Saranda
The bus ride from Berat to Saranda wasn't one that I was looking forward since it was a very long trip on mostly rural mountainous roads. The bus was scheduled to leave at 8:00 am and the apartment owner volunteered to go with me to the bus station to make sure I was charged the normal bus fare ($10). It turns out that the bus driver was the apartment owner's cousin.
The mini bus left on time, but unfortunately did not have air conditioning. Fortunately it wasn't too bad leaving in morning when the temperatures were cooler & with the windows open. We took one rest break during the 5.5 hour trip. The countryside was very scenic, but the roads were not in the greatest shape. I was dropped off near the center of town in Saranda. It was an easy 15 minute walk to the apartment that I was renting.
Saranda is a beach town on the southern coast of Albania. If I had to compare it to somewhere in the US, it is similar to Myrtle Beach. It has a lot of newly built apartments everywhere along the water. It has a nice promenade along the waterfront with plenty of restaurants and souvenir shops. The prices are a little higher compared to other parts of Albania, but it is still pretty inexpensive.
I had originally planned to take a bus to some ruins outside of town, but changed my mind & visited a small beach town (Ksmail) instead. Most of the beaches in Albania are private, but it is really cheap to rent a chair and umbrella for the day (only $4). The beach was really beautiful & I spent most of the day there including a lunch at the beach restaurant. Unfortunately there was a long wait for the bus back to town since they only run once per hour.
One thing I wanted to see in Saranda was the Hillary Clinton monument. After looking for it in the main square, a local told me it was taken down due to restoration of the area where it was located. I wonder if it be returned to the same place after the restoration or if it will kept in storage indefinitely?
The mini bus left on time, but unfortunately did not have air conditioning. Fortunately it wasn't too bad leaving in morning when the temperatures were cooler & with the windows open. We took one rest break during the 5.5 hour trip. The countryside was very scenic, but the roads were not in the greatest shape. I was dropped off near the center of town in Saranda. It was an easy 15 minute walk to the apartment that I was renting.
Saranda is a beach town on the southern coast of Albania. If I had to compare it to somewhere in the US, it is similar to Myrtle Beach. It has a lot of newly built apartments everywhere along the water. It has a nice promenade along the waterfront with plenty of restaurants and souvenir shops. The prices are a little higher compared to other parts of Albania, but it is still pretty inexpensive.
I had originally planned to take a bus to some ruins outside of town, but changed my mind & visited a small beach town (Ksmail) instead. Most of the beaches in Albania are private, but it is really cheap to rent a chair and umbrella for the day (only $4). The beach was really beautiful & I spent most of the day there including a lunch at the beach restaurant. Unfortunately there was a long wait for the bus back to town since they only run once per hour.
One thing I wanted to see in Saranda was the Hillary Clinton monument. After looking for it in the main square, a local told me it was taken down due to restoration of the area where it was located. I wonder if it be returned to the same place after the restoration or if it will kept in storage indefinitely?
I had a good time in Saranda & would have liked to have stayed there for another day. My next stop is the island of Corfu, Greece. It is just a 40 minute boat ride from Saranda.
As usual great pics! Was the water as clean as looked in some of the photos?
ReplyDeleteThanks, I was told the water near the port in town was not good for swimming, but everywhere else was fine.
ReplyDelete