Berat Backpackers Hostel

Life in Berat has been calm, relaxed, hot and sunny, and completely eye opening. Albanian culture is so unlike the rest of European culture. This is probably due to the fact that the borders were closed for many years during Communist reign. As soon as I crossed the border from Montenegro into Albania I could see and feel the differences. Donkeys pulling carts (in one instance carrying a small cow), little old ladies tending to the fields and animals, men sitting in the streets, in cafes and outside shops drinking coffee and raki, women doing their daily shopping. Everyday is a new adventure and you see something else you never could have imagined possible.

   As a little bit of a tribute to my love of how random life here in Albania can be, here is a short list of some of the things I have seen and experienced so far:

A cow tied to a telephone pole on Berats main commercial street.

Getting stuck in a foot traffic jam along my street behind a donkey.

Seeing a goat being pushed up the hill outside my house in a wheel barrow.

A street cat carrying a garbage bag in its mouth being chased down the street by a boy.

 Personally being asked to marry the market farmers son... every saturday.

Carrying live chickens home for slaughter.

Being told I should get married because I'm getting too old.
Having to call in "Mama" to come make food at the restaurant.

Hitchhiking with possible Albanian Mafia members.
Seeing a bombed out car due to some random attack.
Hitchhiking with the FedEx man.
Seeing small makeshift garbage dumps on the side of the road... everywhere.

Needless to say, life here is an adventure but I adore it whole heartedly. I have stayed much longer then I had originally planned and the thought of leaving truly leaves me wishing I had the chance to extend my stay here. I guess there is always next year...

Berat saturday market

The farmer that wants me to marry his son.

Some of the Gorica kids.

Our water gets turned off several times a day. Sometimes the power is turned off also.

I love these eclectic metal fences.

Speed update.

Hiya... I've been quite busy here in Berat and haven't really had the time or energy to blog for the last couple weeks. In fact, I don't really have the motivation to even be doing this now. Plus, lots of exciting things have been happening lately and I would rather get to the current stuff so I'm going to speed photo update today and hopefully find the motivation to update more regularly so I can fill you in on all the random, interesting, day-to-day things instead.

Tivat

 There were many lovely photo ops in Tivat.

Podgorica

 Podgorica was pretty boring... The most exciting thing for me was the mall where I picked up a few much needed items. Shoes for example. I find shoes to be quite necessary when traveling.

Tirana

 My first impression of Albania... It just got better and better!

 I loved this pedestrian street!

 Second hand Bazaar.

 The lovely Kiwi gals I met at the hostel, Cleo and Talita.

 Amazing vegetarian Albanian dishes at the restaurant Oda, where I ate several times actually!

My server all three times I went to Oda! It was such a cute little restaurant.

Budva...

Ok to be honest I didn't do a whole lot in Budva. I drank cocktails and beers, wandered the promenade markets, sat in beach bars, swam, and read a lot while sitting on the roof top terrace or the air conditioned room in my hostel. It was near 40 degrees and had to have been at least 70% humidity so needless to say I was a sweaty mess a good portion of my time in Budva. Staying in the hostel seemed to be the best choice for staying cool and dry. I managed to make some new friends from Vancouver and New Zealand. We all got on well so it made for a good time. The two gals from Vancouver and I went on a shopping and Chinese food mission one day. We had a good time but our Chinese food was questionable at best. We concluded that Montenegrins do not make very good Chinese food.

One day several of us from the hostel went on a boat tour offered by Saki, the hostel owner. We had a good time, saw some beautiful sights and were able to swim in the pristine waters. We also got to go to the island across from Budvas main beach. It appears it was called "Hawaii" which I thought was slightly random. I quite enjoyed our little boat trip. To be honest, I am perfectly happy on any boat at any time though. I guess its the island girl in me.

A highlight of my stay in Budva was PARASAILING! Melissa, one of the gals from Vancouver, and I went double parasailing and it was such a great experience. I have always loved being up high and looking down on the world but this was unlike anything Ive ever done. With my feet dangling in mid air and nothing but open space and the ocean 400m below me I was able to capture some decent shots of Budva from above. I have always loved flying and being in planes but this was an all new way of flying! It has me really keen to try paragliding and hang gliding now too!

Budva was such a fun place to party in. With all the beach bars spread along the beach during the day and the open air beach clubs lining the main promenade in the evening there is no lack of entertainment. I hear the night life in the old city center was more subdued but just as fun also. Plus, there is a club, appropriately called Top Hill, on the top of the hill above Budva. It is a massive open air nightclub with live DJs, fire dancers and trapeze artists on stage. Now, what do you reckon we paid to get into such a place? Maybe the equivalent of 20$? Possibly more? Nope, it was 5 Euro. Which is approximately $7 CAD. Gotta love the balkans!

 As much as I hate long bus journeys, sometimes its a chance to see thigns I never would have seen otherwise. The drive through the mountains from Bosnia back into Montenegro was absolutely stunning!

Crystal clear, perfectly calm, turquoise water. Perfect.

 My fellow Brit. Columbians!

 The beach bar!

Foam party!

 Mel and I getting ready to head up, up and away!

Perfect day! 

Photos of the view from up top to come soon.