Thursday morning we had to be up early for our morning bus from Berat to Gjirokaster, the second Unesco town in southern Albania. I woke about 4am not sleeping properly from the travel worry. We had to be on the 8am bus or else!

Papi the guesthouse owner had prepared breakfast for us at 6am and we thanked him as we left early.

We climbed down the cobbled steps to get to the bus stop. When one arrived it was packed to the door even this early and we barely got on with our bags, and only by shoving. We had to be on our Gjirokaster bus so no time for politeness.

City bus fare was 30 Lek ($0.30) and we made it with plenty of time for our bus. There is one bus at 8am, the next at 2pm, and no other buses. We waited for the bus to fill and a Japanese lady we had chatted with yesterday also joined us.

Heading south from Berat the roads were in poorer shape in the southern half of Albania compared to the northern half from Tirana to Berat which was very modern. Road construction funded by the EU is still underway and we were shortly back on modern highways.

We could see signs to Kakavia, the Greek border 20kms from Gjirokaster where we needed to go tomorrow next. As I was taking pics one of the locals who spoke little English called me 'mafia' and said 'no good' so I had to stop. I was just taking road signs so nothing offensive.

At a rest stop I started chatting with him to smooth things over. He wanted to know prices in Canada. We also chatted with the Japanese lady. She was brave, travelling all over the Balkans for three months, by herself, with limited English and her Japanese guide book.

The driver had told us the fare was 800 Lek ($8). We thought he meant for me and my friend combined but it was for each of us. The Japanese lady was also charged the same so we hadnt been ripped off even though this was double the price to Berat as locals paid the same.

Arriving in Gjirokaster it was much easier to orient then when we arrived in Berat. There is one main road leading from the highway into the town. I thought Berat and Gjirokaster were old historic village towns but they both have large modern town centres away from the historic part.

Being closer to the border it was a more Greek feel with all the bakeries and pastries. Getting to the hotel was a long steep climb up as the whole old town is perched on several hills. This was also a historic traditional hotel similar to the one in Berat.

There were stunning views across the valley. However, wifi was weak in our room and we had to goto the lower floor lounge to connect.

Wandering thru the old town first we went to the Muzeu Etnografik. We hadnt visited the one in Berat and entrance was 200 Lek ($2).

It was actually really worth it and we had a fun time taking lots of selfies in each of the rooms.

The rooms were detailed and had lots of traditional crafts, clothes, and decorations, rich in local and Turkish heritage.

Nearby was one of the noble houses, Skendi home. We were tight on cash on our last day in Albania so opted to skip for the castle above and having just visited the Etnografik Museum

We then saw various signs for 'old quarters' but as the town is so hilly we didnt want to climb down and back up all the cobbled steps. Next was the castle at the top of the peak so we needed to climb up to that first.