Travel with Kevin and Ruth: Long scenic drive to our next destination!

We were up and out of our apartment at 8:00am yesterday morning. It's only 235 kms (146 miles), but most of it is on a twisty windy narrow road leading through the mountains. And there is no direct way. So it's about a five hour drive!

But we broke it up with a couple of stops along the way, including a long lunch break in the town of Permet.

It was not a blue sky day though. Lots of high clouds throughout the drive. The temperature ranged from 12C to 26C depending on our altitude as the day went on.

Scenery along the way.

Despite the lack of blue sky, the scenery was spectacular.

Ruth and I had done this exact route last year, but in the reverse direction. So it was interesting for us as well, and although it was a long day we enjoyed the drive.

We drove through the remote mountain town of Leskovik near the Greece border.

The Vjosa River.

The Vjosa River is the last truly "wild" river in Europe.

The river runs freely from the Greek mountains to the Adriatic Sea. There have been many attempts to build hydro electric dams along the river, but none have come to pass. There is a movement under way in Albania to make the entire river system into a National park to protect it forever.

This is a vehicle bridge. Not sure I would trust it with Max!

We made a detour at the Ottoman Bridge and the hot springs located there. Ruth and I have been here before, but it's an interesting stop to see along the way. There were 8 or 10 camper vans parked there as this is the time some Europeans are headed to Greece and Turkiye for the winter.

Us, on top of the Ottoman bridge.

And a shot of Helen and Tony.

Zoomed in.

Notice one of the hot pools on the other side of the base of the bridge.

They call them "hot" springs, but they are really only lukewarm.

One of the other pools.

Surprisingly, the whole area is still totally free with not even a charge for parking.

Looking up the start of the canyon.

Ruth and I had done the canyon hike when we were here in May last year.

You can read about it here... https://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2021/05/wonderful-day-at-langarica-canyon-and.html

We then carried on to the town of Permet...

The "city rock" at Permet has a staircase on the other side to climb for a view.

And what a beautiful view it is!

Tony at the top.

Coming down the staircase.

When we were in Permet last year we found a restaurant that we really liked so we stopped in with Helen and Tony for a late lunch. When we were here last year, the food was fresh and plentiful and it was really cheap. Perhaps they realized that it was too cheap because prices have risen substantially. Still great value, but not as good as it was last year.

We all had the same thing. Salads, rice and beans, and a beef stew.

Again we were stuffed.

Total bill for the four of us was 3,850 lek ($44 CAD, $32 USD).

And from there, we carried on another hour and a half to the little village of Nokove just outside of Gjirokaster. We are staying at exactly the same place we stayed at last year! I didn't bother taking any photos of the place because they are the same ones as last year.

Yesterday's drive.

Our host Marika remembered us, and we were soon having a welcome drink of raki with her.

Fantastic sunset last night...