So there’s this thing in southern Albania called the Blue Eye.
It’s a spring out in the mountains between Saranda and Gjirokaster, and nobody really knows how deep it is.
It’s also super beautiful and the water is bright blue…
From the bus station area in Saranda all of the buses that go between Saranda and Gjorokaster drive past the Blue Eye.
That means any bus going from Saranda to Gjirokaster, Berat, Fier, Lushnje, Durres or Tirana will use that same stretch of road to leave Saranda, so any one of those buses can drop you at the Blue Eye.
The fare on any bus going from Saranda to Gjirokaster was 300 lek (about $3USD) per person so that should be the max you’d pay to get to the Blue Eye. You can negotiate with the bus driver to pay a bit less since the Blue Eye is only part of the way to Gjirokaster, but paying that extra dollar to the driver may be a good thing to do.
The bus departed right on time, drove through the city center, passed up and over the hill that leads out of Saranda, and crossed the big inland valley. Then it was up into the hills on the other side, and on to a twisty turny mountain road.
It took about 45 minutes to get dropped off where a small road leads away from the main road. It’s next to a beautiful meadow with towering mountains on all sides.
I tried to go into the meadow to take a picture from a spot near a herd of sheep, but the on-duty sheep dog saw me and came over to let me know he wanted me to stay on the road. Fair enough.
It’s a few kilometers from the main road to the Blue Eye itself which is a pretty and pleasant walk first over the river, then across a dam with a lake behind it, then on to a dirt road, and finally down and around to the Blue Eye.
Arriving at the Blue Eye there were only a few other small groups of people that came and the whole experience was very tranquil.
Nobody really knows how deep it is. Apparently divers have gone down as far as fifty meters, but not reached the bottom. That’s pretty amazing.
After a while it was time to walk back to the main road. That’s where things got tricky…
I knew that all of the buses coming in to Saranda via Gjiorokaster would pass by but it was after 2pm in the afternoon and I didn’t really know WHEN any of them might come through.
Since it was the off-season, there weren’t any dedicated tour buses running back and forth just for the Blue Eye, either.
And it occurred to me that maybe the last buses of the day had already passed by.
A few cars and trucks went by over the next half an hour or so, and I started thinking about trying to hitchhike back.
But then a passing car came roaring up, hit the brakes hard, and stopped.
The driver got out, offered a ride, and said from there to Saranda the price was 200 lek ($2USD) per person. Done.
That all went smoothly, with a couple of stops along the road where he dropped of some packages, until passing through the roundabout a bit before climbing the hill to enter Saranda.
That’s when the police pulled him over and made him get out of the car.
An argument ensued (though it didn’t seem to be too heated), and eventually the police came to the car window and started asking question to the passengers. I didn’t understand anything they were saying, and once they figured out I had no idea what was going on, they closed the door and left everyone sitting in the car while they made the driver sign some paperwork.
I think the driver got popped for offering taxi services without having a taxi license, but that’s really just a guess. He didn’t seem super happy about what had happened, but the car was soon back on the road, and he continued to be professional. Coasting over the hill into Saranda to the bus station, the day’s Blue Eye adventure came to an end.
So should you go see the Blue Eye?
Yes.
And if you’re in Saranda (or Gjirokaster) during the summer, I think there will be more frequent transport back and forth.
It’s worth mentioning that that was the second time while in Albania being on the side of a road when a random person offered a ride in car shared with other people. Both times the drivers offered a fair price and it was really helpful knowing that rides were easy to flag down….