Butrint
It was 40€ to take a taxi round trip from Sarandë to Butrint vs. 2€ for the air conditioned bus. Quite a no brainer, and the bus was actually fairly comfortable! There are a few semi-official bus stops, but it’s also okay to stand on the route and wave down the bus or ask the driver to stop where you want. Butrint is an ancient ruined city that’s been partially excavated for visitation. This was the first time I’ve seen a whole ancient city restored, and it was very impressive!
Gjirokaster
Another UNESCO site, this city is just barely discovering tourism, and the castle is only barely restored and open to visit. Parts of it felt like abandoned structures like you see in Indiana Jones movies.
Strange juxtaposition of flowers, cannons, and airplanes.
Mountains and country side
After leaving the coast, we headed inland over a few mountain ranges towards Macedonia. This is, by far, the most beautiful area in Albania, and the people are the most friendly. We heard lots of “hellos” and saw many smiling faces through this area.
There was more livestock in the road than there were cars.
Cycling was tricky on extremely rough roads with steep gradients, but it was worth it for these amazing views.
We spent a night in these bungalows at a campground/hotel/restaurant miles from anything else.
This rock will compete for tourist dollars with Morro Bay one day…
These bunkers litter the landscape all over the country. They were built in the communist era in case of a nuclear attack.
In the mountains, there are many springs funneled into roadside fountains like this one where you can refill your water bottles.
More food
You know how much we love food, so here is some more food porn!
“Pumpkin balls” (qofte)
I thought tres leches cake was a Spanish thing, but it was super popular in Albania and amazing.
Along the coast, the seafood was plentiful and super fresh (we saw local fisherman selling their daily catch directly to the restaurants), and dishes were inspired by nearby Italy.
The food in Gjirokaster was heavily influenced by Greece, as you can see in this sampler platter, which included the local specialty qifqi.
A seafood hummus, another Greek-influenced dish
Tavë kosi, the national dish of Albania, lamb and yogurt baked in a clay dish.
An excellent pork and vegetable stew from Permët.
Gliko, preserved whole fruits, are a local specialty of Permët, where our waitress made us a sampling plate of several kinds, including watermelon rind and walnut. Really good and really sweet.
Another tavë dish from another restaurant in Permët.
Random photos
Being close to Greece means that ouzo is easy to find.
Permët Town square
It’s a sad thing to see kids like this one forced into begging by their parents and the poverty they were born into.
Random road side monument on the way to Korça.
Sharing the road, Albanian style