17th September Drymades to Berat (via the Llogaraja pass)

After a restful day we headed up over the Llogaraja pass, the highest point is 1027m which is quite low in comparison to many passes we have been over. However this route had sheer drops several inches from the road with missing barriers along many sections, there were also numerous memorials to commemorate the death of previously unfortunate drivers. Cass was driving and thought Bek was being surprisingly quiet, when she commented on the great view Beks response was a “ yepp “. Cass thought this was strange and then asked Bek if she was okay Bek said “These sheer drops keep giving me vertigo, the road is so narrow don’t take your eyes off it!”.When we arrived in Berat we couldn’t find the YHA hostel we were supposed to be staying at, we had the right road but drove up and down trying to find it and couldn’t find a building which even resembled a hostel. We eventually asked for directions in a car repair place, the man in the car place then rang someone on his mobile and nodded for us to wait in our camper someone else translated and said the hostel manager would be along to collect us shortly. We weren’t sure if this was a con and his friend would arrive and try and rent us a room in his house. Anyway after 10 minutes a man with a young guy approached us, they asked if we had a reservation and how many nights we planned to stay. We said we didn’t have a reservation and planned to stay for two nights, they looked at each other and the older man gave a kind of shrug, sigh and a doubtful look and then made a very long loud phone conversation, he hung up and then had another long and loud conversation in Albanian with the younger guy and then he said “okay you can stay?!?”. We thought maybe they were full (or would be the next night as it would be Saturday) but they said to follow them to the hostel. We then reached a building with locked gates which we thought was strange for a YHA, when we got out of our vehicle the older man (translated through the younger boy) started asking us loads of questions such as ‘were we going out tonight?’ ‘when would we be back the next night?’ etc etc. Once again they proceeded to speak to one another in Albanian, if we hadn’t seen the YHA sign on the window we would have done a runner but instead we checked in, our dormitory was empty and we weren’t sure what the fuss was all about. The hostel turned out to be the strangest YHA we had ever stayed in. As well as the previously described shenanigans there were black bags full of various medications on the stair well, there was no reception and the place was overrun with local kids during the day.

16th September Drymades Beach

The weather was perfect so we spent the day relaxing by the pool and on the beach reading our books, doing crosswords and people watching. At one point a couple in a land rover with British licence plates on it drove onto the beach, we commented that they were either brave or daft as they were highly likely to get stuck. Several hours later we heard the spinning noise of tyres, we looked to our side to see the land rover stuck in the sand. Subsequently a large truck appeared on the beach, it had come to tow the land rover out of the sand however it too became stuck. The driver kept accelerating which made the truck wheels sink deeper and deeper into the sand, the driver then got out of his cab and put on a theatrical performance which included crying and throwing rocks and sand at this truck, the Albanian men appear to take their emotive behaviour from the Italians that overcrowd them in summer, it made for some great entertainment.
Later that night we were overlooking the beach having a fish dinner in the hotels restaurant and we saw a rock breaker four-wheel drive tractor towing the land rover out of the sand. This was about 8 hours after it initially became stuck, the girlfriend of the driver looked less than impressed to say the least!

15th Ksamil to Drymades via Butrint National Park.

Butrint National Park

Butrint; remains of a roman townhouse and evidence of the rising water table that made them abandon the city

Drymades beach resort

We had been up most of the night using the bathroom so it was touch and go whether we would have to stay in the dump another night but being true fighters ( lol) we dragged ourselves out of bed and headed to Butrint National Park.
The national park houses an acropolis of ancient ruins and is the largest in Albania, the museum was interesting and contained a large amount of relics which had been excavated, some of the large excavated statues had chunks missing, many of these were excavated in the 1930’s so we guessed the shovels used (as photos in the museum also showed) had taken chunks off the excavated pieces.
From Butrint we headed to Drymades beach the drive was extremely hilly which we weren’t expecting so we stopped off for an early dinner before reaching Drymades so we could give Torty a rest. We had spoken about starving ourselves for the day but seeing as we both felt better we thought we would have a lite dinner. The coastal restaurant overlooked a bay and was in a lovely setting, we asked for a menu but the manager said there was no menu (often seems to be the case in Albania) and it was a fish restaurant, we asked how much the fish was and he said 10euros so we said okay. 10 euros is quite expensive for fish by our travelling standards but the location was so nice so we thought we would treat ourselves. When the waiter asked if we wanted potatoes and salad we said yes, the waiter then proceeded to bring out olives, bread, feta, chinese cabbage as well as huge bowl of salad. Cass said maybe the manager misunderstood us but then the waiter brought out chips and a huge fish each. We couldn’t believe the amount of food on the table...so long to starving ourselves! The food was delicious but we got a shock when it came to bill time as every item had been individually charged and even the feta alone was the price of a dinner in our usual restaurants. We handed over 40 euros which seemed a lot but then we thought of the food we had eaten and the location and where we had eaten it and really it was a bargain. Cass joked that Bek had had her birthday dinner three months early.
After driving 3 km’s down a one way dirt track we arrived at Drymades beach, we couldn’t find our proposed campsite and most places were shut. After gazing in each direction Bek entered a brand new complex, the manager told her it would be 40 euros a night (says 50e on the internet) but she haggled over the price and struck a deal at 30 euros a night with breakfast .
The complex had only opened in july so everything was brand new and there were very few others staying. Once we had checked in we went for a walk along the beach and then went for a swim in the sea.