This will be a short blog to describe our quick dash across Albania. We left Shkoder with lots left to see and headed back up into the hills. There was an option to follow the Albanian coast round the headland but that would have involved adding a couple of hours to the journey and a very steep climb on unknown road conditions. The previous day had been quite challenging and we took the view that we had seen incredible coast lines the previous days and perhaps the quickest route might be the better option. That meant tacking inland and heading for the hills. Our objective for the day, was to cross the Greek border and to be able to reach to reach Tolo, outside Nafplio, a town that we had visited in 2004 with Grace and Jess when they were 10 and 12 years old. Now we were revisiting old haunts and would be dropping in on friends who had retired here from London. We made good time and as we approached the Southern reaches of Albania, Jim noticed Gjirokaster on our route. He had visions of a lunch at close quarters to its historic fortress which dominated the town some 300m below its ramparts.

Its old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, described as "a rare example of a well-preserved Ottoman town, built by farmers of large estate". How could Jim resist. And after all we had been blown away the previous day by Koter in Montenegro.

On arriving in town, we were struck by how poor the signage was and how little effort had been made to direct visitors to the right spots in this small town or indeed up to parking areas marked on the map close to the entrance to the fortress. Neither were there any signs discouraging large campers from nosing their way up tiny Ottoman side streets, or getting wedged between historic overhanging buildings!

As was becoming a bit of a habit, we were getting quite good at backing off and reversing up tiny lanes and manoevering the Sprinter out of close shaves. Eventually an English speaking local asked if we wanted help and recommended a better route up to the parking! However, this did not seem much better and the tiny lanes were totally unsuited to traffic at all, let alone a five and a half ton truck.

(At this point Jim and I have different recollections. Jim’s was ´I suggested we leave the car at the bottom and walk up’. My recollection was’ l think we can manage this, let’s try!´)

Needless to say once we had started, there was no turning back. We had to power ourselves up to the top in the hope that we could turn in a parking area or find an alternative, less steep, way down. I have to report that this Mercedes Sprinter, is exceptionally good at pulling itself up incredibly steep inclines.

When we arrived at top, we were too big for any of the parking spaces, but we squeezed ourselves up against a castle wall and took stock. For Jim this involved shooting round the castle and for me it involved staking out the alternative descent options so I would never have to go down those steep tiny streets again! After much pacing back and forth and talking to locals (trying to sell me a lunch at one of the modest cafes) I worked out that we had to go back the way we had come.

Feeling calmer we resolved to stick to the route we had taken up. However, descending they all looked a bit different and we found ourselves descending a tiny narrow cobbled street which I would have struggled to walk down! I put my faith in the Sprinter brakes and gears and inched our way down. However, whilst the gears held along with the brakes, the tyres were now slipping on the slightly damp cobbles we began to slip down the slope with our noses pointing down nearly vertically. I am not good on fairground rides, which are safety tested, so you can imagine how I felt putting all my faith in the fastness of my BF Goodrich All Terrain tyres. To be fair, we held quite well and managed to get down. As we approached a less steep stretch the vehicle bottomed out and we made a terrible grinding screeching noise as we sort of inched and slid and manoevered our way back to a more horizontal position. When we finally reached dry ground and disengaged the 4WD and LRG, the van announced it had had enough of my driving and decided to show us every yellow warning light in its repertoire and told us to go straight to a Mercedes garage without passing go or collecting £200! We vaguely peered underneath but could see nothing damaged as such but thought perhaps we should turn off the ignition and start again. At this point I lost all forward gears and was beginning to dispair. A Mercedes garage visit would put us right back and most places seemed to be closed. It seems however, that the van was merely asking for respect. And after a few minutes of letting it get its act together, we started up again and very gradually warning lights ceased and the gears started working. I consulted a friend on this experience and he suggested that the car had been taken slightly beyond the limits of its capabilities and perhaps the sub plot was that he thought it was slightly beyond my own driving capabilities!

We made it across the Albanian Greek border and still had time before dark to take ourselves off to Ioninna. There we hoped to find an IOverlander spot to Free camp over night. Jim noted that it too had a large fortress and he had visions of a Greek dinner alongside the castle walls, as we had missed our Albanian lunch! This mission was accomplished.

The I Overlanding spot was another one of those located up a very steep narrow track out of town and into a wooded glade via a stony track that some large vans might find tricky. After what we had been through earlier, none of these descriptions were going to put us off. We had already been to hell and back! Jim navigated us to this peaceful hidden spot and after another busy day we fell asleep very quickly indeed.