Ancient Olympia... birthplace of the Olympic Games

Having been to both Mexico and Turkey, we have explored a lot of ruins sites. But Ancient Olympia in Greece is a little different because it is where the Greek Olympic Games took place every four years without interruption between 776 BC and 393 AD... a period of 1,169 years!

Sure, to look at the ruins themselves, it's all very similar to the ruins we saw in Turkey. But it's the information learned here to do with the games that we found really interesting.

The photos don't tell the whole story.

We arrived at the seaside port town of Katakolo fairly early. They have a huge parking area that the motorhomes use, but there was only one other rig there when we showed up.

Katakolo is on the Mediterranean cruise ship circuit, so normally there would be between one and three cruise ships docked here while the tourists they carry made their way to nearby Ancient Olympia. But there is none of that happening right now.

Parked at the beach, and Max's AdBlue

It kind of felt like we wasted the day at the laundromat! But, we still managed to put on a few miles and get out of the very busy area around the city of Patras. Patras is the third largest city in Greece with a population now around 200,000 but I thought it felt much bigger than that.

The laundromat was located on a pretty busy street and we got lucky that Max was able to fit into one of the four parking spots right at the laundromat itself. One of the benefits of having a short motorhome!

Max went for his first boat ride!

Monday was a day to get some chores done. First up was to fill with fresh water. The park4night app is really useful for things like this because other van and motorhome campers have listed some possible water fill and propane fill stops.

There was a gas station along our route that had a water fill point, and it was easy access and we were quickly in and out of there. Propane might be a different story though.

If it would stay like this all winter...

We couldn't really have asked for a much better day. Sure, the temperature could still have been a few degrees higher, but if it were like this for the rest of the winter, we would be fine with that!

My mother mentioned to us that considering the weather we have had, we would have been better off in Mexico. And from a weather perspective, that is certainly true.

This wasn't in the plans!

It was spitting with rain when we set off around 10:00am Saturday morning. I knew that we had to drive up over a mountain pass, but I didn't really think much of it. I also knew it would be a little colder up there, and figured that we might see a few snowflakes.

But I wasn't expecting a blizzard!

On a mission to get further south

When I was planning our drive yesterday and looking for somewhere to overnight, there weren't a lot of interesting looking options. It turns out that's because there really isn't a lot of interesting looking things to see along that stretch. 

And, we were trying to get further south anyhow. There is a bit of cold weather heading through this area the next couple of days and so we are skipping by this area in favor of a little more warmth.

Christmas Festival in Trikala, Greece

The city of Trikala lies about 30 kms (18 miles) south of the popular cliff monasteries of Meteora. It's not much of a tourist destination. They have one small castle, and the old town area is pretty run down with a lot of graffiti. 

But we were told about a Christmas festival they do called Mill of the Elves and apparently people drive from all over Greece to take part.

The clifftop monastries of Meteora, Greece (day 3)

Yesterday we drove up to the monastery road that circles in behind the cliffs. This is how most people access the monasteries. There are some hiking trails to get up to them, but we also wanted to drive about 15 kms north to try to hike to the locations of some of the monasteries that don't exist anymore. 

And if we wanted to see all of the different viewpoints on our last day in the area, driving was the fastest way to do it.

The clifftop monastries of Meteora, Greece (day 2)

There is lots of hiking and exploring to be done in this area, and even though the temperature is a little chilly, it's actually great weather for doing exactly that. But before we set out, we had to get another SIM card for the phone. 

I wasn't happy with the data package I got from the first supplier, so we walked into town and went to the Vodafone Greece store.

The clifftop monastries of Meteora, Greece

Monday morning we woke up to a clear blue sky. What a refreshing change! With a more positive weather forecast in our future, we decided to do the detour to the monasteries of Meteora. 

It was about a 200 km detour from our loosely planned route, and with the price of fuel we don't take these things lightly. Also, toll roads in Greece are fairly expensive and while we normally prefer to stick to the back roads, they can be pretty slow going.

Just  warning... lots of photos today!

The ancient city of Dodoni

The skies finally cleared enough to go and do some exploring. We made sure to bring our umbrellas and raincoats with us though! 

Only a 15 minute walk from where we were parked is the ancient city of Dodoni. We didn't come here specifically for that, it was just a coincidence really. Which is a good thing because I read some reviews that said it wasn't really the best ruins site. 

I think the worst is over

Pouring rain again yesterday. In fact it was so much rain that the Greek authorities in this area put out a blanket cell phone alert warning telling people to stay home if it wasn't absolutely necessary. 

We had originally planned on doing some driving south, but decided that wasn't a good idea. We felt the need to find somewhere better than a parking lot to ride out the rain though. I found a listing on the park-4-night app that looked suitable, and it turned out to be a really great choice!

It doesn't matter if it's raining out if you are inside a cave!

Pouring rain again all day yesterday, just as they forecast. So we drove the short distance from Ioannina up to the Cave of Perama.

We've been in a lot of caves in our travels. It's actually one of the things that we try to seek out. But we've kind of become "cave snobs" over the years, and try to do a lot of research before spending the money to visit some caves, because quite frankly, some caves are not worth visiting!

Welcome to Greece. Country #50 for us!

Max's fuel tank was down to about 1/4 so the first thing we did was to top it up. We hadn't put any fuel in since November 2nd. Max gets really good fuel mileage, but it's even better when he's not being driven!

And then it was off to Greece. In the pouring rain.

Well, that turned into a pretty good day!

It was 10:30am by the time we pulled out of the campground at Berat. A little later start than I would have liked, but not bad. Our goal is always to get parked up by 2:00pm, so we should have still been okay.

Our destination was Permet. Only 60 kms away as the crow flies, but the easiest drive is 170 kms! There are shorter routes, but they are recommended 4x4 only. We know that some motorhomes and campervans have done it, but it's really slow going. It turns out that we had some bad sections to deal with anyhow!

Getting ready to get back on the road. Headed for Greece!

Yesterday morning we were still parked in the lot near downtown Berat, so we took advantage of the location to stock up on a few things. No idea what's in store for the next few days, so it's good to be prepared. 

We went back to our favorite butcher guy. He sold us the most delicious juicy pork chops last time, and so we bought four more, as well as one chunk that can be oven roasted. And a half kilo of ground beef as well.

Well, we've had enough

And, we've learned a lesson. Never order an international package in Europe without being prepared to wait forever until it arrives.

Before we ordered the water filter, I had asked how long it would take to arrive. The supplier told me "DHL says it's 6-8 days. But I think its going faster." His exact words. So based on that, we made the order and were prepared to wait 8 days.

Six month review of Max... our European motorhome

Max is a 2021 Adria Matrix 520ST. He is 5.9 meters (19.5') long and has a Citroen chassis. We first met him in June, so it's been almost six months that we've had to get to know each other.

We did spend much of August and September in Canada, so really it's only been about four months of use. And in that four months, we have put 4,200 kms (2,600 miles) on the odometer. 

I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night!

Quite a  few things to talk about today. 

We made the decision to move Max down to the parking lot in the city itself. More for a change of scenery than anything else, but it's also slightly cheaper and of course it's closer to the shops and we were due to stock up on a few things. Our LPG was getting low, so we also needed to fill the tanks.

Out for a hike, and shipping update

At 12:30pm I got an notification update regarding our package. It has only now left Germany! So it took a full week to get from the supplier to the airport. Well at least it's not lost. The last update actually says NOTE: As soon as the shipment arrives in the destination country/destination area, you will receive updated information in the detailed tracking history.

So you would think that we should receive another update today. But who knows. It is what it is and we'll just have to wait it out. 

We aren't destination people... we are explorers.

We've been in Berat for two weeks now. Which has been okay... we like the city and the area and the campground we are at is great. But even when we like a place, we are ready to move on after two weeks. We aren't destination people, we are explorers. Which is why our home has wheels. 

So what's keeping us here?

We bit off more than we could chew!

We woke up to a beautiful blue sky, and it stayed that way all day! What a refreshing change from all the rain that we've had recently. 

So we decided to go for a long bike ride. I had read about a winery in a village located 15kms (9.3 miles) away. We figured we would try to go there for lunch. A 30 km (18.6 mile) bike ride isn't unreasonable, so off we went.

Berat Castle hike, and Ruth's dentist update

We posted our November expenses last night. Our cheapest month of the year so far!

The rain finally stopped after lunch and we were pretty quick to get out and get some exercise before it got dark. We decided to walk down to the city and see how much the river had risen due to the last three days of fairly hard rain.

And from there up to Berat Castle. We had been up to the castle when we were here in March, but wanted to go back just for the hike up.

What does it cost to motorhome in Albania for a month?

More accurately, we did spend the first week of the month of November making our way through Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Montenegro. We didn't actually arrive in Albania until November 7th. 

November was our cheapest month so far this year, as we expected it would be. We spent a total of $1,390 CAD ($1,085 USD, €960) for the month. 

Here's how it all broke down...

Best rainbow ever?

We belong to quite a few travel groups on Facebook. One of our favorites is called Senior Nomads. When we first started out, we wouldn't have felt that we met the criteria to join a group like that, but I guess we're getting to the point where we fit the bill!

Anyhow, an interesting comment came up yesterday regarding how far in advance people are planning trips. Given the Covid situation, I was surprised at how some people already have so much booked.

Just about time to head further south!

It's a bit of an anomaly, but there are actual snow flurries in the forecast for Berat, Albania on Tuesday night with an expected low around the freezing mark. Still, average temperatures for this time of year are highs of 14C (58F) and lows of 8C (47F) and it is supposed to quickly return to that on Wednesday.

But, it is just about time to be heading further south which is exactly what we will be doing as soon as our package arrives and we finish with the dentist. Hopefully by the end of this week.

Ruth's birthday turned out better than expected... and what a finish!

Pouring buckets when we woke up yesterday morning, but by 9:00am or so it had stopped. The forecast was for more rain though. Ruth had an 11:00am dentist appointment so we weren't sure whether we should drive into town but by 10:30 it still wasn't raining so we decided to hop on the bikes.

That turned out to be the best choice. Didn't really want to move Max the motorhome if we didn't have to.

Future plans

Yesterday was a rain day! I only got outside twice... once during a 15 minute dry spell so that I could empty our toilet tank, and once so that I could take a few rainbow photos.

Otherwise, it was a computer day and we got quite a lot accomplished. And we heard back from the dentist again and Ruth has an appointment at 11:00am this morning to have the molds and scans taken for the invisible braces for her lower teeth.

Ruth's dentist update, and does anybody know what these are...?

There's a lot of rain in the forecast for the next four days, so we figured we had better get out and enjoy the day. It's a great area for hiking and biking, and we had not yet taken the bikes heading south along the road outside the campground.

Also, we heard back from the dentist regarding straightening Ruth's lower teeth. She has nice teeth and they are all her own, but we have noticed over the last five years or so that the front lower ones have become a little crooked. We would not be able to justify spending the money that it would cost in Canada or the U.S., but we figured our dentist here in Albania might come up with something more cost effective.

Just another day of Motorhome life in Albania.

The plan was to do a bike ride into town in the morning to pick up some groceries, then another one in the afternoon in the opposite direction just for pleasure. 

So we set off to do groceries around 10:30am. It was a nice blue sky day. We got to the butcher that we have used in the past. He speaks zero English. But we got across to him that we wanted some fresh ground beef. He held up a slab of beef and made gestures like he was going to cut it. But we pointed at his meat grinding machine and he shook his head. It took us a few seconds to figure it out, but it turns out the power was out!

This campground will do just fine for the next few days

The weather has been better than we expected it to be. However there is some rain supposed to be arriving by tomorrow afternoon, and showers throughout the upcoming weekend. And I've got some computer work to get done during that time so it made sense for us to look for a campground where we can have electricity and WiFi. Also, we are waiting for the dentist to get back to us about straightening Ruth's lower teeth.

We didn't plan on staying in Berat this long, but then we really don't have any kind of schedule, so it doesn't matter! And, as I've said before, we really like the area.

We love going to the dentist!

Said no one. Ever.

However, when you can go to the dentist and are confident that you are getting good value for your money, it makes the whole experience a little more enjoyable.

I had been to see a dentist in Albania back in the springtime. I had a bridge that had come loose, and it turned out that one of the anchor teeth needed to be rebuilt. I had four different appointments and the final bill was so inexpensive that I thought he forgot to add a zero or two!

We could easily live in this area.

We woke up Sunday morning and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. And it stayed that way all day! Just perfect. We didn't want to waste a day like that, so we set off on a hike up the road past the village of Drobonik. 

This is an interesting road because if you look on Google maps it is marked as a major route south. And between Berat and Drobonik the road is freshly paved and in beautiful condition. But after Drobonik it deteriorates quickly into a dirt road and apparently there are areas where it would be wise to have a high clearance vehicle, if not 4WD.

What a great day we had!

Yesterday we did our guided hike and picnic lunch into Albania's Tomorri National Park. We had tried to go up to this area when we had a car rental back in early April but we just had a small 2WD car, and we learned pretty quickly that you need a high clearance 4WD in order to go to where we were trying to go.

We met our guide Arti from Albania Rafting Group at 9:00am, and hopped into a 4WD Land Rover. Arti a young guy, 24 years old and Berat is his home town so he knows the area well. Nice guy, and we enjoyed his company.

It's a bit of a treat for us...

First thing we did yesterday morning was to put on a load of laundry. Mostly bedding, so we wanted to get it in early so that it would dry by the time we left. There was no stated checkout time, so we asked the lady if we could stay a little longer, and she didn't have a problem with that. We had already unplugged, and it's not like there was a lineup of people waiting for a spot.

We kind of got sidetracked... and ended up at the dentist office!

We got a decently early start for our drive to Berat. They were calling for showers in the afternoon, so we wanted to get to the River Side Campground early enough to get a load or two of laundry done. Our plan was to have a one night stay at this campground in order to do laundry, have showers, fill and empty our tanks, and fully charge our batteries. 

This way, we will easily be able to spend a few free nights at the hotel parking lot where we know it is shaded and don't know if we will be able to plug in.

Out for a bike ride, and problems solved!

Change of plans! We decided to stay put for one more night. It turns out that the castle we were hoping to visit now charges a €10 fee to overnight there, and it's not that important to us. So the only other option in that area was beach camping at a restaurant. We decided that if we are going to beach camp, we've got it pretty good right where we are!

And with some rain in the forecast, we didn't want to be stuck (literally!) in soft sand or on a muddy road.

Yet another problem...

Cloudy with sunny breaks yesterday. High of about 20C (68F), so it was quite pleasant.

Right beside where we are parked, there is a water faucet that actually works. So we took the opportunity to do some chores. Laundry is always an issue... it's difficult to find laundromats. They do exist in the larger cities, but they're not always convenient. So we do smaller items by hand when we can.