Balkans - Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia - 2016

We have noticed a general daily pattern to the weather in the areas where we have been travelling.  First thing in the morning, the skies are sunny, clear and blue.  As the day progresses, the skies become progressively more overcast, and on most afternoons there scattered showers, which clear overnight so the cycle can begin again the next day.

We used our understanding of this cycle this morning to rise early (6:30am) and go on a pre-breakfast walk around the edge of Lake Ohrid to Sveti Jovan Kaneo (a.k.a. the Church of Saint John at Kaneo).  Built in the late 13th century, this is probably the most frequently visited church in Ohrid, and the most photographed, because of its picturesque location near the edge of the cliffs overlooking the lake.  And the best time for photogenic lighting is early morning. 

Returning to our hotel, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast, cooked to order (as you might expect, or at least hope for, in a hotel with only five rooms).  We had a long drive ahead of us, and we were keen to be on the road by 9:00am, which we managed to do.  The drive was not long in terms of kilometres, being just 333 kilometres, or about the same as Sydney to Canberra.  However, whereas Sydney-Canberra is a comfortable three and a half hour drive, our trip today took almost eight hours.

The reason for the slow drive was the poor condition of the roads along the route we took to explore Albania’s seldom visited mountainous south-east corner.  Starting in Ohrid, we drove southwards along the eastern edge of lake Ohrid to the Sveti Naum border crossing into Albania, where our entry into Albania took a frustrating 25 minutes because the computer system was down and our entry had to be processed manually.

We continued south through Korça to Erseka, where we stopped to explore this typical Albanian medium–sized town which had seen so little new development that parts of it had a 1950s/1960s retro feel to it.  With an altitude of 900 metres, Erseka is apparently Albania’s highest town.  The road deteriorated south of Erseka, and we managed an average speed of only 30 kilometres per hour for the next few hours as we climbed and descended steep roads through the Gramoz Mountains that were severely potholed and only a single car width wide.

We continued through the lovely mountain town of Leskoviku before descending through a steep gorge to the narrow floodplain of the Vsoja River that flowed into Albania from nearby Greece, only a few kilometres from us at that point.

We made a stop at Përmeti, a town described as “pretty” in our guidebook, which left us feeling fairly indifferent.  Perhaps it was the overcast weather that made the town seem inordinately dull, despite the turquoise waters of the Vsoja River that flowed alongside it.  It has a famous ‘big rock’, but although it was most assuredly a rock, it wasn’t all that big.  The town was burnt down four times during World War II by the invading Italians and Germans, and a large memorial to the fallen Albanian defenders is located at the entrance to the town.  Of an especially unimaginative design, I can’t recall ever seeing a more neglected war memorial that this one at Përmeti, which has crumbling concrete, fading inscriptions, and surrounds that are becoming overgrown with weeds, grass and thistles.

From Përmeti, the drive into Gjirokaster was less than an hour along well maintained, adequately wide highways.  However, things slowed considerably once we arrived in Gjirokaster.  The old town centre of Gjirokaster (where our hotel was located) is set on a high hill, just beneath a 13th century castle that dominates the surrounding area.  The town grew downhill from the castle, the new section of town, with its socialist-era high rise flats, is located on the flat plain at the bottom of the hill.

To get to our hotel, we had to drive along cobble-stoned streets that were barely a car width that rose steeply up the hillside.  It was raining when we arrived in Gjirokaster, and unfortunately, our little Dacia Stepwagon couldn’t handle the wet, steep cobblestones; its wheels just spun without getting proper grip.  It was therefore a fairly arduous task to find our way to the hotel, reversing cautiously when necessary to the annoyance of cars behind us, not helped by Google Maps that does not differentiate between

streets for cars and pedestrian walkways, and a hotel whose identification label was so high on the building that it couldn’t be seen from street level.  Gjirokaster is a beautiful (but very steep) town for walking, but it is probably the most difficult urban centre I have ever driven through.  Driving here is a Very Tough Gig.

We eventually made our way to the hotel, the beautiful Kalemi 2 Hotel, where we have a room with a small balcony that overlooks the castle in one direction, and in the other direction, the valley with its dramatic mountain backdrop — the same mountain range that we had spent much of the day crossing.

Because of our fairly late arrival at the hotel, we haven’t really explored Gjirokaster yet.  There is much to see, and we are planning on another pre-breakfast walk tomorrow to begin the exploration.

Day 11 - Ohrid to Gjirokaster, Albania

Thursday 9 June 2016