Sunday, Saranda,

The bus ride to Saranda was equally as impressive or treacherous, however you want to look at it. The scenery was amazing, although it was harder to see, because the nearest window was all fogged/watered up. It was more interesting inside the bus because I had to stand (this guy filled up the aisle too). Actually, I forgot. During the last bus ride there was a heated arguement several times between the driver and a passenger (politics, I think), and a lot of the time the driver was barely watching the road. People would occasionally remind him to watch the road. I don't know why they passenger felt compelled to endanger the busload of people by egging on the driver, but he did. I didn't understand it all, but I do know that I wasn't the only person who was concerned.

Anyways, it took a while to get to Saranda. When we got there, it was less than we had expected, and we were tired of traveling. We got left off near the ferry, which is perhaps in an industrial section of town, I don't know. We did manage to find a restaurant on the beach. But before that, we found a beach, and while the children were playing (breakdancing on the beach), we had a very interesting, but long conversation with a seasoned traveler from England. Unfortunately, since he informed us that they let the sewage flow directly into the water near there, I couldn't let the kids go into the water, even though they were begging me to go swimming. Eventually my stomach was speaking strongly enough to me, that we ended the conversation & headed to a restaurant. The service was quick, and the kids found a gecko nearby to entertain them. After Nathan caught it (see picture), and release it, it played dead for at least 15 minutes, which had us a little worried for the little guy. But it did eventually disappear, and I hope it's fine. The food was good & plentiful (I think we were making up for the previous night), but by the end of the meal, I had stomach cramps. ai, ai, ai.

What we had seen of Saranda so far just made us want to get the hell out. The water looked pretty, but if we were afraid to let the kids swim in it (dirty), what was the point? The town just seemed like a busy, dusty town. I know there are beautiful parts of the city, I've read about them. But I was tired & not feeling well, and Genci was only filled with thoughts of how to get back to Tirana (aka his mother) as soon as possible. So we planned to get a bus to Gjirokaster, a town 2 hours on the way back to Tirana (about 7 hours away total). But I was afraid of being stuck for 2 hours on a bus with no bathrooms if a blast of diarrhea was imminent. (sorry for that image, but that was the fear). So we waited a bit. No progress. We headed to the bus area (cab to get there). The mini-bus for Gjirokaster had just left. Saw an overnight bus that would go to Tirana that night (and arrive at 4am). Seriously considered that. But found out that the bus had no bathroom (well, it had one, but they don't let you use it), and thought that could be dangerous. Eight hours on a bus with no bathroom while having stomach cramps probably of food origin. Nope.

Decided to take a taxi to Gjirokaster. Good decision. Finally. (It felt like we had made a huge mistake by going to Saranda that day).

The ride was absolutely gorgeous, the taxi driver pleasant, the ride comfortable. We were all happy and I felt like it was magic. It's funny how things can change so quickly.