Leaving Tuz Golu ( salt lake ) last week, the planned route took us further east – first stop, one of the crown jewels in anyone’s Turkey itinerary – magical Cappadocia, centred on the town of Goreme.
Downtown Goreme.
The surreal landscape of Goreme and surrounding area has been captivating visitors for centuries. Throw in perfect weather and it could not have been a better time to visit. The town itself has become extremely touristy but the quirky landscape one comes to enjoy remains unchanged. I don’t think we’ve had a more memorable sunrise than the one at Goreme, watching as over 100 hot air balloons slowly lifted into the air. Postcard stuff !
Goreme, Cappadocia.Downtown Goreme.A close up one of the many structures. We had a great chat with the owner who was repairing it.The square recesses are for pigeons.Close up of the pigeons.One can see the blending of design. They merge into housing, and in some cases boutique hotels and cafe’s.A colourful lighting store, Goreme.Goreme- equally pretty at night, but…..…it’s the morning when it gets really stunning. So many balloons !They made a great silhouette around our van.Balloon viewpoint. Turns out it’s also a bit of a gathering point for overlanding travellers.Comparing camping notes with a couple of German travellersA French couple in a Sprinter drove by, then circled back to say hello. We would bump into them again a week later. Bumping into other overlanders in Turkey reminded us of our travels in South America, where we repeatedly crossed paths with the same folks.
Our route zigged and zagged a little in the next few days – convinced by a French couple about the merits of seeing the famous Whirling Dervish ritual in Konya, we turned southwest to be there for the all important Saturday night performance. It’s the most original one, given that the Sufi Islamic sect that started it is here, and while there was definitely a spiritual aura to the whole performance, one must understand it is a worship ritual, rather than any form of entertainment. A lot of time where not much happened besides chanting while the dervishes twisted for almost an hour. Konya itself was also a pleasant surprise both for its interesting old town and historic mosque plus the fact that we spent a couple of days with a lovely Swiss couple we met there.
Impressive Azizia mosque, Konya.Everywhere in Turkey one is offered tea. The small glass cups are the norm.Colourful dried fruit stand, Konya.Old town market, Konya.Parked up with Martin and Maria, a Swiss couple covering much the same route of late. Konya is renowned for the original and supposedly best, Whirling Dervish ritual. Here at the Mevlana Cultural Cantre in Konya.
South of Konya lies Mersin, a major port and busy Mediterranean city on Turkey‘s south coast . Its warmth was a nice change from the cooler weather we experienced inland, but our main purpose in visiting was to look into vehicle shipping which was a possibility we had to consider after Turkey. We connected with Mohamed and his assistant who we put to work looking at various options for us. The challenge, he said, was that our vehicle’s height meant that we required a RoRo solution and with fewer route options on such ships he’d need some time to find a “creative” solution. Fingers crossed they can come up with something that works and is affordable.
Stopped for a morning cup of tea out in the remote part of the road en route to Mersin. Quite a remote spot !Finally, after weeks of looking, found a camper supply store that had toilet chemical ( an essential product for us !). We were showered with small gifts and offers of tea when he found out we had driven from Canada ! That’s Turkey.Pretty seafront boulevard, Mersin.Mohamed and Ebro, shipping agents trying to help us on our way.
Given that nothing was immediately available, and Mohamed said there was no rush, we decided there was now time to explore further into eastern Turkey – with Georgia so close and highly recommended by several other travellers, we decided to take a fairly direct route from Mersin on Turkey’s Mediterranean side up to Trabzon on the Black Sea coast over the next few days. The added bonus of going to Georgia was that we could then swing back into Turkey in its south east corner and explore Turkey’s more traditional region in the following weeks. If we needed to rush back to Mersin, we still could. It was just fairly consistent driving, some nice wild camping, but interesting changes in season and landscape on the eastward run. In a few days we were on the eastern of the Black Sea, and at this point, almost in Georgia – more details on that in the upcoming blog.
While waiting for news on our shipping request, we decided to head east in Turkey ( and beyond ). Long distances but great roads made for easy driving. Hmmm, is that snow ? Already ? At the higher elevations,?yes !We passed this quite often on the long drive east.Turkish Black Sea coast near Rize.Finally, after two long days drive from Mersin on the Mediterranean coast, we reached the Black Sea coast here, just east of Trabzon.
Till next week…
In Case You Wondered:
Q: What does a bad day on the road look like ?
A: I can assure our readers we have them ! The ABS brake disconnection fiasco in sub-zero temperatures well north of the Arctic Circle in Norway was probably the scariest so far. That said, we have periodic minor crises on a more regular basis. One such occurred as we were leaving Greece. I don’t mean to spoil the ending but this one really stinks ( you’ve been warned ).
Camped by a beach I’d noticed a fellow camper had found a sewer drain opening near the toilet block and emptied his cassette toilet into it. Perfect, I thought, we needed to empty ours as well so I waited till he finished and took ours over to empty it. I first moved the rather heavy concrete cover just far enough to allow for the cassette spout to fit in ( and minimize the obvious odor that emanated from the sewage, visible about 6 feet below the cover ). For reasons I cannot explain, on this occasion I “spun” the cap off our cassette spout, rather than carefully holding it and twisting it off as I normally would. The cap is a CRITICAL apart of the toilet system – it keeps all the waste ( and what would otherwise be odor ) sealed inside the toilet tank; no cap, no functioning toilet.
Murphy’s Law then kicked in. The cap I had spun off the toilet spout next popped off the spout, bounced on the ground, rolled over to the resting concrete cover and then……dropped into the narrowest of openings and INTO the cesspit of sewage below !
Two things immediately struck me – how I would possibly be able to recover it, and how I would explain to Lois exactly how I had managed to do it. I won’t say exactly how she responded but let’s just say it was predictable. Abuse over, we now had to figure out a solution, our cap sitting 6-7 feet ( 2 metres ) below the surface, literally in a tank of toilet waste.
I had to almost completely remove the concrete cover to get visibility and to have any hope of recovering it, but managed to do that. By some miraculous stroke of good fortune the cap had landed on its top side and its shape meant that it was actually floating on top of the sewage, not submerged in it. Since finding a replacement cap anywhere nearby would have been impossible, every means possible had to be applied to recovering it. What was needed was a long, stiff item to which some kind of cup could be attached so that I could lower it down, get it underneath the floating toilet cap and scoop up our cap – all without disturbing the cap and sinking it, without taking on too much ( heavy ) waste in the process and having the cup separate from the recovery item as I pulled it up…..and without me tumbling in to an open sewer chamber. Some creative thinking would be needed.
Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. Scouring the trees behind the beach I came upon a tree limb long enough to do the job. It appeared strong enough as well and with branches removed I could get it in the sewer tank. Now for some type of “collecting” cup. Fortunately, just a week before we’d purchased two plastic kitchen bowls and the smaller of the two seemed like it might just be big enough to catch the toilet cap. It was obviously now going to be a very “disposable” bowl. While my tool kit is not large, I always carry duct tape and had enough left on the roll to securely tape said plastic bowl to the end of the tree limb. While the toilet cap was light, the process of scooping it up ( if by some miracle it actually worked ) would fill the bowl with sewage – this might be trickier than I thought.
While this was a MacGyver solution if ever there was one, I’d gone from absolute despair to a quiet confidence that I could actually recover our precious toilet spout cap. Now, regular readers will note that anything toilet related is a “Jeff” job and since this little mishap had been all my fault, Lois literally washed her hands of any part in the planned recovery process – what I did not know was that while I was floundering around trying to “build” a recovery tool, estimate distance to the cap, guess at the strength of the duct tape-mounted bowl, and adjust a head lamp so I could see what I was doing, she was actually taking a few pics. Below are those shots.
The good news is that the toilet cap had remained upright and floating while more waste flowed in ( the nearby toilet was actively being used 😷). Lowering my tree limb down carefully I was able to dip the attached plastic bowl in sewage water beside the toilet cap in such a way that the cap spilled into the bowl. Perfect ! Now I had to tip it so that the liquid waste spilled out thus ensuring the overladen bowl would not break away from the branch. Very slowly I managed to do it without losing the toilet cap in the process – in just a few minutes I had the toilet cap recovered, and a feeling of such absolute delight I simple cannot explain here.
Toilet cap then throughly cleaned ( soaked, bleached, and washed repeatedly ! ), recovery items trashed and myself showered off, we had a functional toilet again.
While that’s an example of a bad day ( or at least bad situation ) on the road, it was great to have a happy ending 😊.
Yours truly, peering into a sewer drain, adjusting my headlamp with my left hand while trying to scoop up our toilet cap with a 6 foot long stick in my right !….and SUCCESS ! Just visible in the image is the long stick in my right hand ( duct tape wrapped plastic bowl at the one end ) and the elusive toilet cap in my left….
As for Greece there was definitely a travel plan we had for Turkey and it boiled down to the same strategy – spend most of our time exploring new ( to us ) areas, predominantly in Turkey’s exotic but generally less explored eastern region, but also revisit a few old favourites from our last time here ( way back in 1990 ). First up ( coming overland from Greece ) were two old “faves” – the Gelibolu (Gallipoli) peninsula, and that most enchanting, exotic, and historic of all Turkish cities – Istanbul.
Arriving in Turkey from Greece. The border was quiet.
To all Australians and New Zealanders the name “Gallipoli” ( Gelibolu in Turkish ) is etched in the public consciousness- while the two countries were ultimately among the victors in WW1, this campaign, fought against all odds in impossible conditions was unsuccessful. It was, however, our baptism of fire as a new nation and the gallantry of our young Aussie and Kiwi troops is remembered faithfully on Anzac Day ( April 25 ) every year ( just as Armistice Day is elsewhere on November 11). To Aussies and Kiwis it’s very sacred ground and (somewhat like Muslims to Mecca), those who can certainly try to make the pilgrimage to visit it. It’s now a quiet, peaceful place but it was not hard to imagine the bloody battles that took place here 110 years ago.
First stop was Gelibolu, or as it is more famously known among Australians and New Zealanders, Gallipoli. Explored the site of this legendary battlefield from WW1.ANZAC cove where the troops landed in that fateful day in April, 1915.Lone Pine, a particularly well known area of the battlefield.Memorial and grave markers just near the landing area. Much of the fighting done in the hills behind.It’s very well explained with plaques describing the purpose of the attack. Ditto.The hills were steep and rugged making the assault from below very difficult. The Turks had all the high ground .Hard to imagine, looking out to the sea today on what was a very tranquil morning, just how chaotic the 1915 landing was.Consoling words penned by Ataturk, the great Turkish military leader himself. He went on to lead and modernize Turkey following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire during WW1.
From Gallipoli, Istanbul was an easy drive along the Dardanelles, a narrow sea lane that splits Istanbul in two and happens to separate the the European continent from Asia. It’s where the Black Sea narrows and pours into the Aegean and has been the scene of many conquests over the millennia – empires have fought to control its strategic location( indeed, it’s what Gallipoli was all about ). Unsurprising then perhaps that Istanbul today still remains a real crossroads of people’s, cultures, and religions. Just standing on the Golden Horn one can look around and soak it all in – it truly offers an assault on the senses like few other cities. It’s the city that was for centuries known as Constantinople ( a little trivia for you 😊).
View out to the Bosphorus from the Golden Horn.Downtown Istanbul.Turkish sweets, Istanbul.Met up with Lois’s brother Mark and his wife, Dawn. They happened to be visiting Istanbul on the same day !Cheers.Galata Kuleisi ( tower ).Fisherman on Galata bridge.Ferry ride across to the Galata side.Blue MosqueA huge line to get in while waiting for prayer time to end.Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar is legendary. Gold was a favourite in the bazaar.Very busy !Camped in Istanbul with Stefan, Ute and their two children – travelling overland to Australia ( from Germany ) in their Toyota Hilux’ with pop up camper.
After leaving Istanbul ( and technically crossing into Asia ) it was a couple of long driving days out to Central Anatolia. Much of it rather dull and not particularly scenic but an unexpected bonus was a delightful stop at Tuz Golu, Turkey’s famous salt lake. While it does not hold a candle to the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia (certainly not in size ) it’s nonetheless an impressive sight, easily accessible from the highway on the way to Cappadocia ( our next destination ). Enjoyed our time there with a French couple we had met. Bonus – the very friendly folks managing the site allowed us all to camp there overnight – a great place to watch a beautiful Anatolian sunset and sunrise !
Istanbul, of course, famously straddles Europe and Asia. On crossing to the east one is reminded that you are now in Asia !Tuz Golu salt flats, near Ankara.With French friends, Jean Louis and Estelle.Tuz Golu.Camped at Tuz Golu. Quite often one can camp at such attractions. Flat, safe and quiet – ticked all 3 boxes !
Till next week….
In Case You Wondered:
Q:
Exactly who does what while you are on the road ?
A:
Lois: navigates, does route planning, photography and videos ( especially while driving ), scanning the iOverlander and/or Park4Night apps for nightly park-ups, dinner prep. Reviews blog/photos before publishing each week.
Jeff: drives, writes and edits the blog/IG posts, makes Lois coffee in bed EVERY morning ( 😉 ), does vehicle related work, empties cassette toilet ( always, always considered a “man” job ! ), does logistical work on routes ( shipping/visa needs ), liases with other Overlanders for tips/research etc.
While there is the odd debate on who gets the better deal this split seems to work best for us 😊.
It’s been a long time since we have visited Greece – 35 years in fact. At that time we crewed across the Mediterranean from Egypt on a yacht, entering the country in Rhodes. Some island hopping towards Athens followed – a wonderful time, great sights and great memories. On this occasion, entering from Albania in the north, the goal was to explore northern Greece, visit Thessaloniki and take in at least one island en route to Istanbul in Turkey.
Greece/Albanian border – fast and easy !
During our last visit the border with Albania was impenetrable – this time it was a breeze, even though it was another “Schengen” frontier to cross. On the Greek side they merely confirmed our vehicle was insured ( it was/is ), processed our passports and waved us in. We followed the coast south for about 10kms, Corfu temptingly lying just offshore, passing a number of beautiful ( near deserted ) beaches on the way.
First Greek beach we saw ( Corfu in the distance ). Water was nice and warm.
Igounemitsa is the first town of any size ( and a major ferry port ) – quaint enough but holding little appeal for us, we traveled on to Ioannina, a bigger city with some worthy Ottoman history, perched on a pretty lake. A nice place to wander around but nothing to hold us there for more than a day we continued on towards Thessaloniki.
Greece has a rather different view of what is “old” than most other countries !Historic Ioannina castle ( on Ioannina Lake )The castle grounds, well preserved in some areas.The castle was used as recently as WW2 – for rather heinous reasons.Distinctly Ottoman-era turrets on castle building.
Greece’s second biggest city, Thessaloniki has an impressive waterfront Corniche, a famous tower, and, among other things, a truly impressive museum of the Byzantine era. We pass on lots of museums – glad we stopped in at this one, a fascinating glimpse into a pivotal period of Greek, Roman and Ottoman history.
Decision time ! We decided to continue east to Thessaloniki.Thessaloniki’s beautiful Corniche was packed on a beautiful Sunday.Downtown Thessaloniki.Thessaloniki’s famous White Tower.Greece’s most revered son – Alexander The Great.The impressive Byzantine museum.DittoDittoDitto.
Continuing east we made two additional stops as we crossed that narrow neck of land that separates Greece from Bulgaria and connects it to Turkey – a rustic, but popular wild camping spot just east of Thessaloniki and 3 delightful days on the island of Thassos ( midway between Thessaloniki and Istanbul ). Two of the three days offered up spectacular weather as we slowly made our way around the island camping, swimming, hiking and enjoying some local specialties. Lucky we were not any later in the season as many of the restaurants and stores were already closed. The upside, of course, was that we, along with what seemed to be only a handful of other campers, have the island just about to ourselves – absolutely delightful !
Beachfront wild camp, east of Thessaloniki.Sunset at above beach.The Greeks have their own “Macedonia” which is why they insist the small country to their north be called “North Macedonia” !Overcast as we arrived on Thassos but it soon improved.Relaxing…..😊Thassos coastline…...and its beaches ( water still warm enough to swim – October ). Regardless of weather, the businesses are quiet by October as the big crowds are no more. Nice for us !Spent two days driving around the island sampling several of its beaches.Golden beach ( here ) was our pick.Thassos port.Restored Roman-era amphitheatre.Sad to leave, but Turkey awaits.
Alas, our next stop lay just a few hours east of us – time to bid Thassos “adieu” and move on to…….Turkey !
Heard rumours of 3 hour delays. No such issue – we were through in less than 30 minutes!
Till next week…
In Case You Wondered:
Q: Your van’s AC electrical is 120v ( standard North American style ), but Europe ( like most of the world ) is 240v. How do you charge your leisure batteries when you “plug in”
A: We have not needed to plug in anywhere yet – with 700w of solar on the roof and a 40amp DC/DC charger we have been able to keep our 500amp LifePo leisure batteries nicely charged simply by driving and/or relying on solar. In addition to our regular inverter/charger, we have an auxiliary (240v input ) 25amp charger ( with European plug ) that we can use to charge our batteries should they ever need topping up (in the event it’s not sunny AND we don’t drive for an extended period). Our system has served us very well so far.
While several times larger than Montenegro, Albania is still very small so getting from north to south does not take long. That said it’s full of amazing little towns, steeped in history and some pretty stunning natural sites. It’s fair to say that we probably found more of these in the south than in the north.
It took us much longer of course, but gives one some idea of distances. That’s top to bottom.
In addition to its beautiful coastal attractions ( they don’t call it the “Albanian Riviera” by accident, two inland towns in particular stand out on the itinerary of most who are exploring Albania – Berat and Gjirokaster. Berat was probably the favourite in terms of it authentic Ottoman-era architecture while Gjirokaster had the more impressive fort of the two. Both were impressive, full of tourists and one could easily enjoy getting lost in the cobble-stoned streets of their respective old towns. We certainly did ! Again and again wherever we went in Albania we were shown the most amazing hospitality, especially so in these two places. The camp hosts were extremely knowledgeable and willing to go to almost any lengths to ensure we had an enjoyable stay, but we found the same at restaurants, stores, gas stations and just anywhere we came into contact with local people. Curious, always, as to where we came from and how we liked Albania you could absolutely see these were incredibly proud folks, so grateful to be free of their recent past ( the 45 lost years ) and delighted to be back on the European travel circuit.
Ottoman-era architecture, Berat.Simple camp site, Berat. With some French folks we just kept bumping into !A pretty backstreet, Berat, old town.Berat old town from the castle.Ottoman-era buildings and houses.Castle ruins, Berat.Orthodox Church cut into mountainside, Berat.Old town gate, Berat.Gjirokastër old town, with view to the castle.Ottoman-era building and houses, Gjirokaster.Gjirokaster castle.Ditto.Ditto.
From Gjirokaster our ours took us south through another national park and it’s rather unusual natural attraction, the “Blue Eye” ( named after its resemblance to a human iris). An almost two kilometre hike in from the entrance brought us to a crystal clear creek where a crowd had gathered – right there, below the observation deck was this most stunningly deep blue circle of water which looked almost surreal.
Path to the “Blue Eye”.Blue Eye.Blue Eye.
From the national park it was not far to the coast where we’d hoped to experience a couple of day on one of Albania’s top beachside towns – Hisame, Saranda and Ksamil among those vying for the distinction of being the best. Here the weather dealt us a bit of unseasonal blow depriving us of the chance to see these places at their best. We explored Saranda and Ksamil and settled on just one day and night a beautiful and somewhat secluded little beach just north of Ksamil. Despite less than ideal swimming conditions ( it being a bit of a cooler day ) the water was really warm making for a nice dip, the last one in the Adriatic for a while anyway.
Secluded beach where we camped north of Ksamil.We camped up high……and enjoyed a lovely sunset – last night in Albania 😟.
With that the Greek border was only about 20kms south so we meandered down that way, this time an easy and quick crossing…😊.
Till next week…
In Case You Wondered:
Q: Has it been easy to get water, dump grey water and empty the cassette toilet everywhere ?
A: Mostly, yes, and bear in mind that we almost NEVER use commercial campgrounds ( we are fully self contained so there is usually just no need ). There’s a variety of places to get water – service stations, public parks, paid filling stations, etc, and so far we’ve found no issue locating cassette toilet style “dump” stations ( though easier in some places than others ). Here is a picture of one of the fancier cassette dump stations ( this one in Norway ):
A cassette toilet “dump station” in Norway. A little fancier than most, but the cassette is simply emptied into the opening on the right side and a tap/faucet on the front is used to rinse out the cassette. This one even has a bowl/sink for washing your hands after ( operated by a push button for better hygiene).
Probably no country on our European journey so far has been more anticipated than Albania. It was new to us, having never visited before, so there was always the allure of the unknown, but more importantly it has been generally less travelled having only been a popular “mainstream” destination in the 2000’s and especially so in recent years. There’s a lot to offer in a small package and first impressions have been generally excellent ( we knew what to expect with the litter and bad roads, so have discounted those things in said impressions ). First a little history.
Still see the occasional memorial/statue from the communist era – here, just near our camp site in Shkoder. A very “Soviet” look !
Anyone in our age demographic will doubtless recall Albania as the “North Korea of Europe”, the most Stalinist state of all, or the “Hermit Kingdom” where the brutally repressive communist regime of dictator, Enver Hoxha ruled with an iron fist from 1946 till his death in 1985 but the regime survived until 1992 when it was finally overthrown by a popular people’s revolution. In the years since it has developed enormously, and while it is still Europe’s poorest, the trappings of an emerging “nouveau riche” class are visible everywhere. Its infrastructure is improving and in just a couple of decades of alignment with the West a new openness has emerged ( it was essentially sealed off from the world for 45 years ). Practically all young people speak English and are eager to engage – so far we’ve been overwhelmed with friendliness and hospitality !
Some interesting color schemes in Albania. Escaping the drab, grey and dour communist era themes in some cases they went a little overboard with “bright”..! An apartment building and nearby mosque in Shkoder.
Happened to arrive on what must have been a busy day ( or we just chose the wrong border crossing ) as it was a long wait to cross from Montenegro – once at the border, though, we were give a very warm “Welcome to Albania” by the border guards. Then by the SIM card guy, then by the insurance guy, altogether making for an extremely smooth introduction to Albania.
Shkodër itself offered a few interesting sights – the Ottoman-era Mesi Bridge, the impressive castle ruins at Rozafa and finally ( but on a rather gruesome note ) the “Site of Witness and Memory Museum” which chronicles just some of the atrocities and persecution methods of the Albanian Secret Police and Military during the 45 year communist era. Pretty shocking stuff.
Ottoman-era Mesi Bridge, near Shkoder.Entry to Rozafa Castle.Rozafa Castle.Ditto.Please excuse the reflections but this was like taking a picture of a mirror! Sign marking the Site of Witness and Memory Museum.Prison cells inside the museum. Small, dark and very musty.Again, an image of a reflective surface but I thought the contents were worth the shoddy picture. Note the kinds of torture the communists inflicted on their own. Ghastly stuff !
Needing something a little more mellow after the aforementioned museum, we made the trek up to Albania’s very impressive Theth National Park. It’s not a long drive, but it is extremely circuitous, very steep, and the roads are mostly very narrow, making for some hair-raising driving. It is a spectacular drive though and Theth itself is an interesting little village with some great hikes and good examples of old Albanian architecture. The weather was a bit cloudy on the way up, but sunshine broke through in the late afternoon, so we set off for at least one of the hikes we intended to do up to the Grunas waterfall. Lucky we found some Albanians to help us find the way as it was not well marked, but the waterfall at the end was quite spectacular, as were the views out to the surrounding mountains. Theth itself sits in a beautiful valley high up in the Albanian Alps – everywhere you look is panoramic. Sadly, the following day was quite overcast with rain threatening, so we were unable to get in any more hikes. Sometimes you just have to take what you can get, glad we did the waterfall at least. Also enjoyed a beautiful night camping by the river, which provided us one of the most peaceful night’s sleep we can remember.
The road to Theth (a good section !).Picturesque Theth Church.Grunas waterfall – the last 200 metres more a climb than a hike but the reward was worth it.Wild camped along with Dutch and German folks right by the river, Theth.Driving down from Theth we pulled over for a coffee break. We were soon joined by the Albanian guys who had helped us on the hike and then a Canadian/Lithuanian couple who’d followed us down the mountain and couldn’t believe they were driving behind a van from BC, Canada. A nice stop !
From the elevated heights of Theth we backtracked to Shkoder and then on down the main highway to Albania’s capital city of Tirana. First stop was the very impressive “House of Leaves” museum ( documenting the history of the former communist regime, and the degree of secret surveillance they employed on citizens ), some Cold War bunker tours ( there were lots of bunkers ! ), a wander through the heart of Tirana and especially Skanderbeg Square where some of their national monuments are located, An extremely interesting day – we learned a ton about Albania.
Communist era propaganda poster, House of Leaves museum, Tirana.For 46 years it was hard to get into Albania ( or to get out ! ) – they did not like hippy types !Cold War era bunker, Tirana.Inside the bunker. Cold, musty, and dark.Et’hem Beg mosque in Tirana survived the religious purge of the Hoxha regime and was beautifully restored after the regime One of Albania’s historic figures, Skanderberg Square.Time for a beer ( and their beer was excellent ! )
With that our time in Tirana was done, incredible to think how much this country has changed in the 33 years since the end of communist era and truly interesting to talk to knowledgeable Albanians about their past, present, and hopes for the future. We’ll continue to explore the south of the country in the coming blog.
Till next week……
In Case You Wondered:
Q: What do you do about washing and drying clothes when you spend so long on the road ?
A: In Western Europe no problem, laundromats are everywhere, but we did find them harder to come by in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia ( and in some cases much more expensive ). We carry enough clothes to go two weeks between washes and that has been a very wise move. The app we use is helpful in locating laundromats or we simply Google search “laundromat near me”.
The PanAm completed in April, 2022 and with the truck camper sold, we shipped our new Sprinter van to Australia in late 2022. We travelled there through all of 2023 and into 2024 before shipping it up to North East Asia where we travelled for 4 months between Korea and Japan, before shipping it back to North America. It’s our plan to continue exploring the world in 2025.
