March 24 – Leaving Saranda

The plan – cycle 65km to Greece and catch ferry to Italy. No steep hills this time! Had to cross a river on a wooden cable ferry, which was fun. On the other side I met a group of bikers from the Czech republic (I think) and we had a good chat about our respective plans and misadventures. Then I got attacked by a dog. There are loads of abandoned, basically wild, dogs in this part of the world and this raced across the road and hit the rear of the bike knocking one of my rear panniers off (they are well secured). It was an incredible impact. A local guy helped me while the dog disappeared. It may have been badly hurt, or worse. At the border with Greece I was warned about dogs. 

I found my room in the town of Igoumenitsa and got ready for a couple of teaching sessions. Afterwords, I was told that there would be music and a parade. Apparently this was an annual celebration. At around 9pm there was a marching band made up of locals including young children. I’ve added a video which I have watched many times. I love the music and watching the youngsters performing.  Tomorrow – Italy!