The DEEPEST GORGE in the WORLD! - ALBANIA 🇦🇱 - Australia to Scotland by road - Episode 94

From the arch bridges we wound our way further up into the mountains to the top of the plateau and Vikos Gorge. Vikos Gorge slices through the Pindus ranges with widths ranging from several metres to several kms, and depths over 1.3km. Because of the relatively narrow width the Gorge holds the record for the deepest in the world. Standing on the top of the precipice gazing out to the adjacent sheer cliffs the scale is hard to fathom until realising the small dots on the rock faces are actually full size trees. Such a vast empty expanse would normally be accompanied by a blissful silence, we were surprised however to be met with a low constant rumble as if a plane was approaching from a distance. With no other obvious noise sources we could only ascertain that the noise was resonating up the hard canyon walls from the raging river hundred of metres below. To top off the incredible landscape, as we stand in the damp cool air, in an almost surreal moment, the rain stop and the sun breaks through the passing clouds and forms the biggest double rainbows we’ve ever witnessed. Not only was it the biggest though standing at the apex as it stretched down to the gorge floor was a unique experience. Rather satisfied with old mother natures afternoon show we headed back to the Troopy and hit the road towards the town of Papingo.
From the gorge view point the journey to Papingo follows a tight winding road, down around the numerous spines and ridges breaking from the plateau, through quaint cosy mountain villages, along crystal fast flowing rivers, and into dense forests of lush autumn colours. With the weight of the Troopy and the tight corners it was slow going so as to not overheat the brakes; we were happy to take it slow though to take in the incredible vistas. The landscape of the region doesn’t supply an abundance of flat level areas and all the villages, like Papingo, are planted on the side of the rugged terrain. We reverted to our trusty Google maps method and found a lookout spot away from the road though accessible by an unmarked track. Following the single narrow tyres tracks, we pushed through thick dry shrub and popped out onto a small open area with an incredible back drop at the start of the gorge.
As darkness fell the calmness of the afternoon shifted, the wind increased exponentially, and the rain thundered down. We had been expecting this though as there were no options to hide from it we just had to grit our teach and embrace it. The tent battered in the gusts of wind and the Troopy shook vigorously, we would often be teased with prolonged breaks though without failure off in the distance you could hear the roar of the wind screaming through the forest before slamming into us again. Needless to say with all the tranquility there was not a lot of sleep to be had. The conditions improved as the new day dawned and with the morning air saturated we found ourselves in a thick cloud, the visibility was down to no more than 10m so it was a perfect excuse to have a lay in and catch up on sleep.
From Papingo we made the short journey to the Greek/Albanian border. We had heard that this border can be difficult though as with the majority of borders we’ve crossed previously, we had a slightly different experience than others. The border officials were extremely friendly and happy to see us, the Greek officials giving us a gift “for driving all the way to visit Greece” , and we received a friendly welcome from the Albanian side. All up taking under 10 minutes plus all the time they wanted to chat. We had high expectations for Albania having heard amazing reviews about the incredible coastline and easily accessible offroad areas. Closed off from the world until the early 90s the effects of globalisation and commercialisation has been limited; something they’re now investing heavily to try and reverse. Our stop for the night is one of the countries no.1 attractions - the ‘Blue Eye’. The blue eye is a natural spring which pumps an astounding 18.4m3 of icing 10 deg C water each second from underground aquifers. Seeming popular with overlanders (evidently the less adventurous type) we passed their muddy wet camps at the front gate, locked in the hubs, and ventured up the slippery track to a flat level dry camp spot all to ourselves right next to the blue eye. Most of the tourists who visit the attraction make the day trip from the coast each day; to make the most of our location we decide to check out the blue eye in the morning before they arrive. Bottle of wine in hand, we grab our chairs and find a nice quiet spot on the banks of the fast flowing river to see the afternoon out.
Read the rest over on Patreon here - / 67669773

[@aviationfansalbania2332]

Amazing Albania

[@TheWayOverland]

🇦🇱👌🏻

[@adrianmece9266]

Albania is so beautiful

[@TheWayOverland]

Sure is

[@phaedrus6891]

My Dad’s home village of Papingo ❤ He learned to swim in those rock pools in the 50s. Can’t imagine how different the village must have felt back then 😂. I live in the US but visit as much as I can. Nice video.

[@travellersnestoverland]

I hope you went to Berat, Albania we were the first kiwis overlanders ever in town. Just loved Albania. We spent 6 months in the balkans in autumn and winter 2020

[@cleanenergyinside1921]

This trip was somewhat extra special as you got to visit historical sights as well. Cheers and all the best!

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers!

[@wildliveunit292]

Awesome video!!! Albania is so gorgeous 😍 check out the hot springs close to Petran. There’s also a wicked trail leading you through the mountains to the Osum canyon

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers! Catch the next episode 😉. The Troopy gets a little muddy on that track! 🙂

[@stevestott1514]

The storyline of the trip makes it almost like your there with the two of you ,fill’s in and added so much more to the video . What a beautiful countryside and awesome views along this rout . Thanks again for sharing . Cheers from Steve Stott in Sutherlin Oregon U.S.A. :):)👍🏼

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers Steve! Thanks for reading 🙂

[@robkeith1776]

Hi Jolie and Mark. Full marks on capturing the complete rainbow - stunning ! Fascinating piece of Soviet era history, building a fully self-sufficient nuclear shelter. Thanks for taking us along and providing such interesting explanation.

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers Rob, glad you enjoyed it! It's crazy how they managed to excavate the tunnels and remove all the spoil from such a central location in the city without word getting out. No doubt there was a swift punishment for anyone who asked too many questions!

[@hugorivas6674]

Wow ! Amazing views ... wonderful land... and of course the rainbow a total plus with clouds and everything ! Thanks super much for sharing your travels !

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers Hugo

[@hugorivas6674]

@@TheWayOverland Back at ya' !

[@johndiaz7240]

No words, thank you for the episode.

[@TheWayOverland]

No worries, glad you enjoyed it John.

[@pakturkazerbaijantv6244]

very nice vlog 🇦🇿. 🇵🇰. 🇹🇷 🇵🇭 I pray god protect you both and you both be fine ♥

[@TheWayOverland]

Thanks

[@MadDogAdventures]

Taxi driver in Bogota, yesterday, was watching our videos on his phone. With subtitles so it wasn't just in the background, he was glued to the screen

[@valeriecailliau]

Hi Jolie and Mark, the way you make this amazing adventure is exactly how we plan our future trips! Is it possible to receive (buy) the gpx tracks from the routes you traveled? Thanks for sharing your adventures, we enjoy every episode and it makes us want to start traveling even more! 🙂

[@jasonpetersharpe]

As always perfect 👍🏼

[@TheWayOverland]

Thanks Jason 👍🏻

[@mark-]

Wow! Thanks again 😊👍

[@TheWayOverland]

No problem 👍🏻

[@antonydalarios9320]

The Vikos Gorge is in Greece. Its beautiful but I think its the second deepest gorge in the world after the Grand Canyon in the USA. Thanks for sharing beautiful parts of Greece, and of course Albania.

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers, correct it is in Greece, and a beautiful part of Greece too. There is many gorges deeper, the Grand Canyon being one of them, though relative to the width this is the deepest.

[@Jabber-ig3iw]

The Grand Canyon isn’t even close to being the deepest gorge in the world. It’s 1800m deep, theres 2 in Peru that are deeper, and the deepest is in China at over 6000m deep.

[@enricorickrick7856]

Is Janina ,Albanian Land 👊😉

[@peteregan3862]

Got giddy looking at the drone view of that gorge. Great scenery as always. So sad all the dogs that have come to visit you with no owner in sight - they can't last too long in the wild???

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers Peter, we happened to see this dog roaming around the nearby village the following day so hopefully he was getting food from someone. Though yes, there is definitely dogs in some remote parts of our journey where we questioned how they were there, and still alive. In more populated areas of some countries people just feed them even though they don't belong to anyone, and in others mismanagement of waste means there's usually a food source.

[@jamesmazurstudios]

Great video. How do you keep your water in the tank from freezing?

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers, fair question though we don't actually do anything. Surprisingly even when the temps dropped well below zero and we were camped the water in the tank didn't freeze, potentially because of constant movement by us moving around inside? The lines from the tank have frozen though not the tank itself. If we were spending more time in these temps we would insulate the whole system.

[@BrentonCollas]

You guys seem to find awesome free camps fairly easily? More and more it's difficult to find free places in Aussie, maybe because there are relatively so many people out camping? Are you still meeting lots of overlanders? And do you think it's gonna get harder the further west to go into Europe?Oo oo OO are you going to Africa eventually?

[@TheWayOverland]

This part of our trip is pretty well explored, so unlike before where it was purely to find a decent camp spot, here it was more finding one which isn’t trashed by other travellers. We still use the same method we’ve used all along, Google maps, with iOverlander as a back up. Thankfully moving west we found the maps method isn’t used as much so putting the effort in to find new spots can still be rewarding. But yes, we’ve seen a decline of free camps in Aus, even spots we used to go to have been closed because they were trashed. Frustrating that people can’t respect the land and clean up after themselves! Haha there’s been a few options for the next route, Africa hasn’t been at the top, Pan Am is up there, or even a good old lap of Aus. We’ll see.

[@jezzag4589]

Very good 👍 footage. Are you guys Aussies?

[@TheWayOverland]

Thanks, and yes.

[@mohdnawas10]

Whr is the place in 3.40 ?? Do you have GPS coordinates for that?

[@TheWayOverland]

It's just near Papingo

[@nepaleseinchina]

I heard that the deepest gorge is in Nepal, maybe I could be wrong.😉

[@TheWayOverland]

No, you're probably right. Kali Gandaki is definitely up there, especially considering the heights of the surrounding mountains in the Himalayas. This one though is narrow, so relative to width this is the deepest.

[@protectkashmirmovementboyc7252]

Will you visit Pakistan again?

[@cisafrulli]

No

[@TheWayOverland]

Definitely

[@carlwermar8161]

It s vikos not vikas

[@TheWayOverland]

That it is