Seventh Day

Friday started off with a very calm morning, during which we spent time with a stray dog that we named Bertold. We discovered a minor issue, an unpleasant rash on my neck and part of my face, but fortunately it didn't restrict me, so we didn’t worry about it and everything continued according to plan. Our first stop is the city of Gjirokastër, where we searched for an underground parking lot in the narrow streets, but unfortunately in vain, so we had to leave the car in a sunny parking area far from the center. In the city, we admired the beautiful views, the mosque, and the castle. We even ran into a lookalike of Jiří Langmaier and, as is tradition in the morning, headed to a café for a nice caffeine boost.

Our journey then continues towards the southernmost point of Albania and also on our route to the Roman fortification. We paid a considerable fee to enter the area, and then we could admire the remnants of ancient architecture and sculpture. I must say that the temperatures here were really astronomical, making us quite uncomfortable. We also caught a glimpse of the Greek island of Corfu across the sea. In the nearby town of Ksamil, we finally had the chance to swim in the sea, a beautiful feeling.

The next planned calm continuation of the journey took a sharp turn as everything that could go wrong, did. During a short stop to admire the view of the canyon near the village of Ilias, we noticed that the engine temperature was rising uncontrollably; what to do? So we stopped at a rest area and figured out the problem: we were out of coolant. We tried to hitch a ride to the nearest gas station to buy some fluid. A man (a math teacher) stopped and started to fiddle with the engine, then took Béda and Řízek and headed towards the gas station. After a while, he returned with a canister of water, and we poured 10 liters into the tank, but it was still empty; everything leaked out of the engine. We're in trouble. Since the man was heading in the same direction as us to Vlorë, he decided to escort us, driving in front of us with his hazard lights on because of our slow speed to prevent the engine from overheating too quickly. Even so, we had to stop several times to add water for cooling. At 19:11, we arrived at the 7 km tunnel, entered it, but the engine started to overheat again, so we stopped at the entrance. It was decided to use our insurance and call for a tow truck because our temperature was nearing 100°C, and what would happen if there was a major problem in the tunnel where there was no signal? We lost the man who had been in front of us, but a new car stopped to try and help us, coming from the opposite direction and clearing the way for our reversing car out of the tunnel. At the tunnel entrance, a local dubious policeman stood, who we later found out is the most incompetent one in all of Albania. The policeman stopped traffic and diverted us to a rest area before the tunnel. He didn’t understand our explanation of the situation and why we had been stopped in the tunnel. He asked if the driver had been drinking or why we were wearing reflective vests, if we wanted to use their towing service, and if we understood that standing in the tunnel was dangerous. While we were resolving the situation with the policeman, more cars of onlookers and a fire-police vehicle arrived. Our now familiar incompetent policeman took Béda’s documents and said he would take us through the other, yet unopened tunnel. Although we had already arranged for a tow, we had to agree and followed his tiny red car, which wasn’t even a police vehicle (we assumed that the guy who pulled us out of the tunnel called some uncle from the nearby village who was off duty, so he got in his car and drove out to us). In the tunnel, we had mixed feelings about whether we would be shot or robbed, but fortunately, everything was fine, and our car didn’t overheat much anymore. On the other side of the tunnel, another policeman was waiting for us. However, our policeman didn’t know what to do with us since we hadn’t done anything wrong, so he made up a fine for parking in the tunnel, and since he still had Béda's documents, we agreed to the fine and gave him €20, which he requested; in our opinion, it was just a plain bribe. Now it might seem like everything would go smoothly, the tow truck would arrive and take us to our accommodation in Vlorë, but we were sorely mistaken.

We waited for the tow truck while trying to communicate with the lady from the towing service, but due to the noise coming from the phone, it was hard to understand her. After less than an hour, we finally got the tow truck along with a taxi. We hopped into the car, and the guy drove us to Vlorë. Just before reaching our destination, we learned that there was a communication error, and supposedly we didn’t have taxi coverage in our insurance, so we had to pay €90. We paid him and hope that in the future the insurance will reimburse us when we submit the receipt. Around half past eleven, when we were dropped off at our accommodation, we found out that our apartment booked via booking did not exist. Hurrah, we are homeless in a foreign city and country, without a car, without sleeping bags and mats, the only things we have are our bags with clothes. We tried to urgently arrange something, but no one was communicating. So we headed towards the beach, hoping to find some abandoned sunbeds that could serve for sleeping. Amid all this, a drunk lady from the towing company called us, saying they successfully handed over our car to the service, the only problem is that it is located 25 km away in another city. Great, today couldn't get any better. At 23:40, a miracle happened; we received a call from the accommodation place we initially tried to book but couldn’t at first, and now we had a chance for better times. We headed from the beach through some suburban slum and past many stray dogs to the city center, where we met a young guy who accommodated us in an apartment in a tall building. We went to sleep finally. It was 1:45, and we had completed our very challenging day.

Hans