Wander More Work Less

I was awake early – again! I thought I might as well go and explore the beaches in the western direction. The walk started off quite nice while in town but quickly deteriorated to third-world status. Well, maybe not that bad, but as soon as I left town there were many stray dogs and very dirty, rough-looking streets and no civilization. That part lasted about a kilometre, and then I turned down a side road to try and access the beachfront resorts in the next bay. The road soon turned to dirt and the houses were quite run down—cars sitting on blocks or with flat tyres, that kind of scene. But then another paved road headed down to the beach and a lovely seafront was revealed, with lounges and umbrellas. It looked like there were four or five different resorts that had been developed here. The sea looked beautiful, and according to Google, it's quite a popular place for day visitors. Absolutely no one about at 6:30am though. Having checked the area...

A typically early start for me at 5:15am, and Sarah wasn't much later at 6:30am. We took the opportunity for an early morning, i.e.cooler, walk around the Sarandë waterfront. The main promenade runs along the Sarandë beach, which is very close to the Sarandë Port where the ferries arrive and depart. At 7:30am there were quite a few people already enjoying the beach. It's a pebbly beach, but it looks much better cared for than Vlorë. We didn’t notice any rubbish or plastic here. The water looks lovely and clear, and it gets deep quickly, which should be good for a swim later. The beach runs east to west, and the further west you go, the nicer it looks—or maybe it just gets closer to the more expensive hotels at that end. There are also many boats along the waterfront offering excursions to various places. Some were advertised at €20 per person, which doesn’t sound too expensive. We walked until the promenade ended and then a little bit further...

We had a relaxed start to the day, with no need to check out until 10am, aiming to catch the 11:30am bus to Sarandë. We hopped on the local bus from outside our apartment and returned to the spot we’d scoped out earlier in the week. We thought the bus to Sarandë might be a mini-bus, but it turned out to be a full-sized one. Tickets were purchased on board—but we had no idea how much they would cost (we’d find out soon enough). With some time to kill, we grabbed a coffee (me) and a Coke Zero (Sarah) at one of the cafés conveniently located next to the bus. I also spotted a nearby supermarket and grabbed a few snacks for the ride. It was already heating up, and it got even hotter as we waited. The bus wasn’t running yet, so there was no air-con. After a while in the café, we tossed our backpacks into the luggage hold and waited under a nearby tree. Thankfully, the driver started the engine a little before 11:30am, and we hopped on to grab seats near the front. The bus wasn’t full, but th...

We decided to walk South this morning. At least, I think it was South — definitely not East or West. Anyway, it was the one direction we hadn't yet explored. The beachfront here is lined mostly with apartments, occasionally giving way to a few hotels and the odd gap. Beach umbrellas and lounge chairs stretched almost continuously along the shore until we reached a rocky section. We walked just over 2.5 km before turning back. Down near the end, the hotels got a bit fancier — but they only had pebbled beaches, no sand. The upside? The water got deeper much quicker there, unlike the shallow paddling pool we have out front. Sarah looked up one of the hotels and it was going for €250 a night. That’s a bit steep for us Flashpackers! After clocking up 5 km, a swim was compulsory. The water felt amazing and was the perfect reward before our morning coffee. The heat wasn’t quite as brutal today, with the forecast topping out at 32°C. We made a short bakery run before lunch, but otherwise s...

We grabbed the bus to the Vlore main bus station this morning to scope out how things work for getting to our next destination. Lots of minibuses were lined up on the street going to various places—it all seemed pretty straightforward. From there, we wandered just a short distance to the old town area. A few streets had been beautifully restored with bright colours and charm. They’ve clearly had a recent facelift—they looked more "new old" than genuinely old. Just one street over, though, we found the real old town—run-down and a bit neglected, much more in line with our preconceived ideas about Albania. That said, the newer parts of Vlore could easily pass for a typical town back in New Zealand. As we exited the old town, we found ourselves right across the street from a large sculpture memorial celebrating Albania’s 1912 independence from the Ottoman Empire. Right beside it were excavated city walls dating back to the 4th century—only discov...

I’ll count today as a sleep-in. Sarah would probably disagree! 😂 When I woke up and checked the time on my phone, it started with a 6 — but was dangerously close to ticking over to a 7! A bit of catch-up sleep after yesterday’s early chaos. Our plan was to head into town on foot early to beat the heat. We were a little later than ideal, but we definitely needed the extra ZZZs. It was already 26°C when we set off. Thankfully, the tall apartment blocks lining the beachfront meant we were mostly walking in the shade — much appreciated! Below is the new apartments they are building next door to us. See if you can spot the guy working up on the 8th floor. No expensive construction scaffolding required here.  We retraced our bus ride from yesterday, about 2km, and then added another kilometre on foot. We didn’t quite make it to the main city sights or the bus station as we’d hoped — we’ll tackle those tomorrow with the assistance of a bus. But we did reach a larger supermark...

That was what I would call a shit show start to the day! 😡 Our bus was scheduled for 5am, so — being the overly prepared travellers we are — we were at the station by 4:30am, which meant a 3:30am wake-up and a 2.1km trek in the dark. It's amazing how many young people are still about at that time of the morning after a night out. There had to be 50 people lined up outside our favourite kebab shop! Even the bakery was still open.  When we arrived at the station, the only other people there were a homeless man and one probable traveller. At 4:45am, a woman from the bus station office arrived and turned on the lights. I asked if we were in the right place, and she confirmed we were — but also casually mentioned the bus had issues and might arrive at 5:10am… or 7am. 😤 What!? Needless to say, 5:10am came and went, and we were still sitting there with two other girls who'd also arrived early, just after we did. Around 5:45am, I got a reminder on my phone: "Take Chromecast out ...