Snowy Ljuboten in contrast to the surrounding hills
Thom leaves for the U.S. on Tuesday, so he has spent time finishing up and saying goodbye this week. On Tuesday, we had Pasul (a traditional Albanian bean stew) at Sami's. Sami and his wife (Vlorë) have a beautiful house that he designed and built during Covid. Valon joined us when he got back from work and I had a chance to meet his daughter, Siera, and son, Unik (Niki). They both speak English very well and we had a really nice evening.
Salad and bruschetta -- Pasul to come
Noah (another volunteer) came to visit Kaçanik on Wednesday and he spent the night. He wanted to meet Sami and Valon as he had hoped he might be able to do some work for them in Ferizaj (which is Noah's site). Unfortunately, the one project was through USAID and it is on-hold indefinitely. All of the grants that we wrote to help out our communities are on-hold. These are special grants that Peace Corps volunteers can write to support their communities and these fall under the USAID umbrella as well. Oh well, such is life. We enjoyed showing Noah around Kaçanik. It is always nice to have visitors.
It has been a "peak week" as snow-covered Ljuboten stands out now, as it is the only peak we see that still has snow. It is stunning against the blue sky on sunny days. This week, we hiked on Saturday as Sunday was parliamentary election day in Kosovo.
We started the hike in Kaçanik and walked up a path through a valley that led us up and out of town. We had 6 young people (students at the gjimnaz) on the hike. Kjani (a teacher that hikes with our group) teaches gym and talked up the hike in his classes. Two of the girls had white sneakers on and this hike was not good for white. Emira has hiked with the hiking group before. Emira and I were talking as we past the last few houses before the trail, Thom told us to turn around and there was Ljuboten in all its glory. Emira's English is quite good and she has a way with words. She said it was as if Ljuboten was floating. Ljuboten was shrouded in the early morning fog caused by snow melt and did indeed look like it was floating over Kaçanik.
The first of many views of Ljuboten
Ljuboten looks as if it is floating above Kaçanik
With the exception of areas with trash along the way and a bit of mud from recent snow melt, it was a pretty trail. We stopped for a short break at a picnic area and then took some trails that were not as well maintained. What is so great about hiking with this group, is how everyone takes care of each other. The veteran hikers helped the girls to cross the creeks, offered the treats along the way, and gave up their seating cushion when we stopped for breaks. The girls were really nice and they were checking to make sure I was doing alright on the hike. I told them I do this often and I was doing fine. It was another enjoyable hike with many pretty views.
More Photos from the Hike
At our meeting point for the hike
Group shot with Ljuboten in the background
As the white disappears
Another view from further up the trail
Illegal woodcutting carry out on mules
Picnic spot and a break
Spring fed sink
The high school students who joined the hike
The peak later in the afternoon
The trail followed the creek for awhile
Our group at another photo spot
They love the hike
Stopping at the memorial to fallen heroes
Kaçanik from the hill above
Sunday was the parliamentary elections and in Kaçanik, the elections were held at school. I noticed the cars pulling in to the schools when I went on several walks. We took a longer walk up the hill opposite the river from us and on our way back stopped by the ruins of the only church in Kaçanik. It was an Albanian Orthodox Church but is no longer in use.
Sunday morning photo on my way to the store
On our Sunday walk
Interior of the church (possibly built in 1929)
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A photo I found taken some time ago of the same church
Sunday dinner - Veggie pot pie and salad
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