We had a fairly good night’s sleep and woke up early ready to hit the road. We decided to avoid the breakfast which was spoken of last night as dinner was a little ‘dodgy’, for want of a better word at the hotel. We opted for just a coffee instead.
On our way out, just outside our room we bumped into a lovely Albanian lady sitting with her grandson. She asked us where we were from and we told her, “England, Brighton”, not expecting her to be too familiar. She said she knew Brighton and lived in Lewisham. She was on holiday with her family and investigating a “business opportunity” in Albania. I must add, she was Albanian, this time. After we chatted for a bit longer and then bid her farewell, we were off for that desperately needed coffee and really eager to see what today would hold.
After being invigorated with a coffee, we headed out towards the Ancient Greek and Roman City of Butrint, we wanted to visit the ruins there.
Butrint – Ancient Greek and Roman City
After a long hot but really interesting drive, we arrived at the entrance car park to the ruins. Immediately we were accosted by a young girl and her male companion. They demanded that we buy bracelets from them. Dan was in the firing line of their deluge and so we ended up buying a bracelet from the girl and one from the boy. By this time I had another little one at my window. She begged that I bought a bracelet from her too, I had to say no.
Having been declined, the first young girl then came round to my window and asked if she could have my banana that I had sitting in the front. I laughed and had to admire her audacity. I caved in and gave her the banana! She immediately peeled it and ate it as she walked away, pleased at herself for getting another tourist in her trap.
Now dripping and feeling a little hard done by, having been accosted by the kids. We went for a cold drink at the restaurant before entering the actual Butrint sight.
At the entrance to the ruins the prices were 700 LEK per foreign visitor, 500 LEK per foreign visitor in a group, 300 LEK for an Albanian visitor and 400 LEK for a child. So all up, it was an entrance fee of 1,400 LEK, we had timed our entrance poorly arriving just behind a cruise ship tour, we were left with no choice and followed the cruise ship visitors that had just descended on the place by bus load.
We walked freely around the remains of the city. The signs at the entrance had said no smoking, walk on the path and beware the insects and snakes. The last bit made us hopeful we’d see something other than Roman ruins.
To try and seperate ourselves from the crowds we waited at the first part, an amphitheatre, for the hoards to disappear. Here Cassie discovered a turtle in the water around the ruins.
After awhile we wondered around, skirting the crowds. It was extremely hot, and we were all dripping in sweat by the end. Afterwards Dan and Cassie got themselves and ice cream and I got a can of cold Coca Cola, an unusual treat.
Defender Maintenance – Albania Style
We decided to head off and find a camp on the beach somewhere. Yesterday, Dan had noticed that the radius arm bushes needed changing, especially if we wanted to tackle a few more gravel tracks during the holiday.
We had seen plenty of ‘Autoservis’ places along the road and so we went in search of one that could fit us in. We tried a few and they all pointed us to someone else as they were far to busy.
Eventually on the way out of Butrint, we stopped at a small garage we had noticed on our way in. He was now quiet and Dan asked if he could do the work, it would only take 1 hour. The guy agreed. He spoke good english and so Dan changed into some shorts and manoeuvred the Landy over the pit.
Cassie and I sat in the car trying not to expire, while Dan helped the guy change the bushes. All done for 2000 LEK. Luckily Dan had the spares in the car … Not bad!
Finding a place to sleep.
We were off now in search of a beach to stay on. They all looked packed and we could not find a turning to some of them. Instead, we decided to stop for lunch a little village and went to a restaurant. The owner spoke good english and we ordered lamb with a greek salad.
Over lunch the owner chatted to us about working on cruise ships and seeing the world, but how now he wanted to settle in Albania. We asked him about the ferries from Vlorë to Brindisi. He recommended going from Igoumenista instead and offered to let us use the internet to check fares. We thanked him and Dan did just that. The prices and info was not helpful as the ferry from Vlorë did not show up in the searches. We thanked the owner and hit the road once more.
Eventually we stopped at a little cove we had spotted on the way past yesterday. The water edge was lined with mobile homes, which we only assumed were stopping for the night.
As we approached and stopped, a funny Albanian man came up to us and asked where we were from. We told him England and asked if it was ok to stay. He said sure no problem, just park. Dan asked if he wanted money, he said that wasn’t necessary, we were his friends … we concluded he was a little strange and parked up anyway, changed into our kozzies, and went for a dip.
Cassie immediately spotted sea urchins in the water, so we tried to avoid these. Later on we spoke to a lady who had stood on one and was trying to get the poison out of her toe.
Cassie got the snorkel and mask out and did a little look-see in the water. She stayed in for ages! All of a sudden there was a ruckus, some locals nearby had caught an octopus. They started throwing it onto the rocks whilst screaming and shouting. I found this really upsetting. Why not just kill it humanely and hopefully not as sport, but to take it back and eat it later.
Stormy Night Ahead
As we had been sitting on the beach, the wind had been building. We decided to set the tent up and head for the restaurant for dinner across the road from the bay. As we had eaten a big lunch, we decided to go for a snack type dinner … this didn’t really happen.
Dan ordered calamari and I the seafood spaghetti, Cas shared both. The wind was now quite strong. We wondered back to the tent and got ready for bed. Whilst we laying in the tent, we were whipped and bashed. Dan and I worried about it not being safe in the tent with the wind at this strength, so we gathered up our sleeping stuff, closed up the tent and bundled into the car.
What a night of horror! I personally got NO sleep … Dan says he managed a wink or two and I think Cassie was the luckiest out of us all. She probably managed an hour or so. To say we woke early would be an understatement. We were up before 6, teeth brushed and outta there. We were the walking dead but we still headed for Vlorë to see how much it would be to catch the ferry to Brindisi.