Macedonia:
After Meteora, our destination was the Tikves wine region which coincided nicely with the upcoming anniversary of Julia's birth. She likes wine, for those of you who don't know her. Using the birthday as an excuse, we booked a room at the Popova Kula Winery. Upon checking in, Julia got her first and only "Smetana" star treatment of the trip. The receptionist inquired about her last name, and when told of the connection, she was overjoyed and shook Julia's hand as if it was famous. Julia had hoped the name would get her a reaction while in Eastern Europe, but did not expect it to be in southern Macedonia.
The day was spent wine tasting at the nearby Royal Winery Queen Maria, before returning to Popova Kula to gaze at our vineyard view and to enjoy a multi-course dinner with wine pairings. It was nice using the birthday to splurge a little in a country with affordable luxury. The breakfast buffet in the morning was amazing as well.
Before leaving Macedonia, we spent an hour walking around the Roman and Byzantine ruins in the Stobi archeological site. There were some cool things to see, especially the intricate frescoes (floor and wall paintings), and there was just 1 tour group to avoid.
Albania:
From Stobi, it was a long drive north and west to the mountains of Albania. The route took us through Kosovo and we had our first minor hassle at a border. Apparently our car insurance isn't good there so they required us to buy 2 week Kosovo insurance for 15€. A little annoying. We based ourselves at Aste Guesthouse in Tropoje, an affordable and well reviewed place about an hour away from the heart of the Albanian Alps. They offered free breakfasts and home cooked dinners for 5€ a person, along with great views of the mountains.
As you might guess, we came out this way to do some hiking. The most popular route is a trek between the villages of Valbone and Theth that takes you over a stunning mountain pass. Most people hike across with loaded packs, stay the night, and find transport onward. We had limited time so we parked at the trailhead in Valbone, hiked to the top of the pass, and then returned back to the car. Some interesting things happened during the hike, so I will give you some more details along with pictures.
The first 3 kms of the trail follows a road along a dry riverbed. We walked about 1km before a truck rolled up, honking it's horn. It stopped and a young couple in the back told us to hop in, so we did. We braced ourselves for the bumpy 2 km ride to the end of the road and thanked our driver who told us to buy the young couple a beer. They had stayed at the driver's house the night before and he offered them a ride.
The young couple were on holiday for a few weeks in Albania. She was from Israel and he was a German living in Switzerland. They had interesting stories and were fun to hike and talk with. We made good on buying them a drink with coffees at a cafe along the trail. It was a popular stop for hikers and one of the guides from another group had a coke bottle full of rakia (a local fruit brandy). He offered us shots and looked disappointed that we didn't take it all down in one sip so he could refill. Feeling the buzz from coffee and the rakia, the last stretch of the hike to the top of the pass went quick. We ate salami, crackers, and fruit for lunch with awesome views from the top down multiple valleys.
The young couple were continuing on to Theth, so we exchanged contact info and said auf wiedersehen. On the hike back, we encountered a herd of sheep grazing across the trail. No ride for us along the riverbed this time but we did see some local transport trucks full of people bumping music as they bounced by. I don't remember how long the hike ended up taking us, but I can tell you that the total distance out and back was about 10 miles, the elevation gain was about 2,600 ft, and it was very enjoyable.
Kosovo:
We had a couple more home cooked meals at our guesthouse before driving the 10 kms back into Kosovo the following morning. There aren't any major tourists draws in the area so we tried our best to get a taste of Europe's newest country during our short visit. Along our route was a medieval Serbian Orthodox monastery founded in the 14th century called Visoki Dečani. The site is guarded by KFOR troops (peacekeeping group called Kosovo Force led by NATO) due to numerous somewhat recent attacks by Kosovo Albanian insurgents who dislike the monasteries association with Serbia. The Kosovo War is still on people's minds and Serbia continues to not recognize the independence of their neighbor. We had a peaceful visit and were very impressed with the elaborate wall paintings on the inside of the church. We also bought some of their cherry wine.
We spent the night in the mid sized town of Peja, and had to drive down a walking street to get to our hotel. We also enjoyed walking on the walking street and wandering the market streets that seemed to only offer jewelry and clothes. That night we found a highly rated restaurant and got some great food at a bargain price. Instead of complimentary bread to start, it was complimentary flatbread pizza with dipping sauce. We were happy.
The next day, on our way out of town, we visited another guarded Serbian Orthodox monastery called Gračanica. This one was equally as impressive as the other, sitting in a beautiful river valley just a few kilometers outside of Peja.
Serbia:
With our departure quickly approaching, our stops have been based on convenience. We needed to return our rental car the next day in Sarajevo, so Mokra Gora, Serbia (just 3 hrs away) made sense. To get there from Kosovo, our route took us on a scenic drive through the mountainous eastern Montenegro. Crossing into Serbia was easy and we followed rivers the whole way north past rolling green hills. In Mokra Gora, we stayed on the top floor of a farmhouse down a gravel road and enjoyed the peaceful views and complimentary beers on our deck. Besides hiking, the only tourist draw in the area is a fake traditional village built in the early 2000's by director Emir Kusturica for his film Life Is a Miracle. It is now home to a resort and shops, and hosts an annual film and music festival. We strolled the site as the sun was going down and ate dinner there (mostly because it seemed to be the only place open within miles). Overall, a nice quiet little taste of Serbia, which is most known for assassinating Archduke Ferdinand and starting WWI, it's electronic dance party scene in Belgrade, and it's tall men.
Bosnia and Herzegovina:
The car had to be returned by 11 AM at the airport (we didn't fly out until the next day), so we woke up early to hit the road. The drive through eastern Bosnia left a lasting impression and further fueled the idea that we need to return to this area someday. From the town of Višegrad, you drive though the Drina river canyon and it's green waters. Many times we wanted to stop but we were on a tight schedule.
In Sarajevo, we quickly checked in to our apartment for the night and dropped off our bags, before driving the few kilometers to the airport to return the car. It was a nice sense of accomplishment when we handed the keys over, knowing we had a smooth 6 weeks of driving in Eastern Europe. It also felt good to be back on our feet for that last day of exploring. From the airport, we inquired with a taxi driver about the cost of a ride back to our apartment and when he said it would be about $20 for the short trip, we were shocked. So we decided to see what we could do while walking.
After listening to Rick Steve's podcasts, we had one more sight we wanted to check out in Sarajevo, the tunnel museum. During the Siege of Sarajevo in the midst of the Bosnian war in 1993, Serbian forces had surrounded the city and the United Nations had taken control of the airport. A tunnel was secretly constructed under the airport to connect Bosnian-held territory with the capital city in order for supplies and weapons to enter and civilians to escape. The tunnel is mostly collapsed now, but the museum has a refurbished section and some interesting maps and videos from the war. It was an easy 4 km walk from the airport, plus it was on the way back to our apartment. During the walk, we passed by the small cemetery seen below in the middle of a neighborhood. The slender white headstones are a common site around Bosnia and these small cemeteries are a result of the high death toll during the war. Locals were forced to bury the dead where ever they could and give them a simple marker.
One last note about the Bosnian War; the picture below shows a Sarajevo Rose, which is a concrete scar caused by a mortar shell's explosion. A local artist began filling the numerous scars around the city with red resin to make them a more pleasant sight. Most of the roses around the city have now been removed due to construction but a few still remain. This one was at the tunnel museum.
Back at our apartment, we briefly contemplated taking public transportation to the downtown area, but the 1 hour transit time seemed like too much to tackle on the final afternoon of our trip. We instead walked to a nearby park area where we found a great little restaurant to get our last fill of traditional Bosnian food, which we have grown to love. Below; I am eating Ćevapi and a drinking a local beer.
Our flight the next day departed shortly after 9 AM, so we were up early to catch a previously arranged ride with our host, or so we thought. Out on the curb with our bags at 7 AM, we waited and waited. Julia tried sending our host a text message and email, but no response. At 7:30, we decided we couldn't wait any longer and walked toward the main road to try and catch a cab. The airport was 5.6 kms away, which would take us just over an hour to walk to. With no cabs in sight, we walked toward the airport with our thumbs out and heavy packs weighing us down. For 35 minutes and 3 kms, we wondered if we would miss our flight, but we approached a busy intersection and felt optimistic. As we contemplated the best place to catch a cab, I noticed a car flipping a u-turn ahead of us by driving up on the sidewalk. I laughed a little and continued to look around, when I heard a man yell something. I turn back to see him waving and initially think someone noticed our need and was offering to give us a ride. It turned out to be our host who was very apologetic and hurried us into his car. As he sped the last 5 minutes to the airport, he explained that he had to take his daughter to school and for some reason he didn't mention this the day before. At the airport, he parked in the middle of the road and grabbed Julia's bag and ran it into the airport. We followed and laughed a little, knowing it was unnecessary. We had made it with just under 1 hour till take off. The small airport made check-in and security a breeze and we had 20 minutes to spend the last of our local currency and sit around until boarding started.
It was a nerve racking end to our trip that we can now look back on and smile about. Our flights were all well timed and comfortable, traveling through Zurich, Washington DC, and finally to Portland. We watched movies, did puzzles, and totaled up our travel expenses which we meticulously kept records of. There will eventually be a blog post outlining all of our travel costs, but I wont make any promises of when that will be. Up next for H3J2; a wedding in Baltimore and 3 months of work in Portland for Julia. After that is unknown, but another international trip may be in our future. Što možeš danas, ne ostavljaj za sutra.
