By car to Albania. By car in Albania

What is the perception of Albania by the average Russian citizen? I learned about this when I shared my plans to visit this country with my friends. From calm surprise to horror in the eyes - Are you out of your mind? There is also devastation, poverty and crime. What a sin to conceal, when, three years ago, thoughts about Albania only began to visit me, a similar perception was inherent in me.
Eight years ago, being on the island of Corfu, I looked at the Albanian coast, confident that I would never visit there.
However, delving deeper into the study of the material, I fundamentally changed my mind. In recent years, Albania has been actively developing, isolationism has been left in the distant past, roads are being built, many hotels on the coast.
The coastline of the country is one of its best assets, along with climatic conditions and location directly in Europe. If Croatia and Montenegro have made places of mass tourism on their sea coasts, then why not neighboring Albania?
A conversation with Serbian acquaintances in Greece, who drive their own car to Albania, and this does not harm them in any way, also prompted me to make a decision. Serbs! To Albania!
And now, finally, it is decided, we go there. The route has been worked out only approximately, we largely rely on our own perception on the spot - in which case we change the paradigm right on the go, because a) we drive our own car (Russian license plates) and b) are not limited in time. Initially, we are going to stay there for two to four weeks. We leave Greece (Halkidiki), there are two of us - husband and wife. Travel time is mid-July.
We chose a weekday and leave in the morning. The first stop is planned in Saranda, we have booked an apartment there for 2 days. We cross the border at Konispol, to the north of Igoumenitsa. The shorter route lies through the Kakavia border crossing, but we decided to stop at Ksamil on the way, it is south of Saranda.
We crossed the border quite quickly, there are cars, but there are not very many of them, we were not examined.
We immediately discovered the first surprise - the navigator, into which I loaded the latest maps, showed only the main roads across Albania, which is why we went to the "upper" highway, separated from the sea by a mountain ridge, Ksamil remained on the sidelines. Looking ahead, this is good, because on the road that leads to Ksamil from the south, we would have to cross a small strait on an archaic ferry, which would take a lot of time.
From this first surprise, a consequence followed - we cannot find the booked apartment in Saranda, the navigator does not show the house by number. It's good that the address turned out to be simple, this is one of the main streets of the city, we arrived on a whim. On the way, I tried to find out the route from the policeman, the uncle did not understand a word in English, but the next surprise opened up - many here know Greek. My wife and I do not know him, but we teach, we can express ourselves at a primitive level. It helped a lot afterwards. In general, at the very least, they found their own apartment. It is located so-so - on the edge of the city, but its own parking, good view, low price, clean and comfortable. The owners speak Greek, their daughter, a schoolgirl, knows English well. There are practically no communication problems.
The time of our check-in turned out to be relatively early, you can take a break from the road and go for a walk around the city.
Saranda (photo 1) is a resort. A beach with sun loungers-umbrellas stretches continuously along the entire city, there are a lot of people, but you can find a place if you want, after all, the crowded beaches are slightly lower than in our Greek town. There are showers, there are breakwaters, some of which have towers for jumping into the sea. The water is quite clean, the beaches are pebbly. But we still don't like such beaches, in Greece we leave the town for several kilometers to settle down on the unequipped coast. However, today the walk is still an introductory walk, we were not going to swim.
2. City beach

3.

The embankment as a whole is beautiful, in the center there are many modern buildings in the average international resort style, many restaurants, cafes and shops. In general, everything is like everywhere else.
4.

We need the Internet, we need to buy a SIM card, here is the next surprise, a pleasant one - 4G Internet with unlimited traffic (but without phone capabilities) costs only ~ 5.5 euros for a month (in terms of value). This is after the Greek 30 euros for 5 Gig per month (Kosmote).
In about 20 minutes we walked the entire embankment. The city is not big, it is located on a slope, buildings under construction are visible everywhere above - it grows in breadth. It seemed to us that the southern part of the city coast is more "elite" (if you can use this word here), hotels are more meaningfully located here, because the embankment and the road leave the coast, leaving room for the concept of a hotel-beach, and in general it is somehow more comfortable here.
5. View from the southern part of the city to the north

There are a lot of cars with European numbers, most of all Swiss, Italian and Polish. But there are cars from everywhere: right-hand drive British, and Scandinavians, and Greek neighbors. The first car with Russian license plates was also spotted here.
Since we settled not in a hotel, but in an apartment, there is the problem of tomorrow's breakfast, we need to buy something. There are many shops, the average Albanian shop is very chaotic, usually small, but everything you need is there. Closer to home, Carefour met, the prices are slightly higher, but the staff speaks English, and everything is organized as usual. The goods are both Albanian and neighbors, Greece and Italy. There are also international goods - alcohol, household chemicals, etc.
The most common Albanian cheese is kashkaval, which is familiar to us in Romania and Serbia. There are dozens of varieties of it, the language barrier makes it difficult to understand the subtleties of the differences. We buy purely in appearance.
But buying regular black tea is a problem. Lots of all kinds of teas, herbal, mountain tea, fruit, but black (green too) is not. You can find it, but not everywhere, you have to search.
It's a pity that the cherries have already departed, they say that in Albania they are especially tasty.
We took our purchases home, hung on the Internet for a bit, and went to a restaurant for dinner. I read a lot about Albanian cuisine, in general, I concluded that everything is average Mediterranean, meat-fish-vegetables. Lots of pizza, lots of grills. Before leaving, we asked the owners what restaurant they would recommend, they thought for a long time, gave the name, but, alas, we did not find it.
And they just found a restaurant on the embankment, it looks good, people are sitting, there are places.
I do spearfishing, in Greece we eat fresh fish almost every day, so I prefer meat in restaurants. Ordered lamb with okra.
I will not delve into food matters, I will just share my conclusion, which was later confirmed more than once - in Albania, you need to be careful about visiting a restaurant, namely, always look at what they eat at neighboring tables, how large the portions are, do not order dishes that fall out of the mainstream, do not go to uncrowded restaurants. I don’t know, perhaps in the north of the country (Durres, Tirana, Shkoder), everything is different, but in the south, in resort areas, portions are unexpectedly small, the meat can be rubbery, and the dough in pizza resembles bread. This does not apply to all establishments without exception, but that's what I'm talking about, you have to choose carefully.
The first visit to the restaurant on the waterfront left complex feelings, the portions were small, the meat was so-so, but I tried the stuffed peppers from my wife - very tasty. Prices, however, are low, on average with our further dinners, the bill is somewhere in the 20-25 euros for two, this includes beer and tips.
By the way, about beer. Local varieties have not been rolled to me personally, all have a low density and a dull taste. However, such beer is good for daytime consumption, for quenching thirst.
We returned home through the city at night, I must say, there was no sense of danger and some kind of discomfort.
An ordinary city by the sea.
In the morning we have breakfast with the products we bought the day before, then, according to the plan, we have a trip to the Blue Eye, then to Butrint and Ksamil.
When I just started thinking about a trip to Albania, I was interested in the country, nature, I remembered the main must-see place - Blue Eye, aka Blue Eye, aka Syri I kalter.
It is located some half an hour drive from Saranda. There is a sign at the bend off the road. The entrance is paid, something around 5 euros per car, I don't remember more precisely. After paying for another couple of kilometers on a bad dirt road around the lake, then we arrive at the place, there is parking, there is space. We leave the car, then walk a little.
It is green around, the air is clean, the birds are singing, and although there are many people from all over the world, this does not interfere with the feeling of pristine nature. The trail in three minutes leads to the desired point, this is a source flowing out of the ground and giving rise to a river. The water is crystal clear, cold (+10 g), the depth in the very epicenter is unknown, they say, more than 50 meters, in appearance - 3-4 meters.
6. Blue eye:

Above this area, there is a platform from where you can jump directly into the source. Despite the water temperature, there are many who want to do this, there is a small queue. I love such fun (in Mexico I dived into cenotes with a diameter of 2 meters), my wife glances reproachfully beforehand, but 10 degrees is too cold for me, alas.
7. Jumping into the Blue Eye:

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The rivulet, originating from the source, soon merges with another, then they together form a small lake, after which they turn into a river with the Slavic name of Bistritsa.
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13. A couple of hundred meters from the source, above a calm section of the river, there is a cafe in the form of pavilions on piles above the water.

14. Local flora:

15. And fauna:

We ordered freshly squeezed orange juice, sat for a while among the murmur of water and the chirping of cicadas, and went to the car, butrint was next.
Optional - a small video about Blue Eye.
16. The road towards the sea lies just along the Bistritsa river and through the village of the same name, it is also in the picture:

17. A Christian monastery is visible on the mountain in the distance (photo with a strong zoom):

Unlike Blue Eye, I had not heard of Butrint until this year. These are ancient ruins, with an amphitheater and an acropolis, the city was once founded by the ancient Greeks, then it became Roman, it was mentioned by Virgil, the name of Julius Caesar is associated with the foundation of the colony. It is located south of Saranda and Ksamil, in the immediate vicinity of the Greek border. The complex is under the protection of UNESCO.
There is a spacious parking lot, the entrance to the complex itself is paid (something like 6 euros per person). The city consists of two parts - lower and upper (acropolis). In the lower amphitheater, a former port, there are ruins from the Christian period, the most significant of which is the remains of a baptistery. Upstairs there is a former fortress and a modern small museum.
These, of course, are not the ruins of Pompeii or Ephesus, you can walk around the whole complex slowly in an hour, however, in some places it is quite interesting.
18. Tower and column near the entrance:

19. Butrint, lower part of town:

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22. Amphitheater:

23. Former bathhouse:

24. Baptistery with mosaics on the floor:

25. View from the Acropolis to the lower city:

Here you can see the strait that would have to be crossed by a ferry if from Greece we went by the lower road.
26. Fortress on the other side:

27. Sculpture in the courtyard of the museum

The inspection is over, then we go to Ksamil. It is not even a city, but a collection of beaches and modern buildings, mainly hotels and apartments. The place is described everywhere as "gorgeous sandy beaches with crystal clear blue waters." Well, let's see, we have all the beach attributes with us, we want to swim and lie on the beach for a while.
The first negative - it is simply unrealistic to park. Having circled unsuccessfully along the crowded streets by the sea, I returned closer to the highway, where I managed to stick myself near a newly built mosque. The beaches are visible from afar, they are overcrowded. We left all the beach things in the car, went just for a walk and look at the famous beaches of Ksamil.
28. Mosque in Ksamil (one of two that we saw in Albania in 18 days):

29. Beaches of Ksamil:

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31.

The sand is loose, the beaches may be nice, but filled to capacity. We looked longingly at the sea teeming with bathers, breathed in the exhaust of countless boats and aquabikes, enough, it's time to blame.
Yes, one more interesting thing. In Ksamil, many houses were built illegally. Recently, they began to actively fight against such buildings, to the point that illegally built houses are being overwhelmed.
32. Perhaps this is one of these:

But you still need to swim somewhere. Not far from Ksamil, from a distance, you can see a deserted place with an access road, a rocky gentle coast, miniature coves, clear blue water, and a little further away - pine trees.
We arrived, we are not the only lovers of secluded rocky shores, there are few cars, but there are.
We settled down, squeezing an umbrella into the gap between the stones, and took a dip. Another discovery - the water is colder than in Halkidiki by two degrees. Looking ahead - this is all over the coast. If you just come here and do not compare anything, then the water will seem normal, but after Greece the difference is noticeable.
After swimming, we go back to Saranda. Evening is approaching, but it is still light and sunny. On the way, we slow down from time to time, then have a snack, then be distracted by the views.
33. Corfu Island

34. View of Ksamil:

Closer to Saranda on the mountain there is the monastery of St. George, how not to get up? He left his wife downstairs, he climbed up in a race with the goats grazing here.
35. Shën Gjergjit (St. George) Monastery:

Is he female or male? Looking around, I discovered a volleyball court, it was difficult to imagine the nuns in their clothes playing volleyball. Hence, the monastery is male. Although the men in robes ... you will not play very much either, but still.
36. View from the monastery to Saranda, below - the so-called. monastery beach:

37. In the mountains behind the estuary, a fire center is visible, grass and bushes are burning:

I decided to drive to the northern edge of Saranda to see what was there. Not far from our apartment there is a small bay with a port and a couple of ships. We drove closer - everything is fenced there and there are signs everywhere that it is forbidden to shoot, something military. Although no one is visible around, he did not take pictures. I drove even further, the road turned into a dirt road, getting worse and worse. We passed the cemetery, next to it there is a hotel with a pretty beach:
38. Hotel by the cemetery:

39. The beach of this hotel:

I drove even further, around some dull buildings, dusty, there is no entrance to the sea. We returned to our place.
In the evening we decided not to go to dinner on the embankment, but to visit a restaurant not far from us, there are a lot of visitors, everything looks good. Alas, this was not without disappointment. Half of the dishes from the menu were not in reality, I took grilled dorada, my wife fish soup and something else small. My dorada was excellent, but her soup was just water with an inexpressive smell (I was joking - not a single fish was harmed during the preparation of this fish soup), her wife did not eat. The waiter inquired later, is there something wrong? The wife explained, they say, of course not, it's just water. The waiter thoughtfully plunged a spoon into it, moved it around, and then carried it away. To be fair, this soup was not included in the bill.
Well, Saranda has been explored, as has the area around it. You can go further.
In the morning we leave for Himaru. We booked an apartment there with good reviews, let's see the Albanian Riviera.
End of the 1st part.
Second part

The mountains and beaches of Albania (its southern part, on the border with Greece) delighted me. All five days from the beginning of my journey, the weather was wonderful, not a cloud in the sky. But on September 19, the weather began to deteriorate, the forecast promised rains, and to Tivat, where the airport is, 400 km, and I hurried north. I decided to travel this path slowly, in two days, make a stop in Vlora, then admire the nature of northern Albania.

North of Vlora, the Adriatic Sea, well-known and untwisted, but with large cities, ports, and therefore dirtier and more populated.

My first goal was to drive a very steep pass with a reserved pine forest located on the border of the Ionian and Adriatic seas, visit the large cities, Vlore and Duress, compare their beaches, see how the capital Tirana has become prettier, and visit the ancient city of Shkoder, where the most cheap fruits in a huge market, where the largest and fattest carp in the world are found in the huge Skadar Lake, and they are prepared in all restaurants in these places.

The road from Saranda to Vlora is amazingly beautiful, winds along the coast, runs in river valleys, along the way, cozy villages are all buried in greenery and gardens. At first the mountains are small, then steeper and more steep.

50 km before Vlora, the road goes steeply up a serpentine road, from a distance it is even scary, it seems that the motor will not withstand such a load or there will not be enough oxygen from a rapid ascent of 2,000,000 meters, but if you make frequent stops and admire nature, then everything goes smoothly.

The pass is taken, the views of the sea from the height are beautiful, but a relict pine forest begins behind the pass. Pine trees are only rare here, Geldreich and Rumeli pine, Bosnian and black pine, various firs, ash trees, junipers, a lot of chestnut, beech, Kerm oak.

The road went down through the reserve

This is the national park of Albania. It is called Llogara. 10 square kilometers - mountains covered with forests, vertical cliffs, beautiful canyons, with numerous streams. And there are a lot of wild animals that are protected. There are apiaries along the road, where they sell mountain honey and tea sets from mountain medicinal herbs.

A few minutes along the valley, and in front of me appeared the city of Vlore. It is the largest city on the coast of Albania, along the road there are continuous gardens and olive groves. There are many ancient fortresses, mosques and Orthodox churches in the area.
The suburb of Vlora begins with the town of Orikum, where the amphitheater, built in the 1st century BC, has been preserved.

I knew that it was not comfortable in the city center, the water was muddy, so I stopped, not reaching 5 km from the center, in a complex of large international hotels. I took the risk of staying at the best hotel in Vlora - New York.

A huge room cost 50 euros per night, there is a mini bar in the room, climate control, a huge mirror with a built-in LCD screen on the entire wall, and most importantly, there is a balcony that hangs over the sea, from which it was interesting for me to watch the sunset, as the clouds became more and more, the weather was deteriorating, the waves were photogenic.

The sunset was getting stronger and I went back to my room

It is only 120 km from Vlora to Dures on the chic new autobahn.
Dures is also a large resort town by the standards of Albania, there are 130 thousand inhabitants in Vlora, 110 thousand in Dures, but only 30 km from the capital's Airport, so there are most tourists here and the sea is the most muddy.

There are many tourists in Vlora and Dures, and in the south in Saranda and in September, the embankments in all these cities are beautiful, comfortable, constantly being completed and updated, there are equally many cafes and places for entertainment, but the sea and sand, of course, are not as clean as in the cozy bays in the Ksamil area. For a purely beach holiday, of course, it is better to drive further south.

From Dures to Shkoder through Tirana, too, 120 km, the roads are better here than in the south, in places with six lanes and excellent interchanges - viaducts.
Tirana has developed into a major European city over the past 15 years. According to unofficial data, there are now up to a million people in it, according to official data, about half a million.
I didn't want to stop in Tirana, car traffic and traffic jams are more abrupt here than in Moscow, after taking a few photos from the car window, I went to Shkoder.

The road runs along the Albanian plain along numerous rivers. In the distance the mountains Kruya-Daiti.
These are agricultural places, agriculture is developed here, the landscapes are wonderful.
Shkoder is located at the confluence of the Drin River, which flows from the canyons of the highest mountains of Albania, and the Buna River, which flows from Lake Skadar. The border with Montenegro is just 10 km away. Shkoder is the same in size as the coastal cities described above, with a population of 135 thousand people.

Of course, I was interested in the Shkoder market. I have visited many markets in Albania, I have been to Macedonia and Serbia, but the Shkoder market seemed to be the largest and most abundant. It's a pity, it was a day before the plane, so I just tried everything and bought it by the piece.

Everyone who is in Shkoder visits the Shkodersuk Fortress. It was built by Illyrian tribes in the 4th century BC, from the 7th century AD Slavic tribes began to settle in these places, and from 1479 all these places were captured by the Turks.

After the market, I visited the embankment of the great European lake Skadar. The lake covers 500 km², two thirds belongs to Montenegro. I liked the fish restaurants on the shores of the lake in Albania more than the Montenegrin ones.

200 thousand birds winter on the lake, 26 species constantly live in summer, most of all different cormorants. Since the lake is shallow and the water warms up to 27-30 ° С, there are a lot of fish here. There is salmon, eel, and mullet, but the most delicious is the local carp, although they call it carp.

This is how it is - Skadar Lake

In the evening I reached Tivat, spent the night in a beautiful apartment on the seashore with the same owner as in the spring. In the morning I was awakened by the incomparable smell of black Macedonian grapes. It turned out that there are many private wineries all along the coast, grapes with a sugar content of 26% are brought from Macedonia, they make excellent homemade wine, and chacha is driven from the waste. They treated me goodbye to both.

After 45 minutes of summer I was in Belgrade, which greeted me with a cold drizzling rain, but it did not prevent me from drinking coffee on Skadarskaya Street and being in Moscow in the morning.

Let's summarize.
I am 70 years old, I do not know European languages, the last time in Europe was 40 years ago, when I was young. But Albania and other Balkan countries are so safe and friendly to tourists that in a rented car I was able to drive the entire south of the Balkans up and down in a week, cross 4 borders back and forth, and nowhere were there even small problems and misunderstandings. You don't need visas, prices for hotels and food are half the price of Moscow prices, the sea is clean, warm, the coast is well-maintained, nature and ancient monuments are protected.
From the mountains in the vicinity of Ksamil I saw Greece. Many bays and beaches of the Ionian Sea are as clean and rarely visited by tourists as in the south of Albania. And the next year I decided to get here too.

The plan is simple. A ticket to Thessaloniki from Moscow starts from 4 thousand rubles. Car rental in Thessaloniki is not a problem. Due to the influx of tourists within a radius of 50 km from Thessaloniki, the sea is dirty, prices are high during the holiday season, so you should not rest here.
But across Greece, from east to west, there is a direct super-high-speed highway, and in 3 hours you can drive from the Aegean Sea to the Ionian. Admire "Greek Macedonia" from the car windows, relax in small towns near mountain lakes and stop for a few days in the area of the resort town of Sivota, where there are many bays, islets, dozens of cozy clean beaches, and the Ionian Sea is as azure and transparent as in Ksamil. And from Sivota north to Ksamil only 50 kilometers.

The entry is posted in sections:

We arrived in Albania on September 24. It was already chilly. We decided to spend the first day in Shkoder, visit the Rozafa fortress and see the city.

One of the landmarks of Shkoder is the monument to Mother Teresa. She was born in Macedonia to a Kosovar Albanian family. She is very revered in Albania, you can even say that she is the symbol of Albania, along with the flag depicted on every corner.

Monument to Mother Teresa in Shkodra

There are a lot of cyclists and bars in the city and as it turned out later throughout Albania. And in the bars you can only drink. Food is not provided there. But local men are not at all embarrassed by this. Every evening they gather in bars (no women), drink and stare at passers-by. On the table for everyone there are 2 glasses of colorless liquid. Most likely, these are crayfish and water. Many bars broadcast football matches. By the way, there are many more bars than eateries or restaurants. But at the same time, we have never seen drunk people on the street.

Fewer men congregate on lawns near roads, in parks and in general in any place and play board games such as dice. There are also many, no, many confectionery shops in Albania, where they sell different types of sweets. Sooooo tasty and very cheap. Oddly enough, we practically did not see overweight local residents. How do they do it ...

There are also barbershops on every corner, although there are not so many hairdressers. Apparently, the habit of looking after one's appearance, as well as love for Turkish vodka - raki, were borrowed during the Ottoman occupation.

In the city center are my favorite wide stone-paved pedestrians. By the way, this occurs quite often in the historical parts of cities.

Shkoder Center

The first rule of travel in Albania: if the navigator takes you on a bad road, there is definitely another one. It may be a little longer, but not in time))))

Where we just didn’t go (or tried) until we realized that we cannot trust the navigator 100%. So we went to the Rozafa fortress along some goat paths. Then we returned to the highway, along which we entered the city, and there, following the signs, we found the entrance without any problems.

Rozafa fortress

View from the Rozafa fortress

Rozafa fortress

Descent from the Rozafa fortress

In general, if you love old fortresses and castles, then Albania is your everything)))) There are a lot of them here!

October 26, 2016 15:21 Saranda, Butrint - Albania 2016 July

1. What does an ordinary Russian citizen know about Albania? I got an idea of this when I shared my plans to visit Albania with my acquaintances. From calm surprise to horror in the eyes - Are you out of your mind? There is also devastation, poverty and crime. What a sin to conceal, when three years ago thoughts about Albania just began to visit me, a similar perception was inherent in me. Once, being on the island of Corfu, I looked at the Albanian coast, confident that I would never visit there. However, delving deeper into the study of the material, I fundamentally changed my mind.

In recent years, Albania has been actively developing, isolationism has been left in the distant past, roads are being built, many hotels on the coast. The coastline of the country is one of its best assets, along with climatic conditions and location directly in Europe. If Croatia and Montenegro have made places of mass tourism on their sea coasts, then why not neighboring Albania? A conversation with Serbian acquaintances in Greece, who drive their own car to Albania, and this does not harm them in any way, also prompted me to make a decision. Serbs! To Albania! And now, finally, it is decided, we go there. The route has been worked out only approximately, we largely rely on our own perception on the spot - in which case we change the paradigm right on the go, because, a) we drive our own car (Russian license plates) and b) are not limited in time. Initially, we are going to stay there for two to four weeks. We leave Greece (Halkidiki), there are two of us - husband and wife. Travel time is the second half of July. We chose a weekday and leave in the morning. The first stop is planned in Saranda, we have booked an apartment there for 2 days. We cross the border at Konispol, to the north of Igoumenitsa. The shorter route lies through the Kakavia border crossing, but we decided to stop at Ksamil on the way, it is south of Saranda. We crossed the border quite quickly, there are cars, but there are not very many of them, we were not examined.

We immediately discovered the first surprise - the navigator, into which I loaded the latest maps, showed only the main roads in Albania, which is why we drove onto the "upper" highway, separated from the sea by a mountain ridge, Ksamil remained on the sidelines. Looking ahead, this is good, because on the road that leads to Ksamil from the south, we would have to cross a small strait on an archaic ferry, which would take a lot of time. From this first surprise, a consequence followed - we cannot find the booked apartment in Saranda, the navigator does not show the house by number. It's good that the address turned out to be simple, this is one of the main streets of the city, we arrived on a whim. On the way, I tried to find out the route from the policeman, the uncle did not understand a word in English, but the next surprise opened up - many here know Greek. My wife and I do not know him, but we teach, we can express ourselves at a primitive level. It helped a lot afterwards. In general, at the very least, they found their own apartment. It is located so-so - on the edge of the city, but its own parking, good view, low price, clean and comfortable. The owners speak Greek, their daughter, a schoolgirl, knows English well. There are practically no communication problems. The time of our check-in turned out to be relatively early, you can take a break from the road and go for a walk around the city.

Saranda (photo 1) is a resort. A beach with sun loungers-umbrellas stretches continuously along the entire city, there are a lot of people, but you can find a place if you want, after all, the crowded beaches are slightly lower than in our Greek town. There are showers, there are breakwaters, some of which have towers for jumping into the sea. The water is quite clean, the beaches are pebbly. But we still don't like such beaches, in Greece we leave the town for several kilometers to settle down on the unequipped coast. However, today the walk is still an introductory walk, we were not going to swim.

2. City beach

The embankment as a whole is beautiful, in the center there are many modern buildings in the average international resort style, many restaurants, cafes and shops. In general, everything is like everywhere else.

We need the Internet, we need to buy a SIM card, here is the next surprise, a pleasant one - 4G Internet with unlimited traffic (but without phone capabilities) costs only ~ 5.5 euros for a month (in terms of value). This is after the Greek 30 euros for 5 Gig per month (Kosmote). In about 20 minutes we walked the entire embankment. The city is not big, it is located on a slope, buildings under construction are visible everywhere above - it grows in breadth. It seemed to us that the southern part of the city coast is more "elite" (if you can use this word here), hotels are more meaningfully located here, since the embankment and the road go away from the coast, leaving room for the concept of a hotel-beach, and in in general, it is somehow more comfortable here.

5. View from the southern part of the city to the north

There are a lot of cars with European numbers, most of all Swiss, Italian and Polish. But there are cars from everywhere: right-hand drive British, and Scandinavians, and Greek neighbors. The first car with Russian license plates was also spotted here. Since we settled not in a hotel, but in an apartment, there is the problem of tomorrow's breakfast, we need to buy something. There are many shops, the average Albanian shop is very chaotic, usually small, but everything you need is there. Closer to home, Carefour met, the prices are slightly higher, but the staff speaks English, and everything is organized as usual. The goods are both Albanian and neighbors, Greece and Italy. There are also international goods - alcohol, household chemicals, etc. The most common Albanian cheese is kashkaval, which is familiar to us in Romania and Serbia. There are dozens of varieties of it, the language barrier makes it difficult to understand the subtleties of the differences. We buy purely in appearance. But buying regular black tea is a problem. Lots of all kinds of teas, herbal, mountain tea, fruit, but black (green too) is not. You can find it, but not everywhere, you have to search. It's a pity that the cherries have already departed, they say that in Albania they are especially tasty. We took our purchases home, hung on the Internet for a bit, and went to a restaurant for dinner. I read a lot about Albanian cuisine, in general, I concluded that everything is average Mediterranean, meat-fish-vegetables. Lots of pizza, lots of grills. Before leaving, we asked the owners what restaurant they would recommend, they thought for a long time, gave the name, but, alas, we did not find it. And they just found a restaurant on the embankment, it looks good, people are sitting, there are places. I do spearfishing, in Greece we eat fresh fish almost every day, so I prefer meat in restaurants. Ordered lamb with okra.

I will not delve into food matters, I will just share my conclusion, which was later confirmed more than once - in Albania, you need to be careful about visiting a restaurant, namely, always look at what they eat at neighboring tables, how large the portions are, do not order dishes that fall out of the mainstream, do not go to uncrowded restaurants. I don’t know, perhaps in the north of the country (Durres, Tirana, Shkoder), everything is different, but in the south, in resort areas, portions are unexpectedly small, the meat can be rubbery, and the dough in pizza resembles bread. This does not apply to all establishments without exception, but that's what I'm talking about, you have to choose carefully. The first visit to the restaurant on the waterfront left complex feelings, the portions were small, the meat was so-so, but I tried the stuffed peppers from my wife - very tasty. Prices, however, are low, on average with our further dinners, the bill is somewhere in the 20-25 euros for two, this includes beer and tips. By the way, about beer. Local varieties have not been rolled to me personally, all have a low density and a dull taste. However, such beer is good for daytime consumption, for quenching thirst. We returned home through the city at night, I must say, there was no sense of danger and some kind of discomfort. An ordinary city by the sea.

In the morning we have breakfast with the products we bought the day before, then, according to the plan, we have a trip to the Blue Eye, then to Butrint and Ksamil. When I just started thinking about a trip to Albania, I was interested in the country, nature, I remembered the main must-see place - Blue Eye, aka Blue Eye, aka Syri I kalter. It is located some half an hour drive from Saranda. There is a sign at the bend off the road. The entrance is paid, something around 5 euros per car, I don't remember more precisely. After paying for another couple of kilometers on a bad dirt road around the lake, then we arrive at the place, there is parking, there is space. We leave the car, then walk a little. It is green around, the air is clean, the birds are singing, and although there are many people from all over the world, this does not interfere with the feeling of pristine nature. The trail in three minutes leads to the desired point, this is a source flowing out of the ground and giving rise to a river. The water is crystal clear, cold (+10 g), the depth in the very epicenter is unknown, they say, more than 50 meters, in appearance - 3-4 meters.

6. Blue eye:

Above this area, there is a platform from where you can jump directly into the source. Despite the water temperature, there are many who want to do this, there is a small queue. I love such fun (in Mexico I dived into cenotes with a diameter of 2 meters), my wife glances reproachfully beforehand, but 10 degrees is too cold for me, alas.

7. Jumping into the Blue Eye:

The rivulet, originating from the source, soon merges with another, then they together form a small lake, after which they turn into a river with the Slavic name of Bistritsa.

13. A couple of hundred meters from the source, above a calm section of the river, there is a cafe in the form of pavilions on piles above the water.

14. Local flora:

15. And fauna:

We ordered freshly squeezed orange juice, sat for a while among the murmur of water and the chirping of cicadas, and went to the car, butrint was next.

16. The road towards the sea lies just along the Bistritsa river and through the village of the same name, it is also in the picture:

17. A Christian monastery is visible on the mountain in the distance (photo with a strong zoom):

Unlike Blue Eye, I had not heard of Butrint until this year. These are ancient ruins, with an amphitheater and an acropolis, the city was once founded by the ancient Greeks, then it became Roman, it was mentioned by Virgil, the name of Julius Caesar is associated with the foundation of the colony. It is located south of Saranda and Ksamil, in the immediate vicinity of the Greek border. The complex is under the protection of UNESCO. There is a spacious parking lot, the entrance to the complex itself is paid (something like 6 euros per person). The city consists of two parts - lower and upper (acropolis). In the lower amphitheater, a former port, there are ruins from the Christian period, the most significant of which is the remains of a baptistery. Upstairs there is a former fortress and a modern small museum. These, of course, are not the ruins of Pompeii or Ephesus, you can walk around the whole complex slowly in an hour, however, in some places it is quite interesting.

18. Tower and column near the entrance:

19. Butrint, lower part of town:

22. Amphitheater:

23. Former bathhouse:

24. Baptistery with mosaics on the floor:

25. View from the Acropolis to the lower city:

27. Sculpture in the courtyard of the museum

The inspection is over, then we go to Ksamil. It is not even a city, but a collection of beaches and modern buildings, mainly hotels and apartments. The place is described everywhere as "gorgeous sandy beaches with crystal clear blue waters." Well, let's see, we have all the beach attributes with us, we want to swim and lie on the beach for a while. The first negative - it is simply unrealistic to park. Having circled unsuccessfully along the crowded streets by the sea, I returned closer to the highway, where I managed to stick myself near a newly built mosque. The beaches are visible from afar, they are overcrowded. We left all the beach things in the car, went just for a walk and look at the famous beaches of Ksamil.

28. Mosque in Ksamil (one of the few that we saw in Albania in 18 days):

29. Beaches of Ksamil:

In my opinion, there are only two countries left in Europe that can be called the last unexplored corners of the Old World: Romania and Albania. Everything is, of course, relative and the "unknown" of Albania cannot be compared with the exoticism of Nigeria or Burundi; nevertheless, these two European countries still hide a lot of interesting things, and this is with a good and convenient infrastructure for tourists, allowing them to get to know them comfortably and inexpensively. If I traveled far and wide, I found myself in Albania for the third time in my life, and the previous two times I "flew" it too quickly and had little time to see. About two years ago I sailed on a ferry from the Greek Corfu to the Albanian Saranda (by the way, it turned out cool!) And then traveled by public transport along the coast to the border with Montenegro, visiting and even climbing. Now I decided to fly to Tirana by plane, rent a car and properly explore the remote mountainous regions of northern Albania, combining a trip with Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria and other countries of the region. There will be a lot of reports, but for now I will tell you about one of the most difficult road routes of all that I have known in my life. And I have known them, I dare to assure you, a lot!

That day we started from Prizren, in the southern part of Kosovo, then proceeded northwest through Djakovica to the border with Albania in the town of Morina. Beauties there: mountains, snowy peaks, herds of sheep grazing on the green slopes. Switzerland is natural, perhaps not spoiled by the crowds of tourists. After the border, we head towards the Valbone National Park with the town of Bayram Kuri and then south to the hydroelectric power station and dam on the Drin River. Further, through the passes and hellish serpentine, in the evening we arrive at Shkoder -

Albania is a small country, but keep in mind that the terrain is very mountainous, and the roads are generally in poor condition, very narrow and extremely dangerous. If we remember that 25 years ago, under the dictator Enver Hoxha, there were less than 1000 cars in the country (owning a car was prohibited under the communists), then there was no need to build and expand roads. In recent years, the Albanians have put a lot of effort into road construction, but there is still a lot of work ahead.

Our entire route from the border with Kosovo to Shkoder is about 170 kilometers, isn't that nonsense? No it is not true! On the map below, you can fully appreciate that each "Albanian" kilometer corresponds to four or five ordinary ones. Your average speed will be at least 40 km / h, but even this is too fast for those roads. My companion was simply bad in all respects, both from the road itself, and from the precipices and abysses at every turn. I confess that I drove faster than the road allowed, but there was an explanation for that - I had to have time to pass the serpentines before dark. Then it will become generally death-like to drive here, especially considering the icing of the road with occasional drizzling rain. The car slipped several times on sharp rises, hitting a frozen puddle and I would not want to get into such a puddle in a turn, but half a meter from the abyss. As you understand, in Albania no one is trifling on trifles and does not sprinkle sand with reagents on the roads.

The most difficult section of our route with elevation differences from 350 meters above sea level (hydroelectric power station) to 2150 meters on the passes -

At the exit from Kosovo, there was no control as such, they did not even ask for a passport, only giving the go-ahead, go through. That's good, because my companion and I were worried about the fact that she entered Kosovo on a Bulgarian visa (according to the rules, only Schengen is suitable) and, as it were, on the way out, clung to. Do you remember how we are with little adventures?

There was a small queue on the Albanian side of the border, and while we were waiting, I went out and photographed the surrounding landscape -

In memory of entering Albania, will be for the collection. It is a pity that the Albanians switched to the seals of the European standard, the bottom used to have such beautiful ones with an eagle. Oh, for me this optimization of everything in the world -

After the border, there is an excellent new highway to the very town of Bayram-Tsurri -

Bayram-Tsurri is a small town, from where numerous routes to the mountains start. By the way, beyond this ridge is already Montenegro, and on their side the mountains are called "Prokletije" (Curse) -

After some time, we arrive in the town of Fierza, where the hydroelectric power station of the same name is located, and it is here that an interesting water route begins along the river downstream to the Koman pier, which is about 50 kilometers from here. A small ferry runs twice a day and used to be the only route connecting the extreme north of Albania with the center of the country. Now that a road has been built across the passes (150 km along serpentines), the importance of the ferry has decreased. Nevertheless, it is so picturesque there that tourists do not go on a trip to save time -

Closer -

We had an idea not to twist along the serpentines, but to drive the car onto the ferry and go down the river to Coman, but it turned out that he would not sail today. It's a shame! But okay, let's go along the road, which is no less interesting.

An almost abandoned town of power engineers next to a hydroelectric power station -

There was a rare Chinese truck in the yard -

Actually, the dam and the hydroelectric power station. Built in 1971 by the Chinese, with whom Enver Hoxha was fiercely friends after relations with the USSR finally deteriorated. In those years, the station provided more than half of all electricity in Albania and was one of the main strategic objects of the country. As you understand, mere mortals could not get here, and even more so they could not photograph in the country of total spy mania. And what did you expect from the leader of the country, who built himself a whole underground city in the eighth decade in case of a nuclear war, see "" -

After the hydroelectric power station, the road begins to twist serpentines to the pass -

Drin River -

One thing we did not take into account is that it gets dark early in winter, and the road is long. This photo was taken at about three o'clock in the afternoon, but because of the twilight I already had to "pull" it in Photoshop -

Here is such a road for more than a hundred kilometers -

With stones periodically crumbling on the road -

And how fast would you drive here?

By the way, this is my second driving experience in my life in the Romanian Dacia (Dacia), the first time I drove the previous model in Morocco -

After about three hours, we reached the small town of Fouche-Arrez, where, in theory, the road, judging by the map, is getting a little better. The town turned out to be very interesting for a lover of all sorts of abandonment and relics of the communist era. I'll tell you in a separate post a little later.

Permanent Albanian bunkers are found everywhere, here one of them fell victim to a landslide and "slipped" to the road -

Late in the evening we got to Shkoder and stopped at a motel at the entrance to the city. In the morning, a wonderful view of the Rozafa fortress opened from the balcony. We are not going there now, since we were exactly a year ago, see "