Hotel Pavarsia Vlore

... bewoelkt ist ist es immer noch 30 Grad und recht schwuel.

Berat besteht aus einer Burg auf einem Berg. Diese enthaelt ebenfalls Kirchen und auch heute noch bewohnte Haeuser. Am Berghang gibt es dann einen alten Vorort und auf der anderen Flussseite, durch eine Steinbruecke verbunden, einen weiteren Vorort. Drumherum gibt es heute aber natuerlich auch eine moderne Stadt mit guter sozialistischer Architektur.

Gruss
Ralf

... and sometimes struggle to start.

The ride is very bumpy but shows how rural population lives. Most people have used their yards as gardens, growing grapes, corn … Many buildings are half built. Effigies are common but can't tell what they are for. Deserted factories. Trash everywhere. Concrete military bunkers are all over the strategic locations (eg, town entrances, hills, bridges). I am taking photos from the bus but ...

... floating down the canyon. The rapids were quite lame but the views were spectacular and I can’t imagine a better way to view the national park then by raft with frequent stops to jump in the icy water. After the 18km trip we were given lunch and drove back to Kotor, along the way we took a few photos but I spent most of the way home sleeping.
That night I ate pizza for the 4th straight day with the Frenchies and then had an early night in. The next day I bused it to ...

The day after Tirana, I went to Berat, where things are much better. This small city is surrounded by mountains, has a well-preserved old town which is divided into a Muslim section and a Christian section by a muddy river, but they look similar: the houses are built on the slopes, one on top of the other, all have big windows (I guess this is because this region is the hottest part of the country), so from afar all you see are windows covering a whole slope and ...

... enjoyed the people and the food thoroughly, and even got a little more than a tourist insight through our volunteering.

Scott is an English ExPat who was looking to open a hostel somewhere that has a lot of tourism potential. He fell in love with sleepy Berat, and bought a world heritage building to convert into a hostel. What he needed from us was some finishing touches. During our ...

... where the so called bus station should be for my bus to Berat. It was fairly easy to find on the map or so I thought. I walked to where the bus stop should be but there was nothing there. I asked a few people where the stop was and no one spoke hardly any English so the old hand signals came out Bus Berat? pointing this way and that way and people were pointing in the same direction so I headed the way ...

... two hours of walking around with my pack I finally found a place for 25 Euro. Another frustrating experience. Vlore doesn't really have anything to see and I originally had no intention of stopping there. There's a port, a couple of statues, and a couple of mosques, but none of them are very exciting. There were also more power outages. During the power outages, most of the restaurants and cafes have generators so they can ...

... in Tirana and then make for Macedonia or Greece. This way I get to see a slower-paced, more traditional side of the country, which really helps me to appreciate the place better. I'll head down to Gjirokastra then tomorrow, an old city that seems to get positive reviews from most everyone who visits. I have to take a five-hour bus to get there - and I'll have to therefore get up pretty early so I'll have enough time in the city itself - but I'm sure it'll be worthwhile.

... seems to have sunk with the rise of Vlora. It was "rediscovered" by European classicists in the 18th century, though it was not until the Austrian occupation of 1916-1918 that the site was investigated by archaologists. Their work was continued by a French team between 1924-1938. Parts of the site were damaged during the Second World War. After the war, an Albanian team undertook further work from 1948 onwards ...

... over Another" (një mbi një) windows. Indeed, the quarter is built in a very steep place and windows seem to be one over another. Same views can be admired also in Gjrokastër (Albania) and Catanzaro (Italy) where once an Albanian minority lived. The Citadel overlooks the river and the modern city as well as the old Christian quarter across the river. It is a well preserved area containing narrow streets, Turkish houses and Orthodox churches. Modern Berat consists ...