The 13th century Byzantine Zvërnec Monastery is on Zvërnec Island, connected to the mainland by a 270m curved wooden bridge. It is a a very well preserved and pretty place, surrounded by pine trees and the water, but as with some of Albania’s other ‘top’ tourist attractions it’s not the best they have, often that is just around the corner.

A very slow and bumpy ride through massive, rain-filled, potholes brought me from the nearby Zvërnec monastery to a wonderful park up, set among lovely green peaks and a turquoise sea on three sides with snow-capped mountains in the distance. The sunset tried to compete with the daylight view for beauty and after a stunning display, total darkness fell. I headed in to read and later listen to the nocturnal sounds of goats and dogs set against the constant of the shussing sea.

This photo of the purple flower is actually perched really high but the photo flattens and the perspective is lost unfortunately! Anyway it was an amazing view! I had a roam around the wide sandy beach and a scramble down onto the rocky side to the shallow sea, with strangely shaped sandstone type rocks.