1,208 km in 10 days: After the border we drive along the beautiful and still quite wild Vjosa valley. The play of colors with the purple blossoming spring trees and the blue river water is fantastic. The village of Gjirokaster gives us a good first impression of Albanian life. The Blue Eye spring offers us a blaze of blue colors in all shades, with crystal-clear water gushing out of the ground. We drive spectacular coastal roads and have a good time on the beach of Vlore for a few days. Only a few other overlanders and cows keep us company from time to time. The town of Kruja with its handicraft market is quite authentic – this is where we start our tour through the mountains, which we will remember as an adventure, despite being in Europe. On this first stretch, the drone crashes, we cut branches from what feels like 1,000 trees, drive over half-crashed slopes and circumnavigate huge rocks that fell off the mountain. In the end we have to drive over an already half-destroyed bridge, because turning around or driving backwards is out of the question and another part collapses below us. The adrenaline doesn’t even drop to normal anymore. At the beautiful Black Drin we relax with a “safe” quad tour. The second slope is no less strenuous. Here too, we have to trim trees and follow a winding track that accompanies a small river. There are certainly 20 very tight hairpin bends to master, which require all driving skills from Oliver. At Skadarsko Lake we meet friends from Namibia and recover from the hardships. Albania is still original and partly wild, so that you might not believe that you are already in Europe. The nature is beautiful and the people are helpful and very friendly.