Days 47 and 48

Rhia’s comments are italicized

We started our day by hopping on an overcrowded bus for Monastery Beach. This location appealed to us because of its remote location and because it had an old monastery.

The monastery was locked, so we just looked about the outside, and the absolutely wonderful view from high atop the mountain.

The walk up was rocky and steep, which made the walk down… rocky and steep. We did get down to the beach, which had a grand total of 8 people, not including us. We had to walk through a construction site for a future hotel on this beach…which means the beach will become closed to the public!

Our return journey was on another overcrowded bus, which was somehow even more crowded than the first. But we safely tumbled out in the middle of town to tour the ruins of a 1500 year old synagogue.

The irony of these ruins lies in recent history. After Germany’s withdrawal from Albania in 1944, the communist party of King Zog (not kidding, that is what they called him) and Enver Hoxha took over. He felt religion threatened his regime, so he started destroying all manner of religious buildings throughout Albania. In 1967, he outlawed religion, and in 1977, he declared Albania atheist country that recognized no religion. I think that still stands today, but in a more secular sense. You may notice the minaret pictured behind the ruins of the Jewish temple.

We passed some other things of importance, though we don’t know why. At least we think they’re important as they were fenced!

Back in our room, I wanted to share another photo of our terrace as this view never gets old!

Later that evening, the pirate party excursions floated about the bay with their speakers blaring dance music, and their disco lights reflecting beautifully off the water.

The following day, we decided to travel inland to Gjirokaster. This time we managed to get seats, but the bus was still overcrowded for the whole two hours of, what was supposed to be a one hour journey. I had the pleasure of having the same guys butt in my face the entire trip.

Gjirokaster is a city in the mountain valleys of Albania. Humans had been living in the area since 700 BC, but decided to start protecting the area in the 6th century AD. The castle started small, and then it grew to include a small city with houses and markets.

The castle has been used for a multitude of things including an artisan marketplace, a political prison during the reign of King Zog (watch out Flash Gordon!), a memorial for the communist struggle against Germany, a museum, and a cultural heritage center.

Outside of the castle, a steep walk down, we found the old town. The roofs amazed me. They were not slate, but much thicker stone, and layered the same way slate is.

The walk back to the bus station was still a long way, and steep and cobbly.

We caught the last bus back to Sarande, and thankfully Rhia had suggested we purchase the tickets before our journey began. The bus driver didn’t allow quite a few people on the bus because, again, it was super overcrowded. As this was the last bus of the day, we worried about those who weren’t allowed on … but were glad we had tickets!

Every night we have sat out on the balcony to watch the people, the city lights, the fireworks, the party boat excursions, but most of all, the sunsets.

Albania is an interesting place! It reminds me so much of Dubrovnik when I was there in 1985, when it was still in Yugoslavia and was communist (though was working on changing things). There are tourists…but not many from Western cultures. There are buses that are sort-of on time, but they’re very overcrowded (and people are left behind!) Drivers are mad (not road-rage, just nutty), and parking is a nightmare…with no enforcement! Tours are horribly expensive (but at least you’re guaranteed to get back 😂). In a couple of years, I reckon the Albanians will have figured out how to “do” tourism well; and a few years after that, the place will be ruined by tourism! They’re building hotels everywhere…too many hotels, whilst letting their apartment blocks fall into disarray; catering to tourism is one thing, but when it comes to the detriment of the locals…hmmm! As we went over the mountains today, goats and donkeys roamed freely but I suspect this will change soon as countries don’t want to appear “backward” to the outside world. If anyone is considering visiting Albania, I’d suggest you do it sooner rather than later – before the old-world charm changes!