Walking the Peaks of the Balkans Trail 1

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In June 2022 I travelled from the UK to Albania to meet up with a couple of friends and walk the Peaks of the Balkans Trail, a 192km circular walk in the mountains of Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro.

From Tirana Airport I took a taxi to the hillside town of Kruje where I met up with my walking companions Cathy and her daughter Rebecca. I had previously met Cathy in Kyrgyzstan back in 2018. At the time she had been travelling the world for 2 years and I was just in the throws of selling up and quitting the 9 to 5. Although at the time we only spoke for maybe 20 minutes we had kept in touch since then via social media. When she asked if I would like to join them on this walk I jumped at the chance as Cathy is a far more organised traveller than myself so I figured that for me it would just be a case of turning up and everything would be planned out. That theory soon went out of the window when I talked myself into arranging the accommodation and also the ferry and transfers from Shkodër to Valbona. In fairness Cathy did send me an accommodation list so I only had to work my way down it. Most of the bookings were done via either Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger a few weeks beforehand which seemed a bit vague compared to using the usual online platforms, but we always got our bed for the night at the agreed price so any trepidation was unfounded.

After a few days in Kruje we caught a bus to Shkrodër and the next morning at 6.15am we were picked up by minibus for the 55km transfer to Koman and the ferry to Fierza. Thankfully we had booked this a few weeks beforehand as with only one sailing a day it gets pretty busy. In fact almost every last inch of deckspace was taken up by either vehicles or humans and luckily it was a beautiful sunny day as there were far more passengers than either seats or shelter. The ferry ride is along Komani Lake which was manmade by damming the Drin River between two hydro electric power stations and although the mountain scenery which is a foretaste of what is to come over the following days is slightly marred by the amount of garbage floating on the lake's surface, it's not hard to see why this ferry ride is rated as one of Europe's finest. After a couple of hours on the ferry we arrived at Fierza and we transferred back into a minibus for our onward travel. Here there was a bit of confusion as there were more passengers than available seats but eventually after a bit of toing and froing between buses and with Rebecca sat on a plastic stool in the aisle we were on our way up the mountain roads to Valbona and our guesthouse for the night. All credit to our driver though as when it came to pay our fare without any haggling he only charged Rebecca half the normal price.

We were dropped off right outside of Rilindja Guesthouse and were soon settled in one of the dormrooms that they have in a separate building. As it turned out we were the only ones staying anyway so it was as good as a private room. From Valbona there are two routes to Çeremi, a low level one along a valley mainly on road or 4x4 tracks, or a high level route over two mountain passes which was the one that we chose to do. In the early evening in between meals Cathy and myself walked up the valley to check out where the trailhead was. It turned out to be 3km further on up the valley from our guesthouse, not a problem we thought although with hindsight the next evening we were rueing our exhuberance at turning down the offer of a lift there from our guesthouse owner.

After a decent nights sleep and breakfast we were on our way by 8.15am. We chose to walk along the road rather than the path through the woods to get to the trailhead as it was far easier going and virtually traffic free. 45 minutes later we were starting the climb up to the Prosllopit Pass. Over the course of the next 5km we climbed around 1100 metres crossing a couple of meadows covered in wild flowers along the way but mainly just zig zagging our way up the mountainside on narrow rocky paths. Eventually after around 5 hours we reached the pass which runs between Maja Rosit and Maja Kolata two peaks which dominate the skyline being around 500 metres higher than the pass. Although there were no markers to tell us, we were now in Montenegro for the next few kilometres of relatively flat walking. That is not to say that it was much easier though as we had a couple of patches of snow still a few metres deep to negotiate around before a steep drop to another large meadow and the Borit Pass where we crossed back into Albania. From here it was another 5km of descent down to our overnight stop in Çeremi where we finally arrived at 7.30pm. Our pace had been much slower than we had anticipated but we all agreed that choosing the route over the pass rather than the easier one along the valley road was the right decision ,if only we had accepted the offer of the lift!

Thankfully our host had saved us some food as the other dozen or so guests had all eaten earlier .We were treated to a good spread and generous portions of home cooked traditional dishes, something that we would get used to over the next two weeks. A quick shower later and that was the end of day one, a day of stunning mountain views but a tough introduction to the Peaks of the Balkans Trail.

Everyone in the guesthouse was up and about early and after another good breakfast we were ready to hit the road by 8am.The first couple of hours of the route while uphill were on a 4x4 track so the gradients weren't too severe. We then crossed back into Montenegro and turned onto a footpath through forest and meadows. A further couple of hours on and as we crossed back into Albania once more. A nice-and it would prove to be rare-treat here was a cafe where despite having only taken a break a short time before we lingered for a while over coffee and cold sugary drinks. Feeling re energised we set off again on what after yesterday seemed like a leisurely stroll until we finally arrived at our destination for the day, the remote summer settlement of Dobërdol. On arriving in the village we had one final hurdle to negotiate as the bridge over the river has been washed away. I tried crossing on stepping stones but they were slippery and ended up in the water, so the other two removed their shoes and paddled across the icy cold water, not exactly an unwelcome way to end another long day of walking. Our choice of guesthouse for the night wasn't the best, in fact of the three we saw it was probably the worse, and although we obviously didn't know at the time the worse one of the whole trip. Still we got a hot shower, food and a quiet nights sleep so it wasn't all bad Today's walk was totally different from yesterday's, staying at lower level so much greener, walking through forest and meadows but still all the while having the mountains as a backdrop.

In the morning as we were about to leave, the guesthouse owner decided that although we had already settled the bill that we now owed her for any tea or coffee that we had at mealtimes. We had heard that things like this were probably going to happen, not just here but at guesthouses in general and so she was told in a friendly way where she could put her extra charges and away we went. It did sour things slightly though as from now on we were always suspicious of getting extra charges on our bill. Although as it happens we never did.

Leaving Dobërdol behind we straight away began climbing up to towards the Three Border Peak. Here we crossed into Montenegro and then followed the border ridge, not quite getting to the peak at 2366m but not far short of it. After a while we then crossed into Kosovo. Once again the mountain scenery was simply stunning as we climbed up to cross the Roshkodol Pass, after this the hard work for the day should have been done but we missed a turning down into the village of Roshkodol. To keep us confused there were still red and white trail markings, maybe at some point the trail has been re-routed I don't know, but whatever the reason it turned a reasonable days walking into an incredibly long hard day. Eventually at around 7pm we arrived our guesthouse near Milishevc which thankfully was not only very welcoming but also quiet as we were the only guests staying that night.

After another lovely homecooked meal and a good nights sleep we had planned on one more day of walking before having a rest day but we liked Guesthouse Lojza so much that we decided to bring the rest day forward and stay here an extra night. The only slight problem was that as we had all of our accommodation booked we needed to contact our next guesthouse to let them know that we wouldn't be arriving until the next day, but there was no phone signal or wi-fi available, our host though kindly offered to drive us up the hillside to where we could get a phone signal and made the call for us as the owner only speaks a little English The rest of the day was spent doing absolutely nothing except enjoying the beautiful surroundings from the porch of our log cabin accommodation. Later in the afternoon a group of 12 Germans plus their guide arrived along with their luggage which had been transported on horseback. This was the first organised tour that we had encountered although as the walk went on there would get to be more and more.

Our fourth day of walking started with the now familiar long slog uphill and over a mountain pass, the main difference today being that once we had climbed 500 metres within a couple of kilometres we were starting a 1200 metre descent down into the Rugova valley. The steep descent was mainly down through forest and it eventually brought us out on the valley road right next to a restaurant where after having a much welcomed coffee we then decided to have a meal too. The main driver for this decision was that the trout swimming about in the pond at the side of our table looked to good to resist, and so they were too. They certainly weren't many air miles involved in the sourcing of our lunch! After a leisurely couple of hours we set out to walk the last 7km to Ariu Guesthouse in the small village of Rekë a Allagës.

Our leisurely lunch meant that we didn't arrive until around 7pm and after a cold beer we were, along with the other guests summoned in for our evening meal. Once again the food was homemade and plentiful but unfortunately having not long eaten we couldn't enjoy it to it's full. Afterwards the remainder of the evening was spent chatting to the other guests and enjoying Mustafa -the owners- home made raki, and very nice it was too!

The next day's walk to Drelaj was the shortest of our planned stages at around 12km but Cathy and Rebecca decided to shorten it more and also make it a bit easier by walking via the valley road. Meanwhile I did the obligatory climb up to a pass below the peak of Hajla. As I reached the pass I caught up with two groups who were both going to climb to the 2400 metre summit. Even though there was plenty of time I decided to skip this option as a) I didn't fancy being up at the summit with a big crowd of people and b) thunderstorms were forecast for the afternoon. After walking the first few days in almost solitude the meeting with organised groups over the past two days had changed the feel of the walk slightly. So from the pass I had a quiet walk on my own, down once again into the Rugova Valley.

When Drelaj came into sight the first thing that struck me was that it looked like a proper village, which may sound strange but all of our other stops had been in communities where the houses were scattered over a few kilometres whereas Drelaj has a mosque and the houses are grouped together on the hillside above the valley floor. I arrived in the village by noon and once settled in at our guesthouse spent a quiet afternoon feeling smug as the rain clouds rolled in over the mountains before the groups who had headed for the summit arrived down in the village.

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Comments

[Carolyn Harvey]

Balkans Walk
Lovely account Nev of you walk of the Balkans Trail 1. Great to have more detail of your exploits. Keep safe and well!

[Roads to roam]

Hi Carolyn
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it