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.

Pristina, Kosovo

As Kosovo is near to Skopje we decided to go to Pristina and spend a couple of days there. Legally Kosovo is still a part of Serbia although 95% of the population are Kosovar Albanians. When we crossed from Macedonia we got a United Nations stamp in our passport as they are controlling the border. With this stamp we would not have been able to go into Serbia as they don't recognize this as being legitimate. As we were returning back through the United Nations border it was not a problem.

A lot of money is being pumped into Kosovo and the highway is currently under construction. It is lined with enormous modern glass office buildings and businesses all the way from the Macedonian border to Pristina.

We booked a room in a guest house owned by a retired electronics professor. He was very chatty and told us where to go and warned us against the parks at night. He had had the police knock on his door and bring a Japanese girl to his guest house as she had had her bag snatched and had no money. The police paid for her room and felt happy to have her in a safe place. There were guests coming in and out all the time it was so popular. He has broken larger rooms into two smaller rooms to keep up with the demand. His brother, who lives in America, has a house down the road and the professor lets rooms out there even though it is being renovated.

We spoke to a couple of people who now live in other countries but come back to visit their families. We could also see signs on businesses where the money to start, or support them had come from overseas.

Across from the guest house is the monument to WW2 liberation soldiers as well as graves of recent KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) soldiers. The monument looks impressive in the photo but is actually covered with graffiti and the locals teens hang out there smoking and drinking all day.

We took a taxi ride with a couple from Finland out to a monastery that has survived all the bombings. It is in one of the remaining Serbian enclaves and is guarded by KFOR (Kosovo Forces) and razor wire.

Near the main walking street is the huge UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo) headquarters and it is full of white 4 wheel drives. Some people refer to Pristina as Unmikistan!

The city has been quiet for the last 4 years so let's hope it lasts. A date has not been set for the withdrawal of UNMIK so that the people can get on with developing the country their way.

The city has been divided up in to areas for electricity supply: area A, they pay their bills so get 8 hours electricity and one hour off, area B, sometimes pay so get longer cuts and area C hardly ever pay so they get the most cuts! The power station was bombed in the attacks and is still not fully functioning.

Fortunately, the professor in area A, had a generator and a storage tank for water and we weren't affected (the water supply is affected when there is no pressure).

There is a statue here of Mother Teresa too, as she was ethnically Albanian.