster but found it was completely full, although we were 30 minutes early at 5.30am. Luckily there were enough of us to fill a furgon and one of the 18 year olds could speak English and let us know what was happening. Although it was more expensive than the bus it was a lot more comfortable and a lot quicker. We had heard, from other travelers, that the bus was so long that on some of the tight bends going uphill it had to reverse to get around them!

Religion was banned during communism, with Albania being the world's only officially atheist state from 1967-1990. We saw several small stone churches being built along the narrow mountain roads.

Albania broke off diplomatic relations with the USSR and started on a self-reliant defence policy. 'The Commander for Life', Enver Hoxha, ordered 700,000 concrete mushroom shaped bunkers to be built. We passed hundreds of these in the strangest places; middle of the beach, in the forest, on cliffs, in front of houses. The bunkers of concrete and steel weigh five tonnes and so they cannot be moved or destroyed so they are still sitting where they were planted. The chief engineer had to stand in one while it was being bombarded by a tank to prove its worth!

The centre of Gjirokaster is like a huge construction site. The paths are being paved, the main street has been divided into two each way central lanes as well as having extra lanes beside the shops. The medians have been planted with willow trees and it will look very smart when it is finally finished. In the evening a police man had to come to the roundabout and direct the traffic as they go the wrong way around it!

In the early evening, after the siesta, the locals get out their hoses and water the paths and streets. I imagine this is to cool the area and keep the dust at bay.

In the old city we have to take care we don't fall into the uncovered drain holes and watch for potholes everywhere. Some of the cobbles are very shiny and slippery too.

On top of the hill overlooking Gjirokaster, is a fortress. It was built in several stages starting in the 6 and 7 century as a village for protection and then the fortress was built in the 12th century. It is now a World Heritage site. Today it houses a museum of World War 1 and 2 military paraphernalia and has a bar. It is not very well looked after either.

From the fort we could see the old Ottoman Turk stone and wood houses. We don't have much information on this area and will have to research it when we have time. There is nothing in English in the town and no tourist information but we think the houses are protected.

Korca, Albania

When we were living and working in Shepparton, Australia we met an elderly man from Albania and have been keen to visit the place since then. John did a trip with his friends down the coast past Albania but it wasn't open to visitors so he couldn't visit. He also caught a ferry from Corfu and saw it from the sea. Lil drove with some friends through the old Yugoslavia a year later and couldn't visit either, so we were keen to be able to visit this time.

Albania is known as Shqiperia by Albanians. It is famous for diaspora, a cool flag, and bunkers!

After we got through the Macedonian border we had to take a taxi into the nearest city where we were able to get Albanian leke as no Macedonian banks or money exchange kiosks stock Albanian money.

Albania has cities on Lake Ohrid and there are less rules and regulations here to protect the lake and the endangered trout. Both Macedonia and Albania do not manage their rubbish so the lake becomes a rubbish dump.

From the border town we caught a furgon, a 9 seater mini van, to Korca. There are no timetables or signs for the public transport and we had to keep asking people we met for the furgon to Korca. After being sent on several trips across the square where the buses leave from we found the right furgon.

The road to Korca is mostly unsealed and it is undergoing construction presently. We haven't been on such dusty roads since Laos. there is quite a bit of house construction going on as well so someone is investing in the country.

The furgon driver dropped us at a hotel near the city centre. It was a renovated communist state owned hotel and they were usually called 'Turizma' or 'Grand'.

Saw lots of cow, sheep, and goat herders on donkeys. Some of the donkeys were carrying logs and other hay. This horse had a wooden saddle and a home made scythe on its back.

Korca was very quiet when we walked about early afternoon to look at the old stone houses. I think everyone was having a siesta as it would have been in the early 40s Celsius.

In the evening when we went out for a bite to eat it was hectic. The young girls were dressed in their skimpiest, most-revealing clothes walking up and down the main street. The guys were sitting in the cafes watching it all. Those with money were driving up and down with their stereos blasting. It could have been a scene from our hometown, Mount Maunganui!

Albanians have only been driving for 10 years. Under communism they only issued 2 driving permits to non party members in the 45 year reign. The national road code has only just come out and people haven't had time to change from their 'I'm bigger and more important than you' driving habits that they have been practising. In the last 10 years the number of cars in Albania has grown from 2000 to 500,000 with little improvement to the roads!

When president Hoxha died his associate took over and things fell apart. In 1990, 4500 people fled to Italy for political asylum. In 1991 over 20, 000 more fled to Italy.

There was a free-for-all free-market and many cars were stolen in German and brought back to Albania. Someone told us there is a saying "Holiday in Albania, your car is already there!" There are dozens of BMWs and Mercedes Benz cars on the road.

We have also noticed that there are many cars with Italian plates and there are several TV channels with Italian programmes or dubbed into Italian. Many people ask if we speak Italian as it is their second language not English.

A beer fest was advertised on billboards about the city but didn't go because we had to catch a bus at 6am the next day so had to get to bed early and wake before 5am. Interestingly most of the glass framed billboards advertising the beer fest were smashed. Maybe because many Albanians are Muslims.

Ohrid, Macedonia

Caught a bus into Ohrid beside the lake of the same name. The tectonic lake is one of the oldest in the world. The area has been settled for 8000 years and was known by the Greeks as Lychindos.

We booked accommodation online and stayed in an apartment not far from the centre of the old city. The owners, Tony and Gordana, were very passionate about their city and we were given a CD on the place when we left. Gordana cooked us a typical Macedonian moussaka made with potatoes, egg, minced meat, and bacon. It was served as a stew and accompanied with roasted sweet peppers as well as hot chillis.

St Clement and Naum started the first Slavic university here in the 9th century. We visited the St Clements church which is surrounded by archaeologists working on the 4th and 5th century basilica ruins in the grounds. The mosaics they unearthed were very interesting.

To get to the area we passed through the old city gates to the rebuilt 10th century Samoil's fortress and also visited the 2000 year old Roman Amphitheatre which is used for concerts nowadays.

The most photographed spot in Ohrid is probably the 13th century Sveti Jovan church at Kaneo, a short walk downhill from the fort.

In the centre of the old town is a huge plane tree that has been standing for more than 900 years. It has a split trunk and a barber shop, and a cafe were operated from it at one time in its life. Now vendors sell souvenirs around its trunk. At night this place is buzzing with all the holiday makers showing off their tans and shopping at the modern stores that line the walking street. there were some guys from South America busking and selling their CDs each night we were there. The bars, cafes and clubs are busy well into the small hours and even the supermarket was open at 11pm.

The lake has an endangered trout only found here but sadly it is still fished and you can spot it on the menu in restaurants and it is very expensive.

We caught a bus from Ohrid to the Albanian border and had to walk the few hundred metres across the no man's land between the two countries as there is no public transport.