Indecision and paranoia. I ended up cycling up ‘Samsung Galaxy’ valley seeing trouble everywhere where there was none. I had to use my people judgement today, trust someone, and follow my intuition. I am still here, so I guess it worked out OK.
Some vertical metres
The bus I wanted to take on this beautiful, sunny day, was leaving at 13.00. It was 7:30, and the café where my bike was, was very smoky. Outside, where there should have been fresh air, there was a noisy generator running with nasty fumes. I went to a neighbouring café, also with a generator, and spoke to some locals. One spoke very good English, and I felt was more trustworthy. There is no problem on the road to Peshkopi. I am very safe.
(On a side note: It turns out all cafes in Albania have generators running out the front. This is because they have to pay much more for electricity that everyone else. As a consequence, they don’t pay, and generate their own electricity, spending 3 euros a day on kerosene.)
Yesterday a boy took a photo with himself, me and Drahtesel and posted it on Facebook. This meant that I was known through the valley. I understand no Albanian, but I heard ‘Samsung Galaxy’ interspersed in the conversation, and interest in my phone everywhere I went. My friend Mr. Problem had said ‘phone’, and then indicated – stolen, gone. That’s all I could think of. In reality, the kids were just being kids. Joking around, and interested in a novelty (me).
Kids said, ‘remember me?’, and invited me in for coffee or a drink. Me, Mr Paranoid just continued. I don’t like this about myself. I feel the paranoia gone now.
It was a beautiful road, but, my, it was very, very steep and it went up and down and up and down – 100s of metres at a time. I feel very fit – me and Drahtesel make a good team!
The road to Peshkopi
The road to Peshkopi
The road to Peshkopi
The road to Peshkopi
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