Balkan Mix No. 1

>> Albania, Montenegro, Serbia<<

Good day!

We are currently in Serbia in the small village of Drmanovici. We spent the last night in the garden of a family who also runs it as a campsite. The visitors (we are currently the only ones) use the family's bathroom and kitchen in the house. We came here because there is a good internet connection. It sounds strange, but Lucas has a job interview for an internship this afternoon, so it's important.

About two weeks ago we arrived in Albania. Our first destination was the city of Gjirokastra, where we enjoyed really delicious food in a small family-owned restaurant. There we met Daniel and Daniela, and we spent an entertaining afternoon together. We later met them again at the beach for a few days.

While looking for a place to sleep in Gjirokastra, we met Andy and Ulli from Cologne in their T4. We quickly found a suitable meadow between fields as a shared overnight camp, where we chatted late into the mild night. The next day we went over a steep pass towards the coast. The pass was so steep and curvy that we had to stop halfway down to let our brakes recover and cool down. Shortly afterwards, we were able to cool off in a natural spring that gushes deep from the ground in the middle of the forest. It is still not clear exactly how deep the water comes from. But it is definitely more than 80 meters; a diving drone was used to try to measure the depth, but it shot out again after 80 meters.

All the beaches on the Albanian coast are beautiful. The water is turquoise blue and incredibly clear. So we did some beach hopping for a few days. It wouldn't have been bearable elsewhere with the high temperatures. After a few days, however, we were drawn back to the interior of the country, as there are currently mainly tourists on the coast, understandably. After a visit to Berat, the city of a thousand windows, we continued to drive to Tirana. There was a really nice campsite just outside the city, right by a lake, run by a lovely family.

We drove directly to Montenegro after Tirana. But not because we had enough of Albania, but because we decided to visit the Guca Trumpet Festival in Serbia. That's why we're already in Serbia now. However, after we visit Macedonia, we will go to northern Albania again and then drive through Montenegro to Bosnia - that's the plan.

So far, we have only spent one night in Montenegro, but it could not have been better. Right by the Moraca Canyon with blue, clear water. The next day we continued directly to Zlatibor in Serbia. But when we arrived there, we didn't feel like we were in the right place at all. Lots of tourists, the village full of stalls with plastic souvenirs, pony rides, bumper cars, and overpriced prices. However, the temperature drop from almost 40 degrees to just under 20 degrees was pleasant!

After spending a night in the parking lot, we left early in the morning and drove to the Uvac River Reserve. The Uvac River winds through the landscape like a snake. But the main reason for the reserve is the rare species of Griffon Vulture, which only occurs here and in Israel. During our hike to a viewing point, we had up to 20 vultures flying above us, luckily they only eat dead flesh. We used a small camp on the edge of the reserve as a base, from where we could take a boat tour into one of the caves. We stayed overnight and had a very funny evening in the cottage (heated with a brick in the oven) of a 73-year-old and two friendly families from Kosovo who were on vacation there for a few days. The old man told one joke after another, of which we naturally did not understand anything because we don't speak Serbian, but the atmosphere still carried us away and we laughed a lot.

We are impressed by the friendliness, warmth, and joy that we constantly encounter!

Довиђења and see you soon!