Exploring Albania

We checked out of our unit and headed inland, stopping first at the castle on the hill behind Sarande to get some views overlooking the city.

Our objective today was to visit The Blue Eye on the way to Gjirokaster. We decided to take the slow route, which had some beautiful scenery, but didn't take long to work out why it was slow... the road was a bit... um... crap. It reminded us of the road out to Lawn Hill in North Queensland, only not quite as good. And of course we only have a Kia this time instead of a Pajero, so it was pretty slow going. But we're glad we did it as we saw some stunning scenery and wildlife along the way.

The Blue Eye is where an underground spring surfaces and is the source of the Bistricë River. They are unsure as to the actual depth of the "hole" the water comes out of as the high flow rate of the water prevents divers going any deeper than about 50 metres. The water is crystal clear and you can see the bottom of the stream and the hole itself. It's a popular place to go swimming, but too cold for Nicky.

Afterwards, we eventually arrived at Gjirokaster and, unfortunately, followed Google Maps to our accommodation. Now... Gjirokaster is a lovely old town built on the side of the mountain and the roads are steep, windy, and in places, very, very narrow. Couple that with the fact that Google hasn't come through here in a while and let's just say... it was a bit of a nightmare. Google was directing us over cliffs, through houses, and up steep roads that were too narrow for the car. After a number of dead ends and back-tracking, we were thinking of just finding new accommodation somewhere else.

But luckily, we ran into this bloke who stopped us to invite us into his restaurant. When we explained that we were lost, he got the address, jumped on his motorbike and asked us to follow him. I felt a little better after he got lost himself a few times, but eventually he found our accommodation for us. He wouldn't take any money, simply insisting that we go visit his restaurant. That's definitely where we're having dinner tomorrow night. The Albanian people are so friendly and helpful.

Anyway, it was a long day of driving, but an absolutely wonderful day!Läs mer