Day 32 Tirana to Berat

We had decided for the next part of our trip to rent a car to travel through some of the Balkan countries, though we had heard that the roads in Albania weren't great and Tirana especially would be difficult. We did find that in Tirana that many streets had changed names, drivers don't follow rules and there are a lot of motor bikes, bicycles and pedestrians thrown into the mix.

We had plugged the coastal city of Durres into the GPS so we headed off, it wasn't long before we were heading down a narrow dead end alley, the locals did try to warn us with gesturing and raised voices but of course we didn't understand them, we eventually could go no further and had to reverse out. We decided to ignore the GPS from here on in when it decided to send us down narrow streets.

We made it to Durres and played the same fun and games with the GPS, the maps are so out of date that many roundabouts and corners were no longer there. We passed large blocks of apartments painted in different coloured polka dots - who thought that was a good idea? We eventually found the ancient town wall and amphitheater, a quick stop to have a look, then on to Vlore on the coast for lunch.

The town roads were very rough, patched and chaotic, the only rule that seemed to apply was every man for himself, in some cases they didn't even bother painting lane markings on the roads.

Vlore has a new, modern, wide promenade with lots of restaurants and is alongside a nice looking beach. All the restaurants seemed to have the same menu, seafood and pizza, so we chose a pizza restaurant for lunch, only to be told there wasn't any pizza. So instead we shared a rubbery chicken fillet then drove inland to Berat.

The road was probably the worst sealed road we have ever been on with massive holes, disappearing sections or no road at all. Fortunately Berat, known as the town of 1000 windows, made up for the difficult drive.

Berat is a lovely town divided by the river, our hotel was built into the cliff face and was so authentic that huge pieces of the rock cliff face protrude through the walls in reception.

We went for a walk across the river and along the promenade but there was a bit of evening rain so we took shelter at a cafe on the promenade. M then found a very efficient and meticulous barber and received a very good hair cut for the princely sum of about $2.50. When the rain stopped we went back to our hotel with its terrace restaurant overlooking the town and had a nice meal of roast lamb.