Albania - Peshkopia to Fushe Studen

Finally it was time to leave the Accursed Mountains. They were so amazing that I doubt that anything else in Albania will live up to them!

We drove to Bajram Currie and grabbed a byrek for lunch. This was the first of a few times where I asked what was inside the byrek and was told "chicken". What they really meant was "sausage"! John was getting in touch with his Albanian side and double-parked just like everyone else while I bought the byreks from a tiny shop. We drove out of town and found a place to eat them. We sat on the steps of one of the many crumbling communist monuments scattered around the country.

From there we drove the back roads to Krume. The scenery was stunning. We could still look back on the Accursed Mountains.

Corn stalks were neatly stooked in rows everywhere.

Our final destination was Kukes, a mid-sized city. It was located between a couple of arms of a big artificial lake.

As we drove into town, we passed a car that we recognised. We had seen it earlier in Valbone. It was emblazoned with a website name and it had heaps of flag stickers on it. The main one was an Australian flag. The number plate was black and white with "SA" on it. At first we assumed it was South African but the Aussie flag made us wonder - was it South Australian? To cut a long story short, John looked up the website address and got in touch with them. They were a British couple that had lived in Australia for 20 years. Yes, the car was from South Australia. The couple were on a mission to travel to every country n the world - with their car! Just after John had arranged to meet them for dinner, he looked out the window of our lovely hotel and there was the car. They were staying in the same hotel as us! We caught up and had a lovely night. They were having some maintenance issues with the car and were briefly heading back to the UK to get parts and to get an Algerian visa sorted for their next leg - Africa. We wish them well!

A menu at a restaurant showing the prices. 500 lek is about $8 in Australia. Generally, things are quite cheap here.

John and I went for a walk around the town and found an abandoned hotel. Abandoned buildings from all eras seem to be everywhere.

From Kukes we headed out for the day to Shishtavec, right near the Kosovo border. The villagers were out in force harvesting potatoes. It seemed that every man and woman were out in the paddocks hoeing up potatoes or lugging heavy bags of them to waiting vehicles.

Bringing a load home.

We had a walk planned but seeing all these lovely villages made we want to walk from the village to village instead. Sadly, I had long shorts on and, as these villages were mostly Muslim, not a single person had any exposed legs so we had to abandon that plan.

We parked the car at a certain point and walked towards a local lake. On the way we passed sheds with thatched rooves, something we haven't seen much of here. 

We also passed a terrifying dog and were glad we had walking poles to make him keep his distance.

The lake soon appeared. Again there was heaps of the strange autumn-coloured bracken adding splashes of colour to the scenery.

We found some more abandoned buildings.

The lake was pretty.

It might be potato season in the villages but it's definitely funghi season in the forests!

Haystack and golden bracken.

One Albanian word we have learned is "hello" (the language is really difficult here!). We always said hello to the potato harvesters as we passed them and, much to our surprise we were twice answered in English! This guy was in for a chat (it got him out of working for a while, haha.)

His family kept working but gave a wave for the camera. 

Beautiful birches were everywhere.

The next day we set out on a bit of adventure - we drove the Old Black Drini Road south to Peshkopi. The new road would have been nice but we had read that the original road still wound through the long valley and small villages. The road wasn't really maintained though so we were ready for anything.

The road was rough but not as bad as we expected. It was only single lane and blind corners were everywhere however there weren't many other cars on it so we didn't really have trouble with that. We splashed through waterways and saw beautiful views.

One of the bridges.

Of course there were bunkers. They are everywhere!

It was slow going. This equates to about 25 or 30kms an hour on average!

We arrived at Peshkopi and found our guest house. which was run by a lovely older couple. Like we've experienced before, it was like staying at your grandmother's house. Everything was neat and tidy and it had a really homely feel.

Part of the reason we picked this place was that it was on a quiet road but near all the action on the nearby pedestrianised street. We wandered down to the street of rough, broken pavers on our first night, which was a Sunday night, and you could have shot a cannon down the long road and not hit anybody. It was dead! However the next days and nights it all changed. The street was packed. Old men in suits, vests and cap, just like my dad wears, wandered along the road. Kids ran around and women walked and chatted with friends. It was so busy! Evening promenading is clearly a big thing here.

We didn't want a restaurant meal for lunch so we found a fast food place that sold gyros. We ordered one each and what we got was a wrap with a bit of meat, some cheese and a pile of chips. The guy there spoke some English so we thought we'd try again the next day. We asked for more meat, lots of salad and no chips. What we got was a bit more meat, a bit of salad and a pile of chips..... No wonder we keep putting on weight!

We also found a byrek place here that beat any other one by a mile. The pie was warm, straight out of the oven. It was soft and tasty, not dry like many others are. Sadly we didn't find this until just as we were leaving.

We went to a small village called Rabdisht. This village is one of 100 to have been declared a village of cultural importance. Cobblestoned lanes wound between stone buildings.

Villages here are virtually self-sufficient. Everyone seems to have chickens, a vegie garden and a patch of land somewhere.

Horses were used for transport and for carrying things. Strangely, everyone rode sidesaddle. It took me a while to work out that this is because all the saddles are wooden pack saddles. They wouldn't be very comfortable to ride astride, especially for men! We only saw men and boys riding. The rarely had bridles, just halters with one lead rope.

As we climbed up to the next village we could see all the farming activities going on below. These potatoes were being packed into bags.

The views were so beautiful.

There were heaps of fallen apples just rotting on the path.

Apples in dapples.

We finally learned what these fruits are - they're Cornelian cherries!

We hiked to the next village called Zagrad. As soon as we entered the village we met the lovely owners of a guest house. They spoke no English but they invited us in for tea. We sat outside on the concrete steps but the man got jumpers and coats for us to sit on. The tea was rosehip with heaps of honey. The woman told me that she has a garden higher up somewhere. She proudly showed me photos of her tomatoes, onions etc. He ran 300 sheep on the "stan" - the higher summer pastures. She tried to give me garlic that she had just picked but what could I do with it?  So she called her daughter who spoke English and I was asked what I would like instead. I thought of all the fallen apples on the ground on our walk in so I thought if I asked for one apple, it wouldn't be an imposition. Instead we got three large pears and a huge quince! She also gave us a handful of tiny fruit that looked a bit like tomatoes but tasted more like pears. I don't know what they were.

The people were so kind and hospitable. What an experience!

Views on the return walk.

We returned to our car and started driving back to Peshkopi. On the way we passed some people walking so we offered them a lift. They said they were just walking. We soon realised out mistake. The whole 8km stretch of road between the village and Peshkopi was lined with people promenading in the evening. This was not a particularly attractive or safe road to walk on so we couldn't believe how many people were on it, just enjoying the evening.

The next day we set off for Fushe Stude (also called Fushe Studen), having no idea of the day we were in for. Following close to the Macedonian border, we bumped and bounced along a rough dirt road for ages then suddenly there were men working on the road and from then on it was all a brand-new sealed road. We were cruising along thinking how well it was going when suddenly a very strange noise erupted from under the bonnet of the mighty Beast. We pulled over. Smoke was coming from the engine. This wasn't good. We lifted up the bonnet but weren't game to touch anything. We let it cool then drove on for a bit but suddenly the engine simply stopped. We tried to start it but it wouldn't go. The Beast had died.

We were only a few kms from our next guesthouse so we called them to see if they could pick us up but they were preparing for a birthday party (what???) and had no spare staff. While we were contemplating our next move we heard a vehicle approach. We waved them down. The van had three people in the front and one in the back. I think the one in the back was sitting on bags of spuds. They spoke no English but our car bonnet was up and the word "kaput" is universally understood! They gave us a lift to our guest house, putting us in the front while they all squished into the back with our gear. They were happy for a photo.

We checked into our apartment then contacted the car rental company. Communication was difficult but they got the gist of it. They said they would replace the car and they would send someone out that afternoon. Were we happy with a 2012 Mercedes GLX? What? We only paid for an old Pajero! It would take three or four hours for the new car to reach us so we headed up to the local tourist office to get walking info. The reason we chose this village to stay in is because it has the main tourist information centre for the Shebenik National Park. 

The tourist office was closed.......

There was a bar nearby so we braved the smoke and asked if anyone knew when the office would be open. One guy spoke English and made some calls for us (would this happen at home?). Soon he reported that the person wasn't around today, however, he happened to have maps of the hiking trails and he emailed them to me! He asked where we were staying and when we told him he said he might see us later because his son's birthday party was happening there that night. Ahhh, now we know whose birthday they were preparing for!

We had a bit of a walk around the village. A couple of huge bunkers were near the main road.

We met this lovely old guy. Just because we can say "hello" in Albanian, people often assume we can speak Albanian. This guy just chatted on regardless of our lack of understanding. I don't think he had a tooth in his head. 

Classic! We love these interactions with people.

In our walks up and down the road between our accommodation and the village we saw so much farming happening. Potatoes were still being packed but people were also harvesting a lot of huge pumpkins. Horses and cows were tethered in the open paddocks and a few sheep and goats wandered around.

The car rental company asked us to wait on the side of the road to meet the people bringing the new car. I'm so glad they did. On our way we passed old lady collecting walnuts under tree. She immediately beckoned us over and gave us a handful. They were delicious! Cows and sheep were being brought in to be shedded for the night. Not a single animal was left tethered in the open paddocks where there were heaps a few hours ago. 

I don't know what it is about this rhythm of agricultural life but it feels very right to me. I feel like this is what we are meant to do.

It was almost dusk and I was getting worried about The Beast sitting on the side of the road where someone could run into it in the dark.

Soon a car approached towing the Merc on a trailer. First they went straight past us but luckily they saw us waving madly at them. They unloaded the new car on the road.

We drove the Merc and led them to the Pajero which nobody had run into, thankfully. We pushed it while one of the guys tried to start it. This technique got enough forward momentum happening to get the car up the ramp and onto the trailer. It was all done in short time, just as dark settled in. The guys were really lovely. 

The Beast was a practical car but it certainly had its issues. We were still a bit sad to see it go.

We were both quite amazed at how quickly the rental company acted on the issues we had. At very short notice they found a replacement car, organised for a towing company to drive it four hours to us then they quickly turned around and drove another four hours back again with the dead Beast in tow. Impressive!

Back at the guest house, we entered the restaurant for dinner to find the 4 year-old's birthday party in full swing, only it was really a family get together. Albert, the dad, bought us a drink each. Out came cake and we got some. We had been there an hour and hadn't got our soup that we'd ordered because all the staff were busy with the party so we ate the cake first. It was delicious! We joined in singing Happy Birthday. The Albanian version was very similar to ours. When they left, they all said goodbye to us. What a day!

After a fitful night's sleep - there was still too much adrenalin running through our systems - we went for a hike the next day. We found that all the various bits of info we had about walks in the national park seemed to conflict with each other. In the end we just took our best guess and it worked out ok. We hiked up another long hill. The funghi on this walk were again amazing. There were so many different types!

Even this spiky-looking thing was a fungi of some sort.

Weirdly, on a hill in the middle of nowhere, we found this old storage bunker which we assume is from the communist days.

Nearby we came across a couple of guys looking after their herd of sheep and goats. This goat was very friendly and was hoping for something nice to eat.

One of the guys spoke a lot of Swedish and a tiny bit of English, and told us they had been there for three days. They had a large sheepyard nearby and a shed of some sort for sleeping. Like his goat, he was very friendly!

We found a spot with a lovely view and sat there for a while eating some nuts. It was wonderful!

Big views on our way back.

We found this sign after we had finished our walk and were driving out of the park! I think it had been there a while though.

We were getting used to the new car. It was much more comfortable that the Pajero but John made the comment that he used to drive around waving to people, feeling that he was one of the boys. In the Merc, he now felt like he was "the man" which is not a feeling he wanted. It's hard to try to fit in when locals in this town mostly drove old beaten-up bombs - like the Pajero, lol. Having said that, old Mercs are far more common here than at home. In Europe Mercs are probably the most common taxis. They survive for such a long time.

We checked out of our apartment and had one last walk before we left the area. This one took us to a cave. The trail along the way was gorgeous.

We found some amazing funghi here. These ones looked weirdly wet and shiny.

These grew on a tree trunk.

So cool!

It showered on and off on the way but we got to the cave just as it rained properly. The cave is called the Ice Cave because it's very cold. It's a huge cave and we were looking forward to exploring it. Unfortunately we soon realised that the only way down to the floor of the cave was via a rickety hand-made ladder that was missing a few rungs. We stayed there for a while contemplating what to do. We could probably get down ok but the problem was that the ladder wasn't anchored to anything and the missing rungs meant that we would have to put a fair bit of weight on it to try to get back up again. Would the ladder then tip? We couldn't take the risk and tuned around. So disappointing! 

The cave was really big!

Whew! If you made it to here you're doing well!
Cheers,
Heather and John