Author Archives: Stefan Lomas

After just under three hours, the bus from Pogradec pulled into Tirana bus station shortly after 1pm. We knew it was going to be hot. I’d been watching the weather for a while and we’d even extended our stay by the lake for an extra night to limit our time in the city. It wasContinue reading “Pogradec to St Anton”

Pogradec has a completely different vibe. Life is slower and, at least where we are, much quieter. It’s cooler too, topping out at around 30 degrees during the day and dropping into the mid-teens at night. We’ve come for the lake, and it doesn’t disappoint. Lake Ohrid is the deepest lake in the Balkans, theContinue reading “Life by the Lake”

As I mentioned in an earlier post, buses in Albania are something of a dark art, and Vlorë was no exception. Armed with what could only be described as a treasure map, we decided we needed to establish two things. Firstly, where the buses actually left from and secondly, whether there really was a 7amContinue reading “The Bus to Pogradec”

The minibus, complete with air conditioning thankfully, arrived just after 8:15am to take us off for another day of exploring. Our first stop was St Mary’s Monastery, which sits on Zvërnec Island, surrounded by the Narta Lagoon. Apparently, it is stunning in spring when the lagoon is home to all sorts of waterbirds and flamingos.Continue reading “A Thousand Windows”

Public transport here is something of a dark art. In fact, it would probably be easier to say there isn’t really a public transport system at all. Instead, there’s a network of buses in every conceivable shape and size and, if you’re lucky, one might even have air conditioning. The timetables are, at best, aContinue reading “Finding our feet in Vlore”

Our guide from Gjirokaster had very kindly found us a reasonably priced transfer to our next destination, Himare. Our host was also kind enough to allow us a late checkout, which gave us time for one final swim and the chance to say goodbye to Barbara and Mendu, who had given up on fishing forContinue reading “Swimming our way up the coast”

People often ask me which has been my favourite place that we’ve visited. I never really know how to answer. I don’t want to sound blasé or ungrateful for the life we’re fortunate enough to be living, because I’m neither. We’ve been lucky enough to see and stay in some truly beautiful places, far tooContinue reading “The People Make the Place”

I don’t typically like using guides, as I prefer to see places through my own eyes rather than someone else’s. But we had used Get Your Guide in South America and found them to be very good, and with getting around here a little tricky without a car, we decided to use them again. WeContinue reading “Gjirokaster and the Blue Eye”

We had some very hot weather in the UK and anyone who lives there will tell you that temperatures above 30 degrees are just a tad too warm. The houses simply are not built for it. Most are carpeted throughout and air conditioning still feels a little hard to justify, although I have been thinkingContinue reading “A return to the Ionian”