Sometimes, everything just comes together

What a great day we had. It started off good, and just continued to get better. And it ended up fantastic!

Wednesday was moving day, and we had the car packed up and ready to go by the 11:00am check out time. We weren't driving a long distance, a total of about 65 kms (40 miles), but there were a couple of stops we wanted to make along the way and it was almost all on secondary roads so it's pretty slow going.

And, we had told our host that we wouldn't arrive until between 2-3pm so we weren't in any rush anyhow.

It's usually not easy to get good photos from a moving vehicle, but Ruth did really well yesterday!

Scenery along the way.

Headed to higher elevations.

Our first stop is an Albanian National Monument called The Blue Eye (Syri i Kaltër). It's a popular tourist attraction. 

Sign at the entrance road.

The pavement stops here.

We've learned that in Albania, as soon as you get off any major road, the surface deteriorates quickly. 

It was about 2 kms (1.3 miles) from the end of the paved area to the parking lot at the attraction. As expected, it was rough going. We made it about half way then decided it would just be better to walk. It wasn't busy, however we did see other people driving the entire way... including someone driving a Jag!

So, what is The Blue Eye?

It's where an underground river empties through an underwater cave approximately 50 meters (160  feet) below the surface of the water. And it empties with such force that divers can't explore that deep because of the pressure of the water coming out of the cave opening.

And the water is so clear! I don't think we've ever seen water so clear in a natural environment.

You can see the color of the water from a distance.

Zoomed in.

Crossing the foot bridge.

The water is so clear.

Like I said, it's a popular tourist spot.

Post office.

There is a small tourist booth also located there, and I would expect they sell stamps and things during busy season. We would not want to visit during busy season. I have seen photos online showing this place packed with people. 

But at this time of year, during our visit, there were maybe 10 visitors there, and a few workers getting restaurants and things ready for the summer season.

The blue eye is on the left where you can see the water coming up.

Apparently people do sometimes get in the water here and swim, but the problem is the water temperature. Even on a baking hot summer day, there aren't many people who could put up with the constant year round water temperature of 10C (50F) coming out of the cave!

The blue eye, on the left.

Looking down on the Blue Eye.

There is only a small area where you can look down. When the water comes up a certain way, you can see the cave entrance far down below, and it looks like the pupil of the eye. It's actually a really neat thing to see that much pressure. They say that if you throw a rock down at the right angle, there is so much pressure that the rock will float off to the side before dropping. We forgot to try it!

I took a video for you...

The Blue Eye.

We walked around and explored a little bit...

It's really pretty.

I can see why it's a popular area.

We walked back to the car, had a bite to eat, and headed back to the main road to head through the mountain pass.

Looking down on the reservoir created from the water flowing out of the Blue Eye.

The area relies on much of its drinking water from this source.

Scenery along the way.

Mountain village.

Coming down the other side.

Those three arched structures are actually guardrail barriers.

It doesn't look like it from the photo, but there is a steep drop off the other side,

Snow up in the mountains in the distance.

We made it to the small city of Gjirokaster (pop 20,000) and stopped at an ancient bridge just to take a photo. There were no signs explaining the history, although this area has a lot of history. We see a lot of the common brown colored directional signs pointing you to castles, monasteries, and other historic points. In fact Gjirokaster itself has a UNESCO listed historic area and castle that we will be visiting during our time in the area. 

Old stone bridge.

How many horses and carts and sheep have crossed this bridge?

We stopped at a SPAR grocery store right on our route, and picked up a few things although we will have to come back for a bigger shop soon. 

We were originally looking to stay in Gjirokaster itself but prices seemed high for what we were looking for. So I started looking outside of the city and came across a guest house located in the village of Nokovë about 10 kms (6 miles) away. 

It looked right up our alley. A small village in a mountainous area with lots of walking and hiking areas right outside our door. It reminded us of the place stayed in the mountains of Italy for a week, and we loved it there. 

The only problem is that it's a guest house, and we may not have the place to ourselves. So I contacted the host, who it turns out is the daughter who lives in Tirana. Her mother doesn't speak English, and lives most of the time here at the villa, looking after the big garden, and the occasional guests. The daughter told us that her mother has already received both vaccinations, and that we would have the place totally to ourselves for five of the seven days that we are here because her mother was going to Tirana. We thought that was an acceptable risk, and are we ever glad that we booked it!

The villa where we are staying for the next week!

You know how I sometimes post a photo of a beautiful place with a view, and I say "Here's a guy with a great view"... well for the next week, we are that guy!

This old village is right next door. 

Ruth, admiring the scenery.

Never seen so many wildflowers!

The mother welcomed us, and showed us around. Her English is about as good as our Albanian. She also speaks some Italian and some Russian, but those don't do us much good either. She led us to the living room, and proceeded to present us with a little treat.

Some kind of fruit brandy, and a little sweet treat.

Both made with fruit from her huge garden.

It's amazing how much you can communicate with someone who doesn't speak your language. We used google translate occasionally, but otherwise she showed us the workings of the house, and I'm pretty sure we understood correctly.

Home for the next week.

View from the front porch.

Our room.

The bed is super comfortable!

Our bathroom is tiny.

But it'll do.

We have our own private balcony off our bedroom.

Looking the other way.

It's such a beautiful area. We are really looking forward to exploring. And a week may not be enough time. We're already thinking about asking if we can extend our stay.

And for 2,700 lek ($33 CAD, $26.50 USD) per night, it would be rude not to!

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