Hiking the Balkans

travel blog

[hikingthebalkans]

Coming back to the Accursed Mountains-again and again

 I first wanted to go to the Accursed Mountains in the mid nineties, having visited Albania in 1994 for the first time.

It was in September 2014 that I first came and I was hooked. The north of Albania was a "no go" area for most of the nineties and the early '00ies. Due to a combination of factors it was impossible to go to the places that are now starting to have a regular stream of adventure seeking tourists. Whether it was the lawlessness and the wide spread use of weapons, the smuggling or the lack of infrastructure or the combination of all these factors, it took twenty years for me to come. The first time I saw the region of Thethi Valley, I knew I'd be back. 

We chose to come hiking from Montenegro via Bor mountain, having arranged our cross border passes in advance. There is something that appeals to my sense of adventure, when crossing the fog covered mountain and coming across  sign that says: "turn back from this point".

What used to be smuggling routes for weapons, drugs, cigarettes and people prior to and during the Kosovo conflict in the late nineties, are now marked hiking trail called "Peaks of the Balkans".

We came across a Sheppard's camp, a place where people live during the summer in order to bring their flocks of sheep to graze in the higher pastures of the mountains. They tell us they have seen other hikers earlier during the day, but they still have an hour to spend serving us coffee, warm bread and home made cheese.

 And the children proudly present the new generation of "sharplaninec" puppies, the regional breed of sheep dog that I previously mentioned in my post about Shara mountain.

 We continue walking through the fog, hearing a flock of sheep before seeing it, hearing the barking of the dogs, when we stop to take photos and hang around for what they consider to be too long.

The GPS shows that we are meters away from the Albanian border. The fog suddenly lifts to reveal a view, a stunning view of steep mountains, with their peaks still covered in fog.

Within the hour there is blue sky and rays of sunshine reward our efforts.

 And the mountain opens its valleys to us, both Valbona and Thethi valleys are stunning and the guesthouses in the villages are welcoming. There are even several "bars" along the way, with the most stunning views.

As in most remote areas in the Balkans the hospitality is unprecedented. The food is delicious and the hosts are warm. What takes me aback is how quickly the region has capitalised from the revenue that is coming with the first tourists. What was one of the poorest areas of the poorest country in Europe, is now a region full of welcoming guesthouses that offer refuge for tired hikers.

The Accursed Mountains are often compared to the Dolomites or Malte Brun mountain in south New Zealand. Personally, I don't like comparing mountains as I believe that each mountain carries its own uniqueness.

But I do hope that more mountaineers and hikers will come to enjoy the Accursed Mountains following the Peaks of the Balkans.

[hikingthebalkans]

The highest peaks of the Balkans-hiking Bulgaria

Join us on a trip to Bulgaria in 2016

I have been visiting Bulgaria both in summer and winter in the last couple of years and have been pleasantly surprised by the improvement of the infrastructure since the country joined the EU. Just like the other Balkan countries Bulgaria is culturally rich and has beautiful unspoiled nature, so it is worth visiting both in summer for hiking and in winter for winter sports.

 Bulgaria has the highest peaks of the Balkans. During my recent trip with London European Club we reached the peak of mountain Rila, Musala at 2925m and the peak of mountain Pirin, Vihren at 2914m.

Being close to 3000m early in the morning is certainly a unique experience, the clear air and the perfectly sunny conditions opened spectacular views that will long remain in my memory.

 Describing the feeling of reaching a peak is impossible, for me it is a picture of absolute clarity an overwhelming feeling of happiness, a wider perspective. Yes it takes hours of climbing and in the case of climbing peak Vihren, even wondering if a wrong step won't mean stumbling down the rocks.

Hours of steep descent add to the tiredness and the pain in my legs, but when on top of a mountain, while seeing all the hiking opportunities that open up in front of my eyes, I can't stop myself from planning the next adventure to the next mountain.

 Seeing a peak that you have reached in the distance also gives one a special feeling of achievement, as funny as it may sound, I feel happy when I say: I was there.

 Our guide Stoyan had been to Musala and Vihren with many friends and tourists numerous times but his enthusiasm and knowledge of nature and culture is both impressive and catching.

 Aside from taking us to the highest peaks of the Balkans , Stoyan took us to the seven Rila Lakes, each of them unique and all of them visible from a point on mountain Rila.

The lakes are beautiful, but the chairlift that was built nearby brings hundreds of people on weekends, so I would avoid going there on a Saturday or a Sunday. My prior visit to mountain Rila was in May and there was hardly a soul there, but you should be prepared for snow if you go that early in the year. Hiking in August is pleasant and warm but you may be faced with crowds of hikers coming from Sofia.

 A nice thing about visiting Rila and Piin are spas. Both mountains are rich with hot mineral waters and there are many spas one could visit. We stayed in Bansko, a quite little town which has thermal waters.

 My favourite is still Sapareva Banya near Samokov with open outdoor pools.

  Our trip ended in Sofia this time, the Bulgarian capital certainly deserves more than just a 12 hour visit, as there are many places of interest, nice parks and gardens, restaurants and theatres. Sofia already "suffers" from EU standardisation, so you will see the same adverts and products like in every other Debenhams, Subway or Starbucks in Europe. Never the less it has valuable treasures like the 4th century St. George Rotunda built next to the palace of Constantine the Great and now hidden in a little square in Sofia.

It is also still very easy to find a restaurant or café which is mainly visited by locals in one of the side streets of Sofia iif you want to feel a more authentic atmosphere.

 While Hiking the Balkans it was never my intention to stay in cities for long and I am off to my next hiking adventure starting soon in Montenegro and following the trails to the Accursed Mountains in Albania.

[hikingthebalkans]

Revisiting Shara - fascinated by a mountain

I mentioned Shara in one of my previous posts, it is the largest mountain massif in Macedonia, and has 25 peaks higher than 2500 meters. It is also a mountain which towers over the Macedonian capital Skopje and provides it with a stunning backdrop. It is very much a part of the identity of the city and it ended up being depicted on the city's flag.

The mountain is shared by three states, Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania and has a total area of 1600km. Snow often stays on Shara even in May, so August is an ideal time to explore it in mild conditions. But Shara has its own climate and those who know it always go prepared for rain.  

I was lucky this time, although there were dark clouds forming around the three peaks Titov Vrv (2747m), Mal Turchin (2707m) and Bakardan (2704m), the rain never came. Instead I was just rewarded with stunning views. Kobilica peak (2528m) was visible in the distance and although one may think that I am bias, I would classify it as one of the most fascinating Balkan peaks.

 My host on this mountain was Meto Cilimanov (you can follow him on Instagram @chilimanoff ) who spends a lot of time on the mountain both in summer and winter. His love for the mountain is catching, he knows all the shortcuts, the stunning spots, the best places to ski off-piste.

Shara mountain is the largest compact area covered with pastures on the European continent, which makes it very welcoming and pleasant.

  It is also the  mountain where the unique breed of dogs Sharplaninec originates from. This dog is known to be independent, reliable and devoted to its master and is used as a shepherd and a guard dog in the wider Balkan region. It has been known to fight off wolves, lynx and even bears. I have seen the breed in the mountains of Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria and Macedonia and its behaviour is always recognizable. They  are aloof with outsiders, calm and protective.

 Their instinct is to herd the flock, even if the "flock" is not made of sheep but hikers who need to be herded from danger or undesirable areas. 

 This time I stayed on the mountain for only two brief days, but it is a place that I will be coming back to, to literally look for pastures new.

[hikingthebalkans]

Kotor Bay-a stunning Adriatic beauty

Join us on a trip to Montenegro in April 2016

I have been based in Kotor Bay since March this year, using it as one of two bases for my Balkan explorations. Kotor Bay with its 107km (66mile) coast line is overwhelming in every sense of the word. Its beauty and history are rich even by Balkan standards.

Known as the "most southern European fjord" Kotor Bay is in fact a ria or a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. A friend who is a geographer called it a "freak of nature" which I found a little inadequate because the beauty of this "freak" is just so breath taking that I think it deserves a better description. Kotor Bay attracts thousands of tourists cruising the Adriatic each year. It is one of those "must see" places where cruisers stop, people "tick it off" their bucket lists.

 It is interesting to live in a "must see" place, especially out of season. The town of Kotor is virtually empty in late March, only locals sitting in the cafes, waiting for tourists to arrive while watching the pouring rain. The Bay of Kotor lies within the Mediterranean and northwards the humid subtropical climate zone, but its peculiar topography and the high mountains make it one of the wettest places in Europe. Most visitors don't know this, because they come in the "dry period" from April until the end of September, thus avoiding the wettest month in the region, November.

 I am lucky to have an unobscured view directly on the bay. I have never seen the bay looking the same twice, and whenever I look I am always taken aback by the views, whether it is the drama od a sunset, the reflection of the moon or the calmness of the mirror like image on the surface of the sea that captures my attention.

 For me the attraction of this spot in Montenegro is not just the Bay. The sea cuts through the Dinaric Alps into the massifs of Lovcen and Orijen mountain, thus making it a paradise for hikers. I always enjoy seeing people's faces when they come down Lovcen mountain and are hit with the views of Kotor Bay opening right in front of them.

The area is very close to the border with Croatia and Bosnia, making it a great starting point for further explorations of the region.

Its well preserved medieval towns of Kotor, Risan, Perast and Tivat are major tourist attractions and the region has been a World Heritage Site since 1979. 

The religious heritage of the land around the bay, as well as the surrounding mountains— its numerous Orthodox and Catholic churches and monasteries — makes it one of the most visited spots in the region.

Given its rich heritage, and the fact that it changed rulers throughout history, a lot of nations see it as "theirs". In my view that is probably why it is a UNESCO  site, because it belongs to more than just one culture or nation. Today, it  proudly stands on the map of Montenegro and features on many of its tourism brochures and videos.  

I mentioned the cruisers which arrive in the town of Kotor bringing thousands of tourists. I see people taking photos and thinking they have seen it, but so far after being a resident of Kotor Bay for months I am aware that I have seen only a fraction of this beautiful region on the Adriatic coast. I have only started scratching under the surface of stories and identities that mix, influences on the cuisine, beautiful trails, set by Austro-Hungarian soldiers or villagers crossing from one olive orchard to another.

 And the best treat of all, standing on Lovcen mountain, enjoying the views and looking at the rolling Balkan mountains, going further towards Kosovo and Albania and then into Serbia, Macedonia, Greece and Bulgaria. It was at this spot two years ago that the idea to hike the Balkans was born, so for me Kotor and Montenegro will always be a place of inspiration.

[hikingthebalkans]

Croatia is not the Balkans, but it is still lovely

Join us on a trip to Croatia in September 2016.

As most Croats will tell you Croatia is not the Balkans, it is central Europe. I visited the most southern and eastern island in Croatia Mljet, simply because it is very close to my base in Kotor in Montenegro. Being naturally curious I decided to venture out across the border and see what is out there. I have travelled a lot along the Croatian coastline in the past but I had never been to Mljet, Croatia simply has too many lovely islands and regions that you could visit, so I guess the road, or to be more precise, the ferry, never took me to Mljet.

Mljet is one of the 47 inhabited islands on the Croatian coast, out of 718 in total. It's highest peak is just over 500m high but despite that it has many lovely trails as the island is covered in forest and has many nice viewpoints.

This time I made sure I visited Mljet which has been first mentioned in 6th century BC by Greco Roman geographers. The island has a national park which contains two salt lakes, Large (with the Isle of St. Mary) and Small Lake.

 Mljet is one of the seven marine protected areas on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic, because of its unique flora and fauna.

 But one of the most spectacular sites in Mljet lies outside of the National Park, so it takes a bit of effort (car) to get there. It is one of the most beautiful spots for swimming I have seen, and you need to hike for about 20 minutes to reach it, but once there you won't want to leave. It is called Odyssey's Cave because according to legend, Odysseus’ ten year journey took him to Mljet where he ravished the nymph Calypso and dreamt of Ithaca. According to some tales, their love story began after his boat ran aground on a rock and he hid in a nearby cave which is how it received its name. Odysseus’ Cave lies beneath the Veli Grad Peak, the heighest point of the island.

 The cave’s entrance zone resembles a large well with steep sides; the approach to the cave is through a passage measuring 5 m in circumference and then along the seabed leading to the centre of the cave for another 50 m. The tunnel leading to the main hall is 7 m deep, its walls are smooth and it descends to 18 m before gradually dropping to 30 m. It is connected to the open sea so you can swim through it in the azure blue waters of the Adriatic.

Simply divine and fit for a mortal who takes the effort to get there.

After leaving Mljet I stopped in a little village with a big wall, a wall that is known as the "European Great Wall of China".

 The wall connects two villages, Ston and Mali (Little) Ston, a place also well known for its production of oysters. It is worth stopping there for a seafood feast in one of the local restaurants from which you can admire the view.

 As to the relevance of this post to the blog Hiking the Balkans my excuse is as follows. I did meet a man from Trieste once who told me that his hometown was the gateway to the Balkan Peninsula. And Trieste is north west of Croatia thus implying that Croatia lies in the western corner of the Balkans geographically. But that will be our little secret.

[hikingthebalkans]

Hiking in Kosovo before everyone else does

Join us on a trip to Kosovo in May 2016

The "final frontier" of the Balkans, hiking in Kosovo. When we mentioned that we were going the reactions varied from raised eyebrows to "are you mad". Are you going with people seeking adventure, my friends asked.

In a sense I was, our little group of hikers were the kind of people who'd go to North Korea or Abkhazia but we were not looking for a danger fueled adventure at all. We just wanted to go roads less travelled and see Kosovo before everyone else does.

And we were rewarded with stunning scenery and beautiful mountains. We went to Kosovo in late June just before all the Kosovar expats arrive from all over Europe in early July. The mountains were empty. And although "a German group" was there the week before we didn't come across other foreign hikers except one couple near a village. This is the thing, the Kosovo mountains seem very empty at the moment.

We were hiking near the town of Peja, and walking along we could often see the Albanian and the Montenegrin borders. We were hiking the Accursed Mountains, the so called tail of the Alps and true to the description just by looking at the scenery there was no mistake, the setting was very Alpine.

 You can easily mistake the scenery for a Swiss or Austrian Alpine setting until you come across a grave or a memorial of Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) fighters. A lot of men from this region fought against the Serbian army and police in 1999 to win independence 9 years later. Fortunately the fighting didn't last 9 years, in fact it lasted just over a year, but it is obvious that young men lost their lives as we came across a few memorial sites built by the roads or erected in the mountains. 

 Other than that, there are very few signs of destruction in Kosovo, Prishtina and Peja are very lively towns with a lot of young people, new squares, buildings, parks and statues of Kosovo intellectuals and fighters. Even Bill Clinton has a rightful place on the streets of Prishtina.

Back to the Accursed mountains, there is a legend about how they got their name. The story goes that there were two brothers, hunters who went into the mountains and came across a lake.

 They saw a stunningly beautiful fairy and asked her which one of them she preferred. She said, one for his beauty and the other one for his bravery, so the brave brother killed the handsome one and took the fairy home.  When his mother heard what happened, she cursed the mountain thus the Accursed mountain.

We did not see the fairy, but we saw a lake which could easily have been her home before she met the brothers.

The Balkan hospitality comes out in its true form here. Our hosts wanted to show us everything that we wanted to see and nothing was too difficult to arrange. We took jeeps to get to higher altitude, as most of the peaks on the Kosovo side of the Accursed mountains are between 2000 and 2500 meters.

 So it was easier to start from 1800meters and see the stunning views. We ate the tastiest home made food on small farms and in ethnic restaurants. Delicious pies and chesses and yogurt made from the milk of cows and sheep that we saw along the way. The food doesn't get more organic than that.

It was a great trip and when leaving I felt there is a lot more to see and do in this little landlocked country, so I will be coming back.

[hikingthebalkans]

Hiking Shara mountain in Macedonia

Having time on my hands I joined several mountaineering clubs in Macedonia and the mountaineering club‘”Transverzalec” invited me for a hike. We were going to go for a “not very challenging” 25km (15 mile) hike with about 700 meters ascent and descent and there was a possibility of rain in the afternoon. OK, I know I can do that, the days are long and although it is still early summer, the weather is guaranteed. Right? 

Our destination was the area between mountains Korab and Shara, near the National Park Mavrovo which is a fair distance from the capital Skopje so it was a 6 o’clock start on a clear, bright morning.  This side of the mountain range has  has a few peaks above 2000 meters and it is full of meadows and pastures.

True to the description we started the walk gradually ascending and walking through lovely meadows, full of flowers and plants. The weather was gorgeous, a perfect summer day, warm, but we started at almost 1400 meters above sea level, so the heat didn’t bother us. We were following a river, called Ajina River. We had lunch near a small farm, sitting in a lovely field. There was a large number of mountaineers because all the mountaineering clubs from Macedonia had invited their members to join this annual hike which was organised for the 22nd time.

After lunch we headed for peak which at 2060 meters height was the highest point and then, I though, we are roughly half way, we just have to descent. Yes, so far I was getting what I subscribed to, a hike with stunning views, fairly long but extremely pleasant.

Once we started coming down things changed rapidly. The blue sky disappeared and dark clouds descended on us. People started walking faster, some even started running downhill. Macedonians don’t like walking in rain and given that they have 265 sunny days a year, I take their point, there is no need to walk in the rain. I put on my waterproofs and covered my rucksack and thought, a bit of rain hasn’t hurt anyone. I thought that running away from a bit of drizzle is overdramatic, and kept on walking and taking photos of the changing scenery.

Who could have predicted that within half an hour I would be in the middle of a hail storm with 12 km to walk down hill and then uphill and then downhill and uphill again and again, through pouring, monsoon like rain. And just as I thought that the rain was over another hail storm came and then some more rain. I do love thunderstorms and once you are in it you just have to “to go with the flow”, sometimes literally.

That is the last thing I could record with my phone, it decided to shut down because the battery was soaked. You will just have to take my word for it, the rest of the way, until we reached the first village of Gorno Jelovce, it was very slippery and muddy as it continued pouring. Water was coming hard through the trees, it was gushing downhill as the streams were turning into small fast rivers.  

But there is always sunshine after the rain. Glorious sunshine which helped us dry fast.  

The rest of it was a walk downhill, which would have been very pleasant in normal circumstances if one didn’t have to walk in wet shoes. I do love walking in a mountain in sunshine after rain. It is as if all the plants are expressing gratitude for the water by releasing the loveliest smells. And Shara is known to have some of the most aromatic mountain plants used for making tea.  

I was glad to see the church where we were supposed to have dinner. The rakija (local brandy made of grapes) and the bean soup tasted so good and it was so nice to be in the kitchen full of hospitable people.

 They were all mountaineers from the Bistra Mountaineering Club, some of them founders of the Club and although they hadn’t been on this walk, they knew what we went through that day and they appreciated our efforts to follow their footsteps.

I appreciate that they had set the path.

[hikingthebalkans]

The amazing caves of Canyon Matka

Join us on a trip to Canyon Matka in May 2016.

Inspired by a recent trip with the London European Club, I revisited Canyon Matka near Skopje, Macedonia. It has been an area near my hometown which always fascinated me, but it is only now that I recognise how truly amazing this place is. George Moore said “A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it”.

This brings a home truth, although I am a woman and it is not that I need caves, I just simply adore them. In years past I would hike from the top of mountain Vodno, along its ridge to enjoy the fantastic views on the way down to Matka. It is a challenging hike, but worth every step of the way.

Our guide Meti was waiting for us and told us again the almost unbelievable story that the cave called Beautiful is not yet opened to the public because of lack of funds, just like the other 8 caves in Canyon Matka. Only one, called Vrelo is open to visitors, and is lit by a petrol-run generator which often ceases to work. But this is the Balkans and lack of funds are a chronic obstacle to everything, starting from improving the roads to building tunnels to connecting the Balkan countries…..

But those who are prepared to come are rewarded with the stunning beauty of places not yet fully discovered. And I am pleased that there is progress. Compared to a decade ago, things have hugely improved. For one, you can actually visit Vrelo cave, a home to two species of bats. You can also walk safely 8 km along the canyon to see the stunning views and enjoy the nature, because metal rails and steel ropes have been installed. And you can sit in the lovely restaurant also called Canyon Matka which even has accommodation if you want to stay longer. You can go around the length of the canyon by boat or paddle in a kayak. Most of these things were impossible 10 years ago. Why? That is a subject for another post.

But back to the caves, 10 of them in total and only one possible to visit. Vrelo cave is not just an ordinary cave, it is still the subject of international exploration and its full size is not yet known. At the moment it is listed as the second largest cave in Europe with an incredible 430 metres in length and 218 metres in height. It is also one of the five largest caves in the world.

An international team of divers and speleologists are coming to Matka every August to continue their research because August is the time when it is easiest to access the underwater parts of the cave.

Vrelo's entrance is hidden along the Matka canyon (which is comprised of the Matka lake and the Treska river). The entrance lies about 1.5km from the Matka Dam. Inside the cave are two lakes; the smaller being 8 metres long (26.2 feet) at its longest point and 15 metres (49.2 feet) in depth at its deepest point.

Matka Canyon boasts 1,000 plant species, 20% of which are endemic, as well as various butterfly species not found anywhere else in Europe. The canyon is also home to vultures, and occasionally bald eagles, which are protected by law to save them from extinction. There are three couples, Meti says and sometimes when the wind is strong you can see them, because they are large and they need wind to spread their wings.

We finished the adventure by having some snacks after spending more than an hour inside Beautiful cave. I could have stayed another hour inside, there is more to see, but we only had head torches. And Meti is not just a guide he also runs the boats and the tourists are waiting.

I want to go back there again and again.

[hikingthebalkans]

Bosnia and Herzegovina / Republika Srpska

I spent last week travelling through the country widely known as Bosnia but which consists of two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. I went through small villages like Chvaljina, which are stunning to look at but are also a reminder of the destruction that the war, which started in 1992 and ended in 1995, left in this country. People have started to rebuild the stone houses in the last 5 years. Older people who escaped from the war stricken urban areas to neighbouring countries in the nineties are now going back to the villages where they come from originally and which they left in the sixties to find work in the towns. People who were refugees and spent 20 years in Western Europe are starting to come back and open small businesses wanting to show the Bosnia they remember to people who want to visit. 

It is a story of a country trying to come back to normality, Mostar these days is a tourist centre with a recently opened 4 star hotel that you could easily find in London or Berlin. Sarajevo is a capital with dozens of B&Bs and restaurants full of people including tourists even in April, but then there is Pochitelj, a picture postcard town which is relaxed and empty. The staff of the main restaurant in Pochtelj doesn’t mind if we park our trailer in front of it for the night. It feels like camping in a fairy tale, surrounded by 16 century Ottoman architecture buildings.

The canyon of the river Neretva is one of the longest and most pristine in Europe and leads to the town of Konjic, another unique find for me on this trip. It has a mixture of Ottoman and modern architecture and is very welcoming.

Nearby is Borachko Lake, a place where you can relax from every day stress, hike and enjoy white water rafting. You can also see marked mine fields along the hiking trails. Even in nature there is a reminder of the recent war, but there are also people who are mountain biking and hiking and a new road is being built to speed up the connection between Mostar and Konjic.

I joined a group of journalists and artists who were visiting Tito’s bunker.  Finished in 1974, it was supposed to provide shelter for the Yugoslav leader and the Elite in case of a nuclear attack. 300 people could live there for up to six months. It is an underground town built to sustain a nuclear attack 4 times the strength of the bomb thrown on Hiroshima. 

The bunker almost got blown up on the orders of Ratko Mladic (currently on trial in The Hague for war crimes), but was saved by a Serb who took the order from Mladic but did not pass it on. 

Today it is a space for international artists exhibiting work inspired by conflicts and fears of nuclear attacks typical for the cold war period of the 20th century.