Days 1-8: In previous posts
Day 9: Shkodër (this was supposed to have been Theth National Park) (overnight in Shkodër)
Days 10, 11: Valbonë a.k.a. Valbona (overnight on day 10). Return to Shkodër and drive to Golem (overnight in Golem)
Day 12: Return to Orikum by 8:00 a.m. to return rental car (we aren’t counting this day in our road trip)

Today’s post covers the last three days of our trip.

We awoke on day nine of our trip excited to drive to Theth National Park. Actually, we were especially excited for our last three days because we would be in the fantastic Albanian Alps with options for hiking.

So we hopped in our rental car, turned the key and . . . nothing. The fan, radio, and instruments came on, but the motor didn’t make a sound. The lights had not been left on, so we didn’t think we had drained the battery; plus, it would have at least tried to turn over.

I sent a message via WhatsApp to the rental car company. They were convinced it was the battery and told us to hang tight. So we did. . . for about three and a half hours. Long story short, a new car was delivered to us. The problem was that by the time we received it, it was too late to go to Theth. That was quite disheartening, I’m not gonna lie. I didn’t want to drive there just to take a peek and turn right around. I wanted to hike. And I didn’t want to drive the winding roads back to the hotel in the dark.

Luckily, we were at a lovely resort, so we decided to take the day off and relax. I swam, we sat by the pool and read, and we had a lovely dinner. Not Theth, but we managed to salvage the day.

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Days 1-7: In previous posts
Day 8: Kruje, Shkodër (overnight in Shkodër)
Day 9: Shkodër (this was supposed to have been Theth National Park) (overnight in Shkodër)
Days 10, 11: Valbonë a.k.a. Valbona (overnight on day 10). Return to Shkodër and drive to Golem (overnight in Golem)
Day 12: Return to Orikum by 8:00 a.m. to return rental car (we aren’t counting this day in our road trip)

Today’s post covers day eight.

I couldn’t stop myself from taking a picture (I didn’t even try) of this building that looks like it is from a fairy tale. It is built on the edge of a drop-off and half of it has no ground beneath it!

Now, a quick stop at the town of Krujë and its castle.

The Krujë Castle is a castle in the city of Krujë, Albania and the center of Skanderbeg’s rebellion against the Ottoman Empire. The castle was built in the 5th or 6th century, perched on Krujë hill.

I looked at a variety of sources to learn about Skanderbeg, and found that Wikipedia offered a good summary:

The Albanians’ resistance to the Ottomans in the 14th century and especially in the 15th century won them acclaim all over Europe. Gjon Kastrioti of Krujë was one of the Albanian nobles and clan leaders who submitted to Ottoman suzerainty in 1425. He was compelled to send his four sons to the Ottoman capital to be trained for military service. The youngest, George Kastrioti (1403–68), who would become the Albanians’ national hero, captured the sultan’s attention. Renamed Iskander when he converted to Islam, the young man participated in military expeditions to Asia Minor and Europe becoming one of the main Ottoman generals. When appointed to administer a Balkan district, Iskander became known as Skanderbeg. After Ottoman forces under Skanderbeg’s command suffered defeat in a battle near Niš (present-day Serbia) in 1443, Skanderbeg rushed to Krujë and tricked a Turkish pasha into surrendering the Albanian fortress. Skanderbeg then embraced Roman Catholicism and declared a holy war against the Ottoman Empire.

On 1 March 1444, Albanian chieftains gathered in the cathedral of Lezhë with the prince of Montenegro and delegates from Venice and proclaimed Skanderbeg commander of the Albanian resistance. All of Albania accepted his leadership against the Ottomans, but local leaders kept control of their own districts. Under a red flag bearing Skanderbeg’s heraldic emblem, an Albanian force of about 10,000-15.000 men held off Ottoman campaigns against their lands for 24 years when Skanderbeg was commander in chief, until 1478, 11 years after his death.

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Days 1-6: In previous posts
Day 7: Tirana (overnight one night)
Day 8: Kruje, Shkodër (overnight in Shkodër)
Day 9: Shkodër (this was supposed to have been Theth National Park – it wasn’t) (overnight in Shkodër)
Days 10, 11: Valbonë a.k.a. Valbona (overnight on day 10). Returned to Shkodër and drove to Golem (overnight in Golem)
Day 12: Return to Orikum by 8:00 a.m. to return rental car (we aren’t counting this day in our road trip)

Today’s post covers day seven.

Do you remember the story we told about losing the shift handle for our dinghy’s outboard motor? We have not been able to find a new handle anywhere. We’ve even looked for something other than an actual handle that we could use as a proxy. Well, Michael Googled “outboard motor” in Durrës and found a store. We decided that this was the day to go there since: 1) they would be open, 2) it was close to our next actual designation (Tirana), and 3) it was the only place we’d found when Googling outboard motors.

Durrës is both a big city and a tourist destination. It apparently has super good beaches. That meant that traffic was crazy! Plus, the Google Navigation Lady kept telling us to go the wrong way on a one-way street to get to the store. So I dropped Michael off on a street corner so he could walk to the store and I drove around. It took me at least five minutes of ignoring the Google Navigation Lady’s bad directions before I got near the store. By that time, Michael had found out that they didn’t have a handle, but the guy who worked there suggested a store that might. We went to that store and struck copper. (Not gold, but copper.) This is what we bought:

We also bought a metric tape measure and some gloves that will protect my hands when managing “slime lines” (mooring lines). We had to use the head while we were there. We see this type from time to time. I think I first saw one when I was in my twenties. I remember wondering how I was supposed to use it. 🙂

Having sort of successfully completed our shopping spree, we gladly left the congested traffic of Durrës behind and headed to Tirana. We’d read that one should try to avoid driving in Tirana, so we stayed in the Granda Hotel, a bit away from the town center. I will say that I don’t think the traffic was worse than any other I’ve driven in before or during this trip, but it was nice not to manage it and try to find a parking space (the latter can be problematic in the tourist spots).

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Days 1-4: In previous posts
Days 5 and 6: Berat (overnight two nights)
Day 7: Tirana (overnight one night)
Day 8: Kruje, Shkodër (overnight in Shkodër)
Day 9: Shkodër (this was supposed to have been Theth National Park – it wasn’t) (overnight in Shkodër)
Days 10, 11: Valbonë a.k.a. Valbona (overnight on day 10). Returned to Shkodër and drove to Golem (overnight in Golem)
Day 12: Return to Orikum by 8:00 a.m. to return rental car (we aren’t counting this day in our road trip)

Today’s post covers days five and six.

The time has come. It is time to share the biggest misstep of our road trip.

Day Five: What a Mess
We had originally planned to drive the relatively short distance (2.5 hours) from Gjirokaster to Berat (to pronounce Berat, think of “grin and bear it“) and spend two days in and around Berat. We wanted to take a day trip to see the Bogove Waterfall and Osumi Canyon one day. These sites just happen to be two of the most popular things to do when visiting Berat. Let that sink in for a minute . . . .

But Cindy (that would be me) got this absolutely spectacular idea that we should take a different route to Berat so we could see the waterfall and canyon along the way and save some driving time. If there was a way to check the quality of the road, I either misread it or didn’t do it.

You see where this is going.

The road was perfectly fine for quite a while. Then the Google Navigation Lady took us to a very narrow road. At least it was paved. All good. Then the pavement ended. The dirt road wasn’t bad. Still good. Then the dirt road went south (and by “south” I mean “really bad,” not the opposite of north) pretty fast. We’d continued for probably 15 minutes, avoiding boulders, drop-offs, gullies, uneven surfaces, potholes, big rocks, etc., when we arrived at a particularly challenging section of bad road. Michael got out of the car to try to figure out how to navigate it while I took a closer look at the road ahead on Google maps. And what did I see but some small print that said: “off-road vehicles only.” Michael was just about to tell me how we could get through this nasty patch of road when I told him that we needed to turn around.

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Days 1-3: In previous posts
Day 4: Gjirokaster (second overnight in Gjirokaster)
Days 5 and 6: Berat (overnight two nights)
Day 7: Tirana (overnight one night)
Day 8: Kruje, Shkodër (overnight in Shkodër)
Day 9: Shkodër (this was supposed to have been Theth National Park – it wasn’t) (overnight in Shkodër)
Days 10, 11: Valbonë a.k.a. Valbona (overnight on day 10). Returned to Shkodër and drove to Golem (overnight in Golem)
Day 12: Return to Orikum by 8:00 a.m. to return rental car (we aren’t counting this day in our road trip)

Today’s post covers day four.

You will recall that we arrived at Hotel Fantasy after dark the previous night. We had a full day to spend in Gjirokaster the next day.

Gjirokaster is a small town located in the southern part of Albania. It is well-known for its steep hill that you have to climb to get to, so much that many people called it the City of Thousand Steps. (Of course, we drove there, so no 1000 steps for us.) And one of the most iconic and prominent landmarks that stands right at the top of the city is Gjirokaster Castle, a massive stone fortress.

Before we get to the castle, we want to share some pictures of the wonderful views from the hotel. You will also see how close the hotel is to the castle. (We stayed in Old town.)

We walked through a few of Old Town’s streets to get to the castle. They make good use of the narrow streets where no cars are allowed: shops on either side, dining tables sometimes in the middle . . . every single one is a hill. If you love to shop, you would love Old Town.

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Starting and ending point: Orikum

Days 1-2: In previous post
Day 3: Butrint Archaeological Park, Ksamil (for the beach), and the Sarandë Blue Eye. Drove to Gjirokaster in the evening (overnight in Gjirokaster)
Day 4: Gjirokaster (second overnight in Gjirokaster)
Days 5 and 6: Berat (overnight two nights)
Day 7: Tirana (overnight one night)
Day 8: Kruje, Shkodër (overnight in Shkodër)
Day 9: Shkodër (this was supposed to have been Theth National Park – it wasn’t) (overnight in Shkodër)
Days 10, 11: Valbonë a.k.a. Valbona (overnight on day 10). Returned to Shkodër and drove to Golem (overnight in Golem)
Day 12: Return to Orikum by 8:00 a.m. to return rental car (we aren’t counting this day in our road trip)

Today’s post covers day three.

Day three consisted of Butrint Archaeoloigcal Park, Pulëbardha Beach (near Ksamil), a quick stop at the Sarandë Blue Eye, and a drive to Gjorikaster to spend the night.

The Google navigation lady took us to Butrint from a direction that proved to be advantageous. It took us first to a Venetian Castle. It is possible we would have skipped it entirely had it not been the first stop. Well, that and the fact that the small ferry that only carries four cars at a time across the lake to Butrint was already full when we got there. Michael suggested that we see the castle first.

If you read farther up in this blog post, you will see a reference to Porto Palermo having “the same triangular plan with round towers found on the Venetian fort at Butrint.” This is the fort to which they are referring. This is a picture of the Venetian Castle (or fort) at Butrint from above. Look familiar?

And here are the pictures we took from inside the walls:

And now it was time to take the long ferry ride (about 60 seconds) across the lake to Butrint.

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Our road trip consisted of adventures, misadventures, bad roads, good roads, in-between roads, and a lot of interesting and beautiful sights. Before we get into the details, here is a summary of what ended up being our itinerary:

Starting and ending point: Orikum

Day 1: Pick up rental car. Llogara Pass, Lamani Beach, Himarë a.k.a. Himara (overnight in Himarë)
Day 2: Porto Palermo, The 40 Saints Monastery, Lëkursi Castle, Sarandë a.k.a. Saranda (overnight in Sarandë)
Day 3: Butrint Archaeological Park, Ksamil (for the beach), and the Sarandë Blue Eye. Drove to Gjirokaster in the evening (overnight in Gjirokaster)
Day 4: Gjirokaster (second overnight in Gjirokaster)
Days 5 and 6: Berat (overnight two nights)
Day 7: Tirana (overnight one night)
Day 8: Kruje, Shkodër (overnight in Shkodër)
Day 9: Shkodër (this was supposed to have been Theth National Park – it wasn’t) (overnight in Shkodër)
Days 10, 11: Valbonë a.k.a. Valbona (overnight on day 10). Returned to Shkodër and drove to Golem (overnight in Golem)
Day 12: Return to Orikum by 8:00 a.m. to return rental car (we aren’t counting this day in our road trip)

Today’s post covers the first two days.

Let me first say that this was an aggressive and optimistic road trip. We wanted to see a lot of the country since we will probably never visit here again. So, we decided to go with the “drink from a firehose” approach. Ideally, this would have been a two-week road trip. It worked out – except for when our rental car wouldn’t start so we couldn’t go to Theth National Park!! – but it would have felt a tad more leisurely had we had three more days. We will tell you what went well, what went awry, and we will encourage you to visit this astounding country!

First, we needed a car. We rented a car from a store in Orikum. We paid 50 euro/day, which was about what we expected.

This is just a random picture of the countryside. We are sharing it because it displays the all-too-familiar sight of rows of trees, clearly planted that way. We also saw many fields of corn, olive groves, and some grape vines.

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We will be heading out for an 11-day road trip in Albania this Friday (today is Wednesday), but this post is about our first week in Albania.

We’ve been on Seahike in Orikum Marina the entire time, save for many trips into town (Orikum), a couple to the beach, and two to restaurants.

My initial impression of the marina was that it was out in the boonies. I wondered if we’d made a mistake. Turns out I was both right and wrong. It is pretty much out in the boonies but we didn’t make a mistake. Well, for one thing, this is the only working marina so we had no choice, but it is nice here. I mean, of course we are taking the road trip to see more of Albania, but this is a fine place to stay if one is looking for a quiet, relaxing locale.

When we first moored, we found that our electric cord didn’t fit the outlet at that particular berth. Michael talked to a gentleman who has a boat here and he told Michael that different berths have different electrical outlets. So, we moved to one that worked for us. Problem solved.

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We have been in Albania for a week. We will start a 12-day road trip this Friday, but this post is about our trip “north,” and our entry into Albania. (Spoiler alert: we love it!)

After saying goodbye to Jennifer, Michael and I checked out of the hotel and walked to the port police office to check out of Patras. They were closed. So, we walked to the boat, thinking we would motor back and get to the port police via water. Michael hung around on Seahike just near the shore (we weren’t allowed to anchor or tie briefly to the quay) while I took the dinghy ashore. Still closed. We were a bit apprehensive because we’d heard that you could be fined for leaving a place without checking out with the port police. But we needed to be on our way, so we decided to cross our fingers and risk it.

Because we’d gotten a late start due to the whole port police being closed thing, we knew we couldn’t get as far as we had hoped that day. We had about 80 nm to go. Not to worry. We decided to head for a small bay – Goat Bay – on the NE side of Meganisi, about 84 nm away. We dropped the anchor and took two lines ashore. There were only four boats in the bay. It was a lovely, quiet night.

Here are some pictures of our journey from Patras to Goat Beach, Meganisi and of the anchorage.

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