Moving on

I left it last time in Sarande. I ate in for the first time in a week as the italian and polish guys i met cooked dinner. There were six of us staying in the hostel which is more in one go than the owner had seen in total over the previous four months. The owner was a girl from ireland and then the person who runs it was from somewhere in iowa how random is that. Iowa to southern albania.

Not alot in Sarande just hotels and construction sites, as albanians cant leave the country without great difficulty this is where they all come for holidays. In summer i cant imagine a worse place, the rubbish must just pile up. On wednesday morning i went to Butrint an archealogical site with Philipo and Francesca a german girl we met on the bus. The trip is 20km to the site but took over an hour as again the road is in horrendous condition with a sheer drop into the sea. Some of the passing manouvers were scary. Butrint was great really well preserved roman theatre, villas etc in a beautiful location. After that we had the hour back to the bus station and then a possible six hour drive for 80 miles up the coast to Vlore. Fortunately the roads are slightly better than when the guide was written and it only took four hours. The coast road was spectacular and went over a 1600m mountain pass into the clouds, i think it must be the most scenic bus ride i have ever been on.

Vlore is a dump and the road outside the hotel had been dug up over a year ago and left so the albanians had turned it into a shanty town / rubbish tip. Alot of the hotels are only partly finished as the money has run out and it looks a mess. Pizza for dinner then watched happily as Man Utd. crashed out of europe. This morning thursday i went for a look around Vlore which is just a city with nothing to see and left on a furgon to Tirana. The driver insisted on overtaking whether anything was coming in the opposite direction or not. Got to the hostel and have been for a brief look around. Lovely city, small but lively. They painted all the communist era tower blocks to liven the place up and it worked. Oranges and cheese for lunch both of which are so good here. The vegetables actually taste of something other than water. Theres a roast chicken on a spit place round the corner which i can smell from my room so off to get some dinner.

Climbing a mountain tomorrow and looking forward to the football saturday