A fleeting but full visit

I didn’t want to leave Albania, and going to Athens felt almost like a chore. I was having a wonderful time bumbling around Albania and I wasn’t ready to move on yet. And the 9 hour bus journey starting at 5:30am didn’t help. Athens wasn’t somewhere that I actively wanted to visit, it was just where I was catching the ferry to Crete from. The bus was long and busy and hot. Stepping off in Athens my first impression was the smell of urine. I walked to the hostel and with each 100 metres I woke up from my bus stupor and the warmth of Athens crept in. After showering and freshening up in the hostel I felt excited to go and explore. I walked down the street to the centre, and audibly said “oh shit” as the buildings opened up into Monastiraki square, and my view was suddenly filled with the Acropolis on the rocky hill, and ancient buildings in between. It came out of nowhere and I wasn’t expecting it. It was breathtaking. Strolling around Athens I realised how different the Balkans felt to Western Europe, with Athens having the familiarity that they didn’t. The sun was starting to set and I marched up to Lycabettus Hill to watch it. I was cutting it very tight so basically had to run up the hill. I was very sweaty. Lots of people had stopped on the path before the top, which I thought was strange and did make me think it means the top must be very crowded. This assumption was right! It was humorously busy at the top, and people clapped when the sun set. I stayed up there until it started to get dark, wanting to see the Acropolis lit up. I went out for dinner alone that evening, the first time in a while! I had the most incredible beet salad, with whipped cheese and candied walnuts. When it was served to me I was immediately hit by the smell - fresh mint sprinkled across the top. The candied walnuts were so delicately flavoured. There was the rich taste of EVOO beneath the acidity of the vinegar dressing. I was working on my Balkan food blog post at the time, and it did put it in perspective a bit…

After one evening in Athens I had decided that it was somewhere I will definitely be coming back to. I can picture myself remote working from here for a week or so, soaking up the heat and the history before and after work. Not sure if that’s actually an option for me, but the idea kept me happy. People had told me that you only needed one or two nights in Athens, and that might be true if you just want to tick off the sights, but Athens seems to me to be a city that you could spend a week in without getting bored. There’s not a lot to see, but there’s a lot to experience. Because I knew I’d be coming back, I didn’t worry about seeing everything. I spent most of my time wandering around and looking everywhere. I spent 30 minutes laying on a marble bench on top of the Pnyx, soaking up the sun with a view of the Acropolis. I really didn’t rush around! I specifically decided not to enter the Acropolis or the ancient sights. It costs 30EUR (free if you’re under 25 and from an EU country, thanks again brexit…) but gives you access to all of the sights for 5 days. I didn’t have time to properly make use of this, and wasn’t in the mood to speed around them, opting to save them for my next visit. I did do the walking tour of course. It wasn’t the most history heavy tour, but I enjoyed the slow pace and friendly atmosphere the tour guide created.

Alongside the pockets of ancient history, Athens had so many beautiful cafes and restaurants. In the centre the streets were beautiful, especially just under the Acropolis. Further out the streets were ugly and filled with unassuming looking cafes, bakeries and taverns. It was down these streets, in the pouring rain, that I searched for the place serving the reportedly best greek yogurt. It came out as a block, almost like feta, drenched in honey and covered in chopped walnuts. It was utterly delicious. The yogurt itself was creamy with such a distinct bitter taste, but not overpoweringly so. The honey made it the perfect level of sweet. The walnuts added a crunch. Down a different but equally dodgy looking street, I found a falafel bar and enjoyed the best falafels I have ever eaten. Their outside perfectly crunchy, their inside soft and fluffy and heavenly spiced. And the guy gave me a plate of hummus for free! I visited a little bakery and the smell of freshly baked something with cinnamon was so welcoming. I bought a selection of biscuits for my ferry journey, and a slice of pistachio cake. All were delicious, and shockingly cheap.

I don’t know why I loved Athens so much. Maybe because I had no expectations and no idea of what it was like. I guess because I’d imagined the ancient stuff to be separate from the city, rather than embedded throughout in a fluid way. As I’m travelling I’m becoming more sure of my gut feelings, and liking Athens is one of those. It’s not very conducive to blog writing though, as it’s hard to verbalise a gut feeling. When I thought about it whilst looking over the whole city from the Pnyx, the image of the heat baking the history into the streets, warming the air from below rather than above, came to mind.

For the past few months an idea had been forming in my mind. Wild camping is legal in Albania, and I love to camp. I was feeling a bit too comfortable with the whole bus and hostel situation, and wanted a bit more of a challenge. So wouldn’t it be great to buy a tent and do some wild camping on my way through Albania to Greece? I found a rubbish little tent in Montenegro and my idea came to life!

After a night in Berat my plan was to hitchhike with another guy towards the coast and then find somewhere to camp. As I packed up my stuff ready to leave the hostel I struck up conversation with Florence and Tom, a British couple in my room. It turned out that they were driving to the coast and were planning to wild camp in the same location I was aiming for! They invited me to join them and we headed off together. We left the car at the parking spot and walked down the steep path to the beach. The beach was really nice, my first one in Albania! It was small pebbles, with crystal blue water. A tree filled canyon opened up to the beach, with there being some woodlands on the flat before the stones took over. There were a few beach bars on the edge of the trees, and lots of beach loungers and umbrellas out. Not quite the wild, isolated beach we were expecting… Just before it got dark we pitched our tents and cooked up some tuna pasta for dinner. The stars were amazing, and I used my phone’s astrophotography mode for the first time. We went for a drink at the beach bars and discovered a whole campsite in the trees! It was really cool, having a hippie commune vibe to it.

The following day I went for an explore up the canyon, and crossed paths with a Spanish man, Luis, doing the same. We ended up climbing the canyon together, navigating the ropes that were there to help. I only had my birkenstocks so I was glad for his help as he shoved me up the slippier rock faces. A way up we came to a clearing, and Luis asked if I’d like to meditate together. I was a bit taken aback, but in a very embracing mood I agreed. The experience was so balancing and refreshing, if a bit odd. We climbed a bit further before reaching “our end” and then made our way back down - slowly to avoid any injuries. We went our separate ways, thanking each other for the experience we’d just shared. It was a truly wonderful interaction.

By late afternoon we decided it was time to leave the little beach. As we drove I came up with a plan for where I’d spend that evening. Florence and Tom dropped me off in Himare and I went to a hostel where people I’d met previously were staying. I left the majority of my belongings with them, emptying my rucksack to essentials only. The sun was beginning to set at this point so I was in a hurry to get to my sleeping location and get my tent up before it got dark. I had heard about a hidden beach (Filikur beach) round the bay from Himare, only accessible by boat or a risky path with a rope. I thought it sounded like the perfect place to have a proper night of wild camping, ideally having the beach to myself. Because people had warned me that the path down was a bit hairy, when I took a wrong turn and the path became loose rocks down the cliff face I didn’t question it too much. I had to take my bag off to slide down. I would lower my bag down a little and then slide myself down after it. This worked well at first, until the drop was a bit too big and my bag slid then started to tumble and roll down the cliff, picking up speed. Without panicking I slid down quickly after it, knowing I needed to catch up to it. This worked out fine, but left me covered in dirt and with pretty cut up legs and a cut up bum, oops! At this point I saw a man coming up from the beach, and shouted to him if this was the best way down. He exclaimed that I was not on the path! I laughed and asked for his help to rejoin the path. The guy seemed a bit freaked out. The rest of the way down was easy in comparison, it was very steep and bare rock, but the rope meant you could abseil down safely. There was one last couple left on the beach. I found a slightly less pebbley spot to set up my tent (I hadn’t bothered to buy a sleeping mat…). As I did so a boat arrived to pick up the last couple, and they waved me off energetically. I waved back, imagining their view of me - a little girl becoming a dot on the beach, setting up her tent. Their excitement added to my own. Once I’d finished setting up I stripped down naked and swam, washing off all of the dirt from sliding down the cliff and letting the salt help my cuts. I’d already laid out my plethora of food available for dinner - I hadn’t had time to get anything substantial to eat so it was crackers with peanut butter and marmite, a peach and some remaining oat biscuits. I ate sat naked in the entrance to my tent. I felt like I was the only person in the world. I watched the last light go. As it got dark I retreated inside the tent. I watched the lightning on the horizon anxiously, and listened to the thunder with bated breath. Hoping it wouldn’t rain on me tonight, as there was no way my tent was waterproof. The less fun side was the reality of having to sleep alone on a beach… I psyched myself out, with every rock falling from the cliff being someone coming to break into my tent. The ground was extremely uncomfortable, with the jumper under my shoulder blades and a pair of shorts under my hips doing little to soften it. It was clammy and hot, with the layers of salt and sweat on my skin being as uncomfortable as the ground. Weird sand hopper insects had snuck into my tent and would randomly land on me, with one jumping up my nostril at one point. Unsurprisingly, this was not the recipe for a good night’s sleep and I slept poorly. But this lifted the entire experience, making it more real, more memorable and honestly better. At 7am I got up. I sat and took in my view. It really was amazing. In my bikini I ate my banana, feeling like a true beach urchin and loving it. I had one last homemade oat biscuit leftover from the batch I made before leaving Kotor. I nibbled at it, my lips brushing my finger tips occasionally and getting a taste of salt from them. Once I’d swam, and with the first people arriving to the beach, I felt much safer and was able to sleep for a few more hours. In the early afternoon I packed up my tent and climbed back up the cliff, using the rope and following the path this time. I hadn’t showered in a few days; my hair was crunchy with salt; my skin was sticky; I hadn’t had a proper meal in days; my whole body ached from sleeping on the stones and I couldn’t lift my arms above shoulder height; and I was covered in cuts. I was truly elated. It had been amazing. I bought a cold sprite from the shop and had a long shower at the hostel.

I left my tent behind as I left Albania. It had served me well, even just for two nights. I am so happy I made my camping dream happen.

I visited Albania three times in total: once with Rosaline where we spent a few days in Shkoder and Tirana; once to do the Valbone - Theth hike; and then two weeks travelling around the South. If I were to have written this post after my first visit, my review of Albania would have been lukewarm. We had an enjoyable time in Shkoder, playing cards in a bird watching hide looking over the lake. But beyond that, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience. I was eaten alive by insects by the lake. Our visit to Lumi i Shales (a beautiful river area) was fun but it was so strange with lots of weird restaurants and there was a lot of litter, and the organisation of the buses was carnage. I convinced myself we were being trafficked whilst on the bus from Shkoder to Tirana. The museums in Tirana were abysmal, featuring English translations so poor that Rosaline and I would finish reading them and give each other a look that said “do have any understanding of what that said?” (I’ve included my favourite one below). We were met with bad, almost rude, service at every restaurant. The taxi drivers at the bus station were aggressive. Tirana itself gave me the most bad vibes of any city I’ve visited. The angry red and black flag of Albania hung from flag poles every 10 metres down the main street in a war-like fashion. The buildings were ugly. The only saving grace was the walking tour we did, which was one of my favourite ones so far. I had no idea about Albanian history and it’s now the one I’m most interested in, especially their communist period. My reading list is filled with Albanian history books! My favourite titbits are the fact that Albania fell out with both the Soviet Union and China for them not being “communist enough”, and the crazy ponzi schemes that occurred after communism fell in the 1990s. My second visit to Albania was amazing, and is covered in the post about the Valbone - Theth hike. But this was because of the hike, and not really because of Albania in a more full sense. Now my third visit, that was quite a different story.

I visited the medieval towns of Berat and Gjirokaster. Berat was fine, nothing much to see. Gjirokaster was wonderful. The castle and the old houses were brilliantly done, with plentiful information boards in good English and even an included tour at the house. There was a festival taking place at the castle in the evenings, with live music. I’ve been lucky enough to see quite a lot of live music over my trip, but the band on the first night was the best so far. Who knew Albanian indie rock would be so good! One evening a group of us walked over to Ali Pasha’s bridge and we witnessed a very rural sight. We came round the corner and suddenly we had a view of the valley and the impressive, old, stone bridge branching across it. We made our way down to the bridge, walking across carefully and sitting on the other side. We chatted and just observed the surroundings. Slowly, we saw the farmers bringing in their animals from the hillside. First was a solitary donkey. Then some sheep on the opposite side of the valley. And finally, from the hill behind us, a herd of goats! We watched as they crossed the bridge. It was really beautiful.

Over the past few months I’d been banking lots of reviews about places along the Albanian coast, and subconsciously forming an opinion of which sounded best. This resulted in me only visiting Himare, and skipping the more famous towns of Sarande and Ksamil. Himare was so peaceful and I really loved it. Mainly because of the hostel. It was my favourite hostel so far (Sun Bakers if anyone is wanting to go!). I can’t explain why I loved it so much, I just did. I gave me such feelings of warmth and comfort, a real home away from home. Maybe because I was with people I’d spent the last week with - friends I’d originally made in Kotor or met in previous places in Albania. Maybe because I allowed myself to properly relax here. Maybe because the french toast at breakfast was so good. The only activity I did was hire kayaks with a few others. We were aiming for a little beach around the headland but found a small cove on the way and spent a few hours here. Our very own private beach. Complete with a cave and high rocks perfect for climbing.

Albania and I have been on a journey. At the moment I’m still not sure of my opinion. But I definitely look upon it fondly, and I find myself talking about my time there a lot so it definitely made an impression. It’s not my favourite country - still Slovenia - but it is a country that takes up a lot of space in my head. Its history is insane. Its current state remains pretty insane, as I learnt from my discussion with an Albanian girl on the bus, including her own mafia ties… Its mountains are beautiful, but the mountain towns are strange. The coast is beautiful in places, but tacky and ugly in others. It is very very cheap. My time there was fun and odd. I don’t think I’d go back. Not because I don’t recommend it, but because I don’t want to tarnish the experience I had there. I think it will change a lot in the coming years, with tourism increasing, and I’d like to remember it as the strange, wacky county I experienced.

I have a very short travelling bucket list, and one item on that list is to volunteer at a hostel. Ever since I stayed in a hostel alone for the first time in Mexico and realised it was a thing it’s been something that I’ve wanted to do. I also really wanted to spend a few weeks in one place, and properly get to know it. August seemed like the perfect time to do this, everywhere was getting a lot busier which isn’t my favourite thing, and hostels were booking up in advance which messes with my one or two days ahead style of planning. I’d had a busy first 3 months so 4 weeks of staying still and having a routine was very appealing. I originally looked at Albania and found a few opportunities on workaway. My criteria was:

• A town with something going on. Nice cafes to write in, nice restaurants to try out, museums to visit.
• Somewhere very close to swim each day.
• Can get to other places from it by bus, to explore more of the area.
• Hiking in the area.
• Good hostel vibe, social etc.

None of the places in Albania had all of these, so I was struggling to decide which to go for. In my indecision I arrived in Kotor for the first time. Here I found a place that had everything I was looking for, so I asked about volunteering in August and that was that.

Kotor is such an interesting place. It’s located on the inner most point of a strange double bay. It has a beautiful old town which is filled with cats and kittens, with legend being that the felines protect the town. Kotor has two museums: a cat museum and a maritime museum. I visited and would recommend both. It has a fruit and veg market every morning by the wall of the old town. Their figs were especially good. It is surrounded my steep black mountains. The sun sets down into the bay, and it makes the mountains look almost purple and as if they’re a green screen. They rise so suddenly from the water, they don’t look real. Up above the old town, around half way up the mountain, is an old fort with old walls going up to it on either side. These were illuminated at night by soft golden lights. If you swam at night you could float on you back and look up at the cliffs and gaze at the illuminated arc of the old walls. All reflected in the black water around you. It was always a wonderful way to end the day. Kotor was lovely and quiet in June when I first visited, but it was much busier in August. The beach would be empty first thing in the morning, but after that it became horribly busy. The water became less clear too. A weird thing about Kotor is the ever present cruise ships that silently arrive and leave in the night. These huge boats look so out of place, but they soon become part of the landscape. I still can’t figure out why Kotor is a stop for them, especially as it must be a pain to get to from the open sea.

I was there for two carnivals - one on land and one in the sea, with the floats being on little boats. They both ended in fireworks, and I do love fireworks.

Montenegro Hostel 4 U

The hostel was a party hostel, but I stuck by my intention for the month of relaxing and getting into a healthy routine. I woke up early each morning and did some exercise. I ran my first ever 5km! I’d do some yoga and then swim in the sea. I’d join Isabel, another volunteer, for breakfast and we’d make delicious porridge. Isabel and I alternated between the morning shift, changing the beds, and the evening shift, doing the ironing and odd jobs. When I wasn’t working I’d mostly relax at the beach, explore the old town, take out a paddle board or chill at the hostel. I did one big hike, and then never found the time to do anymore. I found that I really enjoyed helping out the guests with travel questions - giving them tips on what to do in Kotor, on where the best bakery was and the best places in Montenegro to visit. I met so many lovely travellers, and a few less lovely ones. But as I’ve been back on the road travelling south I only seem to have bumped into the lovely ones. I wonder how far I’ll need to go before I stop bumping into people that visited Kotor whilst I was working. The other volunteers were also, mostly, lovely. For the majority of my time working there were four of us, all girls. We went out for a couple of nice dinners together, and spent time working and chatting in cafes. I really did fall into a sleepy routine and the days passed quickly. I think I would’ve started to get bored if Tarsha and Alex hadn’t come and visit, but after they left I had less than a week remaining and it suddenly seemed like I had a lot to squeeze in! I didn’t do nearly as much as I thought I would, in terms of hiking, writing, planning, or online courses. But I got all the rest I needed, and I felt properly at home in Kotor. And those were my only real aims for the month.

The hostel wasn’t perfect of course, it was quite disorganised which made me feel bad for the guests at times. I felt that it charged too much money for the activities we put on, but the activities were fun - a family BBQ and a sunset kayaking tour. The staff room where we slept was always so messy and dirty, especially the bathroom. It was the type of dirtiness that meant even after showering you didn’t feel clean. The few nights I spent in Alex and Tarsha’s airbnb were a wonderful break from this! We had one volunteer who left but then returned who was a bit of headache. So whilst I was sad to say goodbye to Kotor I was definitely ready to be back on the road!

Being still gave me time to reflect on my future travels. I’m feeling really content and chilled out about it all. And excited of course. When I started my energy was so high, and I was so happy all of the time. I knew then that it was unsustainable, and I was nervous for a big crash. But instead it’s just settled down. This current level of contentedness is sustainable, so I’m no longer worried about it running out.

With Alex and Tarsha

How do you know you have wonderful friends? They’ll fly out to Montenegro to meet you and go along with hiring a car from a Serbian guy to have a road trip. Alex joined me on the 18th August, with Tarsha joining a few days later. I sorted the hire car through the hostel I’m working at, with a guy bringing it to the hostel, showing me (without speaking English) how to operate it, signing a single sheet of paper and paying in cash the 90EUR for the 3 days. Insurance? No idea. Luckily we didn’t need to find out, although we had a close call at one point with Alex smashing the wing mirror… Our noble steed was a 2006 Fiat Panda (please see below), which, surprisingly, drove wonderfully. Our route is shown below, with red being us driving and orange an additional trip.

After collecting Alex from the airport we made our way to Kolasin. The first part of the drive was pretty stressful, with the road being a single track winding up the mountain and the other road users being locals zooming down taking up the whole road. But after that the drive was honestly wonderful. Despite the RAC’s warning of poor road conditions in Montenegro (thanks for the research Al) the rolling tarmac ascending and descending through the mountains was very enjoyable to drive on. The final part of the drive was through a canyon and wow it was impressive. The sun was setting so the colours were lovely, and the scenery even more dramatic. We passed through a huge number of tunnels, many hand cut into the rock. We stopped at a monastery which had a well kept garden. Darkness had just about descended when we made it to Kolasin and we found a cosy looking restaurant to eat, and to give Alex his first taste of Balkan food. I drove the short distance remaining to the airbnb and we saw our accommodation for the next two nights. Thank god we’re good friends and Alex hadn’t had the lamb shank at dinner! The “tiny cabin on wheels” was a perfectly apt name. Alex slept badly, and therefore so did I.

After being told breakfast had stopped being served at the campsite we enjoyed a Balkan breakfast en route to Biogradska Gora, our first national park! Montenegro has five national parks, with Biogradska Gora being the smallest but apparently the prettiest. Leaving our car at Biogradska lake we hiked up Bendovac mountain. The walk reminded me of England, zigzagging up through forest. Once at the top however the scenery was much more unique. The mountain valley was open and green, with blueberry bushes dotted around. There were two farm houses with little huts surrounding them, traditionally used by shepherds but now open to hikers. It was gorgeous. The view and the atmosphere of the little farms made it my favourite national park that we visited. Back down at the lake I was less impressed, with the lake being a bit murky and muddy. We hurried back to the tiny hut to use the hot tub as it was closed the previous night, only to be told it was still shut for cleaning. Disappointed, we played cards as it got dark.

Waking early the next morning we headed west across Montenegro to our second national park, Durmitor. This is the most famous one and is home to the tallest peak in the country, Bobotuv Kuk. On our drive over we stopped to take a closer took at the Tara river, stumbling across a traditional wooden raft we were able to clamber on. We enjoyed breakfast in the ski town of Zabljak before visiting Crno Jezero (the Black Lake). This was Alex’s favourite spot, and I appreciated it too. The lake was very blue, with mountains rising up on one side. The edge was lined with trees, and the water level had receded so the vibrant green reeds were exposed in places. The water was the perfect temperature, and we enjoyed a swim. We could’ve spent all day there, and it would’ve been a great place to swim after hiking Bobotuv Kuk. Alas, Tarsha had now landed in Kotor and so we began the drive back to meet her, making a brief detour to get a better look at the mountains. I wish I had had more time to spend in Durmitor, especially to hike the mountain. We decided to spend time in Biogradska Gora and I’m very glad we did, with the hike there being different to the ones I’d done previously in Slovenia and Albania, whereas Bobotuv Kuk would’ve been very similar. Even with a month in Montenegro there’s still so much more I’d like to do!

Tarsha and Isabel (another volunteer at the hostel) had been busy in our absence buying supplies for a sunset picnic. We drove up to a fortress way above the Kotor bay. Someone had just finished painting faces all over one of the interior walls so we explored the labyrinth of rooms under the smell of varnish. We chose our location on top of one of the turrets for our picnic. The sunset was beautiful, even if the sun did disappear behind a cloud before it hit the sea.

To fit in one last national park before the hire car was collected, we left at 6am for Lovcen national park. This is the closest one to Kotor. Tarsha drove us up the dreaded Kotor Serpentine and we admired the rocky yet green landscape of Lovcen. It was so different to both Durmitor and Biogradska Gora. We reached the Mausoleum which is on the second highest peak in the park, only to be told it didn’t open until 9am and we weren’t allowed to go up to the top. Undeterred we headed to the highest peak instead. This is where the Fiat Panda really impressed, as did Tarsha’s driving. The track up was more rock than road, and it was very slow going with us all anxiously listening to the twangs of rocks hitting the metal underside. After 20 or so minutes we found somewhere to park up that was wide enough for us to turn around, and we walked the final bit to the top. The views were outstanding.

I handed the keys back to the same Serbian man that dropped it off, nervous for him to find some issue with it. Needlessly so, he didn’t even look at the car before driving off.

And so ended our few days driving around Montenegro. It was my first time properly driving abroad, and a left hand drive car. It was a great experience and the freedom it gives over public transport is insane. In countries where it’s affordable I’d absolutely recommend hiring a car for a few days!

The rest of Alex and Tarsha’s visit was more relaxed, with beach days, ambles around Old Town, copious amounts of Monopoly deal and eating good food. I convinced them to do one last adventurous thing with me, which was a rafting trip. This took us all the way back up past Durmitor to the stretch of the Tara canyon on the Bosnia and Hercegovina border. The Tara canyon is the second largest canyon in the world, behind the Grand Canyon. It was great to see more of Montenegro on the drive up. The rafting itself was hilarious, with my face hurting from laughing by the end. The atmosphere was insane, mostly caused by the strange weather, and of course the scenery. The canyon was beautiful, very green and the water was crystal clear. We drank straight from the river. The weather began dry, but with crazy clouds falling low in the canyon, cutting the mountain view into fragments. At times it would pour with rain. At one point it hailed aggressively. We were soaking wet from both the spray of the white water and the rain. It was wonderful. We swam and cliff jumped at one point, and found the water to be absolutely freezing. After the swim the cold set in and we paddled more aggressively to keep warm. We stopped at a waterfall and a weird bar set up on the canyon side, at this point we were in Bosnia. It wasn’t much further until we reached our finishing point. There had been some tears (from a Welsh lady in the boat as she shouted at the other boat to stop splashing, which was very funny), but we’d all survived! We got dry and changed into our warm clothes and I had the exact feeling of finishing a few hours body boarding and swimming in the sea in the rain in Woolacombe, and getting changed in the cold to finally be all cosy in a hoody and comfy trousers. It was wonderful. I’ve found it so interesting how having experiences and feelings that remind me of home stops me feeling homesick. The things I miss about home can be recreated and that does the job perfectly! We had a wonderful lunch - delicious soup followed by fish and beef with potatoes (again, reminding me of home strangely) with salad and bread.

Then the 22nd rolled around and it was time for Tarsha and Alex to leave. I waved them off in the taxi and then bought a huge punnet of fresh figs to cheer myself up. I’m so lucky to have friends who have come out to visit, and I appreciate it so much. And not just because they bring me out Marmite, Cadbury’s chocolate and skincare products… So thank you very much to Tarsha (and Alex, but he repeatedly told me he doesn’t read the blog so this is a pointless addition) for flying out and for your wonderful company!

Full Moon Check-in

1. Last: Sat on the beach in Kotor with Rosaline and others from the hostel.
2. Current: Sat on the pier in Kotor with Olivia, having just finished some yoga.
3. Future: In Crete with friends!

I had never heard of the Valbone to Theth hike before reaching the Balkans, but once here talk of it was ubiquitous. Or at least it seemed that way to me, perhaps because it sounded so wonderful. It’s a hike across the Albanian alps, between two mountain villages. The starting point for travellers is Shkoder, from there you travel to Valbone by taking a bus then a ferry then a second bus. You stay overnight in Valbone and in the morning you hike the 17km to Theth (well 12km, but if you want to do the peaks it’s 17km). You spend a night in Theth and take a bus back to Shkoder the following day. So many people raved about it, and as someone who loves a hike, and is getting even more into hiking on this trip, it was definitely a must for me. The best thing about this hike was how easy it was to organise. Basically, the hostel in Shkoder does everything for you. Because of this, so many people from the hostel are there to do the hike, meaning there’s a nice little gang of you heading up to the mountains together. Maybe I was just lucky, but I had the most wonderful group of people to spend the nights in the isolated guesthouses with, and to do the hike with.

The experience

I knew I’d enjoy the hike. What surprised me was how much I enjoyed all of the other stuff. The immersive ferry journey up the Shales river for 3 hours, with scenery that could have been South East Asia. The gorgeously isolated guesthouses - the Valbone one sat alone in a clearing behind some trees, with the clear glacial river wrapping around it, at the foot of the mountains; and the Theth one with its wooden cabin and delicious homemade wine. The group of people from the hostel who really made the whole experience. We dined together like a family for all meals, enjoying the Albanian delicacies the guesthouses had prepared for us. We sat by the bonfire in Valbone, looking at the stars and discussing how beautiful the scenery was. We hiked as a group, sweating and chatting the kilometers away. We celebrated reaching Theth with cold beers and fanta exotics. I was sad to slowly say goodbye to each of them as we went our separate ways, but there is no one I’d rather have experienced it with.

The ferry

It was cramped and long. It was also beautiful. A group of dutch girls had bought a whole watermelon and spent the journey handing it out.

Valbone

The guesthouse’s location took all of our breaths away. We plunged into the freezing cold river after lunch, feeling so invigorated. Especially with the mountain view. Santtu, Anna Vera and I did the same the morning of the hike. Now that really was the best way to start the day. A couple in their van made a fire for us to all sit around. The temperature dropped in the evening, making it known that we were in the mountains even when their outline had disappeared in the darkness. We huddled around the fire for warmth.

The hike

It began with some flat along the dried up river bed. Then we went up, and continued going up until we reached the top. The scenery was mountainous, but also still very green. At the mountain top there was a gang of dogs, hoping to get some of our packed lunches. We marched down into Theth, with me slipping over the most times on the loose rocky path. We stopped at a little mountain cafe, having a rest before finishing the descent.

Theth

More of a town than Valbone, our guesthouse was surrounded by other guesthouses and a little odd looking church. Santtu, Anna Vera and I lucked out and got a private room in a separate cabin. The others got stuck with less ideal sleeping situations… Another glacial river flowed by this guesthouse, so we ended the day as we’d started it, with a cold plunge. After taking the most wonderful shower we enjoyed an even more wonderful dinner outside, watching the sunset as we ate. The homemade wine was free-flowing and delicious.

Anna Vera and I got up early the next morning to squeeze in another small hike after breakfast, before we got the bus back. We walked down to the waterfall, with an unexpected additional member: Bashko the guesthouse dog! He was a great companion, guiding us to the waterfall and refusing to leave either of us behind at any point.

The bus back

I found the bus journey back to Shkoder really enjoyable. I found a comfy position next to Santtu. There was a cool breeze from the window. Amazing scenery. Drowsiness from the mountain air and the walking settling in. Good music. It started to rain and the smell of rain on the hot tarmac filled the bus. And the smell of BBQ for some reason. I put my hand out of the window and caught the cold raindrops. The bus driver was hungry so obviously we all therefore had to stop and wait for him to have a full sit down lunch (balkan buses summed up nicely). We got back to Shkoder and I realised I’d just had the best few days of my trip so far. In a bubble of the mountains and nature and good food and even better company.

The logistics

This bit will most likely be boring for those reading at home, so feel free to skip. I’m including it because I’ve spent so long explaining to other travellers how to go about doing the hike and how it all works, so I thought it would be nice to have somewhere to point them to instead (and some free blog promotion!).

1. Arrive in Shkoder and stay 1 night. The hostels that I know organise the hike for you are The Wanderers (this is the one I used), and Me Casa es tu Casa (I also stayed here and it was lovely, but didn’t do the hike with them). They’re both really cheap, £9 a night. I’d recommend The Wanderers if they have availability, mainly because they organise the hike in the Valbone-Theth direction which I think is the better way to do it. The other hostel does it in reverse. They also have free breakfast and the other one doesn’t! Once at the hostel, explain that you’d like to do the hike and they’ll sit you down and talk you through everything. You can leave your luggage at the hostel for the few days you’re away, taking with you just a little rucksack with the essentials in.
2. You’ll catch the minibus at 6:30am the next morning and travel for 2 hours to the ferry terminal at Lake Koman. The ferry takes 3 hours to get to the destination - Fireza. Here you get on another minibus for another 2 hours to Valbone. The hostel provides the tickets for all of this, and it costs 22EUR.
3. You spend the rest of the day and the night in a guesthouse in Valbone. They cook dinner for you, and breakfast, and provide stuff to make a packed lunch with. The stay costs 25EUR.
4. You hike to Theth!
5. You then spend one night in Theth, at another guesthouse. Again, dinner is provided and so is breakfast. It also costs 25EUR.
6. In the morning you catch one last minibus back to Shkoder. This you organise with the guesthouse. It costs 11EUR and takes 2ish hours. You arrive back to Shkoder in the early afternoon, so you can travel elsewhere or you can stay one more night in Shkoder.

The total cost for the trip is 88EUR. That includes 2 nights accommodation, all of the transport and 5 meals. On top of that the only money I spent was on lunch in Valbone, snacks to take with me and the wine in Theth.

TIP: If you have the time, I’d recommend staying two nights in Theth. There’s a day hike you can then do to the Blue Eye (a natural spring), and it means you have more time to soak up the mountains.

I hadn’t planned on going to Kosovo, but as I was nearby and it was on my way back to Shkoder I thought why not. On the bus ride through Kosovo I appreciated just how green and vibrant it was. I later learnt it has the most fertile soil of the Balkan region, and that was evident from its landscape. I had heard that the smaller city of Prizren is much prettier than the capital Pristina so decided to go there. It was indeed very pretty, and I was in the mood for a smaller, prettier city after recently visiting Tirana and Skopje. However, it didn’t have any museums on the history of Kosovo or any walking tours which means I didn’t get as good of an understanding of the situation there as I’d have liked. I’m sure Pristina would have had these. But luckily there are some fairly good podcasts on the subject so I supplemented my time here with those.

Kosovo is the first country of this trip where I felt a distinct contrast to Western Europe. There were no churches, only mosques. The call to prayer was so loud, because of the number of mosques, it was almost deafening. It felt much more eastern. On a separate note, it also felt a lot less developed. The streets outside of the old town were filled with houses that weren’t finished, rubbish and rubble in the roads, and a tangle of electricity wires hanging overhead. The one museum that was there had no information, not a single board explaining about the exhibits. But it was also still definitely Balkan - the corn on the cobs were everywhere in the main square. The Kosovo twist on Balkan food was very good, I really enjoyed my traditional meal here (but more on the food later). On my last evening in Prizren there was a big storm, with torrential rain and lightning. When it eased up I went out to get some food. The fort on the nearby hill looked so mysterious in the stormy weather and with the colours of the sunset. Before I’d really decided it I was on my way up. It was amazing, and reminded me of why I travel. The storm had moved on at this point, leaving the air damp and heavy. I could see the lightning in the distance still. I hurried down in the dark, realising I’d forgotten to actually buy the food I’d gone out to get. In the safety of the hostel I ate the only food I had, a bread roll I’d saved from a restaurant and honey.

A tiny bit of the situation there: the ethnicity of Kosovo is 95% Albanian, 1.5% Serbian, and the rest a mixture of others. It was most recently a region of Serbia and Serbia does not recognise its independence (hence the dotted border on the Serbian side on google maps). It seems like their argument is based on the Serbian populations living in the north, and that historically it’s been part of Serbia. But it seems strange to me since so much of Kosovo is Albanian. Who knows what will happen there, I wish I had more insight but alas no free walking tour! Since I’ve left Kosovo tensions have risen dramatically, with the Kosovo government preventing Serbians moving freely in and out of the country. I’m very glad I was able to fit it in before anything dramatic happens!

The horrors of Balkan buses

Kosovo takes the top spot as being the hardest Balkan country to get a bus in. The reason nothing has gone terribly wrong on my trip so far is because I refuse to leave the bus station without finding information on the bus I need to get the following day. I was close to giving up in Prizren however.

There was a huge information desk in the bus station, but not a single person managing it. I sat and waited for 20 minutes hoping someone would appear, but had no such luck. I scanned all of the bus timetables on the wall, but couldn’t see any with my destination. I wandered around the station until I found the police room, I knocked on the door to see 3 policeman watching TV on their phones. I asked them for help and they were entirely useless, taking me back to the main room and looking as surprised as me when there was no one behind the desk. He then told me that there was no bus to Shkoder (my hopeful destination in Albania). I didn’t believe him however, so continued my search alone. I ended up in a little office round the front of the station with a woman that only spoke albanian, and a man that only spoke turkish. Together with google translate I managed to ask them for help, and after them ringing and texting with someone, they told me that there was a bus at 8am the next day heading to Ulcinq, Montenegro that stops in Shkoder! Online it said the bus was at 10am, so I’m very glad I checked at the bus station…

The 8am bus did indeed exist and I caught it to Shkoder. Sadly the bus driver interpreted Shkoder loosely, so it dropped me 4km out of the town centre. It wasn’t a fun walk in the heat with my bag, but I made it!

Officially North Macedonia since 2019, but you won’t hear anyone refer to it as such and will get a disapproving look if you do. Macedonia is a lovely little country in the Balkans. I only visited the two most popular locations - Lake Ohrid and Skopje - but I think they give you a fairly rounded view of the country.

Lake Ohrid

Macedonia is land locked so lake Ohrid is their answer to the seaside, and is a popular destination for Macedonians on holiday. Ohrid is one of the towns on the lake and the one I stayed in. It was fairly touristy, but in a Balkan way. This means the strip was filled with people selling corn on the cobs and weird arcade machines. If you walked out of the town a little way you got to a boardwalk which wrapped around the lake, delivering you to a little beach and then to the monastery that sits on a piece of the cliff jutting out. The lake is lovely to swim in, but beware of the water snakes. The sun sets behind the monastery so climbing up there gives you the most amazing views. I spent both my nights captivated by this, the latter complete with beers and card games. There are lots of lovely, traditional restaurants so you can try the Macedonian twist on Balkan food with a stunning view of the lake. I got up for sun rise one day, and watched this from the little beach. It was so peaceful walking along the boardwalk in the early hours of the morning, with just the stray dogs that I picked up along the way for company. I sat on a little wooden jetty and just took in the sunrise, before doing some yoga and having a swim. An old man was the only person I saw, and he exclaimed with joy when he entered the water, shouting over to me “therapy” whilst gesturing to the water. I couldn’t agree with him more. Before everyone else joined in, and before it got too hot, I walked around the old town, seeing the fort and the old churches. It wasn’t anything too impressive, but it was very pleasant, especially with no one else around. The rest of my time in Ohrid was spent hanging out by the lake with friends - new ones I met on the bus over from Tirana, and old ones that I’d met previously.

Looking through my photos of Ohrid I think it’s the prettiest place I’ve been to so far.

Skopje

I had my first bus hiccup on the journey from Ohrid to Skopje. I was napping away happily (or as happily as you can be on a crammed minibus with no AC in 35 degree heat) when a big bump and a bang awoke me, only to witness us roll to a stop on the side of the road and the bus driver get out and open the bonnet up. We’d broken down, on the side of a fairly busy road with no shade at midday. At this point in my travelling I’ve learnt to just accept the things I can’t control and go with it. So I got off the bus armed with my headphones and phone, a bag of crisps and some cream cheese, and some peaches. I sat on the curb and watched some of the netflix I had downloaded, enjoying my snacks. After over an hour a man in a beaten up car pulled up with a handful of tools. Everyone on the bus took a collective sigh at this point. We had all assumed a new bus was coming to rescue us, but it seems we were doomed to remain with the broken down one. Miraculously this man did manage to fix the bus, until it broke down again 20 minutes later. The same man reappeared and repeated his miraculous fix and this time we made it all the way to Skopje.

I liked Skopje (the capital of Macedonia). It’s definitely a strange city. In 2014 the government decided to renovate the centre completely. Which for them meant building an unbelievable amount of statues, and fancy old style buildings. They went quite overboard with the statues though. There are hundreds. For example, there are two bridges right next to each other, each with 35 statues on them. And not only are they plentiful, they are also ginormous. The statue of Alexander the Great (apparently from Macedonia) in the main square is 14.5m tall, and stands on a 10m high plinth. A saddening fact is that out of these 100s of statues, built only in the last decade, there are 0 which are women. The only woman featured is in a group statue. One reason for the recent city centre renovations is that 70% of the city was destroyed by a huge earthquake in 1963. The old train station has a large clock on its front and this stopped during the earthquake. It hasn’t ever been fixed, so still shows the time from this. Something that survived the earthquake is the Old Bazaar, which is the second largest in Europe.

Skopje is a city of quirks, another of these is the double decker red buses you’ll see driving around - a nice reminder of London and home. In the 1950s Britain gifted Skopje the infamous buses and the people loved them. The Yugoslav government decided the people loved them a bit too much for something that was from a capitalist country (with Yugoslavia being communist) so they slowly removed them from the streets. As part of the 2014 renovation program the government brought them back in.

After spending two weeks travelling with me it felt only right to offer Rosaline the opportunity to write a post for megtherollingegg.com. I’m extremely honoured that she agreed and I’m very happy to share her words with you below. Get ready to read the best written post of the blog so far!

By Rosaline

I would like to first of all thank Meg for allowing me to guest-write on her blog - a gorgeous hub of writing that I can only hope to contribute to gracefully. Of course, until now, you’ve only heard the rolling egg’s point of view of things. Having spent the last two weeks (including two days of horrendous food poisoning) joined at the hip - I feel adequately prepared and qualified to reveal to you the true Megan.

I’ve left summarising our holiday to the lovely host and subject of this post. Just know that I adored the kayaking, the cliff jumping, the horse riding, the walks, the hikes, the swims - both clothed and not - and the many meals we shared. Except the one meal that led to violent vomiting. Those meat sticks get a bad review.

I’ve known Meg for five years now, through her biology degree, her move to the big city, her conversion to law, and her planning for this trip. She’s been committed, driven, and passionate about everything she’s done in this time. She’s been up for a laugh, there for a cry, has listened to my stories and told me hers, and has always been the most devoted of friends. She even delayed this trip to be at my graduation. And brought me flowers. Five-star review. So you can imagine how excited I was to be able to travel with her for a few weeks after two long months of not seeing each other - and before a much longer stretch of having to communicate solely through a screen.

My aim for this post is to tell you all about the Megan behind the scenes. When I booked to join Meg in the Balkans, I was in the midst of exam revision and gladly left all planning to her, and boy did she deliver. Meg mentions below that you learn a lot about a person while travelling with them, and I got to see how perfectly Meg can balance planning with spontaneity. Maybe it’s the two months of experience she’s accumulated, or maybe it’s an inherent skill, but Meg has a wonderful ability to plan a trip that is full of activity but never feels rushed. I admit I may have been a tad too easy going - providing no strong opinion at all most days - but I hope that’s a testament to the full trust I had in my wonderful companion.

Hereby some of the things I learned about Meg on our trip:
⁃ She is an expert packer. She has been living out of a single backpack for the last three months and has managed not to accumulate any more possessions than she started with. To illustrate how much of an achievement that is, I arrived with a single backpack and left two weeks later with that same backpack, two more bags, a pair of water shoes, and a hat.
⁃ She knows how to strategise her snacks. I learned that trail mix is nutrient dense and volume dense, making it a perfect snack for a hungry traveller. I learned that you should buy biscuits that you find edible but not too tasty, so they last longer (how long she can make them last is one of her recurring personal challenges). Meg carries with her a block of cheese, mayonnaise, and peanut butter at all times. She would love to carry marmite but this is sadly not a common spread outside of the UK. I don’t blame the rest of the world for that.
⁃ Meg has a serenity about the future that I have not seen in many people. Alongside some healthy nerves about travelling through the ‘stans knowing so little about what that experience will be like, she has a faith in the future that keeps her going.
⁃ She can sleep anywhere. Except when we’re on a bus to Albania and she believes we’re being trafficked. And then she has the selfless instinct not to worry me with that belief. A true friend.
⁃ Meg is absolutely obsessed with card games. This isn’t new information to me, but I thought I’d reiterate how much Meg loves card games.

In all seriousness, it’s been an absolute pleasure travelling with Meg and seeing her so completely in her element. Through all the time I’ve known her, I knew there was an adventurous spirit and a curiosity about the world that could only be satiated by an experience like this, and I’m so happy she’s getting to do it. Her travel ethos is all about the authentic experience. A lot of people treat travelling almost as a country bucket list - racing through each one trying to tick them off, without standing still to properly look at them. Meg has a wonderful way of speaking to locals about their culture, researching each country’s history, and committing to their customs and traditions. Meg doesn’t just eat a burek, she eats a burek with yogurt, as the locals do. Meg doesn’t just sit back in a taxi, she asks the driver about his experience of the war. Meg travels actively rather than coasting through, and I think that’s beautiful.

Thanks, Meg, for the most glorious of weeks - I’ll look back on the entire experience (yes, entire, because even the horrendous food poisoning was almost a pleasure with you) with fondness forever, and I can’t wait to watch the rest of your journey across the world.