It wasn’t a long (2.5h) or windy road from Tirana to Berat but strangely people were vomiting. I thought Albanians might have the motion-sickness gene but later bus travels didn’t show that up … so maybe there had been some serious partying prior to the bus ride.
Berat is an old Ottoman town scattered on both sides of a river valley with several mosques and churches. We stayed at Berat Backpackers on the south side called Gorica. It had a nice backyard with grape vines and was a very social place in the afternoons.
At night people go out walking on the promenade as it is supposed to bring good luck. The strange thing is that it happens within a very set time-band and the crowd disappears nearly immediately after!
Albanian men love to stare (especially at women) and I think the tradition of promenading was invented specially for them. As a foreigner, a simple Hello often breaks the ice and the stare.
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- Old town of Berat.
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- Old town of Berat.
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- Helping a local housewife uphill with her watermelon. Photo courtesy of Marie Bloom.
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- Helping a local housewife uphill with her watermelon. Photo courtesy of Marie Bloom.
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- Nice terrace at Berat Backpackers.
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- Berat by night.
