Miscommunication.. and I make the dock to board the ferry with minutes to spare. Through customs and immigration (Albania is not in the EU) Which boat is my way across the Ionian Sea?
One looks like Captain Nemo's underwater submarine; a hydro foil that I have taken island hopping before. Ah there's the boat looking more like the transport ferries for cargo, vehicles and peopl
but I'm being waved in between... to a little passenger ferry LOADED on top, bobbing in the wake of larger vessels. Can this many people legally occupy this size boat?
The sky is clear, the water calm and this is an inland sea... besides the gangplank is up and it's leaving.
What a day for a boat ride. We are headed to Albania, once part of the Soviet Union and now a stand alone state. Bordering on Greece to the south, Macedonia to the north with the Adriatic Sea, Kosovo to the north east and Montenegro to the east. A country with a high mountain range and low lying valleys. 20 years away from the breakup of communism in the region. We land in a small harbor town of Saranda that is the summer destination for warm weather seekers to the north, a monastery lies at one end of the harbour and hilltop fortress ruins at the other. 5 and 6 story apartment buildings and hotels take the place of earlier long gone homes and commercial buildings, growing their way up the hill side.
Our real destination lies in the countryside, one of Albania's national parks, Butrint. It's origins are a stone age settlement; an archaeological site that records the reach of civilization, architecture and technology. From the classic Greeks to the Romans, past Alexander the Great, the Venetians and most recently the Ottoman Empire and the Turks in the 1900's. www.butrint.com
Perhaps it is the lack of development from the Soviet Union period, perhaps it is the remoteness of this region from cities and transportation centers. Perhaps it is the protection of UNESCO and the World Heritage Site designation. The result is a beautiful preserved area of river and delta flowing into the Ionian Sea. Saved for excavation by time with tons of silt, mud, river floods and neglect,. kept safe from rampaging seekers of building materials.A Greek temple, a Roman theatre, a 5th Century AD great basilica ..... a peninsula in the middle of the river flowing from a lake where mussel beds still serve up a regional food delicacy.
Half asleep a sharp corner shakes me awake. A woman balancing a basket on her head emerges from the village gate led by 6 fat geese on lead ropes. Am I imaging this? and then we're gone... the picture is in my mind.If this is Albania then I want to come back. Rough rural roads, buildings stopped in mid-construction, a town 20 years behind its' neighbor Corfu, but a natural treasure to be tasted before it emerges into the 21st Century. Ferrying back everyone naps, we walked alot... the sun and sea spray do their magic. I'm so glad that I gave a day to Albania. It gave back a memory with an urge to return.... thru Macedonia?
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