On a sweltering hot August day we left the coast and drove into the hills towards the famed Blue Eye, or Syri i Kaltër in Albanian. Located just ten miles from Albania’s border with Greece, this region has a bit of a Greek feel to it. Historically, the country has had a large Greek population centered in the south, although many departed to Greece during the hard economic times of the 1990s.
Along the way we pass Mesopotam, a small village in the hills. Intrigued by the name, I pull the car over. There is an abandoned 13th century Orthodox church, but no ancient ruins. Of course, the name is Greek for “between rivers” and there are a couple of streams running through so I suppose there is no connection to the land between the Tigris and Euphrates.
A dirt road leads into the green oasis of oak forests that surrounds the Blue Eye and from there a footbridge crosses a stream to a forest path that leads to huge crowds of people. Maybe this is a serene spot in autumn, winter and spring, but on a hot day in August it’s like going to the beach. Some circle around the eye, others wade in and a number of young men climb the hillside and dive into the darkest blue of the eye.
A dark blue hole is surrounded by shades of lighter blue and turquoise. Water bubbles up from the depths, in which divers have descended down to as far as fifty meters.
We find an opening in the crowd and wade in. The water is cold. It gushes out from a network of karst caves deep underground. If the day was one degree cooler I might say the water is too cold, but as it is, it’s perfect.
We’re trying to avoid large groups of people due to the pandemic and this is a real shame because this place deserves more than a quick glance. As the crowds surround us, though, we sneak out and walk along the stream that flows from the spring. After a few hundred meters this becomes a lake of blue, the chilled tears that drip from the eye.
Our car is in the dusty lot, windows up, oppressively hot air awaiting us inside. I consider digging through a suitcase to find my swim trunks so I can dive into the eye. Instead, I start the engine, flip the air to max and drive off. But I will think of the Blue Eye again on some hot day in the future when the thought of diving into the perfectly cool water will be almost enough to cool me down.
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