Southern Albania

*This blog entry was completed a couple weeks before posting, but we had to return to the US for a family emergency and everything trip-related got put on hold. We are planning on resuming our travels soon and there will be another blog entry with details to follow. 

November 1, 2023 - Vista enroute between Përmet and Korçë, Albania

I don't think either of us expected to be in Albania for so long, but talking to people along the way, we just kept finding more and more places that we just couldn't miss. We broke our time in Albania into two parts, (with Kosovo in the middle) for a total of 34 days in the country.  After leaving Kosovo, the plan was just to hit a few places on the southern coast and then head off to the next country... but plans change, especially when you wing it. Johnny started doing research and found some road trip itineraries that caught his attention. Some of the suggested routes described dicey and difficult roads and, after our experience on the mountain roads of Kosovo, I was quick to put a kibosh on any of those routes. Lucky for us, there were still plenty of options that didn't require off-road vehicles on precarious, unpaved cliffs. 

We started our Southern Alanian itinerary on the beach in the town of Vlorë. We had some rainy days, and the town was mostly quiet since it was off-season, but I'm always happy looking at the water regardless of the weather conditions. The intention was to stay beach-bound but with the somewhat crummy weather and Johnny's newfound road-trip ideas, before I knew it we were hopping a bus inland to the town of Gjirokaster. It was during this transition that we found the typical information available in other countries we've visited (like bus stop locations and departure times), was somewhat lacking here, so figuring out transportation took a bit of work. 

We went to what we thought was the bus stop we needed to catch the 2:30 bus to Gjirokaster, only to find out the bus website Google Pin drop was WAY off the actual location. A quick city bus later, we made it to "a" bus stop (still not sure if it was the one we were aiming for). Unfortunately, there were no other direct buses from that station for the day. A helpful man there directed us to a bus we could take and hop out along the way to catch a transfer bus. Sounds good! This was definitely something I was used to in my travels through Central America. Sure enough, the bus dropped us literally in the middle of nowhere, not a building in sight, to wait for the Gjirokaster bus coming from the Capital. It came along soon enough...but at full capacity, so it just kept driving and we found ourselves in need of a plan B. While we were trying to figure out how long we might have to wait for the next bus that may pass, several locals pulled up to offer rides. We politely passed on the two very large mobster-looking guys, and the car packed with elderly people, but finally took the offer of a young man in a suit. We had a slight detour to pick up food for his family along the way, but we did eventually make it to Gjiokaster without issue, especially considering at one point we were standing with all our worldly possessions on the side of the road in the middle of the Albanian countryside. 

As much as I've liked all our stops in Albania, Gijokaster was the first place where I thought, "Albania is really going to blow up in the next 5 years". Such a cool old city, complete with cobblestone streets, a castle on a hill, and great local cuisine. It also helped that the hostel we stayed at had an awesome dog, Cookie, who would personally escort us all around the city as we walked about each day, including finding us in whatever bar we may have ended up at. All the street animals here have been so sweet and relatively well-cared for. Johnny even started buying dog treats at the market to have something to give them all as we walked around the picturesque, old-world streets. 

From Gjiokaster we picked up the rental car for what was supposed to be a 5-day road trip...which turned into an 8-day road trip. We visited the inland cities of Përmet, Korçë, and Berat, as well as some stops along the way. Day one of the road trip started with a few memorable events, both of which could've gone much worse than they did. The first was when, after stopping to look at some aqueduct ruins, our rental car wouldn't start. No turn-over, no warning lights, just...nothing. We called the rental guy and waited on the side of the road while the replacement came. All in all, it was a problem quickly solved with only a minor delay. We found out later it was an issue with the chip in the key fob.

The next "uh oh" moment of the day was on a canyon hike, leaving from the village of Nivica (also had one of the best meals of the whole trip here). Again noting that there is just not as much information on Albania, we didn't have a lot to work off of in trying to find this hike to a waterfall. We realized we were off track when we were bushwacking through some very pokey plants on some very steep drops and thought, "There is no way this is a trail". After a reverse bushwack with even more scrapes and scratches, we did manage to find the correct trail and were rewarded with a pretty cool canyon waterfall and pool. It was a bit of a scramble to get back out of the canyon before dark, but going back on the ACTUAL trail definitely saved some time. After all that, we had to drive at night to miss some of the views, but we finally made it to our first overnight stop of Përmet. 

Përmet was located next to the Benja Thermal Baths, natural hot springs that have been used for healing for centuries. Some of the pools are accessed by a canyon hike through the river which reminded me a bit of the Narrows in Zion. Back in the town, we found a restaurant with amazing food that we visited each of the 3 days we were there. The owners didn't speak any English, but the mom took me back into the kitchen to show me what she put in each dish to ensure it was gluten-free. they also gave us free traditional desserts like syrup-soaked cherries and plums.  

The next stop, Korçë, required a mountain drive on some unpaved roads, but nothing compared to the 4x4 roads I had shut down when planning. Korçë had a very "Christmas market" sort of vibe, even though we were in early November, but the city square was lit up and there was a chill in the air that reminded us that the European winter was on its way. We also had a very memorable night listening to American classic rock with an old Greek man in his restaurant while he fed us a bottle of Raki. The raki did not sit well for me the next day as we set out on a 3.5-hour drive through windy mountain roads and some pretty hard rain. Luckily Johnny is a driving champ and got us there safe without me having to pull over to get sick in the rain. 

My favorite stop on the road trip was Berat, which is interesting because it wasn't on our original itinerary. After the third or fourth person mentioned it as their favorite city in all of Albania, we figured we had to add on a few more days to check it out, and boy am I glad we did. Probably one of the prettiest towns I've seen on our whole trip (right after Hoi Ann, Vietnam), it really felt like a village of old. Called the city of 1001 windows, our walking tour guide was quick to point out that is actually a mistranslation of the phrase "window on window", referring to the stacking of houses due to the steep grade of the mountain. Besides the town itself being noteworthy, the Castle offered some beautiful views over the valleys. 

After Berat, it was finally time to resume our original plan of visiting the coastal cities, so with the car safely returned in Gjiokaster, it was back on the bus to head to the sea. The coastal city of Sarandë is up there in terms of most popular tourist destination in Albania, and even this late in the season I was surprised at the number of tourists (and American accents). Lucky for me, the weather was just warm enough for a dip in the sea and laying out on the "sand" (it was more like gravel). We even stopped by the Elvis bar, including the Albanian Elvis himself who will sing you any Elvis song if you ask, with chop sideburns to boot. 

We rented another car from Sarandë to check out one more town on the coast, Himarë. One of the nicest accommodations we've had the whole trip with stunning views of the sea, we had one clear sunny day to drive the cliff roads high above the coast and take in the vistas. Before we knew it, it was back to Sarandë to return the car and catch the bus to Athens early the next morning. A beautiful bus ride along the sea and a smooth border crossing found us in Greece and our Albania adventure finally came to a close after more than a month in such an interesting and beautiful country. 

November 9, 2023 - Sunset view from Livadi Beach in Himarë, Albania.