I had a relatively good night sleep in my tent & was packed up & ready to leave by 7am, (before the Chinese got up!)
After some deliberation I decided to head back down the mountain, rather than continue to Gjerbes. I was more than happy with what I'd already seen & achieved. I also decided I would try & hitch a lift back down.
After about an hour of walking (just past the main quarry site) I stopped at the sign which indicated 'Leshnies' to the left. (If I'd taken more notice of this sign on the way up, I might have realised how much further I needed to travel!) It was here I saw a minibus coming from the direction of Leshine & so I flagged it down. It stopped straight away & I jumped on board to join the other passengers (& a few bags of something heavy?) The driver soon raced down the mountain stopping on a couple of occasions, once to deliver the very heavy bags to an empty house, & then to deliver a scythe to somebody! At approximately 8:20am the driver stopped just outside my favourite restaurant in Çorovodë! I presented the driver with a handful of change & he took 200 Lek. He may well have ripped me off a bit, but I didn't care, one minute I was camping in the mountains & within an hour I was off the mountain & having my breakfast!
The nice lady in the restaurant served up her lamb soup again, which was delicious as ever! One of the men who was in the restaurant two days earlier (who I'd spoke to) was also present & it appeared he was the husband. I am not too sure if he was surprised to see me, because when we last met I wasn't coming back to Çorovodë! Although he was a little pre-occupied with trying to fit a large flat screen TV on the wall, much to the amusement of his wife!
I thanked the couple & bid them farewell. I then visited the local amenity shop near the bus stop, (just on the corner) to grab some water & an ice-cream. I was served by a wonderful old man. At the bus stop I spotted a bus with 'Tirana' displayed on the front. I asked the driver if it was going to Durrës, which he confirmed & would be leaving at 10:30am. I had plenty of time for a coffee & another ice-cream! I soon got chatting with the man working in the tourist shop (next to the bus stop), the driver & a couple of other locals. I explained my last 24 hours of hiking etc, & they all seemed very impressed with what I had achieved! At 10:30am I said my goodbyes, & I set off for Durrës.
We stopped on the outskirts of Berati for about ten minutes where I bought two 'Tosts' (Albanian for toasties!) which were filled with cheese, meat & salad. I think the driver thought I was a bit greedy, but I was so hungry! The driver did indicate the bus would go to Durrës bus station, but I was sure it would only go as far as the interchange a few km's away from Durrës at a place called 'Plepa' (And I would then have to find another bus to take me into town.)
We arrived at the interchange (Plepa) at about 2:30pm (the driver told me we had arrived in Durrës). As soon as I jumped off the bus (fare was 500 Lek), I was approached by a taxi driver saying ‘Five Euros to Durrës, good price!’ I just crossed the road, spotted a local bus waiting, jumped on board & paid 70 Lek to take me into town! (It took about ten minutes to reach the centre of town, near the bus station.)
I decided to look for the hotel called 'Durresi' as mentioned in my guidebook as being cheap, but I failed miserably! After walking around for a while I decided I would treat myself (after my previous night under canvass) & visited the hotel called 'Lido', where I was greeted by a nice friendly young man (who spoke a little English), but unfortunately he informed me the only room available was 20 Euros & this was without air conditioning. He could see I wasn't impressed & offered to ring another nearby hotel, which I thought was kind of him.
Within five minutes another man appeared (wearing an England football shirt!) & said he had a room for 25 Euros, so I bargained at 40 Euros for two nights! He took me to his hotel by car (one minute drive!) The hotel was called 'Pepeto' & was really nice & the rooms were lovely (Wi-Fi, fridge, & air conditioning).
I later visited a nearby restaurant which happened to be called 'Pizza Blizz' where I had a really nice pizza for 400 Lek.
Back in my hotel room, so far I have killed two mosquitoes & the air conditioning is throwing out water onto the bed! However I have two beds, so that's ok! No such problem last night when I was in my tent!
After some deliberation I decided to head back down the mountain, rather than continue to Gjerbes. I was more than happy with what I'd already seen & achieved. I also decided I would try & hitch a lift back down.
After about an hour of walking (just past the main quarry site) I stopped at the sign which indicated 'Leshnies' to the left. (If I'd taken more notice of this sign on the way up, I might have realised how much further I needed to travel!) It was here I saw a minibus coming from the direction of Leshine & so I flagged it down. It stopped straight away & I jumped on board to join the other passengers (& a few bags of something heavy?) The driver soon raced down the mountain stopping on a couple of occasions, once to deliver the very heavy bags to an empty house, & then to deliver a scythe to somebody! At approximately 8:20am the driver stopped just outside my favourite restaurant in Çorovodë! I presented the driver with a handful of change & he took 200 Lek. He may well have ripped me off a bit, but I didn't care, one minute I was camping in the mountains & within an hour I was off the mountain & having my breakfast!
Minibus back down from the mountains to Çorovodë
The nice lady in the restaurant served up her lamb soup again, which was delicious as ever! One of the men who was in the restaurant two days earlier (who I'd spoke to) was also present & it appeared he was the husband. I am not too sure if he was surprised to see me, because when we last met I wasn't coming back to Çorovodë! Although he was a little pre-occupied with trying to fit a large flat screen TV on the wall, much to the amusement of his wife!
I thanked the couple & bid them farewell. I then visited the local amenity shop near the bus stop, (just on the corner) to grab some water & an ice-cream. I was served by a wonderful old man. At the bus stop I spotted a bus with 'Tirana' displayed on the front. I asked the driver if it was going to Durrës, which he confirmed & would be leaving at 10:30am. I had plenty of time for a coffee & another ice-cream! I soon got chatting with the man working in the tourist shop (next to the bus stop), the driver & a couple of other locals. I explained my last 24 hours of hiking etc, & they all seemed very impressed with what I had achieved! At 10:30am I said my goodbyes, & I set off for Durrës.
We stopped on the outskirts of Berati for about ten minutes where I bought two 'Tosts' (Albanian for toasties!) which were filled with cheese, meat & salad. I think the driver thought I was a bit greedy, but I was so hungry! The driver did indicate the bus would go to Durrës bus station, but I was sure it would only go as far as the interchange a few km's away from Durrës at a place called 'Plepa' (And I would then have to find another bus to take me into town.)
We arrived at the interchange (Plepa) at about 2:30pm (the driver told me we had arrived in Durrës). As soon as I jumped off the bus (fare was 500 Lek), I was approached by a taxi driver saying ‘Five Euros to Durrës, good price!’ I just crossed the road, spotted a local bus waiting, jumped on board & paid 70 Lek to take me into town! (It took about ten minutes to reach the centre of town, near the bus station.)
I decided to look for the hotel called 'Durresi' as mentioned in my guidebook as being cheap, but I failed miserably! After walking around for a while I decided I would treat myself (after my previous night under canvass) & visited the hotel called 'Lido', where I was greeted by a nice friendly young man (who spoke a little English), but unfortunately he informed me the only room available was 20 Euros & this was without air conditioning. He could see I wasn't impressed & offered to ring another nearby hotel, which I thought was kind of him.
Within five minutes another man appeared (wearing an England football shirt!) & said he had a room for 25 Euros, so I bargained at 40 Euros for two nights! He took me to his hotel by car (one minute drive!) The hotel was called 'Pepeto' & was really nice & the rooms were lovely (Wi-Fi, fridge, & air conditioning).
I later visited a nearby restaurant which happened to be called 'Pizza Blizz' where I had a really nice pizza for 400 Lek.
Back in my hotel room, so far I have killed two mosquitoes & the air conditioning is throwing out water onto the bed! However I have two beds, so that's ok! No such problem last night when I was in my tent!
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