And finally I walked up to a castle overlooking the town. Magnificent views in all directions. I'd like to watch the sun set but I needed to get back for my evening meal.
I got a lift back with a family from Kosovo, apparently Albania is a holiday destination for them.
This is a river that just appears like a plug hole in reverse, beautiful clear slightly blue water surrounded by thousands of brilliant blue dragon flies. I got a 14 seater minibus there with 20 locals an board. They had bags and bags of figs, oranges and beans with them. Not a single one spoke a word of English and it was obvious that I was the subject of great curiosity. On the way back I hitched a lift with a maniac who also didn't speak any English but was happy to go out of his way to take me back to Sarande.
This morning I went to Butrinti which is a UNESCO world heritage site. It's a huge fortified town that dates back to 400BC. It is amazingly well preserved and hasn't been interfered with by well meaning people trying to 'improve' on the original for the benefit of the tourists. I travelled by bus with all the locals.
Earlier in the day, as I waited for a bus, I was approached by a wild looking man, clearly intoxicated and seriously in need of a bath. He started by asking me where I was from and. I replied, Anglais since that seems to be what that call England. He then started ranting but the only thing I could understand was Lord Byron. This has been puzzling me ever since and so I've Googled it and indeed Lord Byron did visit albania but how the old tramp knew this fact and why it holds such importance to him is a mystery.
http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts19_1/AH1809_1.html
My first sighting of one of the 600,000 pill boxes that Enva Hoxha built across Albania as a defence against invasion from the outside world. It seems that the ones around Sarande have been broken up to salvage the steel.
