Ferries – Travels with Ali

~ Escape from the City – Aberdeen to Lamma Island, Hong Kong ~

During our time in Hong Kong we caught a bus to Aberdeen. We hadn’t been to Aberdeen in over twenty years and was surprised at how nice the new promenade was.

Aberdeen dates back to the Ming Dynasty, and was originally known as Hong Kong. When the first foreigners landed they thought this town was the whole island. Even after they discovered this wasn’t the case, the name still stuck. The name Aberdeen comes from George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, The former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1852-1855).

Aberdeen is still a thriving fishing harbour with many people living on their boats.

During our stay in Hong Kong there was a “Pandamic”, advertised as a “Pandastic event”. We saw hundreds of these being blown up in Hong Kong Harbour. I couldn’t work out how this related to Christmas.

We walked along the promenade and noticed a ferry that was about to depart for Lamma Island. This was another place that we hadn’t been to since we had left Hong Kong. So without further ado, we jumped on board and sailed away.

Sailing away from Aberdeen to Lamma Island

We reached Lamma around lunchtime and meandered along the seafront looking for a place to eat. Many of the restaurants only serve seafood, mostly local cuisine. We opted for one that served Western also.

After lunch we had a wander up and down the seafront. Lamma is a fairly large island with many hiking trails. Young local Chinese often camp overnight here.

Dragon Boats are human powered watercraft and generally made from Teak. Dragon Boating is a popular pastime in Hong Kong, there is even a public holiday for this event.

The end of the promenade, Sok Kwu Wan, Lamma Island

If you are ever in Hong Kong and want to escape the busy city life, here is a fantastic way to see another side of Hong Kong. It’s a great day trip and easy to do. Ferries leave from Central, Hong Kong Island and Aberdeen regularly. Many people who visit HK miss out on these smaller side trips. They are not advertised much internationally but are very popular with local Hong Kong people. Ferries go back and forth regularly, both from Central and Aberdeen. The islands of Hong Kong and Country Parks are lush and verdant, which is a surprise to many.

~ Amazing Albania – Corfu to Sarande ~

This is the first in a series of posts about our wonderful visit to Albania. It’s an 11 day itinerary where we visited coasts, mountains and cities.

We checked out of the Odysseus Hotel in Corfu and took the bus to Corfu Port for our ferry to Sarande. Just €10 for a one way crossing which I thought was good value including luggage. The slow crossing takes around 75 minutes and the fast 30 minutes. We took the slow ferry and were able to go back and forth outside.

Sarande is the gateway to the Albanian Riviera and around 33,000 people live here. In recent years there has been a steady increase in the number of overseas visitors and cruise ships. Several people I mentioned it to didn’t know where it was or if it was safe to travel there.

First glimpses of Sarande from the ferry

I was surprised to see how built up it was, with hotels and apartments jostling for space on the seafront and the streets behind.

Researching this trip took many weeks, with hotels booked, cancelled and rebooked. Changes in destinations, lots of reading other articles and blogs about where to go and not to go, I felt like I knew the place like the back of my hand.

Our hotel was just a five minute walk from the port and even though we were early for check in our room was ready. The Royal Sarande Hotel was right on the sea front, it sounds grand but it was a small family run boutique hotel. We had a tiny verandah attached to our room overlooking the beach. It was in the perfect spot and Jimmy and his wife and staff looked after us admirably.

There is a boulevard along the seafront that stretches for one kilometre that comes alive at night. The locals come out in the evening for a stroll and get together with friends. With so many restaurants that line the promenade it was hard to make a choice.

It’s hard to imagine from these scenes that this country was once locked in from outsiders and overruled by the harsh dictator Enva Hoxha. Some of these locals would have lived their early lives in brutal conditions, as we later came to see and learn. That night there was a fish festival going on and there were many food stalls selling all kinds of seafoods and long tables to sit and eat. There was also a music concert with different bands performing. All in all it was a fun and vibrant atmosphere.

Waking up one morning we saw that a large cruise ship from the Holland America line had docked. We sat and watched each life boat being lowered and taken to shore. The passengers were met by coaches to begin their day of sightseeing. We did meet some of these passengers later when we walked up to Lekursi Castle.

We were both looking forward to seeing more of Sarande over the next couple of days with visits to Butrint and Lekursi Castle planned.

~ The Last of Samosir, Lake Toba ~

Day Three

After our busy day yesterday we decided to take it easy today, relax around the pool and we also had a lunch date with Lynn. Firstly we walked to Lam’s cafe to have breakfast, well just me as Anthony only has coffee. She made me a delicious smoothie and muesli with fruit.

A view of Zoe’s from the lake, our room was on the third floor

As scheduled, Lynn turned up promptly at 1 pm to bring me to the restaurant as it was too hot to walk, for me anyway!

To the tune of “She’ll be coming round the mountain”

A very nervous pillion passenger!

We just had a light lunch and with the abundance of avocadoes and tomatoes, opted for a delicious salad with chicken.

I decided to walk back, not wanting to risk falling off the back of the bike!

Arrangements had been made for us to have dinner again at Hot Chilli with Joshua. The first night we ate there we met a Japanese man called Mr. Tako – or Tako-San as Anthony called him. He spoke very little English which gave Anthony the chance to converse in Japanese with him. They got along famously and were laughing the whole night. They were very happy to see each other again. Joshua prepared a feast for us. At the end of the evening he said he would take me home – yes you’ve guessed it, on the back of his bike. I felt this was becoming a bit of a habit.

**Sweet and Sour Pork, Beef Rendang and stir fry veg**

Day Four

We were leaving today and heading back to Medan for our one night stay again. I had checked out the ferry times and decided to catch the 10.45 back to Tiga Raja in Parapat. A driver called Bima would be there to meet us and take us on the long four hour journey back.

Mr. Tako was also joining us on this journey back. Sitting downstairs by the pool waiting for the ferry to turn up, I went and looked frequently to see if it was coming. Of course it didn’t turn up. So two of the girls, Marta and Kim said they would take us to another ferry point and we could catch it there. How were they going to take us – by bike of course! With luggage as well. Mr. Tako went first and then me. I sat behind a very wet Kim, who I had seen that morning jumping into the lake to sort out some guest’s fishing lines, plus her bike wouldn’t start and she hadn’t changed her clothes. Finally off we went with me hoping it wouldn’t stall and find myself sprawled across the road with gravel embedded into my legs (always the drama queen).