Lake Ohrid to Berat

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Like with Shkoder to Kosovo this is meant to be my tricky travel day but somehow everything just runs on rails. I am up, showered and downstairs by 7. Mark and the American guy whose name I somehow never get are already there. We are just waiting on Alex, luckily she doesn’t keep us long. We walk to the roundabout. My foot is a mess, yesterday’s walking has put blister on blister and I’m in a lot of pain. We have walked past the taxi rank when we realise and I am all set to plough on when one literally stops and offers us a ride. It is 2 euros to the bus station and an absolute no brainer. The American guy gets his ticket, the rest of us have ours so we order coffee. Alex is the only one with dinars left so she pays for our coffees and runs across the Street to get us a chocolate filled croissant for breakfast. At ten to we see the bus starting to load up so we head out showing our tickets and get seats. The American sits at the front, Eden and Sophie not far behind and Mark, Alex and I take seats to ourselves across and in front of each other. We get going, talking for a bit then I start reading my book. I’m determined to get rid of one as I picked up three in the last hostel and it’s weight I don’t need. We cross the border which goes smoothly and after two hours we stop at a rest station. We get in a queue for the toilet and I give Mark some lek to buy us all a soft drink and some crisps as I’m the only one with Albanian currency. We have just about sat down when it was time to go again. I realise it is nearly time to register for liverpool tickets and Alex offers to hot spot me but we haven’t gone too far when the driver comes down asking if anyone is going to Berat. I say yes and he says there is a bus from here. Saves me two hours so I hurriedly grab my bags, say bye and jump off.

There is another guy looking equally as flusted by our sudden bus ejection so I ask him if he’s going to Berat, he is so we head off in the direction of the bus station. Hes from Argentina so we bond over their world cup win and us signing Alexis Macalister. We have definitely walked for longer than the promised 5 minutes but anyone we ask keeps pointing us this way. Eventually I stop a woman who doesn’t understand us but calls her brother and I get the information that we’ve long passed it. Over the road Kevin has had the same information. I thank the woman thinking again about Albanian hospitality. She called someone who spoke English so she could help us. We find the bus station a good twenty minutes past where we walked; the last man we asked for direction escorts us there. At the bus station we find the bus to Berat. It will go at 2 so we have around 45 minutes. I mind Kevin’s bags while he goes for food then he minds mine while I connect the wifi, try to get liverpool tickets and fill up my water bottle. The tap water is ice cold and tastes amazing. I buy a can of fanta as it feels mean not to when she has been so helpful. I am just about through the ticketing queue when we start to head off , I am gutted but Kevin hot spots me and I’m able to register for the ballots. We have about a two hour drive and it is a small non air conditioned minibus but it costs 500lek around 4.5 euro which is a far cry from the 20 euro bus to Tirana. I try to sleep but I feel a bit sick, then I try to write my blogs but I feel a bit car sick or maybe I’m just overheating. They let on more people than the bus can take and I’m sat with my bag on my knee, so high I can rest my head on it. I get a revolving door of seatmates until finally enough space frees up and the last guy moves over letting me have a seat to myself. He tells me his brother is in Florida, I tell him I’m from England. He has no other English and I have no Albanian so that’s the conversation done. I read my book and am partway through when the doors are open and I’m being pointed at. Looks like this is my stop but I’m not ready and my belongings are everywhere. I scramble to collect them with two people helping then once again I am dumped at the side of the road. Maps.me says my hotel is a twenty minute walk so I sort my bags out, Kevin and I say our goodbyes and I head for my hotel.

It is around a 20 minute walk and it is hot and my foot is not in a good way but the hotel is worth it. It is an old building that looks a little bit like the White House. Inside it is modern but retains some old stylistic features. My room is big, clean, cool and has a huge bed. I rest for a bit then I decide to go and ask about the spa. It is extra to use the spa facilities but the pool which I’m told is cold, is free, as is the relaxation area. I am taken down to the spa and shown the pool which is stunning, beautiful narrow pool with a waterfall and cool lighting. It is perfect and freezing. It takes more than a few lengths before I warm up buy I manage 30 lengths which my fitbit tells me is 14 minutes so I have upped from my lake time. I definitely feel like I’m getting stronger and I could have gone longer I’m just wary of hurting myself after such a long lay off. I head to the relax loungers and read my book.

At 4 I head back upstairs, have a quick shower and head out. I have been recommended a couple of eating places so I head to the closest one. It is meant to be called heavens kitchen but a restaurant called friendly is in the location. It looks exactly how it was described though so I head to the terrace. I order something with steak and cheese and nuts . It turns out to be minced steak, pine nuts and cheese deep fried with chips. It is delicious. I have a beer and admire the view of the citadel on the mountain and buildings of the Christian side of the river. After dinner I head to the meeting place for the free walking tour on the other side of the river.

They run it at ten and 6. There is a really big group so they split us and my guide is called Alina. She gives us the history and talks about the bridges then we head through narrow, cobbled streets to a church on the Christian side. She explains that in the communist times religion was banned and they destroyed all the murals except one which they left but beheaded all the saints as a reminder what would happen if people tried to practice religion. Kevin is on the tour so we chat a bit. He is leaving tomorrow, only has today here. From there we cross the bridge passing the most famous view of the city; the Muslim side where there are a lot of windows in the houses in the mountain. She explains that it is knows as the city of windows on windows but that in Albanian the phrase is similar to 1001 windows but she warns us not to count them as there isn’t 1001. We head to the Muslim side past a few mosques and the unesco buildings which are ethnic Albanian in style and she explains that people have to ask permission to change anything on their houses.

We start heading up to the castle. It is one long straight road. My blisters are really hurting but there is a pregnant lady suffering more than me so we take our time. We pass car after car of Mercedes, Porsche, BMW and Alina explains that its prom night so every dad in town is driving his daughter up for photos in her dress at the castle before her prom. At the top it is more like a village than any other castle or Fort I’ve been to. There are houses, bars, shops, restaurants and its very lively. We walk along taking pictures until we reach the point where we can see the whole town. My hotel looks magnificent but the Christian side set against the hill is probably the nicest view. I take a lot of pictures then we head over the other side to watch the sunset over the mountains. There is a church, similar to the one at Lake Ohrid and the sunset is beautiful. Alina says her goodbyes so we thank and tip her. Kevin heads off but I stay a bit longer taking pictures then head down with a girl from Czech Republic. At the bottom she plans to go for food where I went earlier so we say goodbye. She is also leaving tomorrow. I walk along the main street to my hotel which is really lit up and stop to read my book, have a beer and enjoy my ambience. I finally finish my book so one down and back at the hotel I book the spa for 5pm tomorrow. My feet are bad so it is a relief to get into bed.

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