Amid the second wave of Covid-related lockdowns in early 2021, we were sojourning in Albania; one of the few countries that hadn’t imposed any significant travel restrictions. We were settled in the seaside city of Saranda, in the south of the country. Early spring days came at the end of February. The sun shone dazzlingly and the temperature rose above 20 Celsius. It was a lovely time for a day trip. We chose to go to the Blue Eye Spring, one of the country’s most famous travel destinations.
As Blue Eye is known the spring of Bistrice River in southern Albania. The spring’s extraordinarily clear water gushes up from an underground karst of unknown depth and takes on the most pleasantly vivid blue and green hues. The spring is surrounded by lush mountainous scenery, and various peculiar creatures inhabit its periphery.
To get from Saranda to the Blue Eye, we took the road SH99 towards the valley of Gjirokaster. It is a mere 23 km and the road is in decent shape. At Mesopotam village, about halfway towards our final destination, we went on a brief detour to check out a quaint old church built on the cliff of the mountain to the north. Forward, we made it to the Blue Eye by noontime.
A small dirt track leaves off the main road at 39.9167, 20.1802, near the village of Korngj. An old, faded info board is present that states the name of the site only in Albanian: “Syri i Kalter”. The road first passes over a dam and then continues along the reservoir towards the spring. That’s where the Blue Eye is located (coordinates: 39.9237, 20.19.24).
Prior to our visit, we had read that we’d have to pay entry and parking fees to visit the natural monument of the Blue Eye. But upon arrival, we found the site altogether abandoned. The booths that at some point must have collected the ticket fees seemed unused for months, if not years. A bar, some cabins, and other installations seemed the same. Only a few local day-trippers and some construction workers were present. All the better, we had the whole place pretty much to ourselves, without sparing a dime.
We took our time to stroll around, explore the area, take some nice pictures and fly the drone… Originally, we were planning to swim, too. Then, when we were hit by the chill wind along the way on the motorbike, we changed our minds. But now again, hit by the potent midday sun, we decided to go for it, after all. The water arguably maintains a constant temperature of 12 Celsius year-round. That was cold but absolutely refreshing; a good adrenaline boost. We had a couple of jumps from the cliff beside the pool and reveled in the warm, soothing sunshine by the spring bank.
Later on in the afternoon, we began on our return. We stopped for a late lunch at the first open food place we encountered along the way. That was located right beside the bridge in Mesopotam village. A delicious, cheap meal they made, and nice folks they were. We were back in Saranda right on time for sunset.
Accommodation and Activities in Albania
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