29-30 August 2013 - Sarandë - Berat

So it is finally my turn to have a go at this blog. Me is Jannie. I was meant to start writing yesterday, but a lot of things happened so that plan went out the window, and I now have two days of catching up to do.
I guess I better start with a small introduction to this journey just like Kristian did. This year's trip is something that I have been looking forward to since last summer. We left the Balkans last year, and like always I felt that I was far from finished exploring.. when it comes to travelling I can never get enough. Those of you who know me also know that I have spent a fair bit of my adult life travelling and that it is hands down my greatest passion in life. Family life, work and ordinary day to day grown up stuff is however preventing me from travelling as much as I would like to and so the yearly summer holiday are highlights in my life.
Since Saya (and Kristian I guess) came along, the way of travelling has also changed a bit.. there are more things to consider than when I used to travel alone. First of all the distance and time to the destinations is something we have decided to reduce meaning that we have mainly travelled in Europe. I guess it isn't something you necessarily have to do, but we feel that it wouldn't be fair on Saya to do 15 hours mammoth trips to lets say Asia until she is a bit older. That hasn't kept us from travelling with her since she was only 5 months old though. So far she has travelled to England (she has family there), backpacked in Israel and Palestine when she was 5 months old, Portugal at 7 months, Poland at 1 years old, The Balkans at 2 years old and now the Balkans again. Kristian mentioned a few times in his blog how well she is managing travelling and waiting - I guess part of the explanation lies in this. She really is good at travelling.. though I did wonder before going away this year how she would react this time as she is growing older and her needs are changing. So far she is doing great though. This year she is also able to understand more and able to explain herself better which makes things a lot easier.
Anyway.. so the distance to where we are travelling have been reduced, but there are other things that are different as well. More planning is needed, so that we don't risk being stuck somewhere in the middle of the night without accommodation and a small child at hand. Another thing is the heat.. this is a big issue in our little family. I LOVE the heat.. Kristian and Saya not so much. This means that we have to find hotels or flats with air con. This does bother me just a bit to be honest as it also reduces our possibilities of staying in small primitive villages etc with no hotels and smart flats. It also means that we have to stay out of the sun quite a lot (this also means that I go home looking almost as white as before we went away) and I don't really feel that I get the fullest out of it having been in the shade most of the holiday. The alternative however is a very grumpy and sweaty husband and child.. so I adjust. I guess I can't really complain though as I still get to go to hot countries and do what I love the most.
So yes.. planning is something that I used to do as I went along and plans could change a million times during a trip. Nowadays Kristian with his gadgets is the one spending most of the time planning. There are two reasons for this.. he is the type of person who generally has a massive need to have everything planned.. and planned well. The gadget thing is something he really like, so I think he finds enjoyment surfing around on the internet finding stuff - I am the old fashioned type of person who still swear to my out dated Lonely Planets guides and find it a little blasphemous to even have my mobile phone with me (though I do). Kristian like things to be in order and organized well.. Me, to cut it short as I guess you get the gist - I am a little bit more laid back when it comes to that. All in all I think we complement each other quite well and our journeys are pretty much still made up as we go along.
Like I started saying this trip is something I have been looking forward to since last year. I was really hoping last year that we would find the time to make it to Albania, but it became quite clear early on, that we had taken our mouths too full and that we wouldn't be able to see everything that we hoped for. Albania was therefore something that we missed out on.
Another reason is that I was feeling pretty run down and in desperate need of a holiday before we left. I have had a busy and pretty intense summer at work and our holiday this year was late in the year. This is both good and bad.. good because it means we can avoid the masses at peak holiday season and get cheaper tickets, not so good because you really just desperately need a holiday when everybody else have been away and have come back and there are still 3 weeks till you can go.
But here we are.. back at the Balkans and currently in Berat in central Albania.
To make a quick summary I best start with yesterday. We woke really early yesterday (at 6am) as Kristian had set his alarm wrong. He hadn't realized the night before that his phone was still on Danish time. I had gone to bed really early the night before as I had a really bad cold coming on probably due to spending two nights in the draft from the air cons and was hoping that I could somehow stop it by getting a good night's sleep. We were due to leave on the bus from Sarande to Berat at eight and wanted to get some breakfast before taking a taxi into the city center at 7.30. Saya was in good spirits from the beginning despite the early hours and getting to bed late the night before. Soon after we had gotten out of bed however, Kristians stomach started to cause him trouble ad he spent the next hour or so running back and forth to the toilet eating medicine to get rid of the bug.
Unfortunately nothing worked and it became apparent, that we wouldn't be able to get on the bus at 8 as planned. We therefore settled back in the room feeling a little annoyed and infuriated. Saya and I left Kristian in the room and went down to get some breakfast and when we returned a little later, Kristian's stomach seemed a bit better and I went down to the reception to ask how much a taxi to berat would cost us, as we coudn't see any other solution if we wanted to go to Berat that day. We both agreed that Sarande had had very little to offer and that we were more that ready to go and explore somewhere else. The taxi ended up costing us around 100 euro and it turned out that it was money well spent. Kristian continued to feel ill during the whole drive and the trip which would have taken us 5 or 6 hours by bus now ended up taking 4. Saya was giving some medicine against motion sickness and she managed to relax on the back seat with me. Unfortunately she didn't fall asleep properly till we were an hour away from Berat though, but at least she didn't feel sick.
We finally arrived at Berat and was dropped of near the flat that we had found through AirBnb. Kristian was feeling really ill at this time, so it was me who had to do the running up and down the mountain where ther flat was located with Saya, trolley, bags etc. My cold was getting really bad at this time, so it was bl... hard work . We finally managed to find the flat.. and what a flat!! It is situated on the mountain side and is not exactly a flat but a house.. it has views all over the city from a big beautiful terrace.. big spacious rooms and beautiful Khilim rugs and hand made lamps everywhere! I love this place and want to take all the interior back with me! Kristian has agreed that we will find a small rug somewhere in Albania to bring home with us for the hallway. I will work on the lamp part as well.
Kristian went to bed as soon as we had been handed the keys by a really lovely and very camp guy. Saya and I read some books, but soon Saya started complaining about stomach ache as well and I ended up leaving her with Kristian as I went to find some toiletpaper, bananas, local yogurt and water.
I stopped by the pharmacy on the way to get some stuff for diarrhea and this was a pretyy interesting experience as they spoke very little English and I had to get two different kinds of medicine.. where one was an odd little bottle where you had to follow instructions very carefully for it to work. The ladies in the pharmacy were very nice though and though I am not entirely certain what each of the medicines does, I am sure, that they are perfectly safe to use and does what I need them to do!
I got back and Saya started being sick all over the floor the minute I stepped in. We had to strip the bed, her of all her clothes, was the floor and the sheets and give her a bath. She did seem to feel a tiny bit better though, but spent the rest of the day in bed watching cartoons. She fell asleep really early which also meant that she woke several times during the night.. at times complaining about pains in her stomach, other times she was just feeling upset. None of us managed to get much sleep and as my cold was peeking at that time I really felt this night had no end and that there was no chance of me ever feeling fine again.
I did however feel a bit better when we finally woke this morning. I felt absolutely battered, but at least the cold seemed to on a retreat. Saya still complained a bit about her stomach, but seemed a lot better and kristian was back to normal luckily. I was up for a little while and then felt the need to lay down again to rest and Kristian and Saya realxed together in the living room with books and cartoons. The guy from yesterday came back while I was trying to sleep with a big bag of grapes. He said that he had forgotten to bring them yesterday, and had therefore come back today. He lives an hour away by car, so I really hope that he had to run some other errands as well in the city... but this little gesture demonstrates the kindness that we have experienced all over the Balkans so far.. the people really go out of their way here to be kind to you and make you feel welcome.
I woke after my nap feeling remarkably better and also very jittery to get out and see something. Saya however was in a pretty bad mood by now and it was under wild protests that we managed to get her out. As none of us had eaten much for a long time, lunch was first priority. After a walk back and forth with mo luck of finding a decent looking place to eat, we ended up having lunch at a pizza place. The food turned out to be quite nice though and Saya cheered up a little. 9 out of 10 times the cause of Saya's grumpiness is due to hunger! We decided to embark on the long and very steep climb up the Kala a big fortress on the top of the mountain. Saya walked some of the way, but in the end we had to put her in the chair as her need for a toilet became quite a pressing matter. That is one thing makes a change from last year as well.. last year we had half of our bags filled with nappies and this year we only have a few for night time use. However we always have to keep an eye out for toilets now as the need for one can arise very suddenly! Again.. there are good and not so good things about everything.
We made it to the top of the mountain - sweaty but happy. I felt very much alive again, and was reminded of how much I love travelling.The last few days have been ok, but we haven't really done much that we couldn't have done at home.. One of the best part about travelling is walking and sometimes getting lost - it is finding yourself on a big mountain or whatever in a foreign place and looking at something beautiful might it be a city from the top of a mountain or a sunset or a sunrise t what feel like the end of the world. You feel alive and lucky at these times.
We explores the fortress for a while with its beautiful views and then started the descend down the mountain to find some dinner.
We crossed the river and found a restaurant on the side of another mountain with some beautiful views of the town from the other side.
We asked the waiter to recommend us some food which he did and we ended up having enough food to serve an army! It was embarrassing! We didn't even make it through half of the food before feeling absolutely stuffed! The food consisted of mainly local cuisine and it was very tasty and meaty!
With two large beers it came to the total cost of 150kr.. extremely cheap!!
So far my impression of Albania and Berat is really good. People here are extremely friendly and everyone is smiling a greeting us wherever we go. Esp Saya's chair brings a smile out on people.. I guess most have never seen a carrier like that! Berat is a beautiful little town with a lot to offer and we definitely have a lot more exploring to do tomorrow.
We went back to the house after having stocked up on water and bananas and Saya was put to bed. While I was tucking her in the guy came back again. He had been worried about us ad he had tried to call on the house phone and noone answered it (it had run out of battery) so he had decided do come and see if everything was ok. Again I really hope that he had other errands in town and that he didn't drive an hour just to check if we were ok.
Kristian and him arranged for us all to meet tomorrow at 10am where he will take us by car to a winery. I am pretty excited - I love meeting local people and this guy speaks pretty good English, so hopefully he can provide us with lots of details about Albania.
Right I better stop here or I might go on for hours.. it is past midnight and we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.            

  

26 - 28 August 2013 - Copenhagen - Corfu - Sarandë

2013 - Albania and Macedonia

Hi

Welcome one welcome all

This is a tale of travel, of food, of a small young family, of gadgets and of backpacking with a child. This year we return to the Balkans as we last year spent 19 days travelling around most of the former Yugoslavia. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to return this year. So - there is a lot of things that I would like to cover before I get to the actual travelling part. 

First of, let me tell you a little bit about me, That small part of me is that I am a project kind of guy which I will elaborate some more later. (by the way, Kristian writing here) But I tend to want to make things evolve, and so it is with this blog as well. We ended up buying this blog (www.bpwc.net) after last year we had approx. 2000 page views  and I want that number to grow this year. Unfortunately Like I said I am a project kind of guy, and the last year have been filled with projects (mostly work related - besides the move from a small flat to a huge flat) and that have left me very little time to work on this project. Fortunately I have a lot of time the next 16 days to work on it. What I will work on is the form, not the content. But we have agreed to work more in depth with the content part as well. One thing is the personal story for our families and friends sitting bored/anxiously waiting for our story, another thing is what we actually learn about the places we visit and learn about travelling with a small child and a backpack.

And that it is backpacking is very essential to us. We seek the authentic and we seek the contact with the local people who actually live and work the places we visit. We are not interested in talking to people who service us where we go - we are interested in the culture and the history in the places, and people capable of conveying that information. We want to visit places with a local culture. The western culture, however convenient and accessible it is, is not what we want to experience. Even if at least one of us (me) have a very hard addiction to espresso based caffeine fixes in the morning, which is not always accessible in these parts, i have to admit - one more thing i will elaborate on later in this entry. 

One of the effects of my need to project work things in our daily life is, that we will try to test some of the gear that we are travelling with. This is because we have updated our travelling gear since last year where we had some things that were good but not great and there is a common saying in Danish "Don't go down on gear". There are two levels of gear for me. One is electronic gadgets. This year i have brought along  - my work laptop - a Sony Vaio computer (which just works it has a back lit keyboard upon touch of it - good battery and a brilliant screen) for the next trip it would be nice to have one of the new Vaio Pro touch screen machines - I have seen the specks online and saw one in Brussels (where we had stopover going to Corfu) and I got a gadget crush - it was small, light and the touchscreen looks amazing. I have got a iPhone 4 - we will use a hotspot (a simcard with 1 gb internet is about 5 Euros) my Sony Xperia V - a Android based Smartphone (4.1) which just works - It can handle water and a serious beating. A Nexus 7 (tablet) for information gathering of our next stop over and commute information. Another level of gadgets are practical things - I have (for me) brought a Handpresso to make espresso in the morning (there are some places in the Balkans where they don't make espresso!). I have six haglöfs items - three shorts, three shirts, I suffer from some perspiration issues and their clothing seems to handle that quite well (very well - speaking for the two days here). We have bought an Osprey Poco Plus - with a daylight backpack - to carry Saya around (practically hasn't been used yet). Besides that we have a lot of small stuff (wine openers for instance) which we use. 

Now - getting all the technicalities aside, here is where we are now. Its Tuesday the 27 of august- we have been on this trip for about 2 days which we have been planning for about a year. Last year we had an amazing experience. We  saw some jaw dropping things, both in beauty and in echoes of the war that was fought in these parts, something that seems no more than a breath away. Unfortunately we did not have the possibility last year to visit everything we wanted to visit. For instance Albania and Macedonia which is why these places are the goal of this year. And we are well underway to do that now.

This trip have started long ago, well the planning of it. But for my part, I realized it was a reality sitting on the second plane yesterday after our layover in Brussels. Things have been busy, on a personal level, and on a professional level, mostly the last one. The last year has been crazy, crazy good, but crazy. I have realized that this trip have to be an exercise in being here, right now, and put all the work things where they belong, at work. This is a once in a life time experience (which some would argue that everything is, but that's another discussion), and I want to make the best of it. We have discussed it and we have agreed that this is a perfect time to start exercising mindfulness. The rest of the year will be filled with work and study (for my part). 

I went on holiday from work Friday, spent the entire weekend getting tutoring and was (finally) free Sunday afternoon. The rest of the day and the start of Monday was spent packing and cleaning the flat (it is rented out through the whole period via AirBNB, which gives us a little bit of extra money to spend on the trip) - we where very uncertain what to bring along, since we didn't know how hot it would be. We ended up packing for hot weather. 

Saya was in a splendid mood both Sunday and Monday, since we have been talking to her about the trip for quite a while now, Unfortunately she had a little accident between Sunday and Monday, as we tried to let her sleep without her nappy. She was awake for some time during the night - because we had to change her sheets and pyjamas. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since she was very tired Monday and we managed to make her get a nap - we had a long trip ahead of us. We left our flat just after 1 pm and headed for the airport. Moving to Amager has been the smartest thing we have done for many reasons - one of them being that it only takes 10 minutes to get to the airport. We had to check in at the counter and not via self service because we had connecting flights. We delivered our bags in the odd size luggage because the Osprey is - well - odd sized. 

We got in - got pasta, BLT and a beer (milk for Saya) at O'learys. We were looking at the planes out of the windows. Saya was in a splendid mood and were amazed by the planes "they are big!" she exclaimed quite some times ("de er godt nok store!" "det er en lang flyvemaskine!"). Finally it was time for boarding. The first flight was to Brussels - after a bit of scuffling back and forth - Saya was put between the two of us. She was not very keen on the belt, but we bribed her with sweets and it was acceptable for her. She loved the take off. Shes just such a cool little kid, there are few things that scares her. She got a bit tired on the flight (I think it's the pressure - I always get tired as well) We had a bag full of things to entertain her - so that flight went quite well. Our flight was a SAS machine - why does it seem to be that old machines always get really hot right before taxing out and when waiting to get of the machine? 

We had three hours in Brussels before the flight to Corfu. Saya was full of energy and bad manners - it was kind of cute and a bit of a strain.But we sad down and got some Tapas and she loved that, so it was quiet for some time (btw - Brussels EU terminal is small and boring, but if you are in those parts - please try the Tapas restaurant - its very good and reasonably priced). 

The 3 hours wait went surprisingly fast. We went on the flight which was a Aegean machine, very good service and it seemed to be a fairly new machine. Saya fell asleep after about 30 minutes. The flight was 2½ hours and was boring. After being in transit for about 10 hours - we arrived in Corfu - it was midnight local time (11 Danish time) - and it was humid and hot (about 28 degrees). Saya woke up and was tired but in a good mood. "look at the all the pretty lights!" she exclaimed as soon as she opened her eyes! Luckliy it only took 10 minutes to walk to the hotel (a kind of trashy two star thing - but it fulfilled our needs). When we arrived I started writing this blog entry and Jannie tried to get Saya to sleep. I went down to the bar and got a cold beer (two gulps and it was down) after about 20 minutes i went back up to the room. Saya was still awake and I quietly typed on the blog again. When Saya finally fell asleep, we drank one more beer and went to bed. There was one small window in the room and you could blog out the light completely. So we all went into a coma for 9 hours straight. 
The next day, tuesday the 27, I was the first one up - as always. I wanted to use my handpresso - but unfortunately i had left a coffee pad in it from the last time, so i need to have it cleaned, After a short while reading news on the tablet the girls awoke. We got some uninspiring breakfast at the hotel, the most exiting thing we experienced was a priest and his wife (in their 60 i would guess) shamelessly staring at us (i guess we did look quite out of place). We decided to go right ahead and get to the harbor - even if we had some hours before the ship sailed. 
That choice turned out to be a good idea, the taxi put us off right next to the ticket office. The taxi driver told us that he have worked without having a holiday since 2009 because of the financial crisis in Greece. But, something that should not come as a surprise for us, they did not accept credit card, so I had to walk back to town (sweating - it was hot and humid!) The poverty was very outspoken. I saw a man begging - with papers put out in front of him, probably something about being fired or losing his house or something like that. Poverty is a horrible thing, and there seem to be different kinds. There is the born poor, and then the losing everything poor. Both are horrible, but in the last one you can see that there is a pride that has been broken. That look was the look on that man begging in that street. A guy i know, Christian D, has once said "you can't really own anything" and I guess he is right about that. He said it prior to 2008. The poverty and its ghost was also very outspoken in the bank, there was about 20 people sitting waiting, holding their papers and they had hunted scared looks on their faces. I do not think it's nice to live in Greece these years (or Spain and Portugal for that matter). I do not really want to politicize this blog, but sometimes the actions of the few hurt the many, and i consider myself lucky to live in a place where there is basic level of security and I have a job that i am good at. I guess that is one of the things travelling someplace very different from where you live teaches you. 

Well finally we got the tickets and went to where the ship was to depart. We waited for some time, and the ship was delayed. Saya is just so good at being patient and we consider us very lucky. 
When we finally shipped of, it was on a very small boat that could hold a few cars and about 20-25 people. It was a very scenic and beautiful boat ride. It was very hot and Saya and I were suffering (Jannie have a very unnatural ability to withstand the heat). It took about 1½ hour to get from Corfu to Sarandë. During the trip I saw flying fish - twice! What an amazing thing, the first time I initially thought it was some strange birds, unfortunately i did not get any pictures of them. David Attenborough is narrating it in my mind. 

When we arrived we went through customs we got a stamp (to Jannie's joy) We went with a taxi to our hotel. The Taxi driver really wanted to get us as his customers for some drives around the place. It was a bit annoying and a bit funny at the same time as his English was very bad. The hotel we are staying at is the Sarandë International Hotel - which is surprisingly nice, it's a 3 star but seems more like a four star. It has some strange quirks and odd building decisions. But we have a huge room for the same price as the small 2 star room in Corfu. The area surrounding the hotel is not very nice, its more or less a building site, where they are putting up new apartment buildings and hotels, we have a balcony and it is facing t a hotel that is being build right next door. But it has a private beach where we went after checking in. We got a very nice dinner in the restaurant that is attached to the beach. We got the most expensive thing on the menu (Grilled Seabass) and a pasta for Saya, two salads and some beers (I was thirsty) for about 200 kr (app 30 Euros) and I think that is a very expensive place. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening there, bathing and relaxing - it was amazing and much needed. We went back to the hotel and put Saya to bed. I got a couple more beers and Jannie some white wine. We planned the next couple of days and decided to drop Vlorë and go inland - beach is nice, but it gets boring very fast. We will go to Berat tomorrow and then to Elbassan after that, We have booked an apartment in Berat via AirBNB, We went to bed around midnight and maybe a bit lightheaded - I think it's the climate and that it had nothing to do with the beers ;)

Today was lazy until noon, there is two reasons for that. One is that we need it and two there was a thunder storm which left us incapable of doing anything else but stay at the hotel, Late afternoon we took a taxi around two local sights. We saw something called Blue eye springs and secondly something called Butrint. We got a taxi driver that knew about 3 words in English, but he was the sweetest most considerable man we have ever driven with. Saya has trouble driving in cars and busses - she gets car sick. And it almost happened today as well, since the drive around took three hours. But our driver was very observant on Saya and when she started to look bad, he pulled over right away and waited all the time it took for her to get better. He was warm and laughing. We were reminded about the open mindedness and friendliness of the Balkans. Another thing that reminded about the Balkans was the ride. After about 30 minutes (after getting some money at a ATM) we drove over the mountain towards Blue Eyes Springs. The route was amazingly beautiful. Somehow I keep comparing it to Sergio Leones cowboy movies. The horizon is filled with mountains, some so far in the distance that they are blurred by the humility and the clouds. In the valley where we are driving, there are a lot of houses and settlements  but there are also long stretches of just corn fields or wild vegetation. We are bordering tropical fields here. There are palm trees and cacti and some of the vegetation looks something like jungle. The mountains are rocky, which means that there is very little vegetation on them, a few trees, some green, and a lot of white or grey rock areas. You could almost imagine Clint Eastwood come riding along on his horse with his poncho and wide ranged cowboy hat. 

You cannot really explain the rough beauty of this place, the pictures looks great, but they do not capture the feel - that feel of being very small in a very large place. Specially if you have grown up and live in a place where 50 meters above sea level is considered high up. The nature here is amazing, and wild. We went to the Blue Eye Spring as the first thing. It's a river that runs below the mountain and comes out through the rocks - it's estimated that it is about 40 meters deep, the current is very strong and it's a whole river that comes out of this place. I do not know what happens to the water, but it is very clear when it comes out of the mountain. It is the clearest water I have ever seen, and it distorts the way you look at it. Even if you can see that the current is very strong, you can look directly to the bottom of the 40 odd meters, but it doesn't look like it's so deep. Its just odd - its a big wide river (app 10 meters across from the beginning and growing wider very fast) just starting from nowhere and the current is just very strong. The area around the phenomenon is very fertile and really seemed like a jungle. 

After spending some time there, we went to Butrint - the first place in the Balkans we have seen that have so much history attached to it - there are settlements that are over 2500 years old there. It was a bit like visiting Forum Romanum, History is thick and you can tell that it was something important. Unfortunately we did only have about 30 minutes there, and then it closed. Besides the ruins the jungle like feel was very strong there. Big Cacti and palm trees were to be found here as well. There were huge insects and we saw a lot of crabs and big fish in the waters surrounding the place. In the theater ruins it as almost swamp looking water where turtles swam. I found itkind of funny that the turtles  - turtles that probably haven't changed in several thousands years before this place existed, didn't really care that they were swimming around a UNESCO sight. Their kind are probably going to be here several thousands years after we are gone.

After staying at the sight we went home and ate at a restaurant at top of a nearby hotel - which had an elevator that made us both very nervous, it was made outside the building of material that is very much not rust proof. After surviving that experience, we got a decent meal and saw the sun set on the Adriatic sea (!). Then we went home and Saya and Jannie have gone to bed, i am sitting on the balcony writing this and working on the pictures and the blog. 

I Guess this is it - three wild days in a few words and a lot of spelling errors and grammatical errors - luckily Jannie will fix this tomorrow. 

26 - 28 August 2013 - København - Korfu - Sarandë

2013 - Albanien og Makedonien 

Hej

Velkommen alle som en

Det er en fortælling om rejser, mad , af en lille ung familie , gadgets og backpacking med et barn. I år vende vi tilbage til Balkan, som vi sidste år tilbragte 19 dage med at rejse rundt i det meste af det tidligere Jugoslavien. Vi nød det så meget, at vi besluttede at vende tilbage i år. Så - der er en masse ting, som jeg gerne vil dække , før jeg kommer til den faktiske rejse side.

Først , lad mig fortælle dig en lille smule om mig , Det lille del af mig er, at jeg er meget projekt orienteret, som jeg vil uddybe lidt mere senere . (det er for resten Kristian der skrive her) Men jeg har en tendens til at ville lade tingene udvikler sig, og sådan er det med denne blog. Vi endte med at købe denne blog ( www.bpwc.net ) efter vi sidste år havde ca. 2000 sidevisninger , og jeg ønsker, at antallet at vokse i år. Desværre , som jeg sagde, er jeg projekt orienteret, og det sidste år har været fyldt med projekter ( for det meste arbejdsrelaterede - udover overgangen fra en lille lejlighed til en kæmpe stor) , og det har har efterladt mig meget lidt tid til at arbejde på dette projekt . Heldigvis har jeg en masse tid de næste 16 dage. Hvad jeg vil arbejde på er dens form , ikke indholdet. Men vi har aftalt at arbejde mere i dybden med indholdet. Én ting er den personlige historie som vores familier og venner sidder og keder / venter  spændt på , en anden ting er, hvad vi rent faktisk lærer om de steder, vi besøger, og lære om rejser med et lille barn og en rygsæk.

Det med backpacking er meget vigtigt for os. Vi søger den autentiske og vi søger kontakt med de lokale folk, der rent faktisk bor og arbejder de steder, vi besøger. Vi er ikke interesseret i at tale med folk, der tjeneste os, hvor vi går - vi er interesseret i kultur og historie på de steder og mennesker i stand til at formidle disse oplysninger. Vi ønsker at besøge steder med en lokal kultur. Den vestlige kultur, hvor praktisk og tilgængelig den end er, er ikke det, vi ønsker at opleve. Selv om mindst én af os (mig) har meget svært afhængighed af espresso -baserede koffein spark om morgenen, hvilket ikke altid er tilgængelige i disse dele af verden - en ting mere jeg vil uddybe senere i denne post.

En af følgerne af mit behov for at arbejde projektorienteret er , at vi vil forsøge at afprøve nogle af de redskaber , som vi rejser med . Det er fordi vi har opdateret vores rejse gear siden sidste år, hvor vi havde nogle ting, som var god, og nogle der var knap så gode, vi er tilhængere af at man ikke skal gå ned på udstyr. Der er to niveauer af redskaber for mig. Den ene er elektroniske gadgets. I år har jeg  taget følgende med - min arbejdes computer- en Sony Vaio computer (der bare virker, det har en bagbelyst tastatur ved berøring af det - godt batteri og en strålende skærm) det ville være rart at have en af ​​de nye Vaio Pro touch- screen laptops til den næste tur - jeg har set konfigurationen online og så en i Bruxelles (hvor vi havde mellemlanding inden Korfu ), og jeg fik en gadget crush - det var lille, let og den berøringsfølsomme skærm ser fantastisk  ud. Jeg har taget en iPhone 4 med - vi vil bruge et hotspot (et simkort med 1 gb internet koster omkring 5 euro) min Sony Xperia V - en Android -baseret smartphone (4.1 ), der bare virker - Den kan håndtere vand og en alvorlig omgang tæsk. En Nexus 7 (tablet) til indsamling af oplysninger om vores næste stop og transport information. Et andet niveau af gadgets er praktiske ting - jeg har (for mig) taget en Handpresso til at lave espresso i morgen (der er nogle steder på Balkan, hvor de ikke laver espresso !) . Jeg har seks stykker HAGLÖFS tøj med - tre par shorts og tre skjorter, jeg har et lille problem ed sved, og deres tøj ser ud til at håndtere det ganske godt (meget godt – efter to dages erfaring). Vi har købt en Osprey Poco Plus - med en daylite rygsæk – til at bære Saya rundt med (ikke brugt praktisk endnu) . Ud over at vi har en masse små ting (vin åbnere for eksempel ), som vi bruger.

Efter at have fået alle de tekniske detaljer på plads, er det her vi er nu. Det er tirsdag d. 27 august - vi har været på denne tur i ca. 2 dage, som vi har haft planlagt i omkring et år. Sidste år havde vi en fantastisk oplevelse. Vi så nogle vilde ting, både i skønhed og ekkoet af den krig, der blev udkæmpet i disse dele, noget, der synes ikke mere end et åndedrag væk. Vi havde desværre ikke mulighed sidste år for at besøge alt, hvad vi ønskede at besøge. For eksempel Albanien og Makedonien, som er målet for i år. Og vi er godt på vej til at gøre det nu.

Denne tur har startet for længe siden, planlægningens delen af det. Men for mit vedkommende, indså jeg, at det var ved at ske, mens jeg sad på det andet fly i går. Tingene har været travlt, på et personligt plan og på et professionelt plan, for det meste den sidste. Det sidste år har været vanvittigt, vanvittigt godt, men vanvittigt. Jeg har indset, at denne tur skal være en øvelse i at være her, lige nu, og lægge alle de arbejdsrelateret ting, hvor de hører hjemme, på arbejde. Dette er engang i et livs oplevelse(hvilket nogle ville hævde, at alt er, men det er en anden diskussion ), og jeg ønsker at gøre det bedste ud af det. Vi har diskuteret det, og vi har aftalt, at det er et perfekt tidspunkt at begynde at udøve mindfulness . Resten af året vil blive fyldt med arbejde og studie (for mit vedkommende).

Jeg gik på ferie fra arbejde fredag, jeg ​​tilbragte hele weekenden at få undervisning i og havde (endeligt) fri søndag eftermiddag. Resten af dagen og starten mandag blev brugt med pakning og rengøring af lejligheden (den er lejet ud gennem hele ferien via Airbnb , hvilket giver os en lille smule ekstra penge at bruge på turen) - vi var meget usikkert , over hvad skulle medbringe , da vi ikke ved, hvor varmt det ville være. Vi endte med at pakke til varmt vejr.

Saya var i et pragtfuldt humør både søndag og mandag, da vi har talt med hende om turen i et stykke tid, desværre havde hun et lille uheld mellem søndag og mandag , da vi forsøgte at lade hende sove uden hendes ble . Hun var vågen i et stykke tid i løbet af natten - fordi vi havde til at ændre hendes lagen og nattøj. Det viste sig at være en velsignelse i forklædning, siden hun var meget træt mandag og det lykkedes os at få hende til at få en lur - vi havde en lang rejse foran os. Vi forlod vores lejlighed lige efter kl. 13:00 og tog til lufthavnen. Flytning til Amager har været den smarteste ting, vi har gjort af mange grunde - en af ​​dem er, at det kun tager 10 minutter at komme til lufthavnen. Vi havde til at tjekke ind via skranken og ikke via selvbetjening, fordi vi havde forbinder flyvninger. Vi leverede vores tasker i ulige størrelse bagage, fordi Ospreyen er en ulige størrelse.

Vi spiste - fik pasta, BLT og en øl (mælk til Saya ) ved O'learys . Vi kigget på flyene ud af vinduerne. Saya var i et pragtfuldt humør og blev forbløffet over flyene, "de er store! " ”det er godt nok en lang flyvemaskine!” udbrød hun helt nogle gange. Endelig blev det tid til boarding. Den første flyvning var til Bruxelles - efter en smule møflen frem og tilbage – blev Saya  sat i mellem os. Hun var ikke meget begejstret for bæltet, men vi bestak hende med slik , og det acceptabelt hun. Hun elskede take off. Hun er bare sådan et cool lille barn, der er få ting, der skræmmer hende. Hun blev en smule træt på flyvningen (jeg tror det er det trykket- Jeg bliver også altid træt) Vi havde en taske fuld af ting at underholde hende - så flyvningen gik ganske godt. Vores fly var et SAS - hvorfor virker det til at det altid er gamle maskiner de har, der bliver virkeligt varme før man taxier ud, og venter til at gå af dem?

Vi havde tre timer Bruxelles inden flyvningen til Korfu. Saya var fuld af energi og dårlige opførsel - det var ret sød og lidt af trættende. Men vi fik sat os og fik nogle Tapas og hun elskede det, så det var stille i et stykke tid(forresten- Bruxelles EU -terminal er ret lille og kedeligt, men hvis du er i de dele - prøv Tapas restaurant – den er meget god og rimelig pris).

De 3 timers ventetid gik overraskende hurtigt. Vi gik på et fly, som var en Aegaren, de havde meget god service, og det syntes at være en forholdsvis ny maskine. Saya faldt i søvn efter ca 30 minutter. Flyvningen var 2 ½ time og var kedeligt. Efter at have været i transit i ca 10 timer - ankom vi til Korfu - det var midnat lokal tid (11 dansk tid) - og det var fugtigt og varmt(omkring 28 grader). Saya vågnede og var træt, men i godt humør. "se på alle de smukke lys! " udbrød hun, så snart hun åbnede sine øjne! Heldigvis tog det kun 10 minutter at gå til hotellet (en halvsmadret tostjernet ting - men det opfyldte vores behov). Da vi ankom begyndte jeg at skrive dette blogindlæg og Jannie forsøgte at få Saya til at sove. Jeg gik ned i baren og fik en kold øl (to slurke og den var nede) efter cirka 20 minutter gik jeg tilbage til værelset. Saya var stadig vågen og jeg skrev stille og roligt på bloggen igen. Da Saya endeligt faldt i søvn, drak vi endnu en øl og gik i seng. Der var én lille vindue i rummet, og den kunne holde lyset helt ud. Så vi alle gik i koma i 9 timer i streg.

Den næste dag, tirsdag d. 27.  Var jeg den første oppe - som altid. Jeg ville bruge min Handpresso - men desværre jeg havde efterladt en pad i den fra sidste gang, så jeg har brug for at få det renset. Efter en kort tid, mens jeg læste nyheder på tabletten, vågnede pigerne. Vi fik nogle uinspirerede morgenmad på hotellet, det mest spændende ting, vi oplevede var en præst og hans kone (i 60erne ville jeg gætte på) skamløst stirrer på os (jeg gætte på vi ikke helt passet til stedet).  Vi besluttede at tage til havnen med det samme - også selv om vi havde nogle timer før skibet sejlede.

Dette valg viste sig at være en god idé, taxien satte os af ved siden af ​​billetkontor. Taxachaufføren fortalte os, at han har arbejdet uden at have en ferie siden 2009 på grund af den finansielle krise i Grækenland. Men noget, der bør ikke komme som en overraskelse for os, accepterer de ikke kreditkort , så jeg måtte gå tilbage til byen ( sveden de- det var varmt og fugtigt ) Fattigdommen var meget udtalt. Jeg så en mand tigger - med papirer liggende foran ham, formentlig noget om at blive fyret eller miste sit hus eller sådan noget . Fattigdom er en forfærdelig ting, og der synes at være forskellige former. Der er den der er født fattig , og den der miste alt fattige. Begge er forfærdelig, men i den sidste du kan se, at der er en stolthed, der er blevet knækket. Det blik var det jeg så på fyren. En fyr jeg kender, Christian D har engang sagt: " Du kan ikke rigtig eje noget" jeg tror, ​​at han har ret i det. Han sagde, at det før 2008. Fattigdommen og dens spøgelse var også meget tilstedeværende i banken, var der omkring 20 mennesker, der sad og ventede, mens de holdte deres papirer, og de ​​havde jaget udseende på deres ansigter. Jeg tror ikke, det er rart at bo i Grækenland i disse år (eller Spanien og Portugal for den sags skyld). Jeg har ikke rigtig lyst til at politisere denne blog, men nogle gange er det de fås handlinger der gør de mange ondt, og jeg betragter mig selv heldig at bo et sted, hvor der er et grundlæggende niveau af sikkerhed, og jeg har et job, som jeg er god til.

Nå endelig fik vi billetterne og gik til hvor skibet skulle sejle fra. Vi ventede i nogen tid, og skibet blev forsinket. Saya er så god til at være tålmodig, og vi anser os meget heldig.

Når vi endelig sejlet, det var på en meget lille båd, der kunne holde et par biler og omkring 20-25 mennesker. Det var en meget naturskønne og smukke sejltur . Det var meget varmt og Saya og jeg blev ramt(Jannie har en meget unaturlig evne til at modstå varmen . Det tog omkring 1 ½ time at komme fra Korfu til Sarandë . Under turen så jeg flyvefisk - to gange! Hvilken fantastisk ting , den første gang jeg oprindeligt troede, det var nogle mærkelige fugle , desværre fik jeg ikke nogen billeder af dem. David Attenborough fortalte historier i mit hoved mens jeg så dem.

Da vi kom gennem tolden fik vi et stempel ( til Jannie glæde ) Vi gik med en taxa til vores hotel. Taxachaufføren ønskede virkelig at få os som sine kunder til at køre rundt i området. Det var lidt irriterende og lidt sjovt på samme tid, da hans engelsk var meget dårlig. Hotellet vi opholder os på er Sarandë International Hotel - hvilket er overraskende rart, det er et 3 stjernet men virker mere som en fire stjernes. Den har nogle særheder og mærkelig bygnings beslutninger. Men vi har et stort værelse til den samme pris som den lille 2 stjernet plads på Korfu. Området omkring hotellet er ikke særlig rart, dets mere eller mindre en byggeplads, hvor de ved at bygge nye lejlighedskomplekser og hoteller, vi har en balkon og det står lige udenfor et hotel, der er ved at blive bygget lige ved siden af ​​. Men det har en privat strand, hvor vi gik efter at have tjekket ind. Vi fik en meget flot middag i restauranten, der er knyttet til stranden. Vi fik den dyreste ting på menuen (grillet havaborre) og en pasta for Saya , to salater og nogle øl ( jeg var tørstig ) for omkring 200 kr.  og jeg tror, ​​det er et meget dyrt sted . Vi tilbragte resten af ​​eftermiddagen og aftenen er der, med badning og afslappende - det var tiltrængt. Vi gik tilbage til hotellet og lagde Saya i seng. Jeg fik et par øl mere og Jannie noget hvidevin. Vi planlagde de næste par dage og besluttede at droppe Vlorë og rejse ind i landet - strand er rart, men det bliver kedeligt meget hurtigt. Vi vil tage til Berat i morgen, og derefter til Elbassan efter derefter, vi har reserveret en lejlighed i Berat via Airbnb. Vi gik i seng omkring midnat og var måske en smule svimmel - jeg tror, det er klimaet, og at det havde intet at gøre med øl ;)

I dag var doven indtil middag, er der to grunde til. Den ene er, at vi har brug for det, og to der var en regnskyld, der gjorde os ude af stand til at gøre noget andet, men at være på hotel, Sidst på eftermiddagen tog vi en taxa til to lokale seværdigheder. Vi så noget, der hedder Blue Eye Springs og noget der hedder Butrint . Vi fik en taxachauffør, der kunne omkring 3 ord på engelsk, men han var den sødeste mest hensynsfylde mand, vi nogensinde har kørt med. Saya har problemer med at køre i biler og busser - hun får køresyge. Og køre rundt i ca. tre timer. Men vores chauffør var meget opmærksomme på Saya og da hun begyndte at se dårlig ud, trak han til siden og ventede den tid det tog for hende at få det bedre. Han var varm og smilende. Vi blev mindet om det åbne sind og venlighed Balkan har. En anden ting, der mindede om Balkan var turen. Efter cirka 30 minutter(efter at få nogle penge i en ATM) kørte vi over bjerget mod Blue Eyes Springs. Ruten var utroligt smuk. Af en eller anden grund kan jeg ikke lade værd med at sammenligne det med Sergio Leones cowboy film. Horisonten er fyldt med bjerge, nogle så langt i horisonten, de bliver sløret af skyerne og disen. I dalen, hvor vi kørte, er der en masse huse og bebyggelser, men der er også lange strækninger af bare majsmarker eller vild vegetation. Vi grænser til et tropiske klima her. Der er palmer og kaktus og noget af vegetationen ser ud som junglen. Bjergene er stenet, hvilket betyder, at der er meget lidt vegetation på dem, et par træer, noget græs, og en masse hvide eller grå sten- områder. Man kunne næsten forestille sig Clint Eastwood kommer ridende på sin hest med sin poncho og brede cowboy hat.

Man kan ikke rigtig forklare den ru skønhed dette sted har, billederne ser godt ud, men de kan ikke fange fornemmelsen - det fornemmelsen af ​​at være meget lille i en meget stor sted. Specielt hvis du er vokset op og leve i et sted, hvor 50 meter over havets overflade anses anses for højt oppe . Naturen her er fantastisk, og vild. Vi tog til Blue Eye Springs som det første . Det er en flod, der løber under bjerget og kommer ud gennem klipperne - det er anslået, at den er omkring 40 meter dyb, strømmen er meget stærk, og det er en hel flod, der kommer ud af dette sted. Jeg ved ikke, hvad der sker med vandet, men det er meget klart, når det kommer ud af bjerget. Det er det klareste vand jeg nogensinde har set, og det fordrejer den måde man ser på det. Selv hvis du kan se, at strømmen er meget stærk, kan du se direkte til bunden af ​​de 40 meter, men det ser ikke ud til at være så dybt. Det er underligt - dens en stor bred flod (ca 10 meter på tværs fra starten og vokser bredere meget hurtigt) begynder fra ingenting, og den strøm er bare så stærk. Området omkring fænomenet er meget frugtbar og virkelig minder om en jungle.

Efter at have tilbragt lidt tid der, tog vi til Butrint - det første sted på Balkan, vi har set , der har så meget historie knyttet til det - der er bosættelser , der er over 2500 år gammel der. Det var lidt som at besøge Forum Romanum , historie er tyk og man kan fornemme, at det var noget vigtigt. Vi havde desværre kun har omkring 30 minutter der, og så er det lukket. Udover ruinerne var jungle fornemmelsen stærk der. Store kaktusser og palmer findes der. Der var enorme insekter og vi så en masse krabber og store fisk i vandet omkring stedet. I teatret ruinerne var der nærmest sumpet vand, hvor skildpadder svømmede . Jeg fandt det sjovt, at skildpadder - skildpadder, der sandsynligvis ikke har ændret sig i flere tusinde år før dette sted eksisterede, var ligeglade med, at de var svømning omkring en UNESCO mærket sted. Deres art er formentlig kommer til at være her flere tusinde år efter at vi er væk.

Efter ophold på stedet, tog  vi gik hjem og spiste på en restaurant på toppen af ​​et nærliggende hotel - som havde en elevator, som gjorde os begge meget nervøs , den var uden på bygningen af et metal, der ikke var rust beskyttet. Efter at have overlevet den oplevelse, fik vi et anstændigt måltid og så solen gå ned ved Adriaterhavet ( !) .Derefter vi gik hjem og Saya og Jannie er gået i seng , jeg sidder på altanen skriver dette og arbejder på billederne og blog.

Jeg tror det er det - tre vilde dage i et par ord og en masse stavefejl og grammatiske fejl - heldigvis vil Jannie rette det i morgen.