December 2017 – Page 2 – DJmotortouring

Ksamil, Albania (Butrint) – Dec 2017

Ksamil is a small town on the peninsula of the same name about 8 miles south of Sarande. Just 3 miles further south in the National Park on the shores of Lake Butrint are the archaeological remains of Butrint city.

Butrint is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (and has been since 1992) and, while it was off limits to the general public under the communist regime (because of fears people could be tempted to flee the country by swimming the short distance to Greece), it is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in Albania. It will inevitably be busy in the summer but it really is a “must see”. I consider it to be one of the most fascinating places I have seen during this tour.

It is different from many archaeological sites because in this one place you can see structures from so many different eras (especially Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman civilisations) and it has, rightly, been described as a microcosm of history. It costs 700 leke (just over 5 euros) to enter the site and with your entrance ticket you get a pamphlet which identifies various walking trails that showcase both the different cultures that have occupied this area and the scenery. This is a National Nature Reserve too. You don’t need a tour guide because the pamphlet with it’s trail map, the museum and numerous information boards in Albanian and English tell you all you need to know.

Too much has happened at this site over the years for me to recount in this blog so, I will simply say that there is evidence the site was occupied in prehistoric times but it was about 1200 BC when a first proper settlement was established (reputedly by the Trojan exiles Helenus and Andromache) and it was under the Greeks (starting around 400 BC) and especially the Romans (228 BC) that the city really developed and grew. It declined with the demise of the Roman Empire and, most especially, following a 3rd century earthquake which saw extensive flooding and caused the formation of malarial marshes around the city. Indeed, most of the city was abandoned at that time but the area was still of strategic importance and what remained changed hands many times between the Byzantines, Angevines and Venetians (who all left their mark on the city) with the ultimate victors, the Venetians, then having to develop various military installations in an ultimately failed attempt to fend off the Ottoman Empire.

In 228 BC the Romans took the city from the Greeks and the Greek Theatre was “Romanised”. Over a period of time, most especially under Augustus, the Romans more than doubled the size of the city adding an aqueduct, fountains, baths and villas

The city was already in decline when the Byzantines built their Great Basilica and, especially, when the Venetians started on their Triangular Fort the other side of the Vivari Channel (which connects Lake Butrint with the Straits of Corfu)

The grounds of the 14th – 16th century Venetian Fortress which now houses the museum and sits on the hilltop where the Acropolis used to be, have been turned into delightful gardens

The Venetian Tower and the Lion’s Gate

I suggested in an earlier blog that Albania is a place of total contrasts and I see yet another example of that in Butrint because I really cannot understand how a place can be so tranquil and yet exude such feeling.

Cicero said it all in letters to Atticus when he wrote it is “… the quietest, coolest, most pleasant place in the world”. He’s not far wrong.

Ksamil Beach on the way out

Ksamil Beach on the way back

Collected on the way in. I feel a Gin & Tonic coming on

Going to have to think about moving on to Greece.

Vlore to Ksamil, Albania – Dec 2017

The roads in and around Vlore are no better than those experienced yesterday. I was going to visit a monastery, the Manastiri i Shen, which is on an island just off the Zvernec Peninsula near Vlore (you have to use an unusual and rather fragile wooden walkway to get to the island and I thought it would be fun and it would make for some great photos) but the town road to Zvernec was simply too dangerous. It’s bad enough having to cope with pot-holes the size of small wells but in the towns you also have to contend with the fact that manhole covers and the iron grates over most drains have been removed (presumably taken for scrap value) leaving seriously deep holes to the side and in the middle of the road that you cannot see because of flooding.

Just go for it and hope…

I’m pleased to say that everything improved after I made the decision to move further south to the small town of Ksamil, not far from the border with Greece. It was an adrenalin filled drive around the hairpin bends as we (the Van and I) moved south but the quality of the mountain road was much improved over the town roads and with the temperature well up in the teens I wasn’t worried about the snow on the higher hills- that’s what the winter tyres are all about.

Nobody seems to give a damn about the 20 kph speed limit on the hairpins; it’s like being on a helter-skelter

En route to Ksamil, just before the coastal village of Borsh , I stopped to investigate a small castle on an island in a bay. It was the Porto Palermo Castle built by Ali Pasha Tepelena in the early 19th century with the help of some French military engineers. Ali Pasha subsequently executed the engineers but that’s another story. I parked the Van up outside of a restaurant/cafe that I thought was closed but there were 2 Albanians sitting inside drinking from a bottle and in a combination of Albanian, English, Italian (sic) and, mostly, sign language they required that, prior to leaving my Van in their care, I should partake of some of their bottle. It was a home made Grappa and not bad. Of course, after visiting the castle, I felt obliged to reciprocate and insisted they drink a dram of 10 year old Ardbeg that I had in my hip flask. I stopped in a lay-by thereafter for a strong coffee. There’s no doubt the Albanians are a most friendly and generous people.

Porto Palermo Castle. The last photo is of Ali Pasha’s personal quarters

By the way, Ali Pasha got his comeuppance when on 21 January 1822 he was himself treacherously killed on the island of Ionnina. You reap what you sow.

Yer man himself

Currently parked up in Ksamil. More about that tomorrow.

Shkoder to Vlore, Albania – Dec 2017

While the weather was really nice today (how it can change so significantly from yesterday, I do not know), the forecast for Shkoder over the next 7 days is terrible. I therefore decided to spend this morning touring the city and revisiting the Rozafa Fortress (so as to get at least one decent photo) and then, in the afternoon, move south to Durres or even beyond where the weather forecast is considerably better.

Shkoder is a place of total contrasts. It is one of very few places in Albania with a track record of resisting communism and it’s not therefore surprising to see it has a cathedral and a number of mosques while the rest of Albania seems to have toed the party line and done away with religious buildings of any kind and; there seem to be considerably fewer of Enver Hoxha’s military bunkers in Shkoder than anywhere else in the country (Hoxha was paranoid about the West invading Albania and instructed that individual pill boxes be constructed for each and every Albanian capable of carrying arms) but; the contrasts don’t stop there. It is a real mix of ancient stone wall buildings alongside distinctive modern buildings such as the Marubi National Museum of Photography or even the city’s Grand Hotel (although, if I am honest, the ugly drab housing blocks one associates with Eastern Europe do predominate). There is clearly much poverty, with so many people standing on the streets all day trying to sell clothes that they have grown out of, and yet all the usual designer brands are on sale in shops. Donkeys, goats, turkeys and so many stray dogs wander the same streets as are filled with expensive cars (the great majority of private cars on the roads, and almost all the taxis it seems, are Mercedes, Audi or BMW). I’m not altogether comfortable with that. It reminds me of Bangladesh and India.

The view from the walk along a bank of the flooded River Buna and a photo of Democracy Square in Shkoder

I said the weather was good today and that is perhaps reflected in a few of the photos I took both of Shkoder and during my return to the Rozafa Fortress:-

Going back up to the Fortress in altogether nicer weather.There has to be a window shot.

Looking down on Shkoder.

Moving on. I decided to chase the good weather and head for Durres but I think the sat-nav was playing up once again because when I entered Durres it kept directing me towards the ferry terminal and insisting that I take a ferry. After driving several kilometres in circles around Durres and repeatedly ending back at the ferry terminal I gave up on the place, turned the sat-nav off and followed the road signs further south to Vlore. What a journey that was but before I continue, lest there be any doubt, let me state categorically that the roads in Albania are the worst I have come across outside of Africa.

At the time I didn’t understand why the sat-nav should keep directing me towards the ferry terminal but now I think it was perhaps some form of divine intervention. It took me so long to reach Vlore and even then I didn’t have time to find a decent wild camp (I’ve literally just pulled up off the motorway) but, take a look at the quality of the road I had to follow for miles and miles:-

That, believe it or not, is an “A” road and that was one of the better parts where I could take a hand off the wheel to take a photo. I could have done with 4 wheel drive today (or perhaps I should have taken the ferry)

Anyway, I am in or close to Vlore. I’ll see what that is about tomorrow.

Shkoder, Albania (Legjenda) – Dec 2017

I’ve already posted a blog today, about my rather wet escapade up to the Rozafa Fortress, and I think I mentioned too that I was going back to the Legjenda Bar & Restaurant to eat this evening? So pleased that I went back.

The welcome I received upon my return was wonderful (and wholly out of proportion to what I spent last night – bless them). Once again, the food and drink was very good. This evening, however, I was joined by the proprietor, Linda, and (for a short period) her husband who in addition to being a co-owner of the Legjenda and it’s accompanying camp site is the artist and inspiration behind a great deal of what sets this business apart.

Slow-witted that I am I didn’t realise until this evening that the name of the bar-restaurant “Legjenda” has a direct correlation with the “legend” of Rozafa / Rosafa whom I wrote about in my last blog. In addition to providing a bit of a history lesson on Shkoder and the Rozafa Fortress and life under communist rule (Linda is a history teacher by profession) and giving me bags of advice as to where else I need to go to maximise my time in Albania, Linda explained that much of the art work in the restaurant is influenced by the Rosafa legend and it is all her husband’s own work.

I’m sure I don’t need to repeat the story but I’ll explain it anyway. I think his art is wonderful:-

The brothers working to build a fortress for protection and the beautiful Rosafa at home with her newborn

The fortress walls keep collapsing (that’s Linda’s husband, the artist, sitting there)

That’s the brothers receiving advice from the wise man and then, jumping ahead, there’s the wives of the two elder brothers plotting against Rosafa

That’s Rosafa sealing her fate, delivering the lunch, and then there is a sculpture of Rosafa immured in the wall (you may think differently but I think he’s a better painter than sculptor but ten out of ten for artist’s impression). I’d be interested in Clare Dedic’s view on that one?

Lovely evening. Finished with a large raki (complements of the house).

I was going to move south to Durres tomorrow but there are still things I want to see here and the weather forecast is good tomorrow.

Shkoder (previously Scutari), Albania – Dec 2017

Well, the weather forecast was so bad today (thunder, lightning, torrential rain & hail) I decided to sit tight in Shkoder… and that is what I should have done!

Somebody in the taverna last night suggested that the Rozafa Fortress is worth a visit and late this afternoon, like a wally, I thought I would take advantage of a break in the bad weather and visit the fortress which is very close. I mean, how long can such a heavy storm continue? Needless to say, with the weather as bad as it is there was no one else up there.

The fortress is in ruins and the only possible shelter was locked for the winter and so when the bad weather resumed (which it did as I approached the furthermost point of the Fortress) I was well and truly caught. It was bad and more than a little disconcerting with the thunder banging and cracking at the same time as the lightning flashed. I think the storm was right above me. Not nice. All I could do was hunker down and wait it out and thank the heavens I was wearing my Paramo jacket. I wished I had the Paramo trousers on too because the Craghoppers were rubbish – sodden in seconds. Anyway, I’m back at the Van now drying out while I write this blog.

I managed to get a few photos before the heavens opened but they are not amongst my best:-

First photo is looking back down the route up to the fortress and the second is the view down over one of either the Bojana or Drin Rivers. Whichever river it is, it has burst it’s banks. No surprise there with this storm.

First photo is of some of the fortress walls. The second is a photo of what was a 13th century church, St Stephen’s, built inside the fortress and which was subsequently converted into a mosque when the Ottoman’s took the fortress from the Venetians

Apparently, there has been a fortress of some sort on this site since the Bronze Age some 4,000 years ago but it really came to the fore in 167 bc when the Romans took it from the Illyrians. Since then it has changed hands many times with most of the current fortifications having been built by the Venetians.

Local legend has it that it was 3 brothers who first started work on a fort here but the walls kept falling down. They turned to a wise man for advice and he counselled that they should offer up a human sacrifice to be interred in the walls. The brothers argued long and hard about whom to sacrifice and ultimately agreed that whichever of their wives brought them lunch the next day would have to be the sacrifice and/but that the wives should not be told of this decision – fate would determine which wife should be sacrificed. The two elder brothers reneged and told their wives of the plan and they in turn made sure the youngest brother’s wife delivered the lunches. The young girl, Rosafa by name, was subsequently interred in the walls and that is how the fortress came to receive its name. It is sad but it is only legend.

The legend continues to the effect that Rosafa had a newborn child and as she was being immured she pleaded that the brothers leave sufficient holes in the wall such that she could see and continue to feed her infant son. It seems a bit far fetched but there is another photo:-

Anyway, enough of that. It is time I put on some dry clothes and went for dinner. I ate in the Legjenda Bar Restaurant last night and it was very good and I promised to return.

Legjenda Restaurant, complete with log fire. I’ll be next to that this evening

…and last night’s dinner which was wild boar and two small carafes of local red wine (all for 12 euros)

post script – it seems today’s storms were the heaviest the Adriatic has seen since 1986 – I believe it!

Bar, Montenegro – Dec 2017

Yes, I had to move last night. The donkeys didn’t let up with their braying but, I think the next beach along was nicer anyway. It was certainly quieter.

I spent the evening in the Van with a bottle of red wine considering my next move. There was Zabljak (outstanding scenery even by local standards up in the north east of Montenegro) with a current air temperature -6 or; Podgorica (the Capital of Montenegro with it’s attendant culture), current air temperature +1 or; Ulcinj (40 km further south) at +13. No brainer.

The alternative beach – good decision

After an early breakfast I set off for Ulcinj but halted en route at a small city on the coast called Bar. Bar has an Old Town (Stari Bar) but otherwise it is a mostly modern city, unattractive and not at all appealing, except that it has a most amazing looking Eastern Orthodox Cathedral – the Cathedral of St John Vladimir – which you cannot help but notice as you drive through the city. I parked up for a better look.

This is a new cathedral constructed between 2009 and 2012 and with the building being consecrated as recently as 2016 but there is a story to this place. The communist authorities had not allowed the building of an orthodox church in Bar because they consider religion of any kind an ideological enemy but, in 1979 a rather intrepid local priest, Bogic Femic, was not to be deterred and he started campaigning for the construction of such a church to be built in a prime location in the city. For 2 years he campaigned (organising mass protests and even going on a hunger strike) and in 1981 after numerous protests and, most important, persuading more than half the city’s population (including several Roman Catholics and Muslims) to sign a petition in favour of the church, he won the day and was given more than 2 hectares in the city centre upon which to build. Because of the prevailing bureaucracy and a lack of funds it would still be some time before his dream was realised but the finished cathedral is amazing and quite unlike any other I have seen:-

The main door to the cathedral is beautifully detailed but once you pass through the doors…

… it is exquisite. It is one that will give the Roman Catholics a run for their money.

Ulcinj was a disappointment. The journey took me down a rather narrow street that turned into a cul-de-sac because the local drivers couldn’t find any parking and simply dumped their cars to go shopping. This happened twice and, believe me, it is not easy turning the Van around in such confined places. I gave up.

For all it’s natural beauty (and it does have some magnificent scenery) I will not be sorry to leave Montenegro. The standard of driving is without a doubt the worst I have encountered anywhere in the world – and that includes many countries in the Middle East, the Indian sub-continent and Newcastle upon Tyne. It was a particular nightmare just south of Ulcinj, on the road to Albania. There had been a landslide of sorts and much of an already narrow road was lost. Road-workers were doing their best to make good the road and that required setting up a traffic light system to regulate the traffic over a 2-3 kilometre stretch of road that was very unstable and had very few places where vehicles could pass. The locals simply ignore such traffic lights preferring to risk life and limb and trusting more to luck than judgement when passing oncoming traffic. I was glad to get off that road in one piece.

Surely the driving in Albania will not be as bad?!?

Kotor, Montenegro – Dec 2017

This is going to have to be a relatively brief blog because I am having too much trouble with the wifi where I am parked up.

I made it to Montenegro this morning. The crossing from Croatia was straightforward and quick. I’d been told to expect a long delay driving into Montenegro but there were just two cars in the queue at the checkpoint and they both went through during the three or four minutes it took me to obtain a green (insurance) card for the Van. I followed moments later.

First thoughts as to Montenegro – the views are as good as any I have seen during this tour but, of course, I have a passion for mountains and water and here in Montenegro there are plenty of large mountains right alongside the sea…

The views as I drove south towards Kotor and then Petrovac were stunning (but, like I said, I have a thing about water and mountains)

I’m currently parked up on the beach at Petrovac na Moru which is I think about 30+ km south of Kotor.

Petrovac is the small town to the left of the first photo. I’m parked up on the next (deserted) beach along from Petrovac – see second photo. I may move; I can put up with the sound of the sea but there are two donkeys tethered about 100 yards away from the Van and they haven’t stopped braying for the last 20 minutes

I drove through Kotor earlier today and I had it in mind to spend the night there but ultimately decided against it. I’m disappointed about that because I was very keen to get up to the old fortress high above the town. The view from there is supposed to be one of the best in Montenegro.

At first sight Kotor would appear to have everything Dubrovnik has and more. It’s setting is tremendous. It sits on the calmest sea (the map below perhaps explains why the sea is so calm here) with the magnificent Mt Lovcen providing an excellent backdrop. As a town it appears to have as many places of interest (although I cannot for the life of me understand why there should be a “Cat’s Museum” – I gave that one a miss) and the Old Town has considerably more character than it’s counterpart in Dubrovnik.

What let Kotor down for me, however, was the number of tourists. I was advised that Kotor is Dubrovnik without the commercialism and the tourists. It was mobbed (far worse than Dubrovnik). So here I am in Petrovac.

As was mentioned previously, the views during the drive round the Gulf of Kotor were beautiful and I stopped on a number of occasions to take photos. The church sitting on the small island in the second photo above is “Our Lady of the Rocks”. According to legend the island was made by Croat fishermen who (after finding an icon of Madonna and Child on a small pile of rocks in the sea and then seeing a very sick fisherman recover after he touched the icon) swore an oath that upon returning from each successful voyage they would add a rock to the original pile. Subsequently, old boats were filled with stones and sunk at the same spot until there was an island large enough to build the church on. The practise of adding stones after a successful voyage continues to this day.

Dubrovnik, Croatia – Dec 2017

Today was always going to be a chill day and so it proved. The morning and early afternoon were about enjoying a late (light) breakfast (while the busload of Chinese tourists who arrived at the hotel late last night finished their breakfast and checked out); then ambling into Dubrovnik Old Town for a walk around the city walls and lanes and; finally, a few beers and some lunch in a seaside tavern while watching the world go by. Late afternoon was about ambling back to the hotel; then going for a swim in the pool and; finally, a one hour massage which was scheduled for 5pm. Tonight, I don’t know yet.

To start with I was ambivalent about walking the walls. However, by the time I reached the Old Town, the streets were packed with tourists and the comparatively empty walls suddenly looked very appealing.

Walls were empty and there are 2 km of them. That’s Fort Minceta in the first photo.

So, what about Dubrovnik? Three thoughts come immediately to mind. Firstly, it’s a tourist destination where the majority of locals have sold up and/or converted their property for tourist purposes – less than 500 people now permanently reside in the Old Town and as a consequence, whilst there is much to look at, the place seems to have little or no soul. Secondly, it’s very busy – in the summer it will become packed not least because the med cruises alone will bring in another 1 million plus tourists and I was told yesterday that the city is once again considering capping the number of people who will be able to enter the Old Town at any given time. Thirdly, it’s expensive – even out of season the prices in the Old Town are ridiculously high (e.g. 20 euros to walk around the city walls and a further 17 euros if you want to go into the city wall museum and; you’ll find it difficult to get a small beer for less than 5 euros).

On the other hand, it is one of the most magnificent medieval walled cities anywhere in the world with the most amazing views out to sea and, for the last two days, the most magnificent sunsets I have ever seen. The Old Town is wholly pedestrianised, packed solid with charming lanes and intriguing old buildings and museums and I could spend hours walking around. Indeed, I must have walked the “Stradun”, the main thoroughfare of the Old Town, eight times today because I didn’t want to miss anything. Having said that, it’s the kind of place I would be equally happy just sitting in the sun with a beer or wine, gazing out to sea. I did that too for a good hour.

Views were stunning

I think it is the kind of place you have to make your own mind up about. So far as I am concerned, two more thoughts come to mind – Dazzling and Bewitching.

I’ve been told about a place further south, in Montenegro, called Kotor. It is supposed to be like Dubrovnik but without the tourists. Now that has to be worth a visit.

Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina to Dubrovnik, Croatia – Dec 2017

Today was about the journey from Bosnia (Mostar) back to Croatia (Dubrovnik).

I could have completed the journey in a little over 2 hours but I decided to take my time. I checked out the various options on Google and then chose the most time consuming, circuitous route available; the logic being I would see more and perhaps see something different. To start with there were no problems and a very reasonable road took me into historic Stolac…

Looking up at Old Stolac from the road; looking down on “new” Stolac from Old Stolac and; the main gate into Old Stolac

… but then the Van and I went “off piste”.

The roads narrowed, became almost tracks in some parts, and we went over and around various hills with hairpin bends and silly drops to the side and, yes, there were times when I don’t know what I would have done had I met a vehicle coming from the opposite direction but, it was great. It was totally unlike the trip from Krk when the Bora was blowing.

The views were magnificent. I stopped countless times (usually in the middle of the road, there was so little traffic) and just marvelled at the beauty of the countryside. I saw more people than cars; the odd farmer or forester ambling along the road going from who knows what to who knows where but, women mostly, so many women trying to sell long strings of garlic by the roadside. Who they could sell to I really don’t know. I felt so sorry for them I was tempted to stop and buy a string but, come on, it would take me forever to use them and in the meantime what would the Van smell like?!?

The road out of Mostar and what amounts to congestion

One of the better “B” roads but just look at the view

The one sad aspect of the journey was the all too frequent reminders of the Croat-Bosniak conflict. Both in Stolac and in the most remote villages there was tangible evidence of the atrocities and; so many plaques by the roadside in remembrance of Christians and Moslems, civilians for the most part, lost and/or murdered in that war. I lived in Aberdeen at the time, consumed with my career and coming to terms with parenthood (and the accompanying financial difficulties) and/but as happy as I ever was. It is scary and sad that I had no real idea or interest regarding Bosnia.

Moving on…

All too soon I had crossed the border into Croatia and was driving the last leg along the Adriatic Coast.

One of the first sights of the Adriatic Sea after Bosnia; the Franjo Tudman Bridge by Dubrovnik

I resisted the urge to stop at every lay by to take photos of the remarkable sea views and in due course the Van was parked up and I was settled into my next hotel (I know that staying in another hotel so soon after Mostar goes against the ethos of what I’m supposed to be doing with this tour but, I got a really good deal – a four star hotel with swimming pool, spa, breakfast and taxes included for just thirty quid a night) … and just take a look at the sunset I enjoyed over my beers:-

More of Dubrovnik tomorrow.

Blagaj, Bosnia-Herzegovina – Dec 2017

Weather forecasters got it spot on. It’s bright and sunny and will remain so for a few days.

Took a brief walk around Mostar Old Town immediately after breakfast. It looks nicer in the sunshine and I took a couple of photos but my priority today is to visit Blagaj (pronounced blag eye).

That’s the Stari Most under a lovely blue sky

Blagaj is a village-town some 18 km from Mostar which sits at the Vrelo Bune (i.e. the Spring of the Buna River although to call the Vrelo Bune a spring seems a serious understatement). The Vrelo Bune is one of the strongest karst springs in Europe and it jets enormously large quantities of extremely pure crystal clear cold water up and out through a cave at the foot of a 240 metre cliff wall to form an immediately deep and powerful river that later feeds the Neretna. It is very impressive.

The Ottoman Sultan, Selim I, thought so too as in the early 16th century he commissioned a small Dervish Monastery (the Blagaj Tekke) to be built there. The monastery is tucked away under the cliff wall overlooking the cave mouth and it is perfectly preserved. I was going to say that the Blagaj Tekke is also impressive but it is more than that. I had it to myself today and it is an almost spiritual place – more to be felt than seen. Reading that back, I perhaps need to slow down on the wine!

The cliff with the Blagaj Tekke sheltered underneath it

The cave mouth giving rise to the Buna River and a close up of Bagaj Tekke

Closer still to the Bagaj Tekke. The number of photos I take through windows, I wonder whether I am developing voyeuristic tendencies. I suppose it is okay as all of mine are photos out of the windows and not in. I like the ceiling.

I took a taxi to Blagaj and although I felt at the time that the cost was not prohibitive (20 euros for a 18 km ride), I’m wondering if I was ripped off. A really good two course dinner last night with wine cost about 8 euros and the bus fare coming back from Blagaj to Mostar was just 1 euro. Bloody cab drivers – same all over the world.

Another reason for taking the bus is that I could sit outside in the sun waiting for it…

There’s the bus stop – that blue and white sign