The Osumi Canyon is not the deepest canyon in Europe. One day before we leave Greece, we add it to our return journey itinerary. Situated in the very remotest mountainous region of Albania, even the journey to the Osumi Canyon gets off to a bad start.

Google Maps says “five and a half hours from Meteora, including tolls and border control”. Then the landlady messages us: “The route via Përmet is currently only accessible by jeep”. Yet that would have been exactly the route we’d planned to take. The detour adds a whopping 150 km and two and a half hours to the already lengthy journey. Two and a half hours for 150 km? (more…)

Crossing the border from Montenegro into Albania is actually quite quick. In theory. You just have to make sure you move forward within five seconds at most. Otherwise, someone will push in. As there are also loads of motorcyclists pushing in, it ends up taking nearly an hour and a half. Over the last 100 metres before the border, for every two people who’ve been processed, two more push their way to the front. Loud shouting escalates almost into a brawl. Then the second lane opens.

In northern Albania, the roads are absolutely rubbish. Deep potholes, traffic jams and the most idiotic speed limits take you past countless shrines to road deaths, each the size of a proper mausoleum. Two Italian Hells Angels clear the way for us through a few police checkpoints. Montenegro’s flag is red. Red is the rule. “60” means “at least 60 km/h”. The driving style here is a touch rougher than in Montenegro. We are in the Wild East. (more…)