Onto the coast

 Today we once again bid farewell to our current home and head inexorably south. To Tirana and the Albanian Riviera. We left Shkoder early and retraced our way  back to the city centre the way we had come 2 days ago. Already the temperature was rising and it was going to be another hot day. We made our way to the bus station which is in fact just a side road with a small sign describing the destinations served from there. On our way in we noticed the Tirana bus parked up in this side road and made a mental note of its position. Well at least Crispy did. It was further up the main road than I remember but Crispy was on it like a human sat nav and led us directly there. The bus was already waiting. It was busy. The bus leaves every hour on the hour but it was Sunday and lots of people were making their way to the Capital for their own various  reasons. On time the bus set off and took us back all the way we had just walked from the campsite. About 500 yards past the entrance to the site it stopped at a bus stop. We could have avoided the long trek back to the city had we known it would stop here. I had asked about bus stops prior to setting off walking but everyone I asked assured me the only place to catch the bus was the city centre. Perhaps it was just as well as by the time the bus left Shkoder it was full to capacity and we may not have got seats together. Crispy understandably likes being together on long journeys. Plus we needed supplies for the journey. Two hours later after an interesting ride through northern Albania we arrived in Tirana. Well at least the outskirts of the city at the North \ South bus terminus. At the time I researched this journey the bus was shown to arrive close to the centre at one of three differing termini. It seems now because of the traffic in the city the new terminus has been amalgamated into one and moved 20km from the heart of the city. It’s just one huge gravel car park filled with dozens of buses serving the entire country. This scuppered our plans to visit Tirana and see the sights. It would have involved a 40 minute ride in and out on another bus. To be honest unless you have a dark interest in the fascist period of Albanian history there isn’t really a lot to see. The communist regime levelled most of the historical areas of the city and built utilitarian concrete blocks over the beautiful ancient buildings. The only two places we would have liked to see were Skanderberg square ( Tirana’s equivalent to red square in Moscow and Tienamen square in Beijing) and the house of leaves museum. The house of leaves was the former home of the Stasi. The feared political police that terrorised the population under the communist dictatorship. It is estimated 100,000 people met their gruesome end at the hands of the Stasi. Most after entering the innocuously named house of leaves. To be brutally honest although Tirana is now a thriving cosmopolitan city both of these sights we can live without seeing and didn’t justify the additional bus ride. 

As we pulled into the bus termini we spotted our bus for Durres ready for departure. We alighted our current transport and walked the short distance to our new one. All the drivers stand in front of their respective vehicles which are furnished with big signs stating their intended destination. The drivers shout their differing destinations repeatedly in unison. It’s like a football match where there are 20 teams playing simultaneously and all the crowd are shouting for their particular favourite. Noisy but effective.

Again the bus was busy with locals going to the seaside for a Sunday day out. On time we set off for the final 40 minute ride to the sea. It is a big seaside town very popular with Albanians for holidays and days out. It is also a large container port and a popular cruise ship stopover. Our accommodation here is a small hotel on the beach. We struggled to find suitable independent accommodation here. It is mostly big concrete hotels lining the beach  in the new part of the town south of the port.

A 20 minute walk took us to our hotel. The hotel Cosmos. It is beautiful and Crispy is very impressed. So far on this little adventure all the accommodation has been individual, amazing and best of all cheap. 

This hotel is unusual for us as it’s very posh. Waistcoated waiters. Beautiful restaurant and right on the beach. The rooms are first class and very well appointed. It is also rated as one of the best seafood restaurants in Durres which suits me. Crispy isn’t a fan of eating anything that has crawled over the sea floor. Although she like fish she likes it packaged which means no head or tail. She likes fish as long as it doesn’t look like fish. The thought of looking your dinner in the eye before performing a summary post Mortem on the plate has never really flicked Crispy’s switch. I on the other hand  love fish.

(The prices in Albania are cheap. Very cheap. The bus ride from Shkoder was the equivalent of £3. The bus to Durres roughly 60p. A nice restaurant  meal costs on average £4 and beer is 35p from a supermarket and between £1 and £2.50 in a bar. It’s going to be a shock once we get to Greece)

After a shower and freshen up we went to make use of the free sun loungers and had a swim in the sea. The beach was busy with families enjoying their Sunday afternoon. The hotel staff inform us that tomorrow we will have the beach to ourselves. 

Not many pictures today as the eye pod was deep in the depths of the back pack for travelling. I shall make up for it tomorrow as I intend to drag Crispy through the old town to search out some interesting rubble. She can’t wait and is having trouble getting to sleep because she is so excited.

Bare and Crispy signing off, on the beach, Durres, Albania