For the first time in our lives we experienced the feeling of being rejected when wanting to cross a border. Alright, Bosnia and Herzegovina already denied our entry but we were alright with that. Now Greece denied us entry. While Bosnia and Herzegovina is not part of the EU, thus no shengen-country, Greece is. I think it’s good to let us sweat a little bit at the border. We are too spoiled and used to our privilege of carrying a Dutch passport that we need to be stopped once in a while.
Back in Macedonia
After a lovely stay at the Blue Eye we tried to cross the border from another point of Albania. The Albanian border officers were very kind and were keen on letting us through. But to be sure we would get through they told us to walk to the Greek border and talk to the officers there. Well, they were quite clear: no Dutch people are allowed to enter Greece. “Go to Bulgaria” he unkindly said. “Go to Bulgaria? But that’s like two days driving and crossing two borders!” “Your problem.” Alright he didn’t say that with words but his face showed us. We even showed him a photo of our beautiful van in the hope he would realise that it will take us a couple of days because the quickest we go – on a highway – is 80 km’s an hour. But he didn’t give in. And so, we left…
The road to Macedonia is one we had already taken when we left Ohrid about a week ago. Driving the same road back is normally not a feast, but in Albania it is. You get to see the mountains from another side and that’s lovely. Nonetheless, after three hours of winding roads through the mountains and dodging potholes I grew a bit tired of the driving. After 6.5 hours we crossed the border from Albania into Macedonia without much fuzz and ended up at a nice and quiet parking lot at lake Prespa.
The next day we took the fast road to Bulgaria and it was quite boring actually. Except for the last kilometers, those were magnificent. Very green and hilly.
A new unexpected country
The crossing into Bulgaria wasn’t that easy. Getting out of Macedonia was easy, they didn’t really care about where we come from, nor where we are going. However, getting into Bulgaria was a tad difficult. Of course they asked for a PCR test, which we don’t have. So, what to do now? There were many people at the border and only one car; us. You can imagine they had lots of time to discuss what to do with us and to ask us all sorts of questions. In the end they agreed upon 12 hours entry. “But it is late now and we are not fast, we can never reach Turkey”. “Ok, 24 hours then. You can sleep somewhere and go to the nearest border tomorrow”. Agreed!
What to do in Bulgaria when you have 24 hours?
We decided to go to the Jerusalem of Bulgaria: Rila Monastery. Well, we would first go to a campsite close by and tomorrow morning it would be the first thing we would do. The campsite was very cute, yeah I’m sure nothing changed since the Sovjet times but it was surrounded by nature, owned by a man nor dead nor alive and had a warm shower. I didn’t shower for a week so this was very welcome! We roasted some sausages, had a nice hike and went to bed.
Rila Monastery
Another UNESCO heritage site on our list! But what is it? Let me explain briefly:
Rila Monastery was founded in the 10th century by St John of Rila, a hermit canonized by the Orthodox Church. His ascetic dwelling and tomb became a holy site and were transformed into a monastic complex which played an important role in the spiritual and social life of medieval Bulgaria. Rila Monastery was founded in honor of the ascetic St. Ivan of Rila (also know as St John of Rila) in the 10th century. He spent the last 20 years of his life praying in relative solitude at a cave some four kilometers away. St. Ivan was revered as a saint during his lifetime. Believers flocked to the remote cave to receive his blessing. The monastery was destroyed by fire at the beginning of the 19th century and the complex was rebuilt between 1834 and 1862. A characteristic example of the Bulgarian Renaissance (18th–19th centuries), the monument symbolizes the awareness of a Slavic cultural identity following centuries of occupation.
Normally lots of tourists flock to the site we had the place to ourselves. That truly adds to the experience of the monastery. Even though we are not religious, these religious monuments have some sort of impact. Not sure why but they always make you whisper, be quiet with your thoughts and be in awe with the grandeur of these religious buildings. Like I wrote before it also makes me question the idea of religion to be honest. This hermit St John of Rila lived his life in solitude in a cave, so I wonder, if he lived his life like that why would we have to built a monastery filled with gold and paintings selling postcards and other knick knacks. Would he be happy that all this was built in his name? Whereas he chose to be living his life in a cave. And what about all the gold? The more you have the better God listens to you? Or is it just about showing off to people who can barely afford to buy themselves some bread?
But we have to be honest, the monastery IS amazing, truly. It’s magnificent, the woodwork, the murals, the nature surrounding it.
Back to our travels. We visited the monastery and were all alone, which was great! After a coffee we moved towards the border.
Third time’s a charm
Or not. A busy border but the one of the two borders that is actually open to tourists, so we didn’t have much choice. The Bulgarian man was very kind but we soon found out they had almost no authority here. The border is ruled by the Greeks and their regulations are the most important ones. We did not do a PCR test, to be honest I think PCR tests are rubbish and I truly hope this will soon end because it doesn’t make much sense to me. Of course we understand the impact of the virus and the serious situation, but this PCR test feels like another way to earn money quickly. Different rules apply to different nationalities. If you’re Greek you can go in quarantaine, if you’re Bulgarian you can do an antigen test and if you’re a tourists you have to do a PCR test AND do an antigen test at the border.
The Greeks were clear; we wouldn’t get through without a PCR test. What to do? We do a PCR test.
The spiritual powers of Petrich
Luckily for us about 20 minutes from the border is the Rockefeller Hospital of Petrich where they were so kind to help us out and do a PCR test even though we were late. The same evening we would get the results. In the meantime we explored the town of Petrich. Not a very big town but nice. We checked out the market and some shops. What we did not know is that Petrich is not just a village but a village with apparently spiritual powers. Close to Petrich one can find the mineral water and thermal baths of the Roupite Springs, which of course have medicinal powers. Also close to Petrich are remains from the ancient fortress of Istra and Baba Vanga resided her until her death.
Baba Vanga was a Bulgarian mystic, clairvoyant, and herbalist. She was blind since early childhood and possessed paranormal abilities. Some sources claim that she foretold the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Chernobyl disaster, the date of Stalin’s death, the sinking of the Russian submarine Kursk, the September 11 attacks, Topalov’s victory in the world chess tournament and the tensions with North Korea. Some say it’s all false and none of it is true. What do you think?
After a delicious Bulgarian lunch we headed back to the hospital where we received the result. A big NEGATIVE. We weren’t really surprised, didn’t feel ill or experience any of the symptoms.
Instead of crossing the border we decided to visit the springs and home of Baba Vanga. Next to the springs is a big field full of flowers, and soon we found out; a heaven for mosquito’s, where we parked the van for the night. We were surrounded by a couple other vans and campers of which one was from Ireland. After having a nice bath in the HOT spring (some were just too hot for anyone who wouldn’t want to end up with burn wounds), we chatted with the Irish until midnight.
Not 24 but 48 hours
We overstayed in Bulgaria, but it didn’t matter. At the border they barely looked at our passports. The Greeks did though: PLF, PCR, passport, car insurance, registration certificate. They asked for it all and had to go through it all. And then I had to do another antigen test, which didn’t make sense to me at all, but I did spend some time in these thermal baths with other people. Although I’m sure nothing would survive for too long in those hot springs, it might also give me some spiritual powers from Baba Vanga. Who knows. But no, again NEGATIVE and that means: Γεια σου Ελλάδα or: Hello Greece!
Goats crossing the road, deserted gas stations and bee-friendly flowers. Turquoise rivers, rocky roads and green hillsides. High mountains, deep valleys and farming villages. Friendly people, delicious börek pie and raki’s in the morning glory. Lake ferries, white Sandy beaches and snakes everywhere.
Albania has exceeded all our expectations, if we even had any. It’s gorgeous, travellers friendly and too beautiful to ignore. Making a campfire while wild camping and cleaning yourself in one of the many natural springs. That’s what life is about.
I can’t imagine I was once happy sitting behind a desk in The Hague working for a bank. Nor can I imagine that instead of watching the sunset on our beach every night I chose to watch Netflix day in day out. Or that I preferred scrolling through Instagram watching other people living their life’s instead of living my own.
Sleeping on the cliff
In the last post I told you about the difficult but amazing road we took. Well, Albania is full of roads with views that words fail to describe well. After the city of a thousand windows, Berat, we travelled to the coast. Apparently Albania has tropical beaches so of course we were curious. The first night we stayed on a cliff near Vlorë, we even drive on the beach here.
It was beautiful, although the wind was a bit too much to cook outside unfortunately. Also, the garbage everywhere makes it less idyllic than we thought it would be. Things you don’t see on Instagram unfortunately.
After one night we decided to travel to Gjipe beach of which we heard from several sources. The SH8 from Vlorë (the Miami Beach of Albania) to Gjipe is fantastic! On the one side you see huge mountains and on the other side you see the turquoise sea and white sandy beaches. The winding road goes up and down through changing landscapes and tiny towns. It’s wonderful just driving this road. And then there is Gjipe Beach, a gem. Not hidden online but hidden offline as one has to walk down for about 30 minutes to get to the beach. The beach is located at the end of a gorge and looks like paradise. Reminded me of the Turkish Butterfly Valley – which is more remote than Gjipe though. Lots of rock climbers and beach lovers here. You can stay here with a tent or if you dare go down the road with your 4×4. Alexine couldn’t handle the road and if she could my heart couldn’t.
After Gjipe we travelled more South to Ksamil beach. Well, I suggest all people booking a ticket for a very very long flight to the Caribbean to reconsider. Albania is all you need. Ksamil had it all: white beaches, turquoise coloured sea and islands you could visit. It has nice restaurants and bars with good and not so expensive food. I’m not the one to be hanging around a beach for too long so we had lunch here and left.
The Greek border
We headed towards the Greek border. But, unfortunately it was closed. With closed I mean: big fences and no one in the office. We walked through the border office and only found someone coming out of the shower who just told us to find another border crossing. So we left, not to another border crossing but to the Blue Eye.
The Blue Eye
Too busy and touristy for my taste. Busses with children and adults who catch insects for a selfie. You can imagine my mood changing… But, the great thing is that you can stay here with the van and have the Blue Eye all to yourself after closing hours.
We were not alone though. Here we met Lucca from Italy and Wolfgang from Germany. They are both travelling full time with their families in these huge machines. That’s like travelling 3.0. With these over landing trucks they’ve travelled to many places of the world. From China, Nepal, Tibet to Mali, Libya and Tunesia. For months they are on the road, homeschooling their kids and exploring every bit of the earth. Lucca is a documentary film maker and works in between travelling, Wolfgang is an electrician and works for about two to three months a year in Germany. They were both very interested in Alexine, of course, and we had a nice chat and night. Learned a lot from their travels. I mean; Lucca travelled through the Sahara in the 90’s with compass and map, we use Google to find our way. It’s so great to meet likeminded people with lots of experience.
After a nice night and ice cold dip in the Blue Eye we travelled to another Greek border. Whereas the Albanians would want to let us through the Greeks stick to the rules: no tourists can travel from Albania to Greece via land. Meaning; we had to go all the way back to Macedonia and try via Bulgaria. But that means like we’re already near Turkey which is on our route. So, while driving the same way back as we came we debated if Greece was worth it.
From Ohrid we travelled back to Albania to explore the South. We took the SH75 and oh my is that a beautiful road. Okay, it didn’t start so great, through the outskirts of a small town, slaloming in and out of stalled cars, horses and holes in the road. Then going up a winding road, through a valley and there we were, in small Albanian paradise. Mountains with snow on the top, green lush valleys and shepherds with their sheep crossing the roads.
For what seems like hours we travelled through the riches of Albania until we reached the border with Greece. But we were not to cross the border, no we haven’t had enough of Albania yet. So we went back up. Still driving this wonderful road, now the green lush valley made place for a river as blue as our van and as clear as a starry night. And at te back of the river we got to enjoy the incredible wall of the Nemercke mountains.
Thermal baths of Benja
But still we didn’t stop here. Our destination for today is the springs or thermal baths of Benja. Not really hot, nor smelling that good but apparently very healthy and with medicinal powers. If you want to visit the springs make sure to hike through the gorge, there are several springs inside the gorge. We even relaxed inside the river as the water was warmer than the spring itself. We made a campfire, baked some sausages on it and watched a sky full of a thousand stars. Even saw a falling star so of course we made a wish.
The road from Permet to Berat
The next day we checked out the gorge, spend some time in the thermal baths and were all zen when we started our most advanturous journey up to now. On the internet people warn for the road from Permet to Berat due to the horrible conditions of it. Some sources say one needs a 4×4, others said they turned around after trying and few write one would be crazy to drive it. But none of those sources drive Alexine, a VW T2 with 45 years of experience. So, we headed towards this dangerous road with confidence. Also, we are still in Europe and this might be a good try out for the roads that we will face in countries like Georgia, Turkmenistan and Tadjikistan for example.
The beginning was alright. I would describe it as a dirt road but not too difficult, even a Mini Cooper would stand its ground. But then… when we turned left, hunted by dogs guarding, we don’t really know what, the road changed. From dirt road to very big stones in the road. Not sure if you are familiar with the song “Sandy road, Sandy road, grind road, grind road, stony road, stony road, hole in the road”, it’s a Dutch children song/game, but it felt like that. All the types of roads in the song came by. From stones to sand to mud to grind to many many holes in the road. Up, up, up we went and even though my eyes were mostly on the road the views were magnificent. I’m really out of ways to describe the amazing views we witness. We’ve seen so many breathtaking landscapes that my English vocabulary of adverbs isn’t enough. Ok, back to the road and the views.
So we drove up the mountain and on top of ridges with deep cliffs on both sides. Scary? Not at all! Amazing? Hell yeah! I must say I was happy that only once we had an oncoming car because the road was so narrow and with the abyss on both sides, not a great place to pass another car. We crossed some tiny villages where the locals were cheering us along, coming to say hello, amazed that a woman was driving the van. And while I was driving, Yuri was quite nervous at times. But I think he was also proud, saying that I and Alexine are a good team. Of course we are!
As I told you my vocabulary isn’t enough to describe the view so here are some images that we were able to make along the road.
Half way through we were stopped by a lady who told us she had delicious petula with mielt, or baked dough with honey. You say honey and I stop.
We parked Alexine in the meadow surrounded by five sheep and a horse. Oh and countless of bees! So after the petula with mielt – RECOMMENDED!! the beekeeper asked me for my help. His bees have diarrhoea, a well known disease amongst bees and unfortunately easily transferred between colonies. So we checked it out and I told him what antibiotics he should give the bees. We drank some home made raki together and had a delicious börek (Albanian pizza) for diner.
In the middle of the night we woke up to check out the Milky Way. It was so incredibly clear, so dark, so quiet. Really feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nothing but nature and the planet how it should be. More animals than people, no pollution from lights, technology or anything human made and the feeling of being alone on the planet.
The friendly people we stayed with showed us how life should be. Living with not from nature around you, being almost all self-sufficient, knowing all about nature and animals. It gives me the feeling to change my life when we get back to Holland. I’m even thinking of becoming a shepherd and starting beekeeping again.
But then, there’s also a darker side. Cause, even though the people live like hundred years back there are some things that changed since then. One is the coming of plastics and other types of waste. This waste is not biodegradable but the people do not know how to dispose of it. Thus they throw it all on a big pile near a river or on a slope. There it often gets carried away by wind, rain or snow and at other times get burned thus ends up in the air. On our journey east we’ve seen so much waste thrown in nature, filling river bends and polluting the area. It makes me realise that we are making the same mistake over and over again. One can live so ecological and sustainable as one thinks but as long as we keep producing destructive products like single use plastics we will never be sustainable and we do continue to destroy the planet. I’m not one to talk about this too much because we drive with a not so clean oldtimer to China, but it’s good to reflect on it once in a while.
On our way to the Osum Gorge
In the morning we got breakfast, checked out the garden flowers, the bees and fed the chickens. Then it was time for us to continue the ‘worst road of Albania’. They told us that people sometimes arrive crying because of the bad conditions of the road but we found that the last part wasn’t that bad, which is probably because we’ve seen worse yesterday or are we already getting used to the road conditions? Power team Alexine and myself were actually having fun and Yuri was sweating a lot less.
At some point the gravel road ended and made place for asphalt. We were happy and sad at the same time. Alexine made it, easily I must add, without any problems! We now continued the road alongside the Osum gorge and to be honest, that’s not the greatest road. It’s quite boring actually and we were soon wishing we were back on the gravel road again.
Berat, city of a thousand windows
After about 1.5 hours we arrived in Berat. Berat is an old Ottoman settlement and still possess an old castle and the typical Ottoman style houses. It’s also called ‘city of a thousand windows’. Can you imagine why?
The first thing we did? Not exploring the town, not searching for a place to stay the night but drinking a beer of course!
At night we had diner at Lily. Truly recommended, not only is the food delicious the host is great as well. We had some small bites we shared and tasted delicious wine made by his father. “Don’t expect Italian or French wine, it’s simple wine” Simple was exactly what we needed. After diner we got raki on the house, made by the same grapes as the wine. Yum! Because we ate a lot we decided to hike up to the castle, a steep climb but very Dutchable. People still live inside the castle and it gives a nice view over town. It’s open 24 hours.
And that was it. Two of the most beautiful roads in a couple of days. From easy asphalt roads to a tad difficult gravel roads, both with the most breathtaking views and through picturesque towns. We met the kindest of people and had a good Alexine try out for the journey ahead.
Now we are headed to the beaches of Albania. Apparently they are true hidden gems. Let’s find out.
It’s been a while now since we arrived in Macedonia. It feels like we’ve put our journey on pause for a little while. Enjoying our time at Miss, my friend, who owns a beautiful guesthouse at Lake Ohrid.
Having a break
And even though we do go out for hikes, exploring bits of the area and inhale vitamine D it also feels like a break. A break from being on the road, exploring new parts of the world and meeting friendly strangers. And that is ok. Although I must say that the travel bug did bit me a couple of times. For now I just keep scratching and ignoring the zooming sound cause taking a break also means that we can work a little bit.
And so we did. Lake Ohrid is, according to the locals, not only one of the oldest lakes in the world it is also the third deepest lake on the planet. Only Baikal and Lake Titicaca are deeper. It seemed a bit questionable and after a in-depth search online I find out that it’s about the 24th deepest lake. Not that it really matters because I would never see the bottom at the deepest part of any lake anyway but if you like fun facts that’s one 😁
Ohrid Trout, a specialty
A specialty from Lake Ohrid is the Ohrid trout and even though it is not allowed to fish Trout you can still find it on the menu. How? Let me explain. Lake Ohrid is located at the border between Macedonia and Albania. Macedonia is forbidding the trout fishing but Albania is still allowing it. However, the trout you find in the restaurants is Ohrid Trout from the fish farms. So they farm trout to serve us. After watching Seaspiracy (highly recommended documentary) I’m not sure if what I read and hear is true. We did eat the Ohrid trout and it was delicious. But that was before watching the documentary. Now I’m not sure if I should ever eat fish again. However, I had the same feeling after cowspiracy and I still eat beef, though very very little.
Back to Macedonia! We’ve had amazing foods in this land, often meat (pork!!) but also vegetarian food. At Mises place we join in the diners and have very varied types of food. We also drink raki at lunch time which is a custom and good Macedonian wine at diner time. Mise owns a guesthouse; Robinson Sunset House and its an amazing place. View on the lake, surrounded by many trees and wonderful company. There are some volunteers working here of whom two are Argentinians. Made me realise I want to go back to Argentina soooon!
The summit of mount Magaro
We’ve hiked to the summit of the mountain Magaro (2,264 m) in the Galicica national park. Had to walk through snow and it was a bit windy and cold on the top. But we made it! A hike of 3 hours in which you climb about 700 meters to the top. From the top you have a magnificent view over the two lakes in the area. It’s a very nice and Dutchable hike 👍🏼
We also went to the famous Naum monastery and visited the springs that fill Lake Ohrid with water. The springs are very nice and crystal clear. We went with Nico – boat no.1 who was the first rowing a boat in this area.
And of course we visited Ohrid. A big city with a beautiful old town, lots of monasteries and a castle. We hiked all the way up to the castle, had a pizza (what else?) and enjoyed the little streets of the old town. In one day you can see the town and it’s quite nice. Lot’s of restaurants, bars and shops.
But most of all, we relaxed. Enjoyed the sun, had some rain and did our laundry. We managed to work, read and finish some books (Ikigai & De meeste mensen deugen) and watched documentaries. Things that we normally don’t get to do while on the road. Why not? Because you have to enjoy every view you have and changing our views every day means less time for books 😉
Getting back in shape
We also decided to get back in shape. Yuri out on his running shoes and went for some joggings. I took my yoga mat and did some workouts from apps like ‘Workout for Women’ and ‘Asanarebel’. I’m still not into yoga too much but I really enjoy those HIIT workouts. Even had a workout of 45 minutes – totally exhausted afterwards but it felt good. Cause yeah, after eating so much and let’s call it ‘enjoying life’ it also means we have to get a move on. We want to return with lots of memories and stories not kilo’s 👍🏼
Even though we haven’t seen that much of Macedonia – only two national parks, two cities and two monasteries -, we do urge everyone to visit it at least once. If you need one reason: food!!! Need two: food & the people and if you need a third reason: it’s beautiful! Very green. Although you need only one reason to visit this country, now you’ve got three.
Hitting the road again
We are ready to hit the road again, enjoy new views and continue exploring. Going back into Albania because the south is supposed to be a gem, and afterwards travelling through Greece, our last European country ♥️ if you don’t count half of Istanbul as European 😉
The first time we experienced a local border crossing was from Croatia into Bosnia and Herzegovina. We always like to have the small crossings, not only is it convenient because it’s less busy but it’s also a lot easier to cross countries and not being stopped. Sometimes the officer is taking a break, like we had crossing from Switzerland into Italy. Other times they like our story so much that they give our passports back right away and instead start asking questions about the van.
But sometimes the border crossings are too small and we are actually stopped.
This happened to us three times at the border of Croatia into Bosnia and Herzegovina, and one time in Kosovo.
From Albania to Kosovo
From a beautiful weekend in Albania we decided to travel to my friend in Macedonia via Kosovo. Kosovo being such an interesting country. A country I say because even though Google and many countries do not recognise Kosovo as a country The Netherlands does. It still is quite an interesting and strange country, still being divided by religion, nationalities and languages. Names of places are translated into two, sometimes even three languages.
Anyway, we decided we would go to my friend via Kosovo. That means crossing two borders. From Albania into Kosovo was not a big problem. We told them we are in transit and we had to buy insurance. The car insurance for Kosovo costs 15 Euro’s. Not so expensive right? But, for the first time we got a transit paper on which was written we have between 3 – 5 hours to get out of Kosovo. Not only is 15 Euro’s car insurance expensive for 5 hours, but also we are driving an old van. We do not drive 120 on the highway and in the mountains we are happy to reach 50 or 60 km’s an hour.
One of the men speaks German and he told us it will be no problem, let’s hope so.
Welcome to Kosova!
We see names in three languages, flags from Albania and Kosovo and cars from all over Europe. Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany. Not sure whether everyone in Kosovo works abroad or these cars are imported. Gasoline is quite cheap here so we decide to give Alexine some V-power.
However, Alexine is an oldie, and she has her instructions. Normally we tank ourselves but this time the boy is kind so we let him. We shouldn’t. I don’t know why but he takes almost the whole pump out of the tank. Yes you can probably fit more gasoline in the tank but that doesn’t work for our car. So of course she starts leaking. I always warn people about this and prefer tanking myself. Next time we will do it ourselves again. It’s not a big problem luckily but spilling gasoline is never a good idea.
Afterwards we head to the border of Macedonia. One that makes us enter right in a NP. It takes a while and if we go straight without stopping too much we will be there within the 5 hours. So we climb and climb and climb. I see snow on top of the mountains, we drive through villages and oh my do we see a lot of rubbish in the stream. We enter the last village on the way to Macedonia. I get a strange feeling. The road is getting worse, people are looking at us in a strange way and all the cars are from Western Europe. While we leave the town behind we soon find ourselves surrounded by snow, a lot of snow. Half of the road is covered in snow…
You can probably guess what happened next? Yes, the path is closed. Snow is blocking our way. And don’t think we are crazy, down below a long way back it is written that the path is cleared from 25/3.
Shit!? This means we have to find another border crossing. I find one close by that goes into Albania. It’s a small one but worth the try.
Locals only
We drive up a beautiful road commissioned by the United Nations which gives us hope. If the UN funds a road like this it sure must be a good border crossing. Lots of Albanian cars pass us (we go up so go slow) and we see a barrier with ‘stop’ on it. The customs officer tells us to stop and makes this very annoying ‘no’ head movements. I open my window and am ready to hand over our passports but he doesn’t want them.
“This is a local border crossing, only for locals”. Not again!? I try to explain to him that the other border crossing is closed and that we only have 1.5 hours left. We will not make it cause we have an old car and are 2.5 hours away from the other border crossing according to Google. He calls his supervisor to see what he can do. He does not have the ability to let us through but maybe his supervisor can help out. After a short call we were disappointed. No way we could pass into Albania here. The problem? On the transit paper is a name of a town written where we have to exit. We had no idea. I had asked the customs officer at the other border crossing if we could enter into Macedonia from anywhere and he said yes, so who would check right?
This means we will be late and we have to go all the way back.
These local border crossings makes no sense to us, especially not when the United Nations is funding a wonderful road to it.
We arrive 2 hours later at the Macedonian border crossing. Nothing happened. One customs officer just wanted to see inside the bus. Not to check what we have inside but just to see the interior. And we were in Macedonia, a new country!
Entering Albania is not a big deal. They do not ask for a PCR test and do not even care if we have a valid car insurance.
Anyway, we have no idea where to go in Albania so we decide to go to the North. From Shkoder we take the worst road we had until now to Koman. Koman is a small village located at a very important dam. It is said that the dam provides 90% of the power of Albania. Not sure if that’s right but it is guarded by many many government officials.
We get there too late, or way too early depending how you see it. Anyway, the boat will leave at 9 the next day and it’s now 14:00. We don’t mind, we have time to relax and get to know some of the locals.
One is Mario Molla, the CEO of the lake as he calls himself. A very interesting figure with lots of stories. Not the most kind towards the Turks who apparently wanted to invade this area of Albania but never could due to the local resistance. We also get to know our captain and chef for the next day.
Komani lake
It’s more like a river to us but here they call it a lake, Komani lake. A beautiful lake / river that flows from Komani to Fierze. We see incredible cliffs, beautiful green mountains and even some villages. The villages along the lake do everything via the water. There are no roads so they are quite isolated.
Komani Lake was created as a side effect of a hydroelectric power plant complex which was build in the region. Like I wrote before, the electricity produced by it covers about 90% of the electricity demand in Albania, very impressive. Komani Lake runs between the mountains for 72 kilometres. Because of its length, on the map it looks more like a river. The sun is shining and the view is so beautiful that the 2.5 hours it takes to reach the end are over without noticing.
Valbone NP
We drive to Bajram Curry for lunch and grocery shopping and continue to Valbone NP. The day before we met two Swiss people and one Austrian man and here in Valbone we happen to meet again at the campsite, what a coincidence. We have diner together and try out some local dishes and wine. The dish is great, the wine not so great. But we have fun. And while we head back we see all these moving satellites that apparently everyone has seen these nights. Not sure what Elon Musk is doing but I hope the satellites turn off their lights quick. Feels a bit like star pollution.
Back to earth! Valbone is a beautiful valley with impressive mountains surrounding it. Feels like a valley in the Alps.
Hiking in Valbone
There are some nice hikes in this NP, one goes to Theth. Apparently that’s one of the nicest places of the North. A hike from here to Theth is 12km’s and takes about 7 hours. But winter is long, thus the pathway is closed due to the amount of snow.
Then there are shorter hikes. Like the one to the waterfall which takes about 1-2 hours. We wake up early and together with Roman (from Austria) we hike to the waterfall. It’s a nice hike, through the ice cold water, along the river side and over some fallen trees. The mountain range surrounding the valley are amazing and impressive!
We couldn’t get all the way to the waterfall as there was a lot of snow there so we decided to head back. Here we meet Max, a guy from The Hague. Actually his parents live about 250 meters from our home. What are the odds?
Max is hitchhiking, hiking and taking local transport to Tokyo. He is on the road now for eight months and has a lot of stories to tell. So we invite him to the campsite and Roman will give him a lift to a city south of here tomorrow.
Maffia wedding
When we get back the area isn’t as quiet as we left it in the morning. Many expensive cars have parked everywhere. Lots of Mercedes with license plates from Western European countries. A wedding is being held at a hotel / restaurant and the whole valley seems to be booked. A big family? We walk back to the campsite and everywhere are people with expensive cars, clothing and sunglasses. Could be maffia, of which Albania is known for. Maybe not but it surely feels like it. We see kids driving fast cars, girls in very expensive dresses and the older man acting like Robert de Niro in The Irishman. But, like I wrote before; it’s just a suspicion…
At the campsite we make a big fire, drink beer, eat cookies and tell a lot of stories. This is why travelling is so much fun. You meet people, hear stories and get to explore amazing places.
Up to our next adventure. We will go to South Albania but not before visiting my friend in Macedonia!
Hi there! We are Milene & Yuri. We are travelling the world together since 2015. Our endless curiosity and will to explore has resulted in many cool, and somewhat extreme, adventures. On MYgrations you'll read all about our adventures, you'll find lots of information about the countries we visit you won't find anywhere else and more. Enjoy!
We’re also grammin’
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