Backpacks and Flipflops: Albania....the Long Way Round, the road to Ruins, Bunker Men, Submarine Hideouts and Empty Beaches....and a Richard Branson sighting in Albania! Haha!

Kakavije, Sarande, Ksamil, Dhermi...

We arrived in Albania after the long way round, rather than staying another night on Corfu.

Corfu ferry was like our BC ferries with indoor and outdoor seating, cafeteria, lounges, TV's and children's play area.

After hopping a 2 hr ferry ride to the mainland, in gorgeous weather, we found a 1 hr bus ride north to the Albanian frontier. At the border crossing, Kakavije, we followed the rest of the bus passengers as they walked the 500 metres up a steep hill from Greece to Albania. Then, we hopped on another 1 hr bus to Sarande. No hassles crossing, no visas, no fees/bribes/payments, no surly guards/military. And, spectacular scenery en route!!

Finally in Sarande, we bartered with a taxi to get us to the beach town of Ksamil. Turns out our Albanian taxi driver was a gift. Helped us buy some food, showed us a few hotels and bargained a better deal with the one we wanted in Ksamil - the Hotel Castle.

That was indeed ......a long way around kind of day.... after leaving Kassiopi, Corfu about noon we stepped into our Albanian room at about 7 pm. Not bad, considering, Corfu and Albania are only about 3 kms apart at this point. Might have been easier to swim?

Hotel Castle is run by a fantastic Albanian family. Quite new, high end finishes, great sunset/beach views and meals if you wish...all for 25 euros/night. Family gave us our first Albanian language lesson. We tried, they laughed!

Beach across the street from our hotel. The start of the Albanian Riveria heading north. And, the beginning of a string of stunning, empty beaches.

View of the bay from our hotel. We had quite a storm that night.

After only 3 full days here, we are finding it quite difficult to learn some basic Albanian as most words seem to be very long and difficult to pronounce. Have a look:

Hello - pershendetje Goodbye - mirupafshim

Thank you - faleminderit. Please - yu lutem

Yes - po. No - Jo. water - uje. bill - vaturem

We get by....we use a little cheat sheet that we carry around and pull out as needed. Ha. We must be teachers!

Everywhere we go people are friendly and curious as to where we are from. We wave, they wave. We say hello, they reply back. Young, old Albanians are helpful when approached. Some have English, some not so much.

This part of Albania has great rolling hills, high, craggy mountains and clear waters with fine, sandy beaches.

Albania uses the Lek currency.. $1.00 Can = $100 Albanian Lek. Bottle of beer = 100 - 200 Lek, Greek salad 300 Lek and 400 ml wine about 400 Lek. Prices are half what Corfu was, and cheaper than Mexico.

There are nearly a million of these concrete mushroom shaped structures scattered throughout Albania. We discovered these as we climbing the hills above Ksamil. What a view!

Leftovers from the Communist regime of the brutal dictator, Hoxha that strangled the country, these round domes have room for 4 and occupy about 24 per sq km throughout the country.

They were built for an invasion that would never happen. In 1997, the communist regime fell, in part to a pyramid money scheme. No money left, no government to run things, just chaos. In 1997, only 18 years ago.

Since then, things are changing.. .construction everywhere, new roads, Mercedes cars everywhere....seems they have a lot of them.

Albania, has had a rough history, no doubt. The landscape, in parts is as tough and hard as parts of the moon must be.

However, what we have seen in our brief first few days blows away the myth that Greece and Croatia hold all the scenery cards. The country has staggering beauty, high craggy mountains, villages clinging to steep inclines, views that take your breath away and cities, every bit as modern as in other parts of Europe.

We spent a day walking around the ruined fortress city of Butrint, located a short distance south of Ksamil.

Interesting structures, fortifications and a myriad of civilizations, rulers and conquerors are spread over its strategic history at this important juncture in the Ionian Sea.

Seems several British tourists on tour claimed to run across Richard Branson sightseeing amongst the ruins.

Leaving the beach town of Ksamil, we bussed north to the town of Dhermi.

The bus trip took us through jaw dropping mountain passes, along narrow cliff-side mountain roads and through precarious placed villages.

And out of the blue, we came around a corner and down in the bay was an old submarine base - leftover from the Soviet days when they were on the prowl along these waters!

The views and roads rivalled anything one sees in the more popular tourist destinations like Italy and Croatia.

Our trip from Sarande to Dhermi took over 2 hrs, with much of it on roads and switchbacks that would rival our Saddle Lake corners (for folks back home) and scenery every bit as spectacular as the Cascades or Rockies.

Now, we are back on the Ionian Sea in the little beach town of Dhermi on the completely empty, quiet Ionian beaches on this part of the Albanian Riveria. Devoid of tourists, noise or hustle, we soak up the warm rays and glide through crystal clear waters.

Dhermi is set at the base of towering mountains with Banff-like views.

It is a slightly disorganized beach town, a long 2 km walk down from the highway above. The sandy beach road fronts ramshackle buildings and structures.