Valbona valley

Well mornings don't get better than this. I'm surrounded by beautiful limestone mountains drinking coffee and enjoying my cigarettes. The guys and girls left early this morning at 6 but I unusually fall back asleep and woke around 8am. It's a crazy situation here because when you try to tip they say no. In the shop yesterday the young boy of about 7 yrs of age had served us in the restaurant and is now running the little shop.I tried to tip him 2 euro and he refused but I make him take it and again at the guesthouse they didn't like to take it either. Once again this morning I'm sat at the side of the road waiting for a bus that I'm not sure is going to come and am feeling really nervous as I need to catch the ferry. So my little friend from the port finally arrives at 1030. I am so relieved and he has kept me the front seat. All the people who speak English here are self taught and are so open to tourism however this has only really been in the last 10 years and started firstly with people from neighbouring countries like Montenegro. Other tourist from around the world started coming in 2019 but then COVID. In the valley you can see that they are starting with the infrastructure of building larger hotels and I'm so glad that I have come now to enjoy it without the hustle of big crowds. We arrive at the ferry port and I sit to have a coffee. It is so hot and I offer a guy a seat with me so he can sit in the shade. He is from Madrid and as we embark on the journey we exchange our life stories I explain that my mum and dad had their ashes scattered in a place called la Caruella in Spain and he nearly falls off his chair. His father's ashes are scattered at the same rock as my mum. . The more we talk the more crazy it gets and we spend the whole 3 hour journey exchanging stories with a promise we will continue over a beer in La Caruella in the next 12 months. We bid each other Adiós and I board my bus. This time the bus has picked us up on the other side of the tunnel but as we drive through the amount of buses is crazy and takes us 10 minutes to get out with tourists just standing in the road. It's a 90 minute ride back to the hostel and I'm looking forward to seeing the mexican girls again. I arrived back at the hostel and am greeted with a wonderful hug from Lexi. I spend the afternoon catching up and just chilling as I plan to watch the football tonight. I grab some food and treat myself to an espresso martini. At 4 euro a pop I might have 2. I plan to watch the football in the hostel but just before the game there is no one In the bar. I wander downstairs as there must be somewhere else the football is on and the street is packed with football on a much bigger screen. One of the young guys from the hostel brings me a chair from the bar and what a game it is . I'm so glad I came down here apart from the fact there are about 4 English supporters in the street. Even the Albanians love Haaland. There are a family close to me who I believe to be cheering Norway as their daughter has a Norway hat on. I ask if I can get a photo at half time and when I speak to them, the mum is from Rainford. We all laugh out loud. It's crazy the interactions football brings you when you are traveling. The second half is painful to watch but when we score in extra time I jump a up and have a little celebration fist pump. I help the guys bring up some glasses and after the vodka red bull I had I don't think I'm going to fall asleep but I drift of easier than expected.Read more