Great day exploring in and around Albania's Osum Canyon

We were back to beautiful blue sky weather yesterday. A great day to return to the Osum Canyon so that we could see some of the views from above. There were a few other things we wanted to see as well. It was lots of fun doing our river rafting trip yesterday, but it didn't give us the opportunity to stop and take photos along the way.

It's not that far from Berat to the start of the canyon at the town of Çorovoda... only about 50 kms (30 miles). But it's a twisty curvy road that goes through several villages, so it takes about an hour and a half.

We left our cottage at about 10:15am.

Lots of photos!

Scenery along the way.

There are a few vineyards in the area.

Green valley.

Not sure we trust this bridge!

The Osum River, looking back at where we came from.

Lots of different colors.

Waterfall in the distance.

The downstream end of the canyon is at the town of Çorovoda.

Bailey Bridge.

We got out and went for a short walk here.

The canyon isn't as deep here, but its' still really pretty.

Don't forget you can click on the photo to make it full screen.

Click on it again, and you can zoom in.

We carried on to a point where they have a lookoff...

Looking right.

Yet another waterfall.

And looking left.

Ruth at yet another waterfall.

Looking down.

Some kind of religious chapel or shrine.

The Bride's Hole.

Close to the village of Bagazi, there is a hollow cavity with a length of 7-8 meters and a diameter of around 2 meters. This place has a special history connected to an old tale. The tale goes like this: A bride forced to abide by the old traditions was forced to marry against her will. The bride’s inlaws were returning with her to their village, but when they arrived, the bride said to them “you are taking me to this man against my will” but her inlaws didn’t answer. Therefore, the bride decided to create a plan to escape. Praying to God while looking at the Canyons she said “Open, o rock, to save me from my anguish” The rock listened and before her appeared a hole or “cavity”. The bride threw herself from her horse and hid inside the hole. Her inlaws returned to the village without her.

Later, this place was called the Bride’s hole and was visited by new brides that wanted to have children. They would enter the hole with their clothes on inside out. Inside the hole they would undress and then put their clothes on properly. They would then return to their homes, quieted, knowing that their wish for a child would be granted.

Looking right.

Looking left.

It's a little tough to get the correct angle when you are the only ones around and you are using self timer on the camera!

Scenery along the way.

This fairly short bridge crosses over the canyon.

I was standing on the bridge when I took today's header photo shot!

Another waterfall in the distance.

Looking the opposite way.

The bridge and our rental car.

We carried on another couple of kilometers to a picnic spot by the river. It turns out this is a perfect boondocking spot and we hope to return to it with our new motorhome one day. GPS 40.437977, 20.280527. There was a guy from Belgium camping there and we said hello to him.

In behind where he was camped, there was a really interesting trail. It led to an old bridge that went across the canyon.

This odd natural ridge had formed.

Making our way carefully to the bridge.

From the bridge, looking back at the way we came.

I crossed the bridge, but Ruth decided she would rather stay on the other side!

The trail went quite a bit higher, but eventually even I decided it was a little sketchy!

Looking back at Ruth on the other side.

Making our way back.

The lower left is the free camp spot.

Yet another view of the canyon.

Interesting how the rocks have formed over thousands of years.

Cool rocks!

So much to explore.

This road was only "modernized" in 2018.

I'm thinking they have a major problem!

Looking down.

This was as far as we made it. We could spend a lot more time in this area!

We headed back to the town of Çorovoda and found a nice spot to have some lunch.

Lunch in the town of Çorovoda.

Salad, sausage, bread, and a local dish that we can only describe as a mix of some type of cream cheese and pickled cabbage!

Near the town of Çorovoda, there was one other thing we wanted to see. But time was getting on and we knew we still had an hour and a half drive back to Berat. We decided to make a quick stop at the old bridge just to say we went there. But again, there is so much more to see in the area that we look forward to returning with our motorhome.

The Kasabashi Bridge.

One of the oldest surviving bridges in Albania, it was built in 1647.

There is another really good boondocking wild camping spot by the bridge. GPS 40.51581, 20.242595

And then we drove back home. What a great day!

Today is a day of rest though. I have my (hopefully!) final dentist appointment this afternoon, and tomorrow is moving day as we head to the coastal city of Vlorë for a week at the beach.

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