{"@context":{"rdf":"http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#","rdfs":"http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#","owl":"http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#","foaf":"http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/","dc":"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/","dct":"http://purl.org/dc/terms/","sioc":"http://rdfs.org/sioc/types#","blog":"http://vocab.amy.so/blog#","as":"https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#","mf2":"http://microformats.org/profile/","ldp":"http://www.w3.org/ns/ldp#","solid":"http://www.w3.org/ns/solid#","view":"https://terms.rhiaro.co.uk/view#","asext":"https://terms.rhiaro.co.uk/as#","dbp":"http://dbpedia.org/property/","geo":"http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#","doap":"http://usefulinc.com/ns/doap#","time":"http://www.w3.org/2006/time#"},"@graph":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/04/facebook","@type":"as:Note","as:content":"
I tried to make a facebook account so I could join an expats group to ask for information about visa extensions and stuff. I was blocked for ages on not having a phone number, and finally caved and put my new Albanian number in. Then it wanted a photo of me to verify I'm me (compared against what??). And now the account opening is 'under review' and I can't use it yet. At the same time I found an email address for some Albanian authorities and long story short it's literally taken less time to get an Albanian visa extension approved than it has to just open a facebook acount smh
","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2020-04-17T08:59:00+02:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/coronavirus"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/albania"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/visa"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/04/week-in-review","@type":"as:Article","as:content":"It is early in the tourist season anyway, and everything has been stunted by lockdown. A roadtrip along the Albanian Riviera revealed many quiet places - in some cases altogether deserted - along with grateful guesthouse and restaurant owners.
\r\n\r\nThe Riviera stretches between Sarandë and Vlorë and is characterised by glorious beaches and charming villages situated in the mountainsides overlooking the sea. The road is in good condition and winds along with amazing views and some breathtaking cliffedges and sharp turns. I didn't manage to check out every single beach, but I saw plenty. There are lots of castles too, and places of historical interest.
\r\n\r\nI didn't get as far as Vlorë, but did stop in Orikum, the seaside town just to the south. There's a really long beach with (mostly closed) restaurants and bars all along. I can imagine it would be a bit of a party scene during normal times in the summer. It was pretty desolate though. Photos of Orikum are here.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Llogora Pass is a steep switchback road towards the north end of the Riviera, with Palasë beach at the bottom and Llogora national park at the top. The national park is a different world, with pine forests and cool mountain air. There are plenty of well marked hiking trails, as well as Cesar's Pass, where Julius Cesar's army marched. I stayed in a friendly guesthouse in the woods. The owners run a restaurant with delicious homemade pasta, and kept bringing free dessert. I hiked to the top of Maja Thanassit (GPS trace, photos) and to Cesar's Pass (GPS trace, photos). Visibility was not good.
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\r\n\r\nPalasë beach is renowned for being gorgeous but seemed to subject to a large construction project and not very accessible. The next one down is Drymades. Not a lot there, but nice sand. The next town over is Dhërmi, which is absolutely charming; white houses and cute windows set into the mountainside. Vuna a bit further down is also picturesque, a smaller version of Dhërmi. I'd spend more time there in future.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nGjipe beach is nestled in the base of a canyon. There are a couple of different trails to get there from the road. One is longer but gentle and runs along the coast. The other is more.. exciting.. along the top of the canyon. I took the former (GPS trace). As I arrived on the beach, a couple of other people turned up in a canoe, which is the other way this place is accessible. There's a hut there renting canoes and paddleboards, and a campsite, so I expect there's more action here normally. But for my visit, it was peaceful; here are more photos of Gjipe beach.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHimarë is the 'captial' of the Riviera, as a medium sized town right on the sea instead of up in the mountains. It has a nice promenade, and lots of restaurants and shops that function all year round. There are several beaches and you can follow the coast around quite a way for different vibes. Interestingly the main language spoken there is a Greek dialect, and there are Greek flags flying all around. There's also a castle on the hill overlooking town. I stayed a couple of nights in the hostel, which had no other guests, and was hosted by two stranded workaway volunteers and two small friendly dogs. I didn't get the impression there is much to do in Himarë itself, and on one of the days it rained heavily so I just bummed around the hostel. They had a massive abundance of orange trees so I made fresh juice every day.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWhen the rain let up I hiked from Himarë to Jalë beach, via Livadh. It's a really nice coastal hike with a variety of terrains and foliage, and the long beach of Livadh to break it up (GPS trace). Of course as soon as I arrived a torrential downpour began again. Eventually found an open bar and sheltered there with hot coffee and chips. Gave up on waiting for the rain to end, and got wet heading back, but made it in time for the clouds to part and a beautiful golden sunset on the beach in Himarë. Photos of the hike to Jalë and back.
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\r\n\r\nThe next stop around the coast is Porto Palermo, home to a castle of Ali Pasha. I was surprised, pleasantly, to be sold a ticket to enter and have a fast, mumbled guided tour with a comprehensive history of the entire place in mostly comprehensible English. It's worth a visit, and the views are lovely too. Here are photos of the Castle at Porto Palermo.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIn between Porto Palermo and Borsh are many other little beaches to stop at. But at some point, they all start to look the same. I also skipped Qeparo village which I'd read has some amazing ruins in the mountains. Maybe next time. Borsh itself is in three parts; upper, middle and lower. The middle is the main bulk of the village with shops and restaurants. The beachfront has restaurants too, and lots of hotels. The beach at Borsh is the longest on the Riviera. I walked a good chunk of it and it seems to go on and on (here are photos of Borsh). It seems like it should be possible to walk all the way to Lukovë along the beach. Given a couple of days. There are lots of ruined bunkers. I stopped in the village at the Waterfall Restaurant for a coffee; I would have had a pizza but they'd only just opened and weren't ready for that yet. The setting is pretty unique - tables are among small cascades of water. It's loud, but in a good way.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBorsh Castle is amazing. The road towards Upper Borsh is a bit sketchy, but there's a tiny bit of parking at the bottom of the castle hill, and the trail leading up to it is surprisingly well maintained. It's a complete ruin and there's no fee to enter. The views are incredible, both inland towards the mountains and out to sea. I'll let the photos do the rest of the describing.
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\r\n\r\nThe road back to Sarandë winds away from the coast and passes through the villages of Lukovë, Shën Vasil and Nivicë. There are lots of tracks leading off to more secret beaches that are worth investigating one day... (boat tours will take you to some of these from Sarandë in the summer).
","as:generator":{"@id":"https://apps.rhiaro.co.uk/no-ceremonies-are-necessary"},"as:name":"Along the Albanian Riviera","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2020-05-22T20:58:13+01:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/tourism"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/castle"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/hiking"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/albania"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/05/trip-permet","@type":"as:Article","as:content":"Përmet is a small town, two hours inland from Sarande. They have \"everything besides the sea\", they say, and it's true. A clear blue river runs through the center, with rocky beaches on each side. It's possible to scramble down. It's icy cold, but shallow edges mean it's nice to paddle when the sun is out. Down there were local youths lounging in an intimidating group, but friendly to say hello and ask 'where from?' and offer weed..
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIn the town center there's a big rock, which you can climb for fantastic views of the town. It's cooler than the coast, surrounded by mountains. The town center is full of cute cafes, nice restaurants line the river, and it all comes alive at night, even immediately post-lockdown, with lots of children and elderly people in the streets and outside restaurants.
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\r\n\r\nThere are no hostels. I stayed in Hotel Ramis which was pretty much empty, in a small room with a nice balcony overlooking the river. The owners didn't speak English and were surly-friendly. Breakfast was salad and bread and local jams. Përmet is known for 'slow food', even hosting an organisation to promote and regulate it, whose sign you'll see on several restaurants.
\r\n\r\nTwo slow-food restaurants I tried were Trifilia and Antigonea. Trifilia has an outdoor terrace, and friendly staff who understand vegan. The highlight there was wild mountain cabbage salad. In Antigonea, by the river, I was delighted to find fasule, dolma, and byrek with wild mountain herbs. The waitress offered complimentary fish (this poor fool only ordering salads and side dishes?!) and raki too which I politely declined.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI went twice to the famous bënjë - thermal mineral baths. They're a short drive or medium-length hike up the nearby mountain, into the canyon. The first evening, there were quite a few people there. The water was not so much hot, but it wasn't cold so it was comfortable to climb right in whatever the weather. There are several pools each supposedly with different healing properties. The two main ones are by the distinctive Ottomon bridge at the beginning of the canyon. Further in there are more pools that fewer people venture to. The springs are natural, but the pools themselves are manmade, with stones building up the edges and plastic lining them (under layers of mud) to keep the water in.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIn the morning, there were fewer people, but still not zero. Before it got too hot I hiked along one of the trails across the top of the canyon. The views were incredible. No photos can capture the epicness of the canyon. The trail was varied, with some overgrown narrow paths, steep up and steep down, as well as wide roads with no shade. Then stopped to read for a while near some beautiful (cold) pools where the only sound to be heard was the trickle of the water. There had been something here once - there was an abandoned hut and some walls. But no other hikers came this way.
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\r\n\r\nThere were more people in the pools by the time hiked back. I walked further into the canyon, at some point giving up and wading through the water with my trainers on because the rocks were too uncomfortable for bare feet and there was often no easy way through without getting wet. I lounged in some of the pools further into the canyon until the sun started to go down.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMore photos of the town, river, and views from the rock, evening at the thermal pools and hiking and bathing in the canyon.
","as:generator":{"@id":"https://apps.rhiaro.co.uk/no-ceremonies-are-necessary"},"as:name":"A trip to Përmet","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2020-05-26T18:47:14+01:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/albania"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/vegan"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/food"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/05/week-in-review-3","@type":"as:Article","as:content":"I worked way too much this week, and got up at 0630 to finish some stuff before today's Co-op meetings, so to enforce taking the rest of the afternoon off... my building's wifi went out. Then the water.. and then the power.
I have started a new crochet project. And went to the beach.
","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2020-06-12T18:29:00+02:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/hacking"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/life"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/cooplife"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/albania"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/06/border-2","@type":"as:Note","as:content":"On Friday the Greek Deputy Minister of Civil Defense said the Kakavia land border with Albania will not open. Today a \"spokesperson for the Greek government\" said the Kakavia land border with Albania is on list of border crossings that will open. I still feel like it's sort of a complete 50-50 chance if I'll be leaving Albania this week. Makes it hard to adequately buy groceries. And plan my work schedule. And.. maintain my sanity.
\r\nI did waste like 3 hours this morning researching alternatives. Or maybe it won't be wasted! Who knows at this point.
","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2020-06-29T19:35:00+02:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/coronavirus"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/albania"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/covid19"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/greece"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/life"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/06/week-in-review-3","@type":"as:Article","as:content":"It's not looking good. Albania dropped from the EU's official 'safe' list, and a minister saying Kakavia land border is not ready due to incomplete disinfectant tunnels..
","as:inReplyTo":{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/06/border-2"},"as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2020-07-01T07:33:00+02:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/albania"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/greece"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/07/border-2","@type":"as:Note","as:content":"I don't want to jinx it but ~ there's a rumour ~ that they're letting people across the border anyway today so apparently we're gonna try?!
","as:inReplyTo":{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/07/border"},"as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2020-07-01T10:37:00+02:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/albania"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/greece"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/07/border-3","@type":"as:Note","as:content":"Still in Albania.
\r\nAll the border guards were very nice. The Albanian side let us go double check with the Greeks if they'd let us across before they stamped us out which was good of them. The Greeks said they'd love to let us through but Angela Merkel says they can't. They were just letting Greek citizens over at the moment, not even EU. It's very frustrating that with an EU passport I could fly to Athens from Albania, but not cross the land border. I'm not sure what to do next. Going to take a break from thinking about it for a few days.
","as:inReplyTo":{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/07/border-2"},"as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2020-07-02T12:00:00+02:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/coronavirus"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/albania"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/greece"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/07/storm","@type":"as:Note","as:content":"Storm!! Thunder, lightning, rain! Big waves! Actual breeze! Long overdue after the last stifling, still, sweltering couple of weeks. Opening balcony doors all the way to welcome it in. I feel better already.
","as:published":{"@type":"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime","@value":"2020-07-05T10:49:00+02:00"},"as:tag":[{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/albania"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/weather"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/travel"},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/tags/life"}]},{"@id":"https://rhiaro.co.uk/2020/07/week-in-review","@type":"as:Article","as:content":"