Oct 5, 2012 - Berat

Uma da spontes que separa as 2 zonas de Berat é pedonal e do séc VIII e atravessa o rio Osum que nesta altura padece de alguma secura. No dia 6 de Janeiro, quando o caudal está cheio, ocorre aqui o festival do Epifânio no qual o padre atira desta mesma ponte uma cruz em madeira e os jovens nadadores atiram-se ao rio numa competição para ver quem consegue levar a cruiz de volta. Cerca de 70% da população é muçulmana, maioritariamnete da etnia sunni, mas há uma pequena percentage, cerca de 5% destes que são Bektashims, similares ao sufismo...

Oct 4, 2012 - Berat

Mais uma viagem de furgão entre Dhermi e Vlora e mais uma viagem cénica inesquecivel pelo desfiladeiro de Llogaraja, a mais de 1000 m de altitude. O mar jónico abre-se diante de nós, com vista para ilha grega de Corfu, sôb a ligeira névoa e depois a estrada entra numa floresta de cedros espessa para finalmente descer até a um vale amplo onde pastores conduzem os seus rebanhos entre oliveiras e ao fundo o mar vigilante. Em Vlora apanhamos um autocarro para Berat numa estrada péssima com cratertas do tamanho de planetas...Não admira que o...

Jul 2, 2012 - Berat

BERAT: We took a big bus to Fier. The roads in Albania are legendary BAD. The ride to Fier was a rock and roll affair with the bus swerving back and forth across the highway dodging the bigger holes & often coming to a complete halt before diving into and lurching its way through a pot hole. The rule of the road is the biggest vehicle rules the road. This became quite evident when we arrived at a narrow baily bridge where we stopped and two cars coming towards us had to reverse and back off. The bus slowly weaved its way across the bridge...

Jun 18, 2012 - My darling mum

This is a wedding anniversary I'll not forget. I started the day as usual on Skype to mum but today she did not know who I was. I am afraid her chemo drugs have had a disastrous and sudden affect on her mental capacity so she is now off the chemo which of course has serious implications so we are coming home to be with her. Thanks for taking an interest in our journey and we hope it transported you out of a cold Melbourne winter for a few moments each day.

Jun 17, 2012 - A unique way to deal with a traffic jam

I chose delicious honey and bread for breakfast at the hotel but there was an array of cheese, cabana like sausage on offer. We followed that with a 70 cent cappuccino at a nearby cafe. It is very heap here. The town was very quiet when we left for our walking tour at 9am but it was already very not and humid. We saw yet another aspect of Tirana by following a huge boulevard built in an age of the fascist and communists penchant for parades and spectacles. The buildings were all very dull by our standards but this part of the city was much...

Mar 9, 2012 - Berat day trip

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berat Since we have little info about Albania it took a bit of investigation to find out about buses/transport and get on with seeing some sights. Quite a bit of walking and asking questions best we could not knowing Albanian. People are very helpful and tho outwardly stern, once you attempt to communicate with a smile they too usually open up with a smile and do their best with lots of hand signs and body language. We got to the center of town where we encountered the 'taxis' - vans for 8-9 people. Soon we were...

Jul 2, 2010 - Berat

Das schoene, in den Bergen gelegene osmanisch angehauchte Steinhausstaedtchen Berat, mit seiner hoch gelegenen, UNESCO-geschuetzten, bewohnten Festung war allemal die Reise wert. Wie in einer andren Zeit konnten wir die Altstadt im Fort besichtigen mit tollen Ausblicken auf die umgebenden Weinberge. Die hiesigen osmanischen Kopfsteinpflasterstrassen sind teils so steil, glatt und rutschig, dass man nur mit gedruecktem Vollgas im 1. Gang raufkommt, aeltere Autobaujahre gar nicht! Zu Fuss kamen wir schoen ins Schwitzen :-) In der Unterstadt...

Oct 16, 2009 - Berat, Albania

As we approached Berat in the heart of Albania, Mt. Tomorr loomed over the countryside; already snow-capped it made for a magnificent sight. We were ready to get out of the furgon, after 2 1/2 hours of non-stop Albanian music blaring from the speakers strategically located in our section of the van. We had had a multitude of traveling companions by the time we reached Berat, all being locals and all but two men. As we wondered where our hotel was and when we should ask the van to stop, we were pleasantly surprised that the two remaining...

Mar 4, 2009 - Bus to Berat

3/4/09 Buses in Albania leave a lot to be desired. Saranda is one of the few towns that has a bus “station” with some sort of organized effort to get people on and off the buses in a routine fashion. Often, travellers are dropped off on the side of the street in the middle of a city and left to fend for themselves; particularly a challenge when one doesn’t speak Albanian and noone seems to know how to take the bus to the hoped-for destination, and no bus station to consult. Occasionally “fugons,” essentially vans, leave from various corners...

Sep 21, 2008 - Berat - The Jewel of Albania

We left Saranda on a crowded mini-bus at 8:00am. As we left the coast and descended into a valley, we noticed little round bunkers everywhere. These bunkers are remnants of the country’s communist era. Having severed ties with the Soviet Union and the rest of the Eastern Bloc countries, and with its obvious ideological difference with the West, Enver Hoxha built over 700,000 of these bunkers as part of the self-reliance defense policy against a seemingly certain invasion. These bunkers are found everywhere in the country and are virtually...

Sep 11, 2006 - Berat

So if the trip up here wasn't just the most interesting thing I have ever experienced. We blew our day in Athens and finally made for our departure into Albania. As it turns out we were the only people on the bus. Not even a second driver, which I think is against the law. Apparently so did he because he made sure one of us was sitting in the copilot seat at all times. Considering the driver was yawning 40 minutes into the 15 hour trip, it's fair to say we had our reservations but when in Rome... So off we go on our own personal charter...

Oct 20, 2004 - BERAT (albania)

On arriving in Berat we treated to the exact opposite to Tirana. This smallish town in the south of the country was situated next to some beautiful high peaked mountains, was quiet with very few cars driving around the level and easy to cross roads and had a very picturesque river meandering it´s way thru the centre. Infact the only things that continued on from the other areas that we had visited in the country were the lack of any other tourist and the friendliness of the locals. Due to the British pound being quite strong in the...