The rest of our visit was busy with travel to Peja, Prizren, Valbones, Theth, and Shkoder. We arrived in Peja and found our fourth-floor apartment near the old city center. After stashing our packs, we met up with David and Vincent (volunteers assigned to Peja area) and Sarah (Gjilan). Sarah and Vincent are KOS 9 and a couple, so Sarah was visiting Peja. We had dinner at Hotel Kulla e Zenel Beut and we were able to sit outside to enjoy our meal with friends. We headed back after dinner with recommendations for breakfast and a hike the next day.
Meat grinders in a shop on our walk to our apartment in Peja
A mosque along the way
Enjoying the outdoor seating and the food at Hotel Kulla e Zenel Beut
Wednesday, we hiked Rugova Canyon, stopping along the way at the visitors center. We had breakfast at Nona Coffee House and I would highly recommended their food. I had a really good Shakshuka (eggs poached in vegetable sauce). Everyone like their meals. On our way to Rugova Canyon, I found Malvesa, which is a store that has been recommended by Cloe for find yarn. I found a Eco Cotton yarn for 1 euro per skein. Before hitting the trail, we visited the Patriarchate of Peć. This Serbian church (churches) and nunnery date back to the 13th century. Interestingly, the compound is guarded by police and you need a passport to enter. We only needed one passport for the whole group and fortunately we had one with us. The grounds were well-manicured with many flowers, historic trees and of course, historic buildings. It sits along the river at entrance of Rugova Canyon and is easy walking distance from the old city center.
Three skeins of Eco Cotton Yarn 1 euro each
An interesting mosque along the way
Statue of Mother Teresa in Peja
The visitor center as you enter Rugova Canyon (Gryka e Rugovës)
Bridge across the Lumbardhë i Pejës -- Low clouds around the peaks
The river is clean as it leaves the canyon
The entrance to the canyon and the church and nunnery
One of several churches in the compound
View from the nunnery
Frescos inside
The main church (or multiple churches)
The living quarters - bleeding hearts in the foreground
Ruins of former buildings
The tower and gift shop with ruins in the foreground
The exterior wall around the church and nunnery
The church and historic tree
The arch entrance to the nunnery
Lumbardhi i Pejës in Gryka e Rugovës
Frescoes on the walls of the church
We hiked up the canyon and ended at a restaurant that was only opened for drinks. It was still slightly before the opening of the season. The hike was beautiful with many flowers, thick forest, and a rope and rung ladder climb back down to the road.
Waterfalls through the trees
View of Peja through the trees
Island with a arrangement of recycled junk
Followed by a dog
Animals on the trail
The beauty of the canyon
Interesting trees
Climbing down the rung ladder
Great Name for the rugged mountains
Animals along the trail
Cow at play
The lift of the tail tells it all
Peja along the river
After our hike, we headed back for showers and then for dinner at Seven Summits Lounge. The food was really good, but the story about the restaurant is even more interesting. The owners -- father and daughter -- climb the 7 highest summits on each continent in the shortest time and Mrika Nikçi (daughter) holds the record as the youngest female to have done the seven summits.
Food at Seven Summit
Walking around Peja
Drying our clothes when we thought the dryer ws working
Thursday morning we met David (Peja volunteer) for coffee and breakfast at Seven Summits before heading to Prizren. The breakfast was good and the bus ride uneventful and we made it to Prizren by lunchtime. We were spending the night with Scott (a volunteer in Prizren). Scott has a house in Prizren and has the space for people to visit. In fact, we ran into Noah (volunteer from Ferizaj) and his German friend, who was leaving as we got there.
Shop in Peja selling traditional clothing
Mosque in Peja
Church along the way
Matt and Betsy went out to see Prizren and Thom and I went for lunch. We have been to Prizren before and we have seen most of the sites, but we had not been to the Albanian League and we had time to go after lunch. Then we headed back to Scott. It was cooler today and I needed warmer clothes. We met up with Matthew and Betsy for dinner with Scott, Cloe (another volunteer), and her boyfriend, Ben. We had a nice dinner at a restaurant called Ambient Restaurant. The restaurant sits on the hillside and we had a wonderful view of Prizren as we ate dinner. Interestingly enough, Matthew and Cloe were both Rotary Youth Exchange students in the state of Parana, Brazil. When we got back to we made plans for our hike and went to bed early.
Abanian League and the mosque behind it
The old stone bridge in Prizren at night
Dinner at the Ambient with Matthew, me, Thom, Scott, Cloe, and Ben
The old stone bridge during the day
On Friday, we got up early for a taxi ride from Prizren to Valbones, which took us about 2 hours. We left Prizren around 7 am and started the hike around 9:30 am. We had some discussion about snow cover on the trail (Valbones to Theth through a mountain pass in the Albanian alps) although it has been warm and it looked as though most of the snow had melted. This hike was further south than the one with the hiking group, but Thom and I planned to turn back if there was too much snow. As it was, the day started out sunny with blue skies and good temperature. Although there were several places where the snow went up to the trail as we went high to go over the pass, the trail was really good and well-maintained. We separated as we climb the pass. Betsy and Matthew went to climb a higher peak and we headed down the other side to Theth. We made to Theth between 2 and 3 pm. Betsy and Matthew caught up with us and we walked the rest of the way through Theth and to our guest house. It was an amazing hike and I enjoyed every view along the way. I was very glad to have taken the hike and glad there was no snow on the trail.
First views from Valbones
Getting ready to hike
Lodging in Valbones
The start of the hike on the gravel road
We see snow
First break by the spring, with plenty of flowers
The spring -- resupply of water
Beautiful blue flowers along the way
What a view as we summit the pass
Cows once again share the trail
Guest houses near Theth
Theth was also very amazing. It was a village isolated for many years. The village has a Catholic church and members of the community are Christian. They were farmers and shepards, but now it is a blend of tourism with a few animals grazings and gardens full of produce. It felt as those the outside world was creeping in. Our host grew up in Theth and he now lives in the family home (at least during the warm seasons). He and his brother run the guesthouse which sits next to the family home. His wife prepared wonderful meals in the cook house that sits next to the guesthouse. We highly recommend Bujtina Vëllëzërit Grrela
First views of Theth
Theth as dusk falls
And the peaks turn rosy
Dinner at our guesthouse: grilled vegetable, sausage, grilled meat, tomato & cucumber salad
Layered corn bread, rolls, roasted potatoes, and pickled green tomatoes
Everyone is enjoying the meal
The dining room of our guesthouse
A view from our guesthouse
Bujtina Vëllëzërit Grrela -- The name of the guesthouse
An old truck in Theth
The rustic fence by the path to our guesthouse
The outside of the guesthouse -- lower level dining and upper rooms
The gate to the path behind our guesthouse
The view from the guesthouse balcony (outdoor seating)
Everything is pretty and green
Matthew and Betsy with the field of gold
Betsy in front of the field of gold and the scenic view
Matthew leads the pony back to it's owner
The church in Theth
Another view of the church in Theth
Theth
Meat on a spit that we past on our walk
The Albanian Alps
A horse along the way
We found out about the guesthouse from Enis from our hiking group. Our hiking group went there last fall and spent the night. The wife prepared two fabulous meals for us; Friday evening and Saturday morning. There was traditional layered corn and cheese bread, round bread rolls, traditional green tomato pickles, roasted vegetables, roasted potatoes, sausage, and roasted meat. We sample rakia when we first arrived. For breakfast, there were cucumbers, tomatoes, petula (traditional pancakes), eggs, and bread with jam. Everything was really good.
Breakfast at the guesthouse
After breakfast, we got a ride from our host to the trailhead of the Blue Eye (Syri i Kalter). This is a popular tourist hike to a spring feed pool of clear and often blue tinted water. The hike to the trailhead is 7 km which is slightly over 4 miles. We decided we would make the hike to and from the blue eye which was probably a total of 4 to 5 miles and then hike back to Theth. The hike was beautiful with many views of the river along the way. We took a brief detour along the trail to a place where there were there were pools of water in the rock and small slot canyons. I found a pool with tadpoles and small frogs. At the blue hole, we found a fresh supply of spring water, beautiful views, and a blue green lizard. Matthew and Betsy ran ahead. The did some trail running and on their way back had time to run to a waterfall and take a swim in the river.
It was a wonderful day. We caught a ride to Shkoder at 5 pm and the driver of our van was a bit on the scary side. He has been driving the precarious mountain road from Theth to Shkoder for 31 years and he went faster than I was comfortable with. In Shkoder, we had separate accomodations as Matthew and Betsy were staying for two days and we were only staying for one. On Sunday, I needed to head back to Kaçanik and Thom was returning to Prizren to pick up the things we had left behind.
Picture perfect photo of Theth and the surrounding mountains
Inside the church
Lambs grazing in Theth
The vivid colors of the mountains and surroundings
Having a small bite to eat at a restaurant in Theth
Eating outdoors and enjoying the views
Walking through a field of yellow flowers
The hills are alive...
Rustic farmhouse and sign for the Theth National Park
Betsy bouldering
Matthew bouldering
Pack mule
More beautiful views
The bridge across the blue eye
Matthew and Betsy at the Blue Eye
Betsy at the Blue Eye
The blue and green lizard at the blue eye
Waterfall into the blue eye
Another pack mule
On the trail to the blue eye
On the trail to the blue eye
This is not the blue eye, but it certainly could be
Pool of water with tiny frogs and tadpoles
A small slot canyon
The river flowing and carving its way through the rock
The cow and sheep next the guesthouse
One last view
Shkoder was very interesting and maybe one of my favorite cities so far that I have been to in the Balkans. It is not far from the mountains and sits on Lake Shkodra and shares the lake with Montenegro. It is also not far from the Adriatic Sea and is the fifth most populous city in Albania at about 100,000 people. It seems to have a more milder climate as there were palm trees growing in the city and there were flowers everywhere. It has a large pedestrian walkway with shops and restaurants in the city center and it is known for its bikeability. We had dinner on the pedestrian walkway outdoors. Interestingly enough, while we were having dinner and young man stopped to say "hi" with his girlfriend. We had met them on a hike with our hiking group and they are from Kaçanik. After dinner, we walked around a bit before heading back to our apartments. As we walked about, we found a place called the Eko Club. They are a environmental activiist and service group that do activities throughout Shkoder. They were very welcoming and showed us their club house. They told us about their wonderful work with the community and the explain how Shkoder became the biking city of Albanian. In the late 1800s, someone brought a bike to Shkoder and others liked it so a bike factory was started in Shkoder. According to the group, everyone owns bikes in Shkoder and as we walked, we saw that there people biking everywhere and that cars took their time and paid attention to the bikers. We were really impressed.
Theater in Shkoder
The mosque along the pedestrian walkway
Unusual mosque in Shkoder
Weird sculpture in Shkoder
The pedestrian walkway
Bikers in the old city center
Another view of the mosque
The EKO Club
The next day, we had a wonderful breakfast with Matthew and Betsy, along the main street and seated outdoors. Then we took a walk to Buna Bridge to attempt to catch a 10:30 bus to Prizren/Prishtina. There is a lot more to see in Shkoder. Matthew and Betsy rented bikes and saw many of the historic sites and I hope I will be able to go again to see more.
Rozafa Fortress in Shkoder
Near the Buna Bridge
The travel back to Kaçanik was long. Our walk to Buna Bridge close to the border of Montenegro did not pan out as the bus did not stop to pick us up. It was possible it was full. We did, however; meet Joe (a nice guy from Manchester, England) who was traveling solo through the Balkans. When the bus didn't stop, we ended up walking back to the bus area in the city center to catch a later bus. This bus took us to Tirana, where we caught two city buses to get to the main bus center in Tirana. There we got tickets on bus that went from Tirana to Prishtina. It stops out a center outside of Prizren where Joe and Thom got off and eventually made their way in to Prizren where they had dinner together.
Unusual buildings in Tirana
I continued on to Prishtina, where I caught the last bus to Ferizaj. I arrived in Ferizaj after 9 pm to an empty bus station and a recommendation from Noah for a taxi service. I called and they sent a taxi in about 5 minutes. I arrived back to my apartment slightly before 10 pm with time to unpack, make a salad, and get things ready for my first class at 8:30 am Monday morning. Although it was a long day, I enjoyed the visit with Matthew and Betsy and loved the portion spent in Albania.
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