Gjirokastra, Albania

I am fairly sure I was the only foreign tourist in this town and I loved it. I don't know when "high" season in Albania is, but it definitely isn't now. More's the pity because this is a lovely place, where everyone seems to know each other and the age of the houses and steep, cobblestone streets worn smooth with use give it a character unmatched by anything I've seen. People are always out sitting on street corners chatting or having a drink; I've heard it said that traveling in Albania is like time traveling and it really is a few steps back.

It will be a shame to see tourism really hit here. When I arrived at my hotel, the owner couldn't have been more welcoming and friendly and despite speaking absolutely no English he made up for it in enthusiasm. Other than the half-crumbling old houses built in the 1700's, there is really only one sight in Gjirokastra, the castle. It is situated at the top of the hill that the town surrounds and looks as though it was used continuously from the time it was built to now (there is a popular little cafe inside with views), though parts of it are in ruins. Through the entrance, there is a hall filled with a display of old mortars and in the adjacent courtyard, a US spy plane from the Cold War era, perhaps kept as a trophy. Turrets and a clock tower crown the point and give great views of the old town and the surrounding countryside. There are no signs and nothing is roped off so I could walk around as I pleased, well apart from the other three people at the place (it was a busy morning for them I think).

But you can only spend so much time in a town of 20,000 where no one speaks English, so I hopped on the bus to Albania's capital, Tirana. On my way getting in to Gjirokastra, at the last bus station in Greece, I walked up to the information desk and asked the man sitting there, do you speak English? He then picked up the phone and put a sign in Greek in front of my face. Guess not. Good thing Albanians are a little more friendly.

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Details:
From Kalambaka, there are two daily departures to Ioannina everyday except Friday, at 8:50 and 15:20 (only 15:50 on Friday, about 2 hours) and the fare is $16/11.20€. The ride goes through some beautiful mountainous countryside. From Ioannina, there are frequent departures to the Greek/Albanian border town of Kakavia ($8/5.60€, about an hour). If you leave on the afternoon bus from Kalambaka, you will make it in time for the 16:30 departure. At Kakavia, you will be dropped off at the border, just walk through Greek emigration then down the road to Albanian immigration. You may get a lot of people bothering you with questions like where are you going. They are probably taxi drivers. Once you cross the border, tell one Gjirokastra and tell him cuatro euro. If he tries to charge you ten, refuse and find another. I paid ten and an Albanian who speaks English told me it was a good price, but this is untrue. Anyways, the ride takes about 20 minutes and he will drop you off at your hotel (there are no hostels here). I don't think there is a bus service for this route; all the locals took cabs as well unless they were picked up. As far as I've seen, there a handful of hotels in town, two of which are Hotel Kalemi, a nicer one in a cool old building for around $43/31€/4000lek per night, and Hotel Kotini, just down the road, which is cheaper but still quite nice for $25/15€/ 1800lek. These are both in the old part of town. Just walk around more or less randomly to get a feel for the place, then to see the castle just walk up the roads to the middle section facing the town ($2/200lek). If you arrive at the bus station, the standard fare for getting to the hotels in town (it is small, so the taxi drivers will know all the names) is $2/200lek. Same for getting to the bus station (which, by the way is more of a wide street with the various bus services clustered around it. I don't think there is Internet anywhere in the old town, but ATMs work even with foreign cards. Be careful though, asking for 5000lek will give you a single bill, which the poor man at the castle had to change for me in 500s and 200s for just a 200lek fee. He didn't get mad about it at all though, which was unusual and speaks well to the Albanian character.