The guys at the campsite advise us to go early to
the boat dock at the damn, because the ferry sometimes leaves early. So we set off in good time and climb the dirt
track up to a tunnel that pops us out at the dockside. It’s already busy with cars and people –
locals and tourists. There are lots of
small boats, presumably for the locals who live along the way, and a bigger one
that goes all the way to the next damn.
A man guides me inside to buy the tickets – 15 euros each. How much???
I thought it was 5 euros each.
No, 10 each and 5 for the bikes.
I go and consult Gayle but we are kind of trapped – we would have a long
journey on a mountainous road to get to the other end. We pay the exorbitant price and get on board
the boat with mostly tourists. There is
one local woman with her child. Just
before we depart a larger boat appears in the distance. It docks and unloads. This is the ferry. We have been conned onto a private boat for
tourists. Suckers. It’s written on our foreheads. The guys at the campsite are obviously in on
the scam. It only works if we don’t know
there are two boats leaving at around
the same time. There’s an Israeli couple
who also camped last night in the same place.
Freddy says he feels like Woody Allen at the beginning of Stardust
Memories, looking ruefully across at the people now boarding the ferry. Ah well, live and learn. The Albanians can be as disingenuous with
tourists as anyone else.
The boat trip is lovely – even if the fare sticks
in my craw. The reservoir is narrow, and
the mountainsides rise vertiginously, covered in thick growth. Sometimes we seem to be heading for a huge
wall of rock before turning at the last moment, twisting through the dramatic
landscape. Now and again a farmhouse is
spotted, improbably positioned on the steep hillsides. We chat a lot with Freddy and his wife
Tammy. At the far end we have a shortish
ride to Bajram Curry, where we are staying with Warm Showers hosts, Jenny and Ian.
They’re volunteering with the Peace
Corps, Jenny working in health promotion and Ian teaching English at the high
school. They’re an adventurous young
couple who have been cycling in South America and have only just begun their
two-year stint here. Already they have an insight on the way things work or
don’t work in Albania. The town is small
and scruffy, with blocks of flats of various building quality. Their flat is on the top floor of a block
with no glazing in the windows on each landing.
The apartment is fine though – fully furnished with the last occupants’
family photos on the wall. It might be
the landlord, who lives next door, and has just moved family out for the
duration. We spend a couple of evenings with them and
try and plot our summer journey.
We have
been struggling with the high temperatures and can’t bear the idea of doing
what some cyclists do – setting off at 5am each day to arrive at their
destination before midday. Waking at 6am
is the best we can do. Perhaps we could
volunteer for the month of August in Greece and stay in one place, off the bikes?
We make enquiries via the HelpX website and then set off for Valbona, a
village in the mountains above Bajram Curry.
We leave some excess baggage with Ian and Jenny and set off. But why have we got excess baggage? you may
ask. And I confess that I know not why.
