Beaching it up in Albania

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From Berat we got a day bus down to Sarande. The journey was through the mountains and very picturesque, so the 6 hours were a pleasure. We went to the Hairy lemon hostel managed by a lovel Irish women, Annette, who made us pancakes in the morning.

The hostel was an apartment on the 8th floor, with awesome views over the coast of Sarande, and on a clear day you can see Corfu. I could have spent all afternoon just sitting on the breezy balcony taking in the viewm but we braved the heat to walk the 5 mintues to the beach and crashed on some sunbeds for an afternoon nap. The beaches are very rocky, but the water is gorgeous.

Sarande is the Albanina riviere, and filled with Serbian, Albanian and Macedonian tourists, all very smartly dressed, and has quite a night life as a result. We never ventured out that much at night, except for a few beers, as we were always knackered and happy to sit on our balcony. We did go to a fantastic fish restaurant, and sampled some fresh seafood.

From Sarande we were able to venture to the ruins of Butrint and the beaches of Ksmali. We mostly hitch hiked as many people were driving to these areas.

The ruins were Greek and than Roman, and impressive once you took into account their age and imagined how grand the structures would have been in their time. Butrint was particularly attractive for me due to its setting besides a huge lake, and mountains. With few tourists, you were able to walk around and attempt to take in some of the peaceful surroundings and views.

It was a relief to leave the heat of the ruins and go to the beach at Ksamali. We managed to find a fairly deserted piece of beach with soem deck chairs, and spend the afternoon lounging in the sun, swimming - Jhonny even swam to some of the nearby little islands, but I didn´t appreciate the salty water in my eyes while swimming - and watched the sun setting over the small islands, and very blue sea.

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