Albania (or slightly more difficult, Shqipëri, as called by its people) is a country that is quickly being discovered by nearby Europeans, particularly Germans and French, but not-so-much by everyone else. Especially those from the across the Atlantic or Asia. So, to those who fit into the… uh, A-L-B-A-N-I-A(???)… reaction category 1) from above, here is some context: Albania borders Greece (to the northwest), and is directly east of the ‘heel’ of Italy’s boot. Ah-ha! You got it now. It is also incredibly mountainous with 70% of its entire landmass undulating at near roller-coaster velocity from the coast to its gorgeous 2,500m (8,200ft.) limestone mountain peaks. See, who knew?!

Greece to Albania Border Crossing

Crossing the border to Gjirokastra Albania from Ioannina, Greece, involved a two-hour bus ($9/ticket) full of mostly Albanians, and was an anxiety-free crossing. Entering Albania we didn’t even have to get out of our seats and exit the bus, the border patrol simply collected our passports and returned them to us after 15 minutes. It’s important to note here that upon arrival into Albania, US and many EU citizens are generously granted visa-free stays of up to one year. At the border crossing into Albania we couldn’t help but notice the pointedly friendly Albanian welcome sign out the bus window. Little did we know how true this signs claim would come to be. Albanians are quick to smile, and laugh often. It didn’t take us long to discover how wonderfully upbeat they are. As the bus pulled away from the border we took the time to learn a little of the Albanian language necessities via Google Translate. Albanian, by the way, is quite an unusual language; unique in its total detachment from every other neighboring countries’ language. Historians have yet to pin-point its origins. In any case, here’s the essentials: Hello: Përshëndetje (per-shen-dyeh-teh), Goodbye: Mirupafshim (me-ru-paf-shem), Cheers: Gezuar (geh-zoo-wa-err), & Thank You: Faleminderit (fall-uh-men-der-eet). Our google robo language teacher spawned a couple of giggles from the Albanians on our bus we received some much needed language assistance.

Gjirokastër

Our first stop in Albania was the UNESCO world heritage town of Gjirokastër (or Gjirokastra depending on the source) where we’d booked for two nights. There seem to be two subtly different spellings for every town in Albania, which we learned is just another oddity of the Albanian language. Fortunately, most Albanians seem to be aware of this and will patiently accept any of the town (mis)pronunciations you can manage to utter. Gjirokastër(ra) is a spectacularly unique town woven through with beautifully intact 16th century Ottoman architectural threads. It is also one of the most unforgivably steepest towns we’ve ever tried to walk around in. Seriously, San Francisco seems tame by comparison! The roads to the old town are literally straight up the mountainside…sensible switchbacks are strangely absent from the onslaught and burning thighs pedestrians have to endure on a daily basis here. So, we embraced our inner mules and began a 30-minute(!) uphill hoofing session with our full backpacks to our AirBnB in the Old Town. For the record, this picture of Mandy panting was taken at one slightly less steep section.

Out-of-breath and literally doubled-over eventually we became victorious in climbing up Mt. Gjirokastër. Our residence, StoneHouse 1850 (a wonderful splurge at $28/night) offered an absolutely EXQUISITE view of Gjirokastër, the castle, and the surrounding mountains that again left us breathless after our ascent. Our room was equally lovely, and made us feel like we were staying in our own little castle. For dinner we got our first joyful taste of Albanian cuisine…A meal of stuffed peppers, sausage soup, and two glasses of homemade wine, complete with kitty companionship! Incredibly it set us back just $8.

More Albanians live in other countries, than within it, but the ones who stay behind are AMAZING. This is Eda from the Stone House 1850 who smartly ran the place alongside her parents, helping with English translation and 21st Century tech business savvy-ness. This younger generation of Albanians helping their parents navigate modern capitalism so that they all might thrive together is something which seemed to be quite commonplace. A wonderfully smart and healthy adaptation to handle any generational knowledge/skills gaps they have suffered after the fall of communism.

Gjirokaster’s particular style of Ottoman/Byzantine architecture is very rare in Europe. It is mainly the result of cultural exchanges and trade among the Ottoman economic elite in this part of the world. Most were built in the 1700 & 1800’s. In the foreground, check out the roofs. They are made of large-scale limestone slate pieces. Gjirokastër is also famous (notorious) as the birthplace of Enver Hoxha, the communist dictator of Albania from 1944 to 1985. His childhood home is now the Ethnographic museum.

The narrow cobble-stoned streets, architecture, handmade creations and adorable little shops that make up the five hundred year old UNESCO Bazaar quarter of Gjirokaster lures you in helplessly. Within moments of being here in the Bazaar, both of us muttered in unison, “this place is going to explode with tourists in the next ten years!” The whole Bazaar quarter is undergoing a government sponsored reconstruction project to restore it. We can only imagine how much more the wow! factor will grow once they finish!

Cute tourist bait, in a cute shop, on a cute street! Too much cute!!

More Ottoman/Byzantine style homes.

We then polished off the biggest and BEST meal we’d had in five weeks…a three course meal, two glasses of wine and four (complimentary) shots of raki! All for $10 and compliments of the Traditional Taverna in Gjirokastër; the very welcoming staff and awesome home cooking was amazing!

Gjirokastër Castle

The Gjirokastër Castle is much much older than it looks; likely inhabited as early as 8th-7th century BC and fortified in 5th Century BC. Then in the 20th Century it served as a prison for WWII prisoners by the Germans and later for political prisoners under the communist Hoxha regime. It is now a museum.

One of the former prison cells. Among other more traditional crimes prisoners might also be thrown into a cell for any of the following “crimes…” practicing religion, trying to escape, getting a divorce, saying anything bad about the communist government, or growing a beard. Of course, you’re lucky if you ended up in prison. Many offenders received instant death (without trial) for their crimes, particularly ones resisting government rule.

Another area inside this haunting castle.

This is where we began to first discover the cheeky wit and good humor of the Albanian people.

And then there was this surprise prop sitting atop the castle walls which caused us to raise a confused eyebrow…it’s the skeleton of a US Air Force plane. But, what is it doing here?! Well, The communist regime claimed this was a US spy plane forced down in 1957. The Air Force’s version is rather different, claiming that the commander “strayed” into Albanian air space on a routine flight from Naples to the south of France. If you know anything about geography, the dots don’t really connect on the latter version. The US commander was detained by Albania and eventually released but the plane remains in the Gjirokaster castle.

The stunning clock tower in the castle.

Zekati House

Stopping for a beer outside of the imposing Zekati House, an outstandingly well preserved 1810 Ottoman style house built by Ali Pashas (Albania’s ruler at the time) and given as a gift to an administrator. It is now a museum, and a great chance to check out such a rare architectural gem.

A nice man who lives next door let us in to get a closer look. The house is 4 floors, with the first floor occupied by horses. Each floor got more grand as you went up. Many of the sitting rooms had adorable “balconies” overlooking them. We weren’t quite sure what the purpose behind them was but to access it you have to open what seems to be a cabinet and inside is a set of stairs leading up to the lofted level. So fun!

Check out this beautifully intricate fireplace and the traditional Ottoman-Style sitting room. Room enough for the whole neighborhood! Just like we saw in Jordan!

What incredible woodworking craftsmanship! The elaborately carved wooden ceilings in the sitting rooms were truly gorgeous!

And on the top floor, Another inviting sitting room with an immaculately made fireplace and stained glass windows.

The view from the fourth floor are breathtaking overlooking the valley.

In Gjirokaster, we quickly learned that the Albanians are quite masterful in repurposing things. In this case, we came upon some fencing around several homes that seemed rather unusual, and after some careful inspection…”hey! it’s excess scrap metal cut-outs from utensil manufacturing!” Which utensil do you see?!

Evening approaches from our “Wow!” patio

The next day, it was time to move on. We shared a cab with Eda, our hostess, to get to down Mt. Gjirokastër to the bus station. While waiting we grabbed a quick coffee which was served with…drumroll please… ICE water!! Americans who have traveled outside the US know what an extreme oddity this is. It’s the first time we’d gotten ice since leaving the States. Also, for the record, that espresso which costs at least a euro across the Adriatic in Italy costs just $.46 in Albania. But alas, we didn’t get the chocolate square.

Permet

Our furgon (mini bus) to Permet (2 hrs.) cost us $5.50 total and as we were getting accustomed to, we shared with timid, but very smiley locals. It is widely known that Albanians have troubling driving skills, so taking the bus is quite common. Albania only had 3000 cars for a population of three million during Hoxha’s communist regime. During his time private cars were largely illegal. Since then however, Albanians have rapidly caught up in automobile ownership and the roads we traveled on thankfully seemed well cared for and new.

Arriving at our palatial AirBnb, the Eagle House, in the small mountain town of Permet. We could have easily hosted 8 more of our Explorer Gene fans in this place it was so big. It had three full bedrooms and two baths as well as a beautiful huge balcony with a birds-eye view of the surrounding mountains and town. Oh, and we got a warm welcome from the hosts parents who gave us spiced preserved walnuts (yay! Like in Armenia!) They also provided a lovely arrangement of flowers and some fresh cherries/eggs from their property. Although they spoke no English whatsoever, their warm offerings and smiles won us over immediately. The lady host also playfully slapped Mandy’s bum when walking up the stairs. Our first exposure to the touchy-feely-ness that is Albanians. Seriously, everyone touches. Teenage boys walk down the streets holding their mother’s hands!!

More treats from our hosts

The Eagle House (top left) from a viewpoint in the town. It’s called the Eagle House because of the giant red double-headed eagle… Albania’s unique national emblem and flag ?? Arguably one of the coolest world flags we think.

The Vjosë River, which flows through Permet might just be the most astoundingly aquamarine river we’ve ever seen. The color is hypnotic. It’s easy to see why this is a favorite for whitewater rafting. We only wish we had more time to find out, but we’ll wait for Montenegro and hotter temperatures so we can really appreciate it!

Benje Thermal Pools

About 15km north from Permet are the Benje Thermal Pools (free!), where the Vjosë River meets the Langarica River. The thermal springs and canyon scenery are a major highlight to visiting Permet. Unfortunately no buses run to it until the summer months so we got a ride from our Airbnb host. Driving up the Vjosa River valley out of Permet, the mountain views just got prettier and prettier. A truly beautiful drive!

In the main pool, we were excited to bask ourselves in divinely steamy water and setting. Unfortunately, it was a bit….tepid. Still the scenery was unparalleled, and enough to forgive the luke warm water. We just catalogued it in our memory as a great place to return to on a sunnier day.

The main pool is pictured to the left. The way it spills into the river is entrancing.

At the pools, the natural scenery lived up to the hype and then some. We were wowed! A photo opp in front of this stunning Ottoman bridge spanning the Langarica. We decided to begin with a quick hike up the canyon to see if we could scout any empty or more isolated pools because we had read that the thermal waters spring from the stream banks on both sides of the canyon as you go upriver. Also, the two most popular and biggest pools near the entrance were way too crowded. After about 30 minutes walking upstream we found an absolutely idyllic pool of the most iridescent aqua and hidden in a picture perfect cave but… it was totally inaccessible across the river…bet some local knows how to get there?! There were also some other small pools but the water didn’t seem hot.

Where shall we go next?