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Published: October 9th 2007
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Hi all,
Trust you are all well.... Jacqui here. Brian is having a snooze today rather than writing this together as we usually do - the life of a traveller! Last we updated the blog we were in Macedonia so quite a bit of water has gone under the bridge since. Lake Ohrid was a wonderful spot. We had a great room right on the shore of what is one of the largest lakes in Europe. Beautiful scenery all around with little churches and monasteries dotted along the cliffs on the edge of the lake. Hopefully we can add some photos for you all to see this time.
From there we took a bus over the mountains and down into Albania - probably the poorest country we have visited so far and unless one has a penchant for piles of garbage and caustic smog it is not somewhere we would recommend to visit yet. Having said that the people appeared to be in reasonable health and houses were fair. We travelled to the south of the country to a town called Berat which is famous for a collection of white Ottoman houses built up the side of a steep
hill surrounding a medieval fortress at the top that people still live in. Had a nice day wandering around the old town and exploring the little churches scattered in amongst the village. Unfortunately like the rest of the country the river was filled with truck loads of rubbish and the smell was not great, made worse by the dozens of diesel generators running in the streets to power the shops and homes. From there we took a bus and travelled the entire length of the country in a day bypassing the capital and all the chaos we were warned about. I spent much of it trying to get a photo of some of the countryside with its little fields of wheat, opium poppies, corn and vegetables. The people still harvest the grain crops by hand and stack the straw in haycocks. There were donkeys and carts everywhere although all I managed to get a photo of was blurry donkey bottoms, donkey ears, donkey carts and power poles, trucks, piles of rubbish and trees in the way... just when I would give up we would drive through a donkey infested patch and I would miss them all! The frustrations of being
a traveller on an Albanian bus! We had an interesting experience as we neared the border and came to the outskirts of a small town. The driver took a couple of mobile phone calls and then we pulled over on the side of a street. A guy wearing smart clothes and dark glasses got out of a black Mercedes and came to the drivers window and after a brief exchange was passed an envelope containing a thick wad of what appeared to be money - stuffed it into his pocket without looking at it and then drove off. Apparently the mafia run the country and so no doubt we got to experience a first hand transaction Albanian style!
From Albania we travelled north along the coast of Montenegro. A wonderful surprise and not one we were expecting. The landscape is spectacular with steep forested mountains dropping straight into the sea and an interesting coast of little coves and cliffs dotted with more monasteries and little villages and churches. The inland is even more rugged and we unfortunately did not get to see it but by all accounts is quite spectacular. The Tara gorge is 1.3km deep and runs for
80kms through a national park surrounded by steep forests and a long list of wildlife. Definitely somewhere for next time. In contrast to Albania it was clean and ordered. More medieval walled towns along the coast and we spent two nights in Kotor at the head of the deepest fiord in southern Europe and surrounded by steep mountains. We hiked for an hour up to an imposing fortress that sits on the mountain directly behind the town for spectacular views.
North of Macedonia lies Croatia where we have now been for the past couple of weeks travelling from Dubrovnik in the south up to the Istrian peninsular in the north - across the water from Venice. Dubrovnik is the the mother of all medieval walled cities and is surrounded completely by a fortress enclosure of stone up to 20m high and in some places 6m thick. Very picturesque with all its tiled roofs and limestone cobbled streets jumbled inside the walls and the whole thing perched on the side of a cliff overlooking the Adriatic sea with its yachts sailing past and little coves of pebbly stone and umbrellas. From there we took a ferry to Hvar island with
yet another medieval town overlooked by a fortress and spectacular forested coastline. Croatia really is a beautiful country and in our opinion beats Greece and Turkey hands down. Here on the Istrian peninsular we are staying in an apartment on the harbour of a small fishing village called Rovinj not far from Pula at the southern tip. Friends of mine from London have come to join us which makes for an interesting change and lots of laughs so we are enjoying the time together.
From Rovinj we took the bus to Lubliajna, the capital of Slovenia - a beautiful Oxford style city with a university that houses one fifth of the population. Lovely old buildings, a good smattering of cobblestone streets and cafes and the obligatory castle on top of the hill which I am ashamed to admit we didn't bother to go and see - partly because we have seen bundles already and apparently it wasn't particularly good inside, and partly because it was raining. We had two days in the capital - nearly enough for such a small town and as the hostel we were staying in was in a serious state of renovation (picture included) it
wasn't the warmest spot to stay! The weather has taken a rather chilly turn since leaving the coast and the leaves are all changing colour which makes for spectacular walks in the countryside. We headed west to the Julian Alps where we are now, based in a town called Bled with a beautiful castle (yet to explore) on a cliff overlooking a most picturesque lake complete with a medieval church atop a small island in the middle. It really doesn't get any more beautiful. Yesterday we hiked up to Bohinj lake and took a cable car to the top of the ski resport for some spectular views of the mountains. Today we hiked to Vintar gorge about 3kms from town for more suburb autumnal views and waterfalls. Slovenia is certianly one of the highlights of the trip so far and as the people are very friendly, the prices reasonable and the scenery so spectacular is a country that most everyone would enjoy... So - another day here and then on to Austria - our second last country in eastern Europe and the near final chapter in our adventure.
Love
Jacqui and Brian.
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