Saturday 26th May 2024 – Korce, Albania

We drove to Korce, retracing our route along the lake side and, this time following a sign that meant that we avoided the centre of Progradec. We parked up at Korce Camping, just to the south of the city. A very small site but intriguing with a lovely garden with places to sit in the sun and shade and a cherry tree, full of cherries that we were encouraged to pick from – they were delicious. We chose a pitch, plugged into the electricity and then set off for the 20 minute walk into Korce.
The Albanian / British couple that we met at Lin had told us that there was folk dancing happening this weekend in Korce and we decided to find it. We made our way to the old bazaar, now converted into an area of shops, cafés and restaurants. Sure enough, there was a stage and lots of bunting and a small group of brass players were doing sound checks. We found an outside table at a café that gave us a view of proceedings and I checked with the band manager – “Yes”, he said, “it is my band and they will be performing now”. There might have been something lost in translation as they spent the next hour repeatedly playing odd notes on all of the instruments. How long does it take to do sound checks for a 5-piece band? They played no more than 30 seconds together as a band and the manager seemed to be very pleased. It was traditional Albanian folk music and sounded good but we would have liked more than 30 seconds of it! And then the heavens opened. The clouds had been building and the forecast had promised rain but this was a full-scale thunderstorm with torrential rain and hail. The stage was uncovered, so all the instruments were put away, microphones withdrawn and speakers covered in plastic. It was so bad that we had to abandon our seats under cover outside and retreat inside the café. We had another coffee and waited for the rain to stop.
We knew that there was an archaeological museum in Korce and the Bradt guidebook showed it on their map. It had nearly stopped raining but was still very threatening and the waiter had told us that the local forecast had promised four more hours of rain. Clutching umbrellas we set off to find the museum in the back streets on the other side of the city centre. The map was not good, roads not named on the map or on the streets and even the locals didn’t really know where it was and suggested that it might not be open. We gave up and started to head back when we stumbled across it - we had been within a few metres of it very early on. There had been no signs to it at all and the building, looking semi-derelict, only had a tiny sign confirming that it was the museum. The door looked closed but opened to my push – there was nobody in sight and no obvious reception. I called out and a young man came out of an anonymous room. He looked startled, surprised that anyone was visiting the museum especially in the evening. He directed us upstairs where we found displays of prehistoric finds either completely open or in large glass floor-standing cabinets. The cabinets were all unlit and we had to experiment with the random switches to light them up. The finds were very interesting but there were no labels. A very occasional very small board in Albanian and English might give very basic information about the cabinet contents but that was all. It all reminded us of the Greek museums in the late 1970s, although I seem to remember that they were a lot dustier. The guardian came up to see us, I am guessing that he was surprised that we had stayed more than five minutes. He noticed that we had switched on all the lights and was very apologetic and embarrassed by the state of the museum. He is a qualified archaeologist and explained that the finds were good but the display wasn’t – we totally agreed. When he realised that we were interested in archaeology, he told us about the excavations he was involved in. There are lots of hill forts around Korce and he pointed out their locations from the museum’s (very dirty) windows. There are many tumuli associated with the Bronze Age and he had been excavating some of them. He was an enthusiastic archaeologist and I felt his pain in having to be the guardian of such an uncared-for museum. He also told us that the folk dancing was due to take place at 18:30 in the old bazaar but, given the constant rain, it was highly unlikely that it would happen.
We now had two choices – find a restaurant for a meal and hope that the weather improved or walk back now. It was still raining, but only gently and there was no sign of a likely improvement. Jane decided that walking back was the best idea. It was a good decision. It rained gently for the whole of the 25 minutes that it took us but, soon after we arrived back, the rain turned heavy and continued most of the night.
The campsite offered a set meal and, although we were a little late for the 19:00 start time, they were happy to accommodate us. What followed was an excellent spread of salad, cheese filo pie, sliced chicken, rice, stuffed tomatoes, local cheese, bread and cake accompanied by a glass of local wine. We couldn’t eat it all, leaving some cheese and pie but they insisted on wrapping those in foil for us to take bake. The lady made it all herself, including the bread, either in a wood-fired oven or over a fire. She even made the filo pastry herself, which she insisted was easy – it isn’t! It was an excellent meal and the filo pie was definitely the star – light and a very tasty filling.
Photos: The garden at Korce Camping; The stage in the old bazaar and the band that never played; This large complex bordered on our campsite and was a Greek school for Albanians, funded by and staffed by Greeks.

Friday 24th May 2024 – Lin (or Lini), Albania

Today we decided to walk over the peninsula to Lin and, soon after we set off, we came across a tortoise wandering across the dirt road. The rest of the walk was a nature experience – wild flowers everywhere, butterflies flitted by and bees buzzed passed. Lots of lizards scattered as we approached but no sign of snakes. We climbed slowly to the top of the hill above Lin passing many locals out looking after their land, mostly spraying their vines or fruit trees.
There is a Paleo Christian church at the top of the hill with a good mosaic on display but the site was closed. There was a contact number to phone for access but we weren’t that keen! We walked down through the outskirts of the village to reach the older part on the lake shore. It was interesting to see the architecture of the traditional houses. In common with much of Albania, there was a church and a mosque with Muslims and Christians living in harmony.
We decided to have a meal in Lin and walked towards the main road and the more modern part of the village where there were a couple of restaurants. We chose Restaurant Leza and sat at a table on a wooden platform set above the lake on posts, feeling like those occupants of the Dispilio Lake Village. Under and around the platform swam tens of thousands of fish – I have never seen so many fish in one place. The view out onto the lake and of Lin and the peninsular was lovely. As we sat eating our delicious fish (it had to be fish!) we chatted to the family on the table next to us. We were very surprised to hear their English accents. The husband was Albanian and the wife was English and they were on holiday with their two young children to visit his relatives and his old haunts. He was born and brought up in Korce (our next destination) and he often stopped in Lin with his father when they were driving through in his father’s lorry.
Wishing the family a good holiday, we left the restaurant and retraced our steps to the campsite.
Photos: Looking down on Lin from the site of the Paleo Christian church – North Macedonia is just beyond the peninsula in the centre of the picture; Cars are definitely a status symbol in Albania, even if you have a very modest house; Restaurant Leza.

Thursday 23rd May 2024 – Lini, Albania

 

The failure to find the farm campsite put a dent in our plans for today. We wanted to spend time in Kastoria today, expecting to spend a second night in the campsite but we needed dumping and fresh water services and therefore had to travel into Albania a day earlier. On deserted roads, we crossed the border north-west of Kastoria with only the minor hassle of having to buy third party insurance for the van at €49 for 14 days.
We were heading for Lake Ohrid, most of which is in North Macedonia but a section of the west and south is in Albania. The route took us through the centre of Progradec, a busy town in the south west corner of the lake and the biggest conurbation on Albanian Lake Ohrid. It was a slow drive through with lots of double-parked cars and suicidal pedestrians.
We wanted to go some tombs just beyond Lin but the satnav tried to take us down a tiny dirt track of the main road and there were no signs anywhere to the site. In this area there is obviously lots of available water as car washes lined both sides of the road with water pouring out of their hoses to advertise their services. We were tempted to have the van washed but decided to go back to the lake and our campsite. Camping Erlin Beach is on a small peninsula on the opposite side of which is the village of Lin. There is a lovely view of the lake from here and of the mountains of North Macedonia on the opposite bank. We had dinner in the campsite restaurant (ok but not brilliant) and then watched a very pretty sunset.
As I was paying the bill, I heard an English voice. This was confusing as every other van on the site was German – a very common occurrence on this holiday. It turned out that the couple were English but had lived in Germany for many years and therefore had a German van. We had a long chat and they mentioned that they had met a couple with twins who ran a fish restaurant in Mikrolimni on Mikro Prespa Lake in Greece. We were able to tell them that the restaurant was temporarily closed and that the owner was restoring a watermill in Agios Germanos!
Photos: View down onto Lake Ohrid and the Lin headland with the village on the left and our campsite, out of sight, on the right; Sunset from the campsite beach.