Dan thought it was a good idea to do Benjes Canyon today despite the fact that it is a more technical canyon and very few people even do canyoning in Albania. So, I was a little anxious the night before thinking that we might die in a canyon in Albania. I am writing this blog now, so we obviously didn't die - yay.
The morning started off well with a yummy breakfast in the garden of our guesthouse. Then we packed up our gear and headed off to find Benjes Canyon. We had to go several kilometers on a dirt road which would have made our rental car company very unhappy. We drove very carefully though.
Breakfast in the garden of our guesthouse
Our guesthouse
There were even little pizza fritta - just like I learned how to make from my Italian mom and Nana
We parked at a church that was tricky to drive to.
The approach to the canyon was about an hour of hiking in the hot sun on a faint trail. It seems like we have spent a lot of time sweating since we have been in Albania. Eventually, we found where we would drop into the canyon. Once we dropped in, there would be no turning back. This canyon had 14 rappels with lots of playful jumps and slides. Plus, we read that it was supposed to be an extra beautiful canyon.
The approach to the canyon was hot!
A shepherd's hut along the way
Looking at where we would drop into the canyon.
Our 1st rappel
Dan checking out the anchors for the 1st rappel
Dropping into the canyon
A selfie us us (Dan is about to rappel in)
Admiring the cool canyon walls.
Check out those beautiful walls!
Dan is standing on a sweet chock stone
One of the last rappels
This sweet arch bridge greeted us towards the end of the canyon.
Lots of giant boulders lodged into the canyon.
Our bathroom - doesn't everyone's bathroom look like this when they travel?
On our hike out from the canyon, a thunderstorm rolled in. We made it to the car just as the lightening started and the rain picked up, so our timing was impeccable. Luckily, the rental car made it out from the dirt road before things got too wet.
Once we returned back to our room, it was dinner time, so we headed out to another restaurant. The food was yummy, but the food the night before was better. We have decided that we really like Permet. It is a town Albanians live and work. People are friendly, the town is clean and beautiful and there is lots of character.
Last year, Dan bought a book about canyoning in Albania, so that's how we ended up deciding to go adventure there. I read about the beautiful mountains, but what tipped the scales in Albania's direction was what I read about the food - it's kind of a mix of Greek, Italian, Turkish, and more. And with a mountain range named the "Accursed Mountains", we kind of HAD to check it out. Before we left, we had to get our ducks in a row, including creating our "geriatric garden" (raised beds) and putting the plants in the garden, getting and training a puppy, packing a lot of gear, wrapping up things things at school for my work and putting together the master spreadsheet for our trip. And before we knew it, it was time to depart. It was a long travel day, but we finally made it to Dhermi, Albania. We said goodbye to our pups, Maya and James and then headed off to catch the Concord Coach with a quick stop to get the salads that we always get for flights at Market...
We've been punting the last two days as to what to do so today was just checking out different things in the area because we're on deck for our flight early in the morning tomorrow. Dan had trouble sleeping, so he spent some time doing a little research about what we could do: Shkoder Castle, Ottoman Mesi Bridge, Bunk'Art and maybe a cable car up a mountain. We wanted to do a hike that looked fun, but our rental wasn't allowed to drive on the road (and we were told that there was a GPS tracker on our car so they would know). But that first order of business was getting Dan an affogado which he was very excited about. Mother Teresa was Albanian and lived in Shkoder for a while. Dan was very excited to get an affogado in the morning. The place opened at 7:30 and we were there at 7:29. According to Dan, next level affogado That is one very happy man. I think an affogado is just a fancy way to say "I'll have gelato for breakfast." The streets of Shkoder are s...
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