I think this blogging location might just be the best yet- I am sat on the balcony of a little alpine lodge in the beautiful mountains of Albania. We're in a small town called Valbonne (Valbona) for a few nights and there is no internet up here so I will be posting this a few days after writing.
The last time I left off in my very lengthy blog, we had just entered Kosovo. We spent a couple of nights in the capital, Pristina. On our full day there we took a walk around the city. It is very small and the newer part has a very European feel to it, as it has essentially been funded by the EU and some UN backed NGOs as far as I can tell. We tried to learn more about what happened in Kosovo, however the main museum was in Albanian. Anyway, from what I can tell Kosovo was a part of Serbia during Yugoslavian times but the ethnic Serbs did not mix well with the Kosovar-Albanians. After the split of Yugoslavia, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia and freedom fighters tried to take on the Yugoslav army (who from my last blog were mostly Serbs anyway). Milosevic entered Kosovo and started systematically killing and expelling ethnic Kosovar-Albanians, again mostly Muslims. The area was something like 90% Albanian people but Milosevic's grand plan was to cleanse the area of these people and take the land back into Serbia. Having learnt from the inaction seen in Bosnia, NATO stepped in and started bombing Serbia, particularly Belgrade, until Milosevic pulled out and Kosovo was declared the newest country in Europe.
We moved on by bus into Montenegro, however we did have to go via Albania first, which if you look at a map makes no sense. This is because Montenegro backed Serbia during the war and was very perturbed by the NATO bombings. Serbia doesn't even recognise Kosovo as a country and so the roads between Montenegro and Kosovo are not really developed. However, being ethnically aligned with the people, the highway to Albania is brilliant. This meant we entered Montenegro from the South- opposite to what we planned. We took a night's rest in Ulcinje which is a seaside town- we took full advantage of the long empty beach outside our seaview hostel room, however there was really nothing there and open because it's now off-season. The next day we moved on to Budva.
The coastline of Montenegro is absolutely stunning and the sea is beautifully clear again. Budva is another small town enclosed by walls (a very mini Split/Dubrovnik) so after having a quick look around, we headed straight to the beach for the afternoon and I swam in the gorgeous sea. The next morning we got up and went back to the beach again for a swim before we had to catch another bus. It was some nice chill time, only interrupted by the Russians and their very strange sun-tanning habits (I can't say sunbathing as it mostly involved standing up with their arms in the air!).
Next we moved on to Kotor, seeing more of the lovely coast as we went. Now I have to say if you're considering going to Croatia, take a look at Montenegro first! Kotor is the prettiest port town we have been to so far. It is a bay surrounded by mountains and again the main area is the walled old town. As soon as we arrived and checked into our really nice hostel, we started the hike up the ancient fortress for a view over the old town and bay. It was a very difficult hike and was very hot but the views were breathtaking (Yon's photos will do it better justice). We'd been told about a family who had a small farm in the mountains at the back of the fortress so we went in search of them. We located a stone window in the walls and stepped through to see beautiful mountains and the very best view of the bay. We got some homemade sheep's cheese and Rakija (the white spirit we've had everywhere now) and watched the sun going down on their little terrace- amazing.
On the walk we'd made friends with an Irish and American guy who were staying at the same hostel and said there were going to be drinks in the common area that night. We hadn't really had a big night yet so ventured down, just in time for the shots.....big mistake! The hostel called them 'dumb-dumb' shots because that's what they make you. A mixture of an obscene helping of vodka plus a dash of bitter lemon, slammed on a table to take the fizz out and then downed. Two of them plus half a bottle of wine (which come in litre bottles) and I was in trouble. Not that I noticed apparently- Yon said I was having a great time as we went out to some local bars with the hostel stayers. I remember bits and bobs, like making some real life lovely Jewish friends that live in Haifa, Israel so hopefully we'll meet up there. What I don't remember particularly well was shouting at an American guy about politics (apparently everyone backed me up so that was ok :-)), stopping a fight between an Aussie and the Israeli guy and then having some cross words with another Aussie guy....oh dear. Of course I then had to live with my now customary 2 day hangover but we saw most of the people again and all agreed we were as drunk as each other. NEVER AGAIN.....
On our last day in Kotor we grabbed some breakfast from the local market (delicious ham, cheese, olives and fruit) and took a short bus to Perast. It's a really tiny town of less than 300 people but they say it has 16 churches (I counted 6). We took a boat out to a little island with a church and had a pretty chilled out day- it was a really lovely spot. The next day was a bit of a hellish journey to get to Shkoder, northern Albania, comprising of 2 buses and a taxi ride over the Albanian border. I don't really know what I was expecting from Albania but it is nothing like I imagined. Like many of the other Balkan states it has that mixture of Turkish and European cultures and religions but is different again in some way that I can't yet put my finger on. We spent some time wandering around Shkoder, which was OK but nothing amazing, before getting up really early to catch the passenger ferry up Lake Koman.
The ferry, which is really just a small chug-chug boat, takes 3 hours to wind through the lake in the canyon. On either side were the most dramatic, huge mountains, called the 'accursed mountains', I suppose because they are so looming and ominous looking. It was very beautiful as the leaves have just started to turn in Autumn. Once at the other end of the lake, we took another bus to Valbonne which sits in an 11km valley between more beautiful mountains and this is where we will spent a few days to hike before moving on to southern Albania.
The last time I left off in my very lengthy blog, we had just entered Kosovo. We spent a couple of nights in the capital, Pristina. On our full day there we took a walk around the city. It is very small and the newer part has a very European feel to it, as it has essentially been funded by the EU and some UN backed NGOs as far as I can tell. We tried to learn more about what happened in Kosovo, however the main museum was in Albanian. Anyway, from what I can tell Kosovo was a part of Serbia during Yugoslavian times but the ethnic Serbs did not mix well with the Kosovar-Albanians. After the split of Yugoslavia, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia and freedom fighters tried to take on the Yugoslav army (who from my last blog were mostly Serbs anyway). Milosevic entered Kosovo and started systematically killing and expelling ethnic Kosovar-Albanians, again mostly Muslims. The area was something like 90% Albanian people but Milosevic's grand plan was to cleanse the area of these people and take the land back into Serbia. Having learnt from the inaction seen in Bosnia, NATO stepped in and started bombing Serbia, particularly Belgrade, until Milosevic pulled out and Kosovo was declared the newest country in Europe.
We moved on by bus into Montenegro, however we did have to go via Albania first, which if you look at a map makes no sense. This is because Montenegro backed Serbia during the war and was very perturbed by the NATO bombings. Serbia doesn't even recognise Kosovo as a country and so the roads between Montenegro and Kosovo are not really developed. However, being ethnically aligned with the people, the highway to Albania is brilliant. This meant we entered Montenegro from the South- opposite to what we planned. We took a night's rest in Ulcinje which is a seaside town- we took full advantage of the long empty beach outside our seaview hostel room, however there was really nothing there and open because it's now off-season. The next day we moved on to Budva.
The coastline of Montenegro is absolutely stunning and the sea is beautifully clear again. Budva is another small town enclosed by walls (a very mini Split/Dubrovnik) so after having a quick look around, we headed straight to the beach for the afternoon and I swam in the gorgeous sea. The next morning we got up and went back to the beach again for a swim before we had to catch another bus. It was some nice chill time, only interrupted by the Russians and their very strange sun-tanning habits (I can't say sunbathing as it mostly involved standing up with their arms in the air!).
Next we moved on to Kotor, seeing more of the lovely coast as we went. Now I have to say if you're considering going to Croatia, take a look at Montenegro first! Kotor is the prettiest port town we have been to so far. It is a bay surrounded by mountains and again the main area is the walled old town. As soon as we arrived and checked into our really nice hostel, we started the hike up the ancient fortress for a view over the old town and bay. It was a very difficult hike and was very hot but the views were breathtaking (Yon's photos will do it better justice). We'd been told about a family who had a small farm in the mountains at the back of the fortress so we went in search of them. We located a stone window in the walls and stepped through to see beautiful mountains and the very best view of the bay. We got some homemade sheep's cheese and Rakija (the white spirit we've had everywhere now) and watched the sun going down on their little terrace- amazing.
On the walk we'd made friends with an Irish and American guy who were staying at the same hostel and said there were going to be drinks in the common area that night. We hadn't really had a big night yet so ventured down, just in time for the shots.....big mistake! The hostel called them 'dumb-dumb' shots because that's what they make you. A mixture of an obscene helping of vodka plus a dash of bitter lemon, slammed on a table to take the fizz out and then downed. Two of them plus half a bottle of wine (which come in litre bottles) and I was in trouble. Not that I noticed apparently- Yon said I was having a great time as we went out to some local bars with the hostel stayers. I remember bits and bobs, like making some real life lovely Jewish friends that live in Haifa, Israel so hopefully we'll meet up there. What I don't remember particularly well was shouting at an American guy about politics (apparently everyone backed me up so that was ok :-)), stopping a fight between an Aussie and the Israeli guy and then having some cross words with another Aussie guy....oh dear. Of course I then had to live with my now customary 2 day hangover but we saw most of the people again and all agreed we were as drunk as each other. NEVER AGAIN.....
On our last day in Kotor we grabbed some breakfast from the local market (delicious ham, cheese, olives and fruit) and took a short bus to Perast. It's a really tiny town of less than 300 people but they say it has 16 churches (I counted 6). We took a boat out to a little island with a church and had a pretty chilled out day- it was a really lovely spot. The next day was a bit of a hellish journey to get to Shkoder, northern Albania, comprising of 2 buses and a taxi ride over the Albanian border. I don't really know what I was expecting from Albania but it is nothing like I imagined. Like many of the other Balkan states it has that mixture of Turkish and European cultures and religions but is different again in some way that I can't yet put my finger on. We spent some time wandering around Shkoder, which was OK but nothing amazing, before getting up really early to catch the passenger ferry up Lake Koman.
The ferry, which is really just a small chug-chug boat, takes 3 hours to wind through the lake in the canyon. On either side were the most dramatic, huge mountains, called the 'accursed mountains', I suppose because they are so looming and ominous looking. It was very beautiful as the leaves have just started to turn in Autumn. Once at the other end of the lake, we took another bus to Valbonne which sits in an 11km valley between more beautiful mountains and this is where we will spent a few days to hike before moving on to southern Albania.
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