Back in 2021 aboard the Magic Van and accompanied by an old friend we set off towards southern Italy and after a week in Puglia spent between taralli and beautiful beaches we went back towards Ancona to take the ferry.
As soon as we landed in Split after having passed the document controls we head into the hinterland of Croatia to go and see the wonderful Plitvice National Park, a park that I really recommend going to see, better to start the visit in the morning because the area is quite large with a lot of waterfalls and the ticket includes the sections to be done by boat which, in addition to being able to admire the landscapes from in the middle of the lakes, allow you to visit parts of the park that without it would be much more difficult to see.
After long walks and wonderful views to say the least, we take the boat back and the waiting pier offers benches overlooking one of the lakes
After the visit to the national park aboard the Magic Van we move towards a small village not far from there, a real gem of the area, its name is Rastoke.
The village surrounded by nature is very particular, the river passes around the houses, through canals and waterfalls it passes through the gardens of the houses and makes the landscape fairytale
After spending several days inland we decide to move to the coast and so we visited several cities including Zadar with its port and the particular "Sea Organ" which plays various symphonies through the waves.
After visiting a large part of the Croatian coast and the city of Dubrovnik we headed south and after passing through Bosnia we entered Montenegro
Montenegro is not a very big country but it is still an interesting country, we went along the coast and visited the castle of Kotor.ย
After spending a few days in Montenegro we continued towards a country that would soon prove to be a pleasant discovery, a country that hosted us and made us feel at ease every single moment, a country with a wonderful people, hospitable and beautiful landscapes. We entered Albania
We immediately headed north, mountain landscapes with dirt roads, locals who go around with mules loaded with various things, large valleys between mountains and rivers with very clean and very cold water.
One afternoon after having lunch we opened the door of the Van and immediately outside there was the mule waiting for us to give him the peels of the melon and so we did.
Near the village of Teth there is one of the two Siry Kaltรซr that are present in Albania and we have visited them both, the one you can see in the following photo is the one in the north, it can be reached via a dirt road and then continue with an hour's walk . The water is around 7 degrees but I didn't miss a quick dip anyway.
After having had the pleasure of visiting the north we moved towards the coast to visit the cities of Durres, Vlora and Saranda. During the journey along the coast but also in the hinterland we saw the bunkers built between the 60s and the 80s and think that the number of these is around 173,000 bunkers throughout Albania, which by the way are not never been used.
We then went to Gjirokastra, a village built entirely of stone where you can also see the Castle. In the streets of the village there are many local shops that sell various types of carpets.
To conclude our stay in this beautiful country we moved to the South, because after we had the return ferry from Greece to Italy, but before saying goodbye to Albania we went to Ksamil and immediately after we went to Siry i Kaltรซr, the one in south, here too the water is very cold and is around 9 degrees but as for the other one, here too the dip is not lacking.
Together with the Magic Van we said goodbye to the Balkans on board the ferry and after one night we landed in Italy.