Day 8 - Albania (Theth National Park)

Saturday evening, there are days when you know you're on vacation and there are days when you feel it. It's simply incredibly relaxing to sit by the water with my laptop on my lap, listening to nature and typing my lines into the report. For me, it was a day when I realized for the first time just how far away from home I am and it feels damn good. After my time here, I just wish the best for Albania! I hope they won't be overwhelmed by mass tourism, because that's when this wonderful country loses its charm. It may sound a bit strange at the end of the day, but this country and these people have simply captivated me. For my part, it was exactly what I wanted to experience on my vacation, meeting different people, visiting different places and experiencing different traditions, and so far, I am more than satisfied with the result...

There's not much to say about our day today, after becoming a ''godfather'' for the second time last night, the drinks were on me last night, so we didn't leave our camp too early this morning. The huge PLUS POINT of this campsite, 25€ for an absolutely amazing breakfast including drinks for four people?! You simply can't get that anywhere else. Then I handed over the steering wheel to someone else for the first time on this vacation, Kai was really up for it today. Because we were heading to the Teth National Park, 3 hours drive for 72 km, yes you heard that right, THREE hours!!! When we arrived there, we put on our backpacks and off we went. The first two hours went really well even without a hiking map. Only then we were redirected by 3 "sporty motivated" sheepdogs. Oh man! We are by no means scared, but as Kai put it so well: "that was just one bark too many". Despite a small detour, we finally reached our long-awaited destination, a great day of hiking in the Albanian hinterland comes to an end. After that, we relaxed at the campsite for a bit and in the evening we promptly demolished the ''Sex on the Beach'' cocktails en masse to kick off the weekend. I'll say it again, it could be worse for us. :D Conclusion of the day: great hiking trails, more and more tourists, and the dogs here are simply unstoppable. :p