City of 1000 windows

I'm up early again today as I'm off river tubing
The meeting point is across the river so along route I stop and take a coffee. I arrived at the hostel and the lady offered me coffee and breakfast and what a spread it is . The kindness of people here doesn't come because they have a lot it's more because what they have been through and in their hard times they had to share to get by. Speaking a little language definitely opens up the older generations as most of them rely on their children coming home from the city of Tirana to be able to communicate with the influx of tourists in the summer months. The bells of the church in the hill ring out and it's so nice to enjoy without hundreds of tourists. The drive to the Osumi canyon takes 1.5 hrs and we board 2 minibus. There is no sign of Anjelo and I ask the driver to wait. He says he can for 5-10 minutes but then we have to go. Along the way there are huge farms with poly tunnels growing all the produce as few things are imported here and boy can you taste the difference. Albania is famous for its hundreds of thousands of concrete Cold War bunkers, built between 1967 and 1986 under the paranoid isolationist regime of dictator Enver Hoxha. Designed to defend the country against imagined invasions by NATO or the Warsaw Pact, these surreal relics dot every corner of the landscape in total over 175,000 were built. We arrive at the centre where we are kitted out with wetsuits and helmets and lifejackets. A lot of paddling is required as the river is not fully flowing but in some areas there are quite powerful flows. The guides push us where needed and we spend a good few hours in the water It's a really organised set up and after finishing we trek back up and are taken back to base to get changed. Back on the bus and I'm surprised when lunch is included. The tour has cost £53 but has been well worth it. Back at the hostel I grab a shower and change. This weekend there is a beer festival called Festa e Miqësisë - festival of friendships. I arrange to meet Anjelo and we share street food and a beer before both heading back for our departure tomorrow. There is an old guy here who has a kitchen sink full of coals cooking sweetcorn and it makes me chuckle thinking about some of the huge suitcases I've seen where it looks like they have literally packed the kitchen sink.Read more