A Holiday From My Holiday In Albania's South

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August 13th 2016

Published: September 13th 2016

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Delek Delek

Ksamil

Albania's worst kept secret.

The time had finally come. I've been needing a break from travelling for some time now - I just needed to stop for a while.
And so I rented out my own apartment for seven days in the beachside town of Ksamil in Albania's deep south. I had been getting more and more snappy every day; every little thing - if it was annoying, then it was pissing me off.

This included the bus down to Saranda from Berat. For a start, I found out that the journey would take six hours rather than the four hours Google Maps said it would take and I soon discovered why. It literally stopped everywhere for everyone and the driver seemed to be a transporter of goods as well as one of people as one dude put an entire car door in the back.

There was a reason why I was in a hurry. The check-in at my guesthouse closed at 8pm apparently and I didn't want to lose my seven-day booking so I called the guesthouse to say I'd be arriving late but there was minimal English n the other end of the line and none of us could understand each

Roman Baths, Butrint

Ruins of the old Roman baths in Butrint.

other. I would have to wait and see if my message had got through...

Albania's natural beauty should be its primary draw in my opinion and this was reinforced as we drove through the river-laced countryside and mountains, some bits reminding me of New Zealand.
Arriving in Saranda however, I was back in a more urban environment. I wasn't at a bus station however but on a street outside the office of the transport company that drove me here. Asking the driver where to catch a bus from here to Ksamil - a mere 15-minute drive from here - he tells me that there aren't any more buses at this hour (7pm) and that I'd need to catch a cab.
"How much?" I ask. He shrugs his shoulders and wears a look on his face that suggests that I've made a big mistake in arriving here so late.
Eventually an old cab driver comes over and quotes me 10€ or 1400 leke. I ask him if he can do 1200 leke but I can't tell if he has agreed to it or not. He looks reluctant to do so but in Albania they have this really confusing tradition of

Water From The Blue Eye Spring

With splendid colour.

shaking their head for "yes" and nodding their head for "no" - so the opposite of what is done in Western countries. Then, Albanians who deal with tourists regularly adopt the Western method. Super-confusing. Especially since when you can't communicate verbally, you become so reliant on non-verbal gestures. I couldn't quite make out what his head was doing (I don't think he could either) but by the end of the ride he asks me for more money when i hand him over 1200 leke. Crap.
I was really angry at myself because if I had taken the 8am shuttle from Berat, I could've saved myself 10€ - which is a night in a dorm. An expensive sleep-in alright. I should've known that buses might have stopped running in the evening but I chanced it so I wouldn't have to get up early. I didn't even want to stay in Berat that morning. For a traveller of my experience, it was a stupid mistake to make.

My guesthouse was right in the middle of the local backstreets - in other words, it was teeming with locals. Which is no bad thing, in fact it was nice to be completely surrounded

View From The Hostel, Sarande

My hostel was weirdly, basically an apartment on the 8th floor. This was the view over the beach from it.

by locals rather than backpackers for a change although they were probably wondering what the hell a lone Asian guy was doing in their town let alone in these parts, judging by the way many were looking at me. While it's something that I've had to become accustomed to, it still makes me feel no less uncomfortable with a thousand prying eyes on me.

It really feels different here to all the other parts of Albania that I had visited - this really felt like a beach holiday town. Not my favourite vibe out of the ones I've experienced in this country, it has to be said.
The actual town of Ksamil doesn't have much to it - indeed it seems that most of it is still being built. There is many a building where construction seems to have stopped altogether - in fact that seems that there was nobody at all working on any of these building sites - perhaps a visible sign of a slowing economy or corruption? Or just the fact that everyone is on holiday?
You could say the same about the roads too - and not in a sweet, delicious way either.

My

Beaches Of Ksamil

As you can see, there are some nice beaches and nice water here in Ksamil.

time alone in the apartment was short-lived as Joao rolled into town and joined me for three days. I honestly didn't mind - I could do with someone helping me to take some of the sting out of paying 30€ for the apartment. And it was nice to have some company too, someone to talk to in a town without much English.
And you could count the apartment owner among this number of non-English speakers. He really didn't speak a word and it has been some time since I have had to communicate in detail with someone where neither of us could understand a single word of the other. It was a bit frustrating and also a little stressful as he had been pretty insistent about me paying him up front and he was visibly pissed off that I kept forgetting to withdraw cash. But given I was going to be there for a whole week, I didn't like the pressure being put on me to pay - I mean, where was I going to go? Joao suggests that Albanians - particularly the older ones - are a bit mistrustful of people given the recent history in the country, especially

Ancient Theatre, Butrint

I always find ancient theatres impressive.

the pyramid schemes that went so horribly wrong in the mid-90s when 70% of Albanians lost their savings. Perhaps. Maybe he had cash flow issues. He also charged me 5€ more than was quoted on Booking.com but I really couldn't be arsed trying to argue with him in sign language. He even grumbled when I could only pay him in leke rather than euros.

One of Albania's highlights are the ruins of Butrint, less than a ten-minute drive from Ksamil. The ancient city dates back to the 8th century BC and is thought to have been established by exiles from Troy. It then developed into a cult centre dedicated to Ascelpius, the god of medicine, before coming under Roman rule where it became an important trading port between Rome and Constantinople. The Romans certainly left their mark in the form of Roman baths and an amphitheatre. In the 5th century, Butrint became an important Christian residence and this is evidenced by the bapistry and its amazingly preserved mosaic floor, as well as the basilica.
The museum in the reconstructed Venetian castle at the city's highest point, contains statues and atrtefacts that were discovered on site as well as detailing

Bapistry Mosaic, Butrint

Impressively intricate and intact.

the history of Butrint. I have to say that the whole site was very impressive; while it's no Ephesus, the ancient city is remarkably intact and is well organised in terms of the self-guided walk through the ruins and the information in English that is provided on both the flyer and on the boards located at each point of interest. Indeed it was worth every penny of the 700 leke entrance fee.

On my fifth day in Ksamil, I finally made it to what was ostensibly to reason I decided to set down roots here - the beach!
I had talked to a girl back in Tirana who had stopped by in Ksamil and she had told me that it was super-crowded; which wasn't really what I wanted to hear as I was hoping that I had stolen a march on people by coming to a place known by few - but it became quite apparent that locals had stolen a march on me a long time ago and every beach was packed, the sand hidden and ruined by those sadly ubiquitous sun loungers and beach umbrellas. Which was a real shame, as the small coves and the water

Our Secluded Cove

Joao and I did manage to find a beach all to ourselves in Ksamil.

looked beautiful.
We walked around almost the entire coast looking for a quieter spot; and we finally found one.
It was a small cove a few minutes walk out of town which only had a few campers nearby and behind the pebbled beach were some terraces, presumably some sort of development that was halfway through construction. So it was private property but there was nobody there - so we pretty much had the whole secluded cove to ourselves. I would say that the beach was probably artificially created too - there were huge slabs of rocks to negotiate as you entered the sea which was a bit annoying and I also planted my hand on a sea urchin - but otherwise the water was the perfect temperature and we watched the sky go pink as the sun went down.
After our nice and relaxing time down at the cove, we then treated ourselves further by trying the only other Albanian culinary speciality that I had yet to try - midjhe, or mussels. It is pretty hard to screw up mussels to be honest and the boiled white wine mussels were delicious, better than the midjhe saganaki dish where they were

Midhje

Or mussels. White wine mussels on the left and midhje saganaki on the right.

cooked in a tomato, pepper and goat cheese (of course) sauce.

On Joao's last day with me, we decided to try and find more secluded beaches which according to Google Maps, were over a hill overlooking the town. There were no paths leading to these beaches and the more we climbed the hill, the denser the bush got - but it never quite got dense enough for us to abandon our quest. By the time we got to the top of the ridge, we could see the sea below us - and that it was rocks that lined the coast instead of the beach we were hoping for. But by this stage we had come this far so we might as well wander down to see if there was a cove we could swim and relax in.
And that was when the bush became proper bush and where we really could've done with a machete. Fighting our way through branches and thorn vines, our legs and arms took an almighty scratching. And at the end of it all, there was no beach or anywhere nice to chill - just cliffs and deadly waves below them.
We then found what

Sunset Over Ksamil

This was a weird sunset; this is actually looking towards the east but somehow the reflection of the light makes it look like it is setting over the east rather than the west.

seemed to be an old trench with the sites of old bunkers dotted along it. We figured that we could follow this trench around the coast back to the cove we were at the previous day and that it would save us from having to fight our way through bush again. So that was what we did - until the path came to a dead end. Cue what must have been half-an-hour battling through the kind of dense bush we had been hoping to avoid and clambering over the sharp rocks near the water until we finally came to a path that led to the cove.
Making a beeline to the water, it was as refreshing a swim as I've had even if the salt stung the cuts I had accumulated from our unexpected hike through the bush. It was probably even worse than the hiking expedition I undertook on Jerolim, just off Hvar Island in Croatia. And just like that bush hike, I did the whole thing in flip-flops, which was the worst possible choice of footwear for such a mission bar high heels. My thirst for exploration sometimes gets me into some pretty awkward and trying situations.

The Olympics got underway while I

Sarande

"A Russian resort town" according to my good friend Michael.

was in Ksamil and I spent much of my time watching them, even if they kept showing shitty sports I wasn't interested in such as gymnastics, shooting and diving.
Other than watching the Olympics I also managed to achieve some of the other goals I had set out to complete on my little holiday from my holiday; start planning for Asia, rest and write blogs, even if I should have probably written more than I eventually did.
I had also decided in Ksamil that I would spend three nights in Saranda before taking a ferry to Greece and it didn't take me long to catch a furgon there although a mix up between "Hostel Lemon" and "Limani" saw me dropped off a half-hour walk from the hostel. It was hot, sweaty, annoying and unnecessary work.

My good friend Michael has described Saranda as a "Russian resort town" and walking along the waterfront, there was nothing to suggest taht his description was inaccurate. It wasn't as tacky as I thought it'd be however and in the evening, the waterfront is actually quite pleasant and is lively thanks to the nightly giro.

Trying to get to some places in Albania

Blue Eye Spring

That hole just left of centre is the Blue Eye Spring and source of all the water - which has a temperature of just 10 degrees.

without a car can be a bit of a nightmare.
Trying to get to the famous Blue Eye Spring, I needed to catch a bus going to Gjirokastra and get dropped off along the way - but it was a bit of a debacle trying to even find a bus going to Gjiorkastra, which I was under the impression were pretty frequent. So I pissed around for about an hour before a furgon was hastily arranged for a large group of people who like me, wanted to go in the direction of Gjirokastra.
The debacle then continued as I thought that I had told the driver to let me off at Syri i Kalter - Blue Eye Spring in Albanian - but I fell asleep on the bus and when I came to, it turned out that the bus hadn't stopped and I was now half-an-hour past it...and that I would have to go all the way to Gjirokastra to catch a bus or hitch a ride back.
Thankfully I flag a bus going back within five minutes in Gjirokastra and I finally got dropped off at the spring...only to have a 2km walk to get there.
Was it worth

Hypnotic Water

The cool colours of the Blue Eye Spring.

all the hassle? No. Yes, the water is a beautiful shade of blue as it rushes out and up from the spring but the spring itself is only the size of a big jacuzzi and there are hundreds of people there. I really wanted to go for a swim but I simply wasn't comfortable leaving all my valuables somewhere with so many people around and nor was I particularly comfortable about swimming in front of a huge gallery of people.
I settled for going thigh-deep into the water...and to be honest that was probably enough. The water is freezing! Just 10 degrees apparently. Having swum in water close to freezing before, I felt I had nothing to prove.
I then had to walk the 2km back to the highway to literally hitch a ride back to Saranda. While most people just passed me by, I was eventually picked up after just five minutes by a local who was back in Albania on holiday but actually lived and worked in Milan. He didn't speak English but could speak Italian and for the first time in a while, my Spanish came in handy. I could more or less understand the majority of the questions he was asking me

Waterfront, Sarande

It is a pleasant stroll - perfect for a giro.

in Italian and he could more or less understand the majority of my answers in Spanish. It was cool! But I realised that my Spanish has definitely lost its sharpness as words that would normally come to me quickly would take a couple more seconds to arrive. It has after all been two months since I last spoke Spanish regularly.
On the subject of hitchhiking, it is a popular mode of transport for backpackers in Albania as getting to some of the good spots in the country is near impossible without a car. Albanians are also more than happy to pick you up.

The one last thing that I wanted to do in Albania was to visit a beach only accessible by boat from Saranda, that looked stunning. The hostel offered a trip to go there...but on my last day there, the trip fell through because there was too much wind and waves. What a shame.
I took it as a sign that it was it was time to move on from Albania.
I've spent three weeks here now and I have enjoyed the majority of my time, particularly in the north, where I got to experience more authentic Albanian life

Beachside Bar, Sarande

Where I enjoyed a drinking session on my last day in Albania. Life wasn't bad.

as opposed to the holiday feel down in the south. It helped that I had the Austrians for company up there too, who got me to drinnk more than I had wanted!

Speaking of drinking, with my boat trip cancelled, I decided to join pretty much the rest of the hostel for an all-afternoon/all-night drinking session at a beach bar just down from the hostel instead. There were some deep conversations had and I enjoyed it - although I really need to stop this habit of being hungover for travel days.

Some final observations on Albania before I leave it;
- I've found Albanians to be generally helpful and friendly, even through the language barrier, which has been frustrating.
- There are no dominant supermarket chains and locally-run mini-markets are still the main way for people get their supplies, which is refreshing. There is however a perverse comfort in seeing supermarket chains - a sense of familiarity and knowing exactly what you're gonna get inside them.
- The Albanian way of cleaning things is to simply get EVERYTHING WET. It is amusing and gross in equal measure.

Albania is definitely a unique place, a heady mix of

Nice Spot

One of Ksamil's not-so-busy beach spots.

Balkan and Turkish cultures which is generally liberal and secular. Things are still developing however and infrastructure is found wanting in some places and things can be a bit of an adventure sometimes - but that is all part of its charm. The country certainly has much to offer the discerning traveller from stunning mountains, urban chic, old Ottoman towns and nice beaches. And things are cheap. So if you're looking for something a little different for your European holiday, I can definitely recommend paying Albania a visit.

For now however, it is time for me to move on - to Greece!

Shihemi me vone!
Derek

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