A walk, a bus, a walk, on the road to Gjirokastër. Albania May 22

Starting early morning before it got too hot we set off on a hike up another mountain.

The church of St. Mary, Leuse, was the destination, accessed along dusty unmade roads, quite a steep gradient at times, why the fuck do they build castles and churches on hills, have they no consideration for visitors?

Still there were some magnificent views back towards Permet and the surrounding countryside

Have we strayed into "deliverence" country, couldn't hear any banjos, but wondering if the locals are friendly

No worries, it seems that this is an Albanian custom whereby the locals place the weird and wacky on their land to ward off bad luck!

Speaking of locals!
Man and Mutton

When I commented. " Gosh, is that it? It looked bigger from afar"

I was told to shut up and stop being so stupid.....again!

Some people need to get to www.microapp.com and download a sense of humour.

Given that Norman Wisdom is a National Treasure in Albania, our leader was far too uptight and anal.

Onwards and upwards

The path got narrower as we reached the old walled church. It was that tight an area no decent externals were possible alas, but an interesting graveyard. Who doesn't love a graveyard.

Beer from your mates, water from ya mum, and an orange. After that hike I could easily devour all three.

I simply love the graves where old photographs are embedded, real local people, probably never posed for a camera before, just vacant stares, no selfie trout pouts in the good old days of sepia. What lives they must have lived.

I did find in general though that the orthodox graves are just big chunks of marble.

I was told, and I quite like the phrase, that I am a Tombstone Tourist. How cool is that.

ST. Mary's is an Albanian cultural monument built here in the 18th Century, surviving the WW conflicts and the Communist Regime. There was a lot of scribed graffiti on the external walls, I wonder what became of Romeo.

Is that not the pose of The Buddha?

The Murals and frescoes within the church were completed circa 1812

The smaller framed images are undated and without doubt far more recent.

A spaceman came travelling.

A random stranger making himself comfy in the cool of the church just about to spark up and enjoy a fag.

On the long downhill walk a lot of my thoughts were taken up with wondering how the fk did they get the coffins up such a climb. I was out of breath just carrying a camera.

So that was our friendly hike for the day, onto the bus for a 5 hour drive to Gjirokaster.

Stop the bus I want a wee wee
and the driver wants one too.

Is an old rhyme we would sing back in the day on field trips from school. Well it applied on this trip too, well in advance of a scheduled stop a few fellow travellers needed to dive into the bushes, a nice little spot to stop; I took a walk.

An amazing single span bridge crossing the Vjose River which meanders through the mountains on its journey from Greece to the Adriatic. "Pick me up the other side driver" as off I trotted, oblivious to the shenanigans in the bushes.

Too young to die
Too fast to live

Now no more unscheduled stops please we have places to see, and I need a beer.