Day One:
Rewind two
days earlier: Christoph and I find ourselves scouring the internet to find a
cheap last minute flight to just about anywhere outside the borders of Germany.
We agree on a flight to Thessaloniki and pull together some vague plans which
entail hitchhiking our way around the south east of Europe and back home to Germany.
Since the
cheapest flight we found was from Berlin, we hitchhiked our way to Berlin. This
time around we needed three rides and about seven hours. We stayed with a friend
in Berlin and got some rest before our journey began.
Day Two:
10:50 take
off in Berlin and landing at local time of 14:25 in Thessaloniki. We take a local
bus into the city center, lounge around the city and play with some stray cats
before checking into a hotel for the evening. Dinner time rolls around and our
stomachs are growling so we creep up and down some side streets and back alleys
before finding a killer restaurant where we indulge in some grub.
Day Three:
We visit a
local market in the morning where we purchase some nuts and of course olives-
YUM. After a morning of sightseeing in the city, we make our way to Athens. We
needed four rides and some patience before reaching our destination in the
evening where we were welcomed by our Greek host Viaos.
Day Four and Five:
Athens:
museums, markets, busied streets, abandoned buildings, frantic cats, ancient
ruins and sea side where salt dances in the air. Athens: where ancient meets
modern, where philosophy was born, where kings used to rule and where you can
eat like a king. Athens: rough, lived in and chaotic.
Day Six:
After a
last minute decision to rent a car for a few days in order to reach more of
Greece in better time, we picked up the car in the morning and made our way to
Patras where we were planning to spend the night on the sea in our tent. Along
the 211 km journey, we stopped along the way to take in the scenery and catch a
glimpse of the atmosphere, local life and countrysides of Greece. We stopped in
Corinth to gaze at the 63 meter deep man made canal which connects the Saronic
Gulf with the Aegean Sea and separates the Peloponnesian peninsula from
mainland Greece. Crossing the bridge of Rio-Andirrio we reached again mainland
Greece and began to scope out a secluded beach on the map near Patras. Driving
to a dead end in the small village of Kato Vasiliki, we found our beach.
Ascendant rocks surround us and our voices echo in the cove. The beach was
empty…except for one red van hiding behind the corner of a rock. We decided to
have a bite to eat and drink a beer while hanging out of the trunk of our
rental car. At the end of the road came two dogs frolicking towards the beach
and I thought things could only get better. Their owner came close behind and
we shot up a conversation with him and shared a beer. Nikos, a young Greek man,
who left his community and was travelling by van with his dogs was an
interesting guy who had stories to tell and philosophies to share. Heavy clouds
rolled in and brisk wind began to blow and slowly the rain began to pour on our
piece of paradise. He invited us to join him under his makeshift shelter by his
van and we shared conversations about society, food, travelling, leaving home
and what is important in life. He played his recorder and showed us his
photography from travels in Nepal. The darkness rolled in and we decided to
play some card games by the candle light in his van until we called it a night.
Nikos and his lovely dog(s)
Day Seven:
We begin
our way towards Vikos Gorge found in a national park slightly north of Ioannina
where we plan to go hiking. Since the weather is not the best, we decided to
stop in Ioannina for a glimpse of the city. After a short walk along the
waterfront we decided to continue our journey to the national park. On the
drive, we find a sign for a cave a few kilometers out of our way and we decide
to take a look. The Cave of Perama was discovered by residents of Perama in
1940 and extends 14.000 sq. m. After our exploring, we grabbed a bite to eat of
Greek salad of course before continuing our journey north. Reaching the small
town of Monodendri in the mountains by late afternoon we took a walk around and
began plotting where we would set our tent up or if we would rather stay in a
hotel. We walked towards the canyon were an old monastery is located, hanging
on the side of the deep gorge. Mist and rain was rolling in again from over the
near mountains and dusk was coming quickly and we needed to decide where we
would spend the night. The hotel was only 30€ for the evening however we
decided against it when we say some other travelers who began to set their tents up
at the side of the gorge. Finally we were in our tent, struggling the
keep everything dry when finally the rain slowed to a stop- this was a relief
for us. The travelers who had their tents next to ours invited us to their
campfire for a drink, something to eat and some warm company. They were a Greek
family spending their weekend hiking in the mountains. Lots of laughter, food
and glasses of wine later we decided to call it a night and get some shut eye
before hiking the gorge the next day.
entrance to the old Monestary
Day Eight:
06:30 wake
up. Disassembled the tent and packed the car before grabbing a bite to eat at
the local hotel. We began our hiking journey midmorning and were greeted by the
shining sun along the trail. The total length of the trail was 12 kilometers
and since we stopped several times along the way to take in the scenery and to dip
our feet in the river, we needed about 6 hours to complete the trek. The trail,
which stretches along the canyon, was filled with beautiful corners of nature.
Time, beautiful sights, good weather and one another made for a memorable day
hiking under the sun. After the hike, we hitch hiked our way back to Monodendri
to pick up the car and eat some more Greek Salad (of course) before discovering
some old bridges scattered throughout the national park. After sunset, we began
the journey from Ioannina to Athens to return the rental car. We parked the car
when we had had enough and hit the hay.
^^
Day Nine:
05:30 wake
up…or an attempt…more like a 06:00 wake up with 350 kilometers standing between
us and Athens with the deadline of 10:00 to return the rental car. After we returned
the car we took a couple hours to relax in Athens and decide where the next part
of the trip would take us. We decided to begin hitch hiking north towards Alnania. A long day of hitch hiking and our last ride
took us to a rest stop just before Tessaloniki where we set the tent up and caught
some shut eye.
hitching out of Athens
Day Ten:
After
grabbing some food and sharing with a stray dog on the rest station, we
continued our journey towards Albania. Our first ride, the first car we
thumbed, were two Greek girls who were ecstatic to take us with them. They sold solar panels for work and the invited us to squeeze in the trunk next to the
panels. We all shared a box of cookies and when they dropped us off they asked
to take a photo with us. A short wait of 25 minutes and we had found the next
ride- an Albanian man who took us to the city of Korce. Along the way, he
shared stories of Albanian culture and stopped to pick us a few of ‘’the best
apples in Europe’’. Driving in south Albania towards Korce, it began apparent
to us that Albania is very different than anything we had experienced in Europe
before. It appeared that local life was easy going, relaxed and that everyone
knew each other. Our driver even honked his horn countless times to get the
attention of those he knew so he could give them a warm greeting. People walking
their donkeys with food on their backs, families picking and organizing
apples into boxes and people who simply sit and observe the passing day. It
gave us the urge to stop and simply be.
After some
relaxing in Korce, we began the hitch to a national park, located 2 kilometers
behind the Macedonian border. We walked across the border until we reached the small town of town of Stenje
we set our tent up on lake Ohrid, played some cards and then called it a night.
this crazy dog loved to bark at anything that moved...we got along well
dinner time
Day Eleven:
Another day
of hiking ahead. We got an early start and packed up our tent before heading
into the national park between lake Ohrid and Prespa. Unfortunately, the hiking
trails were not maintained and it seemed that the bush was only getting thicker
with easy coming kilometer. After an exhausting 2.5 hours hiking uphill, we had
to turn back. Arriving once again in Stenje, we hitchhiked to the town of
Ohrid and then continued on to Strugga. Strugga was an interesting place-
streets filled with a good mixture of tourists and locals, delicious local food
and quite a bumping nightlife for such a small place. After dinner, we booked a
hotel room in order to finally clean our clothes, ourselves and sleep in a real
bed.
abandoned church in the town of Stenje
Day Twelve:
It was time
to head back towards Albania, to the capital of Tirana. The weather was on our
side as we made our way across the border and again into Albania. This time, we
took a ride to the closest town behind the border where we found a local bus which would take us 100 kilometers into the city of Tirana for only 2.50€ per
person. Arriving in Tirana by midday, we decided to take a break for a few
hours. We drunk a couple tees and played card games until we decided to check
into a hostel and set up our tent. The hostel had a great garden and hang out
area where we shared some drinks and conversations with other travelers. The
rest of the evening we spent exploring the city by night.
from the top of the pyramid
Day Thirteen:
The next
day we began our journey towards Skodra, a town near the northern border of
Albania. The first ride out of Tirana was an Albanian couple who invited us to
their home to try their wine and see how Raki (alcoholic drink that originates
from Turkey and is popular throughout the Balkans) is made. We spent the afternoon
talking about many things from politics to history to cultures and travelling.
We were delighted to be served lunch there and I must say that the wine they
made was one of the best tasting wines I have ever had. They brought us again
to the main road where we continued our journey to Skodra. The next ride was a
Ukrainian man who had been all over the world for his work. He shared many
stories with us and shared with us his struggle with recent conflicts in the
Ukraine. We arrived in Skodra where we checked into a hostel, set up our tent
and began socializing with other travelers there. After gaining some insight
into the surrounding areas from other travelers, we decided to hike a
well-known trail from Valbona to Theth in the Albania Alps the next day.
Day
Fourteen:
06:00 wake up, 06:30 breakfast and bus pick up
at 07:00 to bring us to a port where we caught ferry which took us through the
Alps. On the other side of the ferry ride, we took another bus which took us to
the town of Valbona. The entire journey took about 6 hours and cost about 15€
per person. We arrived in Valbona to find out that all the hotels and hostels
were booked out. However, to our advantage, our bus driver arranged for us to stay with a
local family instead who offered us a room at a low cost. We wandered around
Valbona for a couple hours before meeting up with other travelers, with whom we
drank, ate, chatted and played card games with until it was time to call it a
night.
Day
Fifteen:
07:00 wake
up, a sunny day with a 15 kilometer hike ahead of us. We grabbed a quick bite
to eat and made our way to the trail and away from the town of Valbona. Up, up,
up until we finally reached the summit around midday. After the descent, we
reached the town of Theth around 15:00 after all the busses had already left on
their final journeys towards Skodra and other surrounding cities. Fortunately,
we were able to find some other travelers who had room in their car to take us
back to hostel in Skodra where we planned to stay one more night before making
the journey back home the next day.
taking it in
dinner back at the hostel in Skodra
Day
Sixteen:
It was time
to slowly make our way back home to Düsseldorf. Passing through Montenegro and
Bosnia and reaching south Croatia and decided to make a stop for the night in
the touristic city of Dubrovnik. As we experienced, tourism in Dubrovnik is
flourishing, creating most everything very expensive. We decided to pitch our
tent somewhere…but we had to first find somewhere in the bustling city. We
snuck through back alleys and shot up conversations with some locals and sooner
than later we had a garden where we could set our tent up just inside the
ancient city walls. We wandered the city by night and after a pizza and a glass
of wine we called it a night.
Day Seventeen:
Waking up
to the sound of footsteps and chatter we peaked out of the tent to find that
the city walls were already full of tourists snapping photos and enjoying the
scenery. We got ourselves ready and made our way to the city walls. After walking
the walls, we wandered some other corners of the city, grabbed our things and
made our way up and out of Dubrovnik and onto the main road to continue our
journey back to Düsseldorf. We planned to hitch hike through the night but
after getting stuck before Zagreb at midnight, we were getting tired and
feeling discouraged. A man offered to give us a place to sleep and get up back
on the highway the next morning. Goran, a priest from the outskirts of Zagreb, was
someone who I was thankful to have met. He opened my eyes and changed my
perspectives and his kindness was a reminder to me of generosity and love in
the world. After some conversations over tea and oranges, we made our way to
bed for some much needed rest.
Day Eighteen and Nineteen:
Hitchhiking
is unpredictable, which is something that adds to the adventure of it. This
time around, we needed some extra patience and perseverance- instead of two
days as we planned, we needed three days to get back to Düsseldorf. All this
extra time that we needed, only gave us more satisfaction when we did finally
reach home.
thank you Goran!!
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