[April 2024] On the tour of Albania, the next day we left Saranda and headed north along the coast.
When we were leaving the hotel in Saranda, the cleaner who had already come in was delighted to find out that I was Japanese.
I wanted to ask her why she liked Japan, but unfortunately we couldn’t make understood ourselves because of the language problem.
On top of that, I missed going to the toilet because of my conversation with her.
I got on the bus and ran to the toilet at the first rest stop.
Even after that, I was still not feeling very well that day, but the places we visited were very nice.
First of all, the rest stop was in a town called Borsh, where there was a waterfall.
I thought it was strange that the restaurant had built terraces with tables on it, as if to hide the waterfall.
Well, it might be fun to eat in such an environment, though.
From here, we continued along the coastline with its mountains and valleys.
This is a beautiful place called the Albanian Riviera, and belongs to the Himare administrative district.
Apparently, the area around here was poor in the mountains and was abandoned by the Ottoman Turkish Sultan.
Because of this, the area has maintained its autonomy and has a large Christian population.
Also, after Italy surrendered to the Allied forces after overthrowing Mussolini during World War II, it was around here that the Italian soldiers left behind in Albania were brutally murdered by the German army.
It’s exactly like the situation in “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.”
The story was set on the Greek island of Kefalonia, which is not that far away.
Listening to such information, we arrived at a beautiful bay called Porto Palermo.
The sea here was as beautiful as you would expect from the Adriatic Sea.
It was quite hot on this April day, so we could see people already swimming.
We climbed up to the ruins of a castle on a small hill here.
This castle was built by Ali Pasha in the early 19th century.
Legend has it that he built it in 1804 with the help of French military engineers, but killed them after the construction was completed.
We finally reached the top and came out in front of the castle, but unfortunately it was closed.
The guide walked around the pathless area looking for an entrance, but to no avail.
We came down dejectedly, but it was really good to see the beauty of this bay.
Especially after seeing the ugly development in Saranda.
I hope the nature here remains as it is.
We then ate at a nearby restaurant with a great view.
We had a delicious lunch of bruschetta, salad, and mushroom risotto.
That’s what I wrote in my notes, but I don’t have any photos.
Ever since stumbling at the start of the morning, I seemed to have been feeling unwell.
