We have done quite a few tours with the company that we are travelling with now, Explore Worldwide Adventures, and they are a company that we would recommend for places where it is difficult to travel on your own or when you really want to get under the skin of a place. Their motto is "Don't just travel - Explore". This is precisely what we are doing in Albania. It is a cultural experience, not just a tour. This is particularly evident in rural areas.
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| Coffee stop |
We have been driving through beautiful scenery, hearing the stories behind churches, villages and monuments - stories of Albania's complex past, having been over-thrown by Italians, Germans, Ottomans, dominated by a Comunist regime and now coping with development but significant corruption.
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| Coffee stop |
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| Coffee stop with local family, including ornamental crochet chooks |
Today, for example, we walked up to a local village inhabited by 12 families and were served Mountain tea, Turkish coffee, raki, fruit and delicious morsels of sweet pickled walnuts (including shells, although you wouldn't know). Then we swam in pools made from thermal springs with lots of locals and after that had lunch at a family restaurant, where lamb was the main event but supplemented by salads, grilled vegetables, burek (like a spinach pie), potatoes and, of course, local wine. It is easy to eat well here s there is much focus on vegetables and fruit.
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| Thermal pool by old Ottoman Bridge |
And, so much of all of this was in a beautiful environment (as was yesterday too). To our relief, our current hotel is also very pleasant.
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| Great mountains |
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| Tour leader and clean bus! |
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