July 12, 2012*

With our refill situation resolved thanks to the Saranda fisherman with his compressor, we had a day to view some more sites.

We toured Gjirokaster Castle, a large fortification on top of the mountain.

There are no artificial lights inside the castle, you can only see by the sun light that seeps in – Albania maintains a very “Green Friendly” tourist environment; the smell inside was quite unique, too.

The view from the castle.

This is me with an “American Spy Plane.”

The plane, sometime during the 1960’s, had mechanical problems and had to make an emergency landing at Tirana airport.

Albania sent the pilot home, but kept the airplane and used it as propaganda as a “captured American spy plane.”

The field used for large communist rallies; since then, events like concerts, apparently are held here.

Walking around the castle:

We left the castle and went in to the village:

Qeparo Village is a characteristic example of “Vernacular Architecture,” which is a category of buildings based on local needs and available materials.

A Grocery Store.

Enver Hoxha’s childhood home.

As the story goes, it was destroyed in World War II, and later rebuild by Hoxha even bigger and grander.

Gjirokaster Castle from a distance.

We walked all over the place – up hill in 100 degree heat.

We left after a few hours and headed to our next destination.

Heading to Blue Eye, we got stopped at a Police check point.

The Police Officer asked Idit where we were from.

Idit told him he is from Tirana, and that I am an American tourist, visiting the castle.

They exchanged a few words in Albanian.

“He wants to know how you liked the castle,” Idit said.

All the Albanian I had learned, I had forgotten.

I leaned over, smiled and gave a thumbs up.

The Officer smiled and we were let go without showing any paperwork.

*Due to time constraints, lack of reliable internet access outside of Tirana, power outages in Tirana and the strength of Albanian beer, posting of this article has been delayed.

July 11, 2012*

I think we were both really F’ing tired by this time.

Idit is twenty years younger than I, but since I am super-macho, he didn’t worry about me.

We got down to our last two tanks of air, which meant taking a whole day off to refill our tanks at the camp site where the small “super compressor” was located.

We figured, six tanks at an hour and a half each, would be a nine to ten hour task; and they were doomed to be short fills.

But, Albania is a small country.

It seems like everybody knows everybody.

Idit again pulled off the impossible!

He located a compressor that is owned by a fisherman, next to a restaurant in Saranda.

He offered to fill four of our tanks for free – at least, I believe it was free; Idit may have slipped him a few LEK for his troubles.

This is another site that the Polish guys would dive from their boat:

We had a swim ahead for us.

Entry was no problem; we surface swam to the left, until we saw something interesting to dive on.

We descended.

Logged SCUBA Dive #416

Dove with Idit

Monestary Beach Reef
Saranda, Albania

Air Source: Private compressor in Vlorë
In With: 2900 psi
Out With: 300 psi
Max depth: 70 feet
Waves: Flat
Visibility: Up to 50 feet
Water Temperature: 74 degrees
Air Temperature: 98 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 40 minutes or so

The water felt so refreshing after touring Butrint in almost 100 degree weather.

We got to 70 feet really quickly.

Idit warned me of a fishing net – we swam over it.

It was very transparent, I probably would have ran right into it, if it wasn’t for Idit.

The reef was unlike any I had seen before – it was covered in some sort of cotton like growth.

We turned around at a half tank and navigated to a perfect exit.

We were both extremely tired.

We dropped off four tanks at the fisherman’s compressor.

“Can I take a picture of the compressor?” I asked.

“No,” Idit said.

He continued, “A compressor is a very expensive item here; the first thing that will be asked is ‘Why?'”

Idit dropped me off at my Hotel room, where I walked across the street to use my emergency Albanian to buy beer – not sure if I spelled everything correctly, but this is how the conversation went…

“A flisni Anglisht?” I asked the store owner.

“Jo,” He said.

“A keni birre?”

“Po.”

He took me to the beer.

He started to ramble off a conversation in Albanian.

“Mi falni, nuk kuptoj Shqip,” I said.

“Ju Pollack?”

“Jo, une jam Amerikan.”

“Ah, Amerikan!” he said, and gave me the thumbs up.

I bought four big Tirana beers for 400 LEK ($4.00) and went back to update my blog, only to find that the internet access was shut off after 10:30 PM.

*Due to time constraints, lack of reliable internet access outside of Tirana, power outages in Tirana and the strength of Albanian beer, posting of this article has been delayed.