NORTHBOUND ON THE LOONEY EXPRESS - Elbasan, Durres and Shkoder, Albania

.......previously, some more of our travels through the southern part of Albania.......

Those familiar with our travels will know we love a good train ride. Favourites include so many adventure-filled trips on Indian trains, the massive odysseys through the desert in Kazakhstan, and the picturesque hills in Burma, to name a few. The Albanian train situation is devastatingly sad- what was once a thriving, efficient and much used system has fallen into literal rack and ruin, presumably through lack of maintenance funds. Last year we were unable to take advantage of the couple of lines which were running, but this visit we were determined to experience the only train line currently in service - Elbasan to Durres. 

Sal with Albanian train, Elbasan, Albania

Aboard the Elbasan to Durres train, Albania

It had never crossed our minds to go to Elbasan, a town in central Albania- it's not a destination you hear people talk about, unless as part of a route to Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia. But that was where the train was, so that was where we went! The long bus ride from Sarande in the south to Elbasan seemed endless. We are seriously out of practice, as generally bus trips in this part of the world are quite easy and pleasant. The scenery was of productive fields with stone fruit busily being picked and yellow broom blooming all over the countryside. At Elbasan, we literally fell off the bus, and were grateful for fresh air and being able to stretch our legs. Making our way to our Air B and B, we discovered a neighbourhood where all the houses were hidden behind tall stone walls and gates, with only the ubiquitous grape vine peeking out the top. We were bustled inside our place by the friendly chattering upstairs neighbour, who insisted on giving us the entire spiel and tour in Albanian despite our protestations that we had no idea what she was talking about! We were instantly at home in what felt like grandma's place, complete with doilies and family photos. 

The dotted red line, our trip from Sarande to Shkoder, Albania

Our neighbourhood lane, Elbasan, Albania

Our cute Air B and B, Elbasan, Albania

Bum Bum Lela was our landmark for finding the way home, Elbasan, Albania

Friendly neighbourhood kids, Elbasan, Albania

Elbasan quickly became a favourite destination in Albania. It's strange, because there's not a lot of "sights" to see in the town, just some remnants of a central castle with two giant intact walls and a neighbourhood inside with a few remaining old houses and religious buildings. But it was the lively atmosphere which filled us with positivity. Shady plane trees lined the wide streets, and crinkly faced gypsy ladies with colourful head scarves mingled with fashionable university students on the streets. It felt alive. The town had what seemed to us to be a large number of what Albanians call "Bio shops", fantastic emporiums filled with teas, oils, powders and potions for a huge variety of aliments. Some antidotes we recognized, many we didn't. Balkan people seem to have faith in such treatments, and it was wonderful to see traditional medicines are still an important part of healing. Markets overflowed with olives, cheeses and the abundance of seasonal fruit now starting to appear- peaches, cherries and apricots- all local, fresh and at rock bottom prices. Second hand goods were also abundantly represented, and we were very excited to discover a huge market dedicated to hundreds of piles of assorted clothing items at reasonable prices. Of course we enjoyed a rummage through, and restrained ourselves enough to come away with only one item! One young man struck up a conversation with us, and after the discussion turned to how he felt about the Rona situation, he said with a cheeky grin " Before the election Corona was really bad, now the election has been won it's completely disappeared!"

Pretty red door, Elbasan, Albania

Resting up at local church, Elbasan, Albania

Old woman, Elbasan, Albania

All that's left of Elbasan Castle, Elbasan, Albania

Cute little business, Elbasan, Albania

Shop selling stills for raki, Elbasan, Albania

Morning in the park, Elbasan, Albania

Men playing dominos, Elbasan, Albania

Magnificent second hand clothing market, Elbasan, Albania

Walking around Elbasan, things felt 100% normal. Life went on, with all businesses open, no-one wearing face nappies and people mingling freely in the multitude of overflowing cafes and bars. Added to this, the summer weather was now in full swing and the amazing smell of fragrant honeysuckle and jasmine wafted all over town. We wondered why we had left it so long to visit this dynamic place!

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We had an idea the Albanian trains might be a bit rough, but we certainly weren't prepared for the events on the trip from Elbasan to Durres, the only currently running trainline in Albania. Very early in the morning we revived ourselves at the railway station with the world's strongest coffee, served by an old man with a mischievous toothy smile. It put us in good stead for the trip. After paying our 145 lek/£1.00 fare, we were faced with a decrepit old train covered in graffiti. This we were surprised to see, as graffiti is not common elsewhere in the country. We came to the conclusion it must have been done deliberately by the train company, for what reason we can only guess. Obviously, we hoped to see out of the train window, and tried to find a seat with no cracks or what appeared to be bullet holes in the windows. There were only one or two such options, and we lucked out. As an added bonus the top of the window actually opened too, so it wasn't stifling hot. The few other people on the train seemed unconcerned with enjoying the view- they were mostly Roma people, the majority with some kind of deformity or disability, and were either asleep, drunk, zombified by the early hour, or all three. The two no-nonsense but welcoming conductresses found us, and kept an eye on us throughout the three hour trip. It was hard to believe anything living in this world could smell as bad as the extreme pong drifting down from the other end of the carriage, and when the smelly individual made his way past our seats we nearly vomited. Trying to ignore it, we settled in as comfortably as we could on the broken seats. Strangely, the shabby, mutilated seats all had immaculate blue head protectors, that matched the state of the conductresses' uniforms, and were the only clean or intact parts of the train's interior. The standard of the train was probably on par with the worst Indian trains we have travelled on, and that's saying something!! As the train got going, gradually people woke up and more passengers embarked, and the noise levels rose as conversations took on the form of shouting to each other from different parts of the carriage. Most of the rowdy passengers were on their way to Durres with products presumably to sell to tourists on the beaches. Roma kids leant precariously with their entire upper bodies out of the windows, trying to grab fruit from the branches of trees from the speeding train, their parents not fussed. At one particularly chaotic high point, a family boarded with a half dead puppy, which proceeded to try to hide under our feet- the children were squealing and the mum was yelling at them, and we could only look at each and laugh at the pandemonium!!

Early morning departure, Elbasan, Albania

Tatty interior, Albanian train

Terrible window condition on the train

Looking at Elbasan station through typical window on the train

Train Elbasan to Durres, Albania

Fellow passengers, Albanian train

Scenery from the train

Bunker set into hill, view from train

Sal saying goodbye to the train ladies

One of the down sides of our experiences "travelling" in Balkans countries has been the lack of exoticism or eccentricity compared to Asia (of course there are many, many good aspects to balance this out!!). This particular trip proved bizarre adventures can still be had in Albania, at least!

Entering the ugly outskirts of Durres was quite an anti-climax. We both immediately disliked the town, with it's crowded, dirty, beggar-ridden streets, and the lack of any kind of character was striking after visiting so many other beautiful Albanian towns. Maybe people go there for the beach, but the central town area was certainly not our thing. A cursory look around the old town and seafront confirmed our initial thoughts, and we decided one night was enough, and swiftly left the following morning. 

Arrival at Durres, Albanian train

Rich being a train nerd, Durres train station, Albania

Central mosque, Durres, Albania

Waterfront Durres, Albania

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Our time in Shkoder didn't exactly go to schedule (or as much of a schedule as we live by!). There were a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, a few of the activities we had intended to undertake ended up being much more expensive than we anticipated, and we decided they were not essential for a positive Shkoder experience. The second reason is that we were completely floored by a nasty bug for several days, first Rich, then Sal, and we spent most of our time in Shkoder resting up in our room and trying to restore our energy as quickly as possible. Our basic hostel room had the bonus recovery sound of the loveliest church bells we have ever heard chiming away at various parts of the day almost directly over the road. It was a wonderful contrast to the hideous church bells/clock tower experience we had from our awful hostel room in Bitola.

               

We had come upon a fantastic locally run hostel, with a very good mix of professionalism and casual atmosphere. A few nights when we first arrived were spent in a great atmosphere of pleasant chats, shared meals, beers and raki in the flowery and sweet smelling courtyard, but then we were laid up for the rest of or stay. Mostly young, these travellers all seemed to be working on a Tik Tok or You Tube travel vlog, and we found ourselves wondering how they support themselves in this way. Do that many people actually watch those videos? Allegedly so. Anyway, it was the first time since we have been in the Balkans that we have come across such large numbers numbers of foreign tourists. Last year no-one was travelling, and June appears to be the start of this year's season. The staff were happy to see Aussies (Rich can be an honorary Aussie when we're travelling, for simplicity's sake), as apparently we were the first they had hosted since before the Rona.

Similar to Elbasan with it's university crowd and plethora of cafes, Shkoda also had it's fair share of students and places to take respite from the heat with a coffee or cool drink, particularly around the corner from the hostel, which was most very convenient. The surrounding area was a recently restored portion of Shkoder, where most of the gorgeous character-filled buildings had been turned into cafes or shops. Many had taken great care with decorations, and the flowers and shady situations were very inviting on a hot day. It really gave a lovely quality to the streets, and was the place to been seen, especially on a Sunday afternoon. 

Waiting to be restored, Shkoder building, Albania

Well co-ordinated colours! Shkoder, Albania

Keeping cool at a cafe, Shkoder, Albania

Early morning in Shkoder, Albania

A perfect rose against a wall, Shkoder, Albania

A local lovely, Shkoder, Albania

Another similarity to Elbasan was the proliferation of second clothes stalls, although Shkoder took things to a whole new level with street after street dedicated to pre-loved clothing. Some of it was pretty retro and funky, and we could imagine some of the safari suits, for example, being a hit amongst more fashionable sorts! Again, we had to restrain ourselves (only bought two items this time!)

We were extremely happy to take full advantage of the explosion of cherries in every shop and market stall (not literally), and ate a kilo every couple of days. Other stone fruit was also plentiful, but it was cherries that had us in raptures. Overall costs were a bit cheaper than the southern part of Albania, and people were very honest and friendly. One lady serving us a whippy ice-cream cone ran out of ice cream before the cone was overflowingly full. She tried to give us back some money from the 30 lek/0.20 pence cost of the cone!! A chemist launched into a long story about a study he did on paracetamol when he was a student when we bought a packet of the drug in his shop- the story went on for several minutes and we left none the wiser, simply nodding, smiling, and backing out of the shop bewildered.

Streets of Shkoder, Albania

Wonderful Mesi Bridge, Shkoder, Albania

A flat city, Shkoder was an absolutely perfect place for cycling, an activity we will have to leave until our next visit. We have definitely never seen so many bikes in a Balkan town- old and young, everyone had a bike, and the wide paths and parks were splendidly appropriate for the activity.

Once we had recovered enough, a visit was required to the town's massive castle perched atop a hill overlooking the many rivers and lakes surrounding the town. The walk up was delightful with wild pomegranates sprouting their bright red flowers everywhere, poppies springing up in the grassy fields in the central part of the fort, and very unexpectedly, large numbers of wild tortoises wandering around the grounds!

Cute house outside castle walls (Rich was disapproving of the stone repair work!)

Entrance to Shkoder Castle, Albania

The gates of Shkdoer Castle, Albania

What a view, Shkoder Castle, Albania

Looking out to a different direction, Shkoder Castle, Albania

Ruined part of Shkoder Castle, Albania

Once grand room, Shkoder Castle, Albania

Evocative gateway, Shkoder Castle, Albania

Colonies of tortoises in Shkoder Castle, Albania

As we moved north in Albania, we noticed more bearded men, and a few more mosques around, but it certainly wasn't discernibly more Muslim as we had been expecting. During Communist times, people were discouraged from practising any religion, and the visual indicators are still not obvious. There was also a much larger Italian influence in the central and northern parts, with many businesses sporting the flag, more pasta and pizza restaurants and many people who spoke fluent Italian. Likely a left over from the Italian occupation of Albania, or when Albanian men went to Italy to find work because of the close ties between the two countries. Horse and carts ridden by workmen and farmers were quite a common old fashioned sight on the streets of Northern Albania, something we only saw a couple of times around the south- and usually driven by Roma people there. 

Elbasan mosque, Albania

Old fashioned horse and cart, a common sight in northern Albania

Gentlemen enjoying a beverage, Albania

Picturesque flowers against a wall, Albania

After three months, our second visit to Albania was over and we were disappointed to have to leave the country. Once again, we loved our stay in the simultaneously beautiful, old fashioned and quirky country, and the combination of a long stay in Sarande and shorter spurts of travelling around contrasting areas of the country to get a feel for the different regions worked fantastically well for us. We enjoyed a little taster of what the north of Albania has to offer, and have ear-marked a few destinations for return trips. 

A cute aside: A charming habit Albanians have is answering "Nothing" in response to being thanked. It is the equivalent of saying "Not at all" or "Don't mention it", but for some reason we just thought it sounded lovely!

Rich having a moment, Shkoder, Albania

Sal and yet another lovely wall, Shkoder, Albania

So much more to explore around Shkoder, Albania

Can't get enough of those trains! Elbasan, Albania

..........next up, a new country!! Our impressions of summer beach life in Montenegro.......

LOCAL BREWS AND HEAVENLY VIEWS - Korce and Sarande, Albania

.....our last blog post where we travelled through North Macedonia............

Rich getting artistic, Martyr's Cemetery, Korce, Albania

Our travel destinations from the start of March 2021 put into perspective

We had quite a journey ahead of us from Lake Ohrid in the south of North Macedonia, to Sarande, on the far southern coast of Albania. Not being ones to rush, but also keen to arrive at our destination, we chose to break the journey into two large chunks. 

Our lift south from Ohrid, took us along some deserted and breath-taking parts of Lake Ohrid. After a few "beach holiday" type areas, the country ended with a quaint village and a completely empty border crossing. Interestingly, leaving North Macedonia and entering Albania, not only did we not have to exit the car, but the guards didn't even ask to see our faces!

We felt an instant sense of relief crossing the border, and the immediate visual differences were marked. Most pronounced contrasts were the improved state of the roads and the proliferation of produce gardens; also noticeable were the bunkers everywhere and many more cafes! When we got out at Pogradec, the Albanian town also on Lake Ohrid, we felt more relaxed, and were happy to see more smiles and curious looks and no English! We directly jumped into a furgon (minibus) for the short commute to Korce, and felt immensely happy. 

Korce had an easy relaxed vibe, which we must have picked up on as we simply walked into a hotel near the bus station and took a posh-ish room for two nights- something we never do!

It wasn't a big town, but the couple of days we had allocated to explore it were perfect. Of course, there were cafe/pedestrian areas where the town's glitterati hung out, including one sun-bathed cobblestoned square in the centre of a drastically restored 15th century Ottoman precinct. Most of the shops here were closed when we visited, but it looked like they may have been trying to revive some arts and crafts businesses in trendy, renovated historic buildings. 

Newly renovated part of Korce, Albania

Theatre façade, Korce, Albania

Unique yellow corner building in Korce, Albania

The dominant building in Korce was the Resurrection Cathedral, interesting built by the Greeks in 1995, and replaced an Orthodox church destroyed during Communist times. It's design is unusual- it's described as Byzantine revival, and we've never seen a church style like this in the Balkans. The very local looking deities and figures portrayed on the interior walls were interesting.

Resurrection Cathedral, Korce, Albania

Unusual exterior of Resurrection Cathedral, Korce, Albania

Sal with Mary, Resurrection Cathedral, Korce, Albania

Local-looking saint, Resurrection Cathedral, Korce

After walking through an old part of Korce, with quiet back streets, ordinary houses and people going about their daily lives, we became lost on a goat track heading up a hill, but eventually arrived at the magnificently positioned Martyr's Cemetery on a hill overlooking the entirety of Korce. The actual resting places were not exactly well looked after, but the perspective gained on the size and position of Korce in a green valley surrounded by huge mountains was spectacular. 

Corner shop, Korce, Albania

Nice old wall, Korce, Albania

Gate in back streets, Korce, Albania

Sal with city in background, Korce, Albania

We finished the day with a visit to Birra Korce, the biggest brewery in Albania. At the extremely pleasant restaurant there, where we sat under a blossom tree, had a few Korce Beers straight from the source, and whiled away the afternoon chatting in the gentle sun. 

Beers under a blossom, Korce, Albania

Korce Beer, the largest brewery in Albania

There was intense, but amusing communication problems about catching an onward bus to Sarande. At the bus station, all the bus drivers in the vicinity came to try to help us, and all gathered around speaking only Albanian. A young passer-by was roped in to translate, and he took his job very seriously. Listening carefully to the men, he then earnestly and clearly translated what they had said into English directly into Richard's ear. Unfortunately, we still had to enlist the help of the friendly English-speaking receptionist from the hotel. After a simple phone call, she informed us there was a bus heading south the following morning at 6am, and from there we could connect to Sarande. Seemingly complicated travel arrangements usually turn out to be straightforward and easy in this part of the world, and it was certainly to be the case on this occasion. 

Not only was the bus trip straight forward, it was one of the most stunning journeys we've yet had in the Balkans. Sal drugged herself up for the windy roads and missed the first part of it, but Rich recalls the changing landscapes as we moved further south. Expansive vistas across wooded valleys looked to snow capped mountains in the distance. Forests of oak trees gave way to pines as we rose higher, then farmlands with hazel woods, vineyards and plenty of bee hives. The road followed beautiful clear blue rivers and passed through old world villages, with white and bright red blossoms dotting the countryside. Sheep and goat herds crossed the roads in front to the bus, and cows stood in fields of bright yellow flowers. We could see and feel the changing climate with much more green and flowers than further north where we had travelled from. Spring!!!!

Unbelievable scenery between Korce and Sarande, Albania

Yay, finally warming up! Albania

A bus was waiting in Gjirokaster for the last hour of our long trip. We were extremely happy to arrive back into Sarande, as our memories of our warm and pleasant stay here last autumn were still strong. Scoring the same incredible sea-front apartment as last year, we looked forward to a couple of months coming out of hibernation. 

After a few weeks, the glorious weather began in earnest, and we took the opportunity to spend as much time out and about as we could. 

Wildflowers, Sarande, Albania

Some delightful days out involved bush-bashing around stunning areas of coast in the vicinity of Sarande. We encountered rough and wonky goat tracks along the rocks, with the odd snake here and there and plenty of thorny bushes. But the scenery was gorgeous, with the foliage of the golden coloured shrubs contrasting with the amazing blue of the sea. We discovered more secret and not-so-secret coves along the way. In some remote areas of the walks, we stumbled upon a few of the huge abandoned bunkers that dot the country's coastline. Some were filled with rubbish and graffiti, others were used practically to keep cattle in. 

A man and his sheep on a goat track

Yep, posing again!

One of countless bunkers in the area

Nearly deserted, Pasqyrave Beach

Resting along the goat track, up the hill from Pasqyrave Beach

These colours are real! Up the hill from Pasqyrave Beach

Another morning was spent slogging up a hill through some low-rise residential parts of Sarande we had never previously known existed, to a place where the houses gave way to rocks and goats, as a stony path continued up the valley to who knows where. Yet another involved an exploratory walk along the canals in the flat agricultural plains outside Sarande town. The small market gardens with upcoming yummy produce and olive groves were especially pleasing to see.

A cow in a yellow field, outside Sarande, Albania

We loved Ksamil last Autumn, and this time we were able to explore even more of the coast. The gorgeous blue sky, warm sun and sparkly clear waters were inviting as we walked from "The Last Bay" to the other end of Ksamil, and on the more remote beaches we were the only souls there. Other days we chose our favourite busier beaches and hung out in the clean sand and sea for the day, swimming and feeling happy.

Looking out to Corfu, Ksamil, Albania

The Last Bay, Ksamil, Albania

Unused life guard tower, Ksamil, Albania

The Sarande promenade, a building site on our last visit, was hastily finished in April with an opening occurring as the last tiles were laid and showers were still being installed on the beachfront. The town beach was not as wonderful as the shore further down the coast at Ksamil, and although it was only about 10 steps away from our building, we rarely hung out there. The promenade was, however, brilliant for people watching and ambling, with Albanians and tourists alike embarking on their "xhiro" (stroll) at around 6pm every evening. 

Other days we were very happy to sit on our enormous balcony, and read, exercise, listen to podcasts and enjoy the stunning view. We loved having our own kitchen to cook, and having no particular agenda. For more about what we've done around Sarande, this blog post from last November is more comprehensive. 

Food porn pics, you either love them or you hate them!! Typical taverna meal, Sarande

Big moon rising, view from our balcony, Sarande, Albania

We even partook in a few social evenings, including dinner dates with new mates and visiting a couple of the local bars, patronized by a mix of mostly American ex-pats and locals. Since we've been in the Balkans, we've tried to mix up our stays between hostels and private accommodation, as to balance our social experiences with some more personal time. To be honest, we really missed the Asian backpacker scene, and mixing with other travellers rather than ex-pats. 

After two months of blissing out in Sarande, the familiar feeling of itchy feet began again (must get that athlete's foot seen to), and we said goodbye to to our little piece of paradise in southern Albania. The urge to visit new parts was strong................

Another professional style selfie!

* Just a note about language. As we don't have certain unique Albanian letters on our keyboard, there are many inaccuracies with Albanian words, and we hope any Albanians reading will forgive us!

..........next up, a visit to the north of Albania...........