Albania

By Bea
We crossed the border into Albania late afternoon, the sun was low in the sky and we were bolting to Tirana. The van was booked into Citroen at 7.30am the next morning and we had no tail lights. The setting sun, potholes and winding roads were dashing our hopes of getting there before nightfall. Being a campervan we already were a good target for the police, we didn’t want to attract any more attention. Decision, drive without tail lights at night or early morning. We choose the morning figuring the coppers would be in bed and we could try and explain we were on the way to the repair shop if they weren’t.

We found a proper campsite across the border at Greenland Hotel. They had turned their grounds into a camping spot and had recently built an ablution block fitted out with hotel quality fixtures, rather upmarket. The lawns were immaculate. It was a lovely spot. We decided to dine in the hotel that night. What a surprise, the food was great.

Being off season, amazingly, the chef had done a slow cooked lamb. It was a real credit to chef Mic to do such a menu at that time of year. They were very generous to us and we were given an appetizer plate of various bruschetta and also a traditional grilled (feta like) cheese with yoghurt - which was delicious. Pete had the slow cooked lamb and I ordered a chicken and mushroom dish. Washed down with a bottle of local wine. Both meals had to be doggy bagged, the portions were so large. The generosity didn’t stop there, they also offered us a complimentary plate of local deserts, a lovely treat.

As dawn broke the next morning, we headed off, my red head torch and our safety triangle tapped to the bikes as makeshift tail lights. About 5 minutes into the journey we realised we needn’t have worried, we had more operational lights that most vehicles in Albania!!
The guy at Citroen checked out the car and found a cut wire which neither we nor the guy in Ulcinj had seen!
Thankful that we now had an almost fully operational van (the rear camera still isn’t connected) We could relax and discover Albania.
The first thing you notice driving in Albania is the sheer number of petrol stations and car washers there are literally one or two every kilometre, as ‘Ausworldroamers’ noted its hard to see how they all stay in business, the second thing you notice is the lack of panel beater shops, given the way they drive I would have thought that it would be a thriving business, they are maniacs, even worse than Bangkok!

We picked up a local SIM on the way back into Tirana and could now research what there was to see. We found there was a Castle in Kruje, which was very close to where we were. So we headed there. Like all castles, they are situated at the top of the mountain beside the township, and we wound our way up the narrow cobblestoned streets. Shaking the crap out of the poor van (again!). Cobblestones and small campervans don’t play well together!

An ethnographic museum was located within the castle grounds. It was really very interesting. It was set out within an old restored family house, the lady who managed it would keep coming into each room where we were to explain the use of the room, the objects on display and a little bit of history. Very informative, very friendly, laid back and enjoyable. All the doorways were quite low, constructed on purpose, to force the person entering to bow as a mark of respect. I can tell you, for me, I payed a lot of respect in the houses I visited in Albania! After looking around the rest of the castle, the town area and bazaar, we headed into the centre of Tirana to find our camp spot for the night.

According to our ‘app’ there was an overnight carpark for busses which allowed campervans. It was walking distance to the city centre, perfect for a city visit. It was a big carpark but the only spot available for us was right by a junction of a busy road and a fun fair. Never mind, it was cheap and extremely convenient. Sometimes we choose beauty others times convenience.

In the afternoon we walked into the city centre via the city’s Grand Park that was over the road from our camp site. The park surrounded a large man made lake and was very popular with the locals, running, exercising, drinking coffee or just generally hanging out.

The city itself felt somewhat newly ‘try-hard’ cosmopolitan, it certainly was growing. In the more affluent inner urban areas there seemed to be a vibrant coffee shop and restaurant scene along the tree lined avenues however these were interlaced with disheveled communist era tenement blocks, sidewalk fruit vendors and gentlemen’s clubs.

We wandered from the inner urban areas past Mother Teresa Square and the former Albanian dictator, Enver Hoxha’s former residence along Rruga Murat Toptani, a pedestrianised street, to the fresh market (of course) where we picked up some delicious pistachios and tasty olives.

We continued to Skanderbeg Square which is the heart of the city surrounded by the Clock Tower, Et’hem Bey Mosque and National History Museum. It is a large socialist square but its undulating form softened its austerity and its open space was being enjoyed by the locals and tourists alike.

As the sunset we walked back to the van past the ‘the House of Leaves’ which was the Central Directorate of the Secret Service from 1944 to 1991 and now Museum of Secret Surveillance, we will return here tomorrow.
Back to the van, with the view of neon lights of the fun fair and the continual noise of the busy road beside us we had a Veggie curry for dinner. Funnily enough I slept well, must be all those years of living near a busy road!

‘House of Leaves’ so named not only for its lush vine coverage but also because it was full of “leaves”’ as in pages in files...on people. The house itself was built in 1931 as a medical clinic, during WWII it was under German occupation used by the Gestapo. Between 1944 and 1991 the the Stalinist communist regime of dictator Enver Hoxha developed an elaborate surveillance network as it became increasingly isolationist and paranoid. Thousands of Albanians and foreigners they felt had ill intent against the regime were spied on tracked then often charged. The museum is a show case of the lengths they would go to to gather information, the horrors that were performed on those found guilty and even the propaganda films that were made to show how the perfect communist life would be destroyed by these imperialist sympathizers! Very interesting and intriguing place - but in reality, what is so different today? We are all being monitored, just in a more high-tech fashion and we are complicit in it I suppose.

After a few hours we were back on the road and heading to Berat. Berat is situated on the Osum River in central Albania and is known as “City of Thousand Windows” The town is now on the UNESCO World Heritage list, an honour it gained for its extraordinary white Ottoman era houses that cascade down the hills either side of the river, all the house have similarly proportioned window facing onto the river giving the town a wonderfully homogenous aesthetic. Obviously there was no window tax here as there was in England of old.

We found a campsite at Green House Restaurant. A family run business who had a large car parking area out the back which he set up for campers. It had a toilet and shower block, electricity and a beautiful view - so I was happy.

Behind the restaurant the owner was in the process of building some new chalets and was keen to get Pete’s seal of approval! (Which he obviously got). His dad was out the back tending to his homemade wine, Pete started asking questions so he happily explained what was happening then bought out a couple of glasses and insisted we try some. It was certainly drinkable, very young to say the least! In the end they gave us a carafe to enjoy later. Such a nice and hospitable family.

Late afternoon we walked the few km’s into the historic part of town to see it and its windows in the dusk light and maybe get a photo or two. It was super quiet, it was definitely off season. Not much happening at all. We strolled down the main pedestrian street (it seems every city town and village in Europe now has a pedestrian street, no matter how small) and along the river admiring the architecture, and the windows, before heading back for dinner and our waiting wine.

We came across a group of construction workers were repairing the river retaining wall. It was great to watch. A small front end loader was parked, at a precarious angle in the river, the shovel being used to hoist men and stones up to the hole while buckets of cement were being lowered from above. A group inside were carefully rebuilding the wall stone by stone. Both the craftsmanship and lack of health and safety wouldn’t be seen in Australia!

The next morning, after breakfast of bread, feta cheese, jam and coffee in the restaurant, we walked into town to do some more sightseeing. Still not much happening. Although quiet it was really pretty down in the old town and by river area.

We headed back to the coast of southwest Albania and the town of Vlora situated in front of the Karaburun peninsula and Sazan island. It is the starting point of the Albanian riviera and surrounded by sandy beaches and rocky shores. We found a cheap camp spot in a marina car park. Quiet, with a 24 hour guard and a view of the marina pier where several locals fishing.

We went for a walk around town to take in the sights, not that there are that many, we visited the Muradije Mosque built in 1542 and their own set of Roman ruins. We also found a small market street where we bought a few more utensils for the van including a small pressure cooker for the stove (which a kind lady who was walking past, stopped to show us how to seal and unseal it!).

Vlora is has the liveliest nightlife in Albania...allegedly, we presume that this must only be in summer, as it was pretty dead in autumn. With no all night parties we decided to walk out on the pier to see what the fisherman were catching, before adjourning to the van for dinner and a movie.

Just on the outskirts of Vlora is Narta a Greek community which sounded interesting, so the next morning we drove to the village. To be honest its not all that special but it was an interesting detour. We proceeded south towards Sarande and yet another series of narrow switchbacks.

Pete has become a master at maneuvering the van around hairpins. The view was, as always on these, spectacular. We stopped enroute for lunch at a lookout with great views across the Iranian sea to Italy.

At the bottom of the switchbacks we came to a town, Himare where we visited the Porto Palermo castle on a small headland jutting out into the Ionian Sea. Built in the 19th century by Ali Pasha for his wife it is extremely well preserved without being renovated full of small rooms and deep corridors. The fort served as a Soviet submarine base during the communist era. There was a great beach front next to it where you could free camp, but it was still early so we decided to continue as Sarande some about 30 minutes further on.

Sarande is the unofficial capital of the Albanian Riviera where we overnighted in the grounds of the Mediterranean Hotel. Here at least we had electricity, showers and a toilet. The town centre was a short walk down the hill. So really quite convenient. After setting up camp, we wandered into the town centre. It is a nice town but is now almost exclusively aimed at the summer tourists as it is also a main port for the ferries to and from Italy. We decided to have dinner in town, cheap and cheerful gyros! A local speciality - and they were good.

We had booked a scuba dive with a local company, so the next morning after a lovely and appreciative birthday phone call from Pete’s family, we walked to the dive centre. The diving along the Adriatic coast is reported to be pretty amazing due to the visibility, the waters are crystal clear. I was looking forward to this! Our dive was on the wreck of the Italian hospital ship MV Probitas that was sunk during WWII. It was only a couple of hundred metres from the shore in the port area which made it easily accessible the visibility wasn’t as good as it would have been further out. However, saying that the dive was pretty cool. The ship was pretty much in tact and we could do a few swim throughs into the cargo holds where medicine bottles were still laying around. The ship is 150m long, with the top of the ship at 10m and sitting on the bottom at 20m. Fish life unfortunately wasn't that plentiful again due to its port location. Overall though it was an interesting dive and we both enjoyed it.

Rather than staying another night in Sarande continued a little further south to Ksamil. This proved to be a good move. Known as the Ionian pearl, Ksamil is a lovely seaside resort town which had all but shut up shop for the off season. There is something quite captivating about beach resorts as they drift into hibernation, A few stragglers still hanging enjoying the last rays of autumn.

We parked the van on the side of the road overlooking a beautiful swimming bay next to a van from the Netherlands. It was still lovely and sunny, slightly warm (not hot), and the water was blue and clear and I couldn’t resist one last chance for a swim! Pete, on the other hand, chose to sit outside in the sun and open a beer!

We took a walk through the town and, while most places were shut for the season, we came across a great restaurant right on the beach front on the headland that seemed a perfect place for sundowners, 2 mojitos and plate of marinated octopus - we were happy. The restaurant overlooked a beautiful small beach and two islands that you could easily swim to, it must be heaving in summer.

We had booked into a restaurant nearby that had a reputation for quality local seafood, was little more upmarket and sounded good for a birthday dinner. As we were about to head to the head to the restaurant the whole town had lost power! It was pitch black! Hopefully the restaurant was on gas, but how would the chefs see... Luckily the restaurant’s grid was fully functional and they were still open for business.

The restaurant lost power a couple of times making for a spasmodically romantic candlelight dinner! The food was great, we shared a local spicy meatball dish for entree and then a large platter of grilled seafood, washed down with a couple of glasses of bubbly.

The next morning, after a jog around the waterfront and a coffee, we went for one final swim and a quick snorkel at the beach. This was our farewell to the coast, from here we were turning east and heading inland.