The drive through Northern Macedonia took just a few hours so we didn’t have to stop overnight – but we still had to pay £50 to purchase vehicle insurance as our insurance wasn’t valid in that country. On the positive side, diesel fuel was 98p a litre.
Roadside litter was everywhere and we saw several dead dogs (and a kitten) lying in the gutter. We stopped briefly at a fuel station where we spotted a skinny dog lurking nearby. Tony offered him a digestive biscuit which the creature gently took from Tony’s hand before loping away to eat it out of sight. In the blink of an eye the dog was back again looking longingly at us as we drove off.
We arrived at the Greek border a hour or so later. Travelling west through Greece we passed through half a dozen manned toll booths and paid €4.50 – €6.50 a pop. The area was mountainous, the road rose to 2,000 ft and passed through a long series of tunnels. It was not pleasant driving through one tunnel after another and we were relieved when we reached the north west coast at the port of Igoumenitsa.
We stopped for a few days at a pretty camp site on sandy spit reaching into the Ionian Sea; we could see Corfu on the horizon. It was sunny, the afternoon temperature was 21° and we took a swim in the clear water of the bay. Our fellow campers were mainly German, Austrian, Dutch and a friendly Italian chap travelling on his push bike.
After a few days rest we took the ferry to Brindisi in Italy, a journey of six hours.
