Day 11
Today I post at night in order to avoid forgetting too much. This was an eventful day after an eventful night.
First stop was Herceg Novi. I pulled my "real" digital camera out of its slumber, and started to shoot with it. And it is a delight. The only catch is that I need to get the computer out of the bag to insert them here. But it's worth it.
Here are a few pics of the old city.
I leave the translation to you for this last one ;)
Then we made our way to Albania via a ferry between Kamenari and Lepetane.
A few notes here:
- I advise you to refrain to buy your ticket online. The money came out of my account but I never received the ticket. And the customer service is useless.
- Pay on the booth before taking the ferry, and be prepared to go back and forth 2 or 3 times between your vehicle and the booth in order to satisfy the guy who collects the vouchers – because he makes the price for your vehicle/you.
- Finally, be prepared to have some guy telling you your scratched their vehicle, especially if the said vehicle is a compensation for some fear that only men can express. They might mention "police". Say Go for it, shrug, and wait... The guy will be so dejected he will tell you to go away and you might feel the air bristling with xenophobia. Just smile and repeat: You want me to go away? That is likely to help him say it louder and no-one will suspect you are running away ;)
After these incidents, we aimed for a relaxing inland road with the view to make good progress towards Greece. That came in the shape of 26 bouts of narrow and windy road that brought us approximately 1,000m above see level. For most of the trip, cars had to be careful when passing one another. With my cubic van, the exercise was just a bit more technical when crossing path with a normal car, and yet a tad ore involving when crossing another van or a real camper. Now just imagine the mess when two buses – I mean full grown 100 tourists buses – go up that road :) I high-fived with another driver when we passed each other on 1st gear and folded mirrors. Smiles and thumbs up overflowed from both of our vehicles and many others as we made our way up.n The experience was really and truthfully delightful. And outright exhausting. But – once again – delightful. We also passed a guy on his push-bike, and met another at the top. We exchanged when we met at the café at the top. One was from Switzerland, and the other from Scotland. The Scot was biking from Scotland to Australia, with as little airlifts as possible. He knew his future trip – and geography – by heart. Amazing.
The bay of Kotor...
After that, we made our way to the border with Albania.
We got a funny question on the last two borders: Is this a camper? From a technical perspective it's a hard No because the French legislation considers campers as vehicles in which kitchen and bedding are fixed, and that is clearly not the case here. From a practical perspective, we use it to sleep, to eat, to wash, and to poop. So the answer could be a soft Yes. That's what I said to the border control officer, and he let us pass without much ado.
I wonder what's the problem though, and I'll come back to you when I have a good answer.\
Tonight we sleep in Albania, hosted by lovely people.
It will be quiet. There's no hint of any threat.
