Hiking in the Balkans – Day 3
It was another quiet night at camp and as we only had a short day ahead of us we had a slow start. We let the tents dry out fully whilst eating porridge and drinking coffee for breakfast and then set off over the border from Albania into Montenegro once again and uphill into the forest. We needed to top up with water so stopped when we came to a small pipe emanating from the hillside.
As we were filling and filtering water it suddenly became quite busy. An Aussie stopped and chatted for a bit then an older French guy went past as did another couple of lads who didn’t say much, followed by a guy from the UK and a Dutch guy. Having not seen anyone for a couple of days it was a bit of a shock to the system. We were however now back on the Peaks of the Balkans trail properly so I guess it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise. They were all heading to Dobërdol the same as us and many had warnings about the water there and various outbreaks of sickness. We’d heard this too so had water purification tablets with us as well as the water filter.
Aljuci Pass
We took our time filling up to let a gap develop between us and those who had passed, but once back on the trail, we soon overtook the French guy. The trail climbed steeply through the forest where we met a local herding cattle on horseback, another horse laden with his belongings. After stepping aside to let them pass, we continued the climb to the Aljuci Pass (1,916 m), where we caught up with everyone we’d seen earlier.
Just beyond the pass, we found a shepherd’s hut selling coffee. This one looked inhabited. We arrived first and quickly ordered coffee and homemade blueberry cake. The others joined a little later, and we chatted while enjoying the cake. We made a furry friend too—a cat wandered around, along with chickens, and the owner welcomed us warmly.
Morgan and I set off again, but soon had to stop to put on our waterproofs as the rain started. The French guy overtook us, but we soon passed him again, moving easily through the forest on well-marked trails. The path undulated through the mature trees, and we could hear a family herding cattle up the steep hillside below.
Balqin and a Lunch Stop
Not long after we came to the small settlement of Balqin where more rustic dwellings clung to the hillside surrounded by scrubby plots of land where crops grew. A woman there beckoned us in to buy coffee and cake, but having just had some we declined. We did feel a little sorry for her though as presumably those behind us would decline her offer too. The houses and settlements here are very rustic indeed but as the Peaks of the Balkans Trail becomes more well known and popular some of the locals have caught onto the fact that they can sell their produce to those walking by. I’m sure it’s quite a lucrative opportunity for them and it’s a nice way for us hikers to interact with the locals too. It’s just a shame we can’t stop at all of them!
We then emerged out of the trees into a clearing where a grassy meadow opened out for a while. As we did, the clouds cleared a little giving us a brief view of the mountains to the south. We decided to stop here for lunch to see if the views would improve.
The others that were now behind us all went past as we sat there, lounging on the rocks.
Lunch today was once again Pepperami and wraps along with dried fruit and a Clif bar. This meadow would have been a lovely place to camp except for the lack of a water supply. We couldn’t hang around here though as we had a room booked for the night in Dobërdol so we were once again back on our feet and strolling through yet more forest. We did emerge from it for a while after a steep descent where a craggy hillside could be seen above us. We could also see and hear a large waterfall ahead of us but the trail headed steeply up over the hills once again on a rocky path through the trees before we got to it.
Dobërdol
From here it was relatively easy going down towards Dobërdol on ever wider tracks until we crossed a river at the bottom of the settlement and headed up through the ‘streets’ to the Bashkimi Guesthouse. The weather had been deteriorating throughout the day with the showers becoming heavier and more prolonged. Fortunately today had been and easy short day for us at just over 7 miles. So, despite the late start and the easy pace we arrived early in the afternoon and had the rest of the day to chill.
As we entered the guesthouse Morgan was greeted with a WiFi sign which looked promising. I too was looking forward to catching up with Anna if I could. I wished she was here with us, but walking isn’t really her thing, camping isn’t really her thing, and being wet and cold isn’t her thing either. Come to think of it, climbing mountains, meeting shepherd dogs, drinking from dodgy water sources, being somewhat smelly and dirty and toilet duties in the woods wouldn’t be much to her liking either. So, although I was missing Anna and wishing she was here it was probably best that she wasn’t! We were also looking forward to a shower, a bed and some home cooked food.
We signed in and were shown to our room, which once again was a double bed for the night. I headed off for a shower but couldn’t get the water to run hot so had to make do with a cold shower. I then sat in the room trying to warm up while Morgan headed off for a shower and had more success than I did. He managed to get the water up to 40ºC but had to turn it down as it was too hot! After a cup a soup in the room we headed to the drying room where a wood burner had the temperature sweltering and people were drying off their kit and commenting on how nice and warm the showers were!
We didn’t make much use of the drying facilities as we had managed to keep most things fairly dry. We did however make use of the WiFi and sat there chatting via text to Anna. It was good to catch up with her and let her know that everything was OK with us. I’d also planned a slight variation for our route tomorrow so I was able to send her our new plans as well.
As we sat there it was pouring with rain outside. We had arrived just in time and missed the worst of the weather but those arriving behind looked increasingly wet, bedraggled and somewhat more miserable! While we were sat there one of the wetter looking people opened the door and came in. He took one look at me and said “Are you Alan?” I was a little taken aback as I was literally in the middle of nowhere in a temporary shepherd station in Albania but it seemed as though someone else knew me. He introduced himself as Chris and said that his wife Olivia had seen me on Facebook so they’d done some online stalking and therefore recognised me. 5 minutes later an even wetter looking ‘Olivia’ came in took one look at me and said “ooh, are you Alan?”. I don’t think Morgan could quite believe it. We chatted for a while as more and more, increasingly wet people came into the dry, hot room that was becoming more like a steam room. In the end it was just getting too hot and too busy for me so we retreated to our room to wait for dinner. Although I did pop out at one point as the clouds cleared and the sunset lit up the mountains we were heading towards in the morning.
The remote village of Dobërdol is located in the north of Albania, just on the border with Montenegro and Kosovo. Due to its elevation of almost 2,000 m the village is only occupied in the summer months. Towering over Dobërdol is the famous peak Tromeda. Famous for being the meeting point of the three countries Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo. Most people were headed up to the top in the morning as that is the route of the Peaks of the Balkans Trail. Our plan tomorrow was taking us off trail once again, first up the valley and then steeply up to summit Gjeravica, the highest peak in Kosovo. No one else here was doing that so it was likely that we’d be out on our own once again.
Dead on 7pm someone knocked on the door to say dinner was ready.
Dinner was good with a bean soup, a feta pastry thing and some cold chips. There was salad, bread and cheese too. We avoided the salad as there were rumours of norovirus and lots of diarrhoea and sickness around here. The water was rumoured to be the source of this and there were signs that some of the houses had toilets that discharged into the stream. The only water came from the stream and the salad was likely to have been washed in it. It was nbest avoided! We didn’t therefore drink the water either. Instead we had beer from the stream-powered fridge – literally a big glass-fronted fridge into which water from the stream flowed to keep things cold. Not that it needed chilling here, it was pretty chilly anyway.
We chatted over dinner then headed into the hot room for a while where we messaged and chatted some more. After warming back up we headed off to bed.
The room was much colder than the tent but it was nice to be in a bed for a change.
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I’m with Anna but it’s nice for you and Morgan to do these daft things especially together.
I guess you can say you are famous ! X