You wake up at that expensive campsite that is open all year round, and then you see holes in the canvas of the inner tent. A cat has climbed over it. In all the years we have been camping, we have never experienced that.
The day had started so well in the olive grove of a friendly farmer. It was a cool day with a strong wind -wetherforecast said NE5 at 14°C- but we were there reasonably early and had lunch on a terrace before we cycled
the last few km’s to the campsite. Tent set up and quickly in the shower so as not to cool down too much. When we came back it soon became noticeable that there were many cats. I sent Wouter a few photo search pictures (5 black, one grey one red, one cyperse, one spotted and 2 white with red cats) and at the same time saw that our food bag had been scratched open. Yesterday’s bread had been eaten. Oscar played for dog, it seemed to help, although the neighbor’s dog was more successful. He chased 2 cats 5m into the tree at the same time.
After dinner we had cooled down so much that we decided to have a cup of tea in the restaurant. We were received with great enthusiasm ‘we will close in no time’. When Oscar put on a questioning look at the bill of 5€, it became even more cozy. ‘Why come here if you don’t want expensive?’ But a real surprise awaited at the tent: one of the four-legged friends had splashed against the inner tent. So we cleaned it before we could go to bed.
And then that next morning. And when packing, there also turned out to be a whole series of holes in the outer tent. What now? They are small holes but so many that repairing is not doable. Just call the Ohra. From there, everything quickly got better. Despite the early hour, the phone was answered and after our story came the question of what a replacement tent would cost. Another 5 min later we received the entire purchase price minus 70€ deductible deposited in our account. Wow that’s service! We email the bike holiday shop to order a new tent and send it to Albania. At check-out we did not have to pay as compensation. And when we took a break after a few km the message came that a tent was ready for us, we only had to arrange transport by DHL. Yes, that’s a bit more hassle (ended up taking 2 days), but when the formalities were just arranged, a Canadian couple with packed bikes suddenly stopped next to us. We decided to cycle a bit together. Julie Ann and Vincent have been on the road for quite some time. They first did a long-distance hike of 8 months and now in the last days that their Shengen permit still grants them, they try to get to Scandinavia via Albania and North Macedonia where they get another 90 days. Super nice to see them cycling. Stupid that we didn’t take a picture.
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