Marhaba, kayf haluk! Hello! How are you?
Warm greetings from hot and sunny Cairo, Egypt! I'm honored and humbled you have taken your time to join in my latest adventures.
I learned more about my travel preferences during my Albanian adventure! As efficient multiple day trips can be, there is a significant downside regarding having a 'real' appreciation for the local people and culture. I felt like I saw more, however, the entire experience felt superficial.
I'm curious about how you are and what your last week was like? What unexpected (and welcome) blessings did you receive? What blessings and/or positive energy did you send out into the universe? I'd love to hear from you if you have the time to sign into Google to leave a comment/comment(s).
Albania and the surrounding Balkan countries are beautiful travel destinations. My growing personal challenge is appreciating what the country has to offer on its own merits. I feel, at times, underwhelmed about what I see and experience when I compare the scenery to previous destinations I've visited. I feel I'm starting to 'rank' the destination on a scale with Canada being at or near the top of my scale of most desirable locations (if one ignores how expensive Canada is on a global scale). Canada, along with the USA, has a tremendous range of topography that would readily satisfy any adventurer. The country's history is embedded with the country's indigenous people as opposed to traditional infrastructure like old buildings, temples or historic sites you find in other parts of the world.
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| Welcome to Egypt! |
You'll find the Friends section below somewhat 'light' this week. I think it's a combination of my type of accommodation (five of eight nights in a rented apartment) and me feeling a little discombobulated. The only people I met were on my day trips plus the one cafe near my apartment that I stopped by daily. I also noticed I felt less 'open' meaning I spent less time trying to interact with people. You'll find next week's blog post the complete opposite. Energy was flowing non-stop!
One last thought about the Balkans. As odd as this may sound, I found the energy in the countries I visited to be very unsettling. This part of the world has a history of turmoil which I think remains resident in its citizens. People have long memories in these countries. I had a Serbian friend whose family had a 'feud' with another Serbian family that originated almost 200 years ago. It's almost like the feud now has a genetic component. All this to say, I'm less likely to return to this region in the near future.
I find my heart is now torn about the most desirable locations I want to stay for longer periods of time. Central Asia is definitely is an appealing destination during spring and fall as a result of what I learned this year. Turkey is equally desirable, especially outside the larger metropolitan areas. I guess there are enough destinations in the world to keep me busy for my remaining years - assuming good health and adequate finances. 😁
May the universe bring endless blessings and moments of magic 🦄 to you and your loved ones in the week ahead. 🙏
Travel Administration
A few factoids to share about Tirana International Airport (Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Tiranës “Nënë Tereza”):
- Has electronic gates for reading your passport (entering and leaving the country) - should you have a passport with an embedded chip containing your personal information
- Absolute lack of free drinking water facilities; you must purchase bottled water if you need to quench your thirst
- An hourly bus connects the airport with Skanderbeg Square in Tirane's central business district at a cost of 400 leks (less than $8 Cdn). You can pay by cash or credit card. I think the credit card option is brand new as my friend who visited in May mentioned cash was the only payment option. FYI - most countries reference card (instead of saying credit card). The bus is a short walk from the terminal.
Travel Update
I'm holding fast to my present itinerary. I continue to be uncertain about my 2027 travel plans other than a desire to be in Japan for three months starting in March.
Travel Maps
It's a week of day trips from Tirana! My destinations included Bosnia and Herzegovina/Montenegro, Berat and Holta Canyon. I was on a flight to Cairo, through Vienna, early Saturday morning.
Albania: August 28, 2026 to September 5, 2026
Intercountry Travel: Tirana, Albania to Cairo, Egypt - September 5
Egypt: September 5 to September 14, 2026
Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H)/Montenegro Day Trip
Welcome to my 14 hour long day trip to these two countries located north of Albania. Most of this region was called Yugoslavia when I first visited in in 1983. Interesting to see how the world has unfolded in the intervening years. I also had interest in visiting this region because of its notoriety from the war and war crimes committed.
I shared this experience with three other travelers and our driver/tour guide. There was a doctor (general practitioner and his wife) from central Portugal along with Ping, a 26 year old Chinese woman who was working in London, England.
Our travel itinerary was to drive to Trebinje (B&H), then work our way back to Podgorica, Montenegro's capital. I was rewarded by having minimal expectations for this trip. While the scenery was beautiful. there are much more beautiful regions in the world that are equally accessible. Good places to visit if you happen to be in the general vicinity.
Montenegro Rest Stop
Nice pastoral scene on our way to B&H.
Entering Bosnia and Herzegovina
'Republika Srpska was established in 1992 at the onset of the Bosnian War with the stated purpose of safeguarding the interests of the Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the conflict, a majority of Croats and Bosniaks were expelled from territories controlled by Republika Srpska, while the majority of Serbs were displaced or expelled from the present-day Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Republika Srpska. The 1995 Dayton Agreement created Republika Srpska as one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's two constituent entities. Today, it is inhabited by the Serb population of the country.'
Our tour guide stopped specifically to allow to take a photo of this unique sign. It's an introduction to the troubled and torturous history in this region.
The haze you see in the photos below is smoke from forest fires burning in the area.
Our small group consensus was this city was significantly underwhelming. Dubrovnik, on the coast, would have been a more interesting and scenic destination.
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| City street |
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| City street |
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| Temple of Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord |
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| Temple of Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord |
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| Temple of Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord |
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| Ottoman town wall |
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| Trebišnjica River |
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| Trebišnjica River |
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| Ottoman Town Wall |
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| Car of some significance |
Return to Montenegro
Beautiful canyon and lake views awaited us on our return trip.
Podgorica - Montenegro's Capital
'The name Podgorica originates in 1326, and it is built amongst five rivers: the Zeta, Moraca, Ribnica, Cijevna, and Sitnica. Most of the city was destroyed during WWII, so Podgorica is relatively new, with modern buildings at every step of the way, along with green spaces and parks.'
We had a brief walking tour of the city's downtown area. Lots of ongoing construction to beautify the city's core.
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| Nemanjica Grad, a medieval fortification |
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| City sidewalk with bike path |
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| Millennium Bridge |
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Prepping for the evening's basketball game
against Ukraine! |
Our tour's first stop was at Lake Belsh, which was (in my mind) a complete waste of time. A small town with a small lake that lacked any redeeming qualities. Forget about public toilets in this part of the world. You are actively looking for restaurants or shops that will allow you to use their toilets. Our next two stops were Berat Castle and Berat townsite. The link above has information to enhance your knowledge about Berat.
'Approximately 100 families live inside castle walls that have been continuously inhabited for 2,400 years. This isn’t a heritage village or reconstruction—children kick footballs against Byzantine church foundations, neighbors dry laundry on lines strung between medieval towers, and families keep chickens in courtyards where Illyrian residents once did the same in the 4th century BC.'
I wandered around for a few minutes before finding a shaded area to enjoy my lunch. I ignored the museum but did take advantage of the museum's free toilet. I am embarrassed to share that I did have a rather curt conversation with the woman who was collecting a fee to use the public toilet at the castle's entrance. I truly hope I avoid getting into serious trouble with those moments where I expose me and my righteous indignation about paying to use a toilet. This poor woman was just doing her job. Shame on me!!
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| Uphill walkway leading to castle entrance |
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| Castle entrance |
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| Walkway |
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| Walkway |
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| View of valley below castle |
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| Embracing walkway |
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| Tower near entrance |
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| Valley view from castle wall |
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| Valley view from castle tower |
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| Saying goodbye to the castle |
Berat
The key marketing slogan used to attract visitors to this community is 'The City of a Thousand Windows' The city's buildings have important historic and architectural significance if you fancy that type of experience. I was there to take a few photos to capture the moment. I stopped at a riverside restaurant for a cold drink and a fresh salad as a way to while away time until the bus departed.
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| West bank houses |
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| West bank houses |
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| Hillside church |
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| East bank houses |
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| Cliffside attractions |
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| River side art class |
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Greek salad with fresh ingredients
grown locally. So delicious! |
This day trip has to rank as one of the oddest day trips ever. I had a spirited conversation with the tour operator after learning the tour was starting at noon instead of 9:30 am as advertised. Thank goodness I had decided against attending the Albanian cultural dinner I had been considering.
The odd part was the driver/tour guide drove us to Holta Canyon in total silence - about two hours The first time he spoke was when we stopped for a toilet/coffee break. He had a few words to guide us through the canyon walk. He was much more animated when the two of us spoke at our last stop of the day. He was fascinated by my travels, expressing a desire to do something similar in the future.
Holta Canyon
Do bring your swimmers and water walkers when you sign up for this tour. The walk in the canyon includes crossing the river multiple times including one section of river where you are wading in ice cold water that is chest level deep! I was appreciative of the safety helmet our tour guide provided as rocks do randomly fall from canyon walls!
The 'regular' part of the walk takes about 15 minutes. You can venture further up the canyon by wading through more chest deep ice cold river water, if that's what you like to do. I decided against going further as the scenery was getting repetitive (and the idea of being submerged in more cold water had lost its appeal).
There was a hot pool near the canyon entrance where you could wade in to warm up when exiting the canyon.
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| Canyon walls |
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| Near canyon entrance |
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An Italian couple who thought
the river mud had therapeutic powers! |
Banja Lake
We had a brief stop (smoke break) at this lake.
Sunrise & Sunset - August 31
I was blessed to witness the sun rise and set during my Bosnia/Montenegro day trip.
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| Sun rise |
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| Sunrise |
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| Sun setting |
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| Sun setting |
Friends
My week in Albania was a 'funny' type of week when it comes to meeting people. I had several conversations with people on the different day trips I took, but the conversations seemed 'superficial.' I met Ping from China on the Montenegro tour. She was working as 'a commodities trader' in London, England. The commodity being raw materials used to make perfumes. She was a year into her three year work visa. Her home in China was the region that Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher, who is credited with writing the
Tao Te Ching which is one of the two books I carry with me in my travels. The second book is
Embers by Canadian author Richard Wagamese.
I also had a brief convo with the Berat day trip tour guide - forgot his name, sorry. He mentioned he traveled to Italy to try to find a better life, however he returned to Albania as his financial situation was the same as Albania. He thought he might as well be in Albania with family and friends instead of being alone in Italy. I believe the universe was reminding me about how blessed I was with the opportunities I have had in life and my flexibility to travel. The tour guide certainly keyed in on my travel flexibility in our convo.
I had an interesting conversation with a young studen couple from Poland (Victoria/Yugo) and Mathias, a second mate on a ferry service in Norway. Mathias had a fascinating story. He became interested in a sailing career in his teens after he and a friend saw an ad to join a sailing boat for a week. That curiosity led to his sailing career which has involved several years of formal training combined with on-the-job training experience. The Polish couple were students enjoying an inexpensive week long holiday.
I had a few brief convos with Alexandria who worked at Le Bon, a bakey/eatery that was a five minuted walk from my rented apartment. I met her while ordering ice cream; she had stepped in to help me when her colleague suddenly disappeared. She shared a personal clue that confirmed she had good energy - she liked raspberries and ice cream! We exchanged pleasantries over the five day period I visited Le Bon!
En Route to Egypt
The best flight, based on arriving at a reasonable time of day, I could find from Albania to Egypt was with Austrian Airlines routing through Vienna. My lowball bid for business class was accepted meaning I could spend my four hour layover in the business lounge. This lounge was the same place I spent my layover time on my flight from Toronto to Maldives. Small world, n'est pas?
Albania/Austria/Greece
I continue sharing my love affair with sharing photos of the landscape I am blessed to be flying over as I work my way to my next destination.
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| Departing Albania |
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| Greek landscape |
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| Flying over Greece |
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| Greece's coastline |
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| Greece's coastline |
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| Unknown Greek island |
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| Unknown Greek island |
Welcome to the land of 118,000,000 Egyptian citizens, 15,000,000 refugees, Nile River, Suez Canal, pyramids, temples and the Grand Egyptian Museum, the world's largest archaeological museum!
Aerial View
Our flight path took us over Alexandria, then southward towards Cairo.
The key landscape feature that initially caught my attention was how everything, including the buildings, appeared to be a homogenous brown. Yes, a total lack of color. Which now makes sense to me after experiencing the unrelenting sun. Colors would be high maintenance in the baking sun!
I was also looking for the Nile River as a distinguishing feature. And there it was.
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| A sea of buildings |
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| Nile |
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| Nile |
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| Nile |
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Reasonable representation of how monochrome
this part of the world is
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Cairo International Airport
Timeless Tours, my tour company, provided a transfer service from the airport to the hotel we were booked at. Merna, the company's airport representative, was a magician. She whisked Bernard and myself through the paperwork and immigration with lightning speed. The immigration agent ensured we had paid the $36 USD entry fee, stamped our passports and send us on our way. As we were exiting immigration she pointed out the snaking line of people in the 'regular' immigration line.
Bernard, my newest friend and fellow tour traveler, is a Canadian from the Toronto area. A storm and tornado in Toronto disrupted his travel. He missed a connection so ended up arriving in Cairo about 12 hours later than originally scheduled.
We were escorted to a waiting car and were at our hotel about an hour later. I met the ten fellow travelers who were on 'my' tour hosted by Ash, our tour guide. Bernard was on a separate tour run by the same company but under a different brand name.
My heartfelt thanks to the universe for the blessing of having a room for myself. I landed with the expectation I would be sharing a room only to discover I was the only solo traveler in the group.
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| Welcome to Egypt! |
Next Week
We take a 90 minute flight to Aswan on Sunday evening, stay a night in a local hotel before boarding a cruise ship to cruise the Nile River for the next three nights. Prior to leaving Aswan, we have a day trip (four hour bus ride in each direction) to Abu Simbel to visit the relocated Ramses II temple. We disembark the cruise ship in Luxor and enjoy a four hour bus ride to Hurghada. After two nights in an all inclusive resort, we have a six hour bus trip that returns us to Cairo to visit the Grand Egyptian Museum.
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