Shkodër / Durrës

Shkodër

Thursday, June 13
Today, we left the Valbona Valley and headed for Shkodër. Fortunately, we had good weather and were able to take a two-hour scenic ferry ride across Lake Koman.

It's a beautiful lake until you come across the trash that's accumulated in various areas (mostly plastic bottles and shoes!)

The Captain was a very friendly man who seemed to take a bit of a shine towards me and before I knew it, I was steering the boat!

After the lovely ferry ride, we were back on our bus on a very rough road for about two hours (with great scenery) that took us to Shkodër in time for lunch. Shkodër is the traditional centre of the Gheg cultural region and one of the oldest cities in Europe.

We had lunch at a lovely outdoor restaurant along the river (salad and beer for €10)!

Easily the most well-known attraction in Shkodër is Rozafa Castle, a massive stronghold that stands guard over the city like an enormous sentry.
One of the highlights of visiting Rozafa Castle are the views. One can see clearly in every direction, including the city of Shkodër, the plains to the south, and Lake Shkodër and the border of Montenegro. Right after lunch, we were off to visit the Rozafa Castle, another uphill climb, but definitely worth the views.

After our visit, we settled in our hotel and did an orientation walk exploring more of the city including the mosque, cathedrals and the local market.

View from my little balcony!

We had a free evening, so Corinne and I did a bit more exploring. I found a post office, a magnet and some ice cream! We went to a nice, outdoor place for dinner. It just started to rain and the automatic roof just closed upon us for shelter ... how nice! By the time we were finished, the rain had let up and we almost got lost finding our way back to the hotel.

Skanderbeg Tomb / Durrës

Friday, June 14
After breakfast, we started our drive to the Adriatic Sea towards Durrës. En route, we stopped in Lezha to visit Skanderbeg memorial. Skanderbeg was an Albanian nobleman and military commander who led a rebellion and successfully resisted the Ottoman Empire for 24 years. As the resistance brought Albanians from different regions together with a common cause, it is argued that he helped define an Albanian's identity.

After a slow drive due to traffic, we arrived in Durrës in time for lunch where we took a quick walk on the promenade and enjoyed the seaview.

We then visited the Roman Amphitheatre. The Amphitheater of Durrës remains one of the most majestic of the ancient world and one of ten most beautiful Roman amphitheatres. Widely recognized among enthusiasts of antiquity, it is a pearl of the Balkans that is slowly making its way out of the shell.

One quick stop at the Venetian Tower before checking into our hotel mid-afternoon.

Corinne and I went for a walk trying to find information for our travel plans for the next day.

In the evening, we went out for our last group dinner as our tour has come to an end. I thought I'd try some fish, but didn't expect it to look like this!

Durrës to Sarandë

Saturday, June 15
Today, a few of us still met up at breakfast and said our goodbyes. Corinne and I were trying to find our way to Sarandë and our bus driver made arrangements with some driver he knew (Jani) who would pick us up at some obscure gas station on the highway. Tony and Tedi were heading back to Tirana dropping Tracey and Sheila off at the airport. Corinne and I got a ride and suddenly, Tony pulled over on the side of a busy highway and pointed to the gas station on the other side. We quickly grabbed our luggage and managed to get across the highway with our luggage in tow.

The plan was that we wait there for an hour and Jani would come along and pick us up. Tony even gave us the bus colour and the license plate to look out for. We were just settling in to wait when Corinne saw a bus stop at our location so I ran out to check and it was indeed a bus to Sarandë, but it wasn't the right colour, plate number, no Jani and an hour early! I tried to ask the driver and his assistant about Jani, but they just insisted we need to hurry and get on the bus, that the next one isn't coming for three hours, so we jumped on. He didn't speak English and basically told me Jani is "kaput", so I have no idea whatever happened to Jani or if he was wondering why we weren't there when he arrived. It was a very crowded bus, but we managed to get seats together. It was about a 4.5 hour bus ride with one stop inbetween. When we arrived in Sarandë, the bus basically stopped in the middle of a busy intersection and everyone hopped off.

Now we had to find our way to the port. We knew it wasn't far because we could see the water and fortunately, it was downhill, so we schlepped our luggage to the port where we bought our ferry tickets and had some lunch and an ice cream before boarding our ferry mid-afternoon. It was a very relaxing 1:20 ferry ride to Corfu.