RB
Established Member
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2004
- Posts
- 4,440
Paxos to Gjirokaster
A taxi to Gaios from Lakka, hydrofoil to Corfu, a long dock walk to the Albanian ferry area, a bit of a line through security to exit Greece (only 2 workers) & then an unexpected wait - a time change via a time zone variation but the ferry also ran an hour after what was advised on our booking & ticket. We waited out the hour onboard in an air-conditioned lounge with only about 30 others travelling. Took off around 15 minutes late also, so all of this conspired for us to miss the last bus to Gjirokaster.
Off the ferry quickly at Saranda & very quickly through Albanian security & another stamp in the passport. The ferry terminal is a magnet for taxi touts & sim card sellers. Our hosts had contact via Whats App & kindly had organised a well priced taxi transfer for us.
It was an interesting trip with our driver, probably in his 60’s having always lived in Gjirokaster. He didn’t like Saranda (does looks very much like the Gold Coast) he misses some aspects of the old regime such as the health care & education process & he doesn’t listen to the news as there is never anything good reported!
A great drive on a fairly new road through narrow necks between mountains & then some beautiful spacious flats. A lot of abandoned terraces, but also plenty of agriculture - grapes, oranges, hay, sheep, goats and honey.
The hot afternoon was completed by a thunderstorm that boiled up over the mountain peaks. Plenty of police cars on the side of the road conducting radar checks - the speed limits are generally low with many areas of 60,50 & 30km/hr limits. We were dropped off at the door of our room in the Old Town for our 2 night stay.
This was our ride to Corfu-pretty well organised for fitting luggage. Comfortable enough seats but not much of a view through windows
One door on the far left of corridor is the holy grail!
Looking back at Albanian departure terminal in Corfu-multiple lines arriving & departing at similar times so a bit chaotic. Buses on the right were for shuffling the nearby cruise passengers
Ended up with about another dozen passengers in this air conditioned lounge on the ferry
Docked at Corfu
Departing Corfu
Mango Beach Saranda
Taken as we docked in Saranda
Road to Gjirokaster -a couple more kms & we travelled on an excellent, multi-lane highway only constructed a couple of yrs ago
We were perched up in the old town section of Gjirokaster
Cloud hugging the mountaintops after the thunderstorm
A taxi to Gaios from Lakka, hydrofoil to Corfu, a long dock walk to the Albanian ferry area, a bit of a line through security to exit Greece (only 2 workers) & then an unexpected wait - a time change via a time zone variation but the ferry also ran an hour after what was advised on our booking & ticket. We waited out the hour onboard in an air-conditioned lounge with only about 30 others travelling. Took off around 15 minutes late also, so all of this conspired for us to miss the last bus to Gjirokaster.
Off the ferry quickly at Saranda & very quickly through Albanian security & another stamp in the passport. The ferry terminal is a magnet for taxi touts & sim card sellers. Our hosts had contact via Whats App & kindly had organised a well priced taxi transfer for us.
It was an interesting trip with our driver, probably in his 60’s having always lived in Gjirokaster. He didn’t like Saranda (does looks very much like the Gold Coast) he misses some aspects of the old regime such as the health care & education process & he doesn’t listen to the news as there is never anything good reported!
A great drive on a fairly new road through narrow necks between mountains & then some beautiful spacious flats. A lot of abandoned terraces, but also plenty of agriculture - grapes, oranges, hay, sheep, goats and honey.
The hot afternoon was completed by a thunderstorm that boiled up over the mountain peaks. Plenty of police cars on the side of the road conducting radar checks - the speed limits are generally low with many areas of 60,50 & 30km/hr limits. We were dropped off at the door of our room in the Old Town for our 2 night stay.
This was our ride to Corfu-pretty well organised for fitting luggage. Comfortable enough seats but not much of a view through windows
One door on the far left of corridor is the holy grail!
Looking back at Albanian departure terminal in Corfu-multiple lines arriving & departing at similar times so a bit chaotic. Buses on the right were for shuffling the nearby cruise passengers
Ended up with about another dozen passengers in this air conditioned lounge on the ferry
Docked at Corfu
Departing Corfu
Mango Beach Saranda
Taken as we docked in Saranda
Road to Gjirokaster -a couple more kms & we travelled on an excellent, multi-lane highway only constructed a couple of yrs ago
We were perched up in the old town section of Gjirokaster
Cloud hugging the mountaintops after the thunderstorm
