Sarande Sunsets

Today was equally as uneventful as yesterday, we checked out of our hotel and said our goodbyes to Lewis, who was heading toward Turkey. Given that I had been with him since Zabljak in Montenegro, it was quite sad to say goodbye, but these happen when you're travelling, and I'm sure we'll stay in contact. Although he's Australian, he is from Perth, so it is unlikely that we will cross paths again. It would only be a couple of days until Erin and I also part ways, but until then, we got an accommodation for a couple of nights in Sarande. Erin and I had become quite close during our travels, but she would also be heading towards Turkey in a couple days and I have to do my best to get back on track with my itinerary so that I can get through Slovenia, Northern Italy, Southern France, Spain and Portugal in about 6 weeks now. Although she tried to get me to join her in Turkey, it just doesn't make sense to do so as I will be there in a couple of months to do a tour. Once again, it is a rough part of travelling, meeting people, becoming close, and then eventually never seeing them again. But this is the way it is.

Before we could check into our hotel we had to get a taxi to the accommodation, because we no longer had a car. This ended up being the biggest fuck around, and probably the closest we have been to getting scammed so far. We were quoted 30 euros to get into the hills, and we figured we'd do it (even though I was keen to walk a little first). The guy arrives, and we get in, but the traffic is so bad that we are barely moving. The taxi driver seemed stressed, so I said we could just pay part of the cost and get out so you can complete different drives, but he assured us that it was alright. After about half an hour, he ups the price due to the time it's taking, and we figured it was probably fair and didn't have much option at that point. Then, just as we get out of the city and out of the traffic, he says he can't go any further because his work day is finished. So, instead of driving another 10 minutes, he drops us off to walk it for 30 minutes. He then asked for the 40 euros and I argued that we haven't even arrived at our destination, so it isn't unfair to pay the whole price but he wasn't budging and we had to pay the full price. It was very annoying and unfortunate but these sorts of things happen while you travel. After said 30-minute walk in the midday heat, with our big bags, we arrived at our hotel, and the family was super lovely. They even said they would have picked us up if they knew we didn't have a car. We planned to do nothing the rest of the day, but then the family offered to drive us to the beach, and we figured it would be the easiest way to get down there now we don't have a car. We didn't want to miss our opportunity. This ended up being quite nice, and because the weather wasn't great, there weren't many people. This was especially good as it cleared up just as we arrived. We did little more than have some drinks by the beach and chill until the sun began to set. We then moved to the rockface that overlooks the water to fully enjoy the sunset - which was fantastic. This was great, and it was a nice way to end a pretty busy day.

We then stuck around for some drinks and some food. We had gotten incredibly over shitty Albanian pasta, pizza, and burgers, so when we had the option for sushi, we had to try it. It was quite expensive, about 17 euros each, but we seriously needed something different. It actually was fantastic, too. Some of the best sushi I've ever eaten. I've been told Europe has shit Asian food, but this was my first time trying it, and it was great. Maybe it was just the fact it wasn't regular albanian food, but I enjoyed it a lot. After this and a couple more cocktails we had to head home but it was a huge walk up steep hills, and we were NOT going to get a taxi again, so we took a couple roadies and went on our way home, stopping for a drink wherever necessary. We eventually made it home and passed out instantly - we were exhausted.Read more