Peaks Of The Balkans - July 2017 - 9 days itinerary

General tips + Packing list + Getting there+Itinerary Statistics 8 days of walking 1 day of resting Total of 140 km. Total ascend (and of course descend as well): 7000 meters!! Bags are transferred by cars or horses. Itinerary Summary Day 1 - Valbone to Cerem via Maja e kollates, 17 km, 1080 m Day 2 - Cerem to Dobredol 18 km, 763 m Day 3 - Dobredol to Millshevc 21 km, 1144 m Day 4 - Millshevc to Rugova camp 13 km, 600 m Day 5 - Regal allegro to Drelaj17.27 km, 1059 m Day 6 - Kuciste to Babino Polje, 17 km, 1040 m Day 7 - Rest in Plav Day 8 - Oko Skakavice to Okol, 15.86 km, 742 m Day 9 - Theth to the blue eye (Syri Kalter) and back to Nderlysaj A recorded animation of  Day 3 from Dobredol To Milishevc (Thank you Doron!) Safety Throughout the Peaks, we felt very secured in all aspects! We never felt that we were taken advantage of as tourists in any way. There is almost no "tourists harassment" to try and make you buy something ( there i...

A day in Theth valley: Walk from Theth to the blue eye (Syri Kalter) and back to Nderlysaj Transfer to Theth - July 24 We were lucky to wake up to a beautiful warm (hot) day, perfect for walking along Lumi Thethi (Tethi river), after visiting the old church and the tower where people had a fixed time to negotiate peace treaties before they continue the revenge cycle. The first stop for "swimming" was where a red bridge crosses a stream that joins the river on the left side. We went up the stream a little and found some nice pools with a good temperature (20 deg .) The second stop was the Grunas waterfall. None of us was brave enough to swim there... Another nice pool along the trail made us stop for another swim in Lumi Thethi, before stopping for beer and fried peppers on the balcony of Lulash bar in Nderlysaj just above the beautiful gorge of the Black river. From there,  it's another 45 minutes of hiking up that gorge all the way to the beautiful (co...

Transfer from Plav to Oko Skakavice with bags. Walk from Oko Skakavice to Okol Albania Transfer from Okol to Theth Albania Bags go on horses from Oko Skakavice to the Theth - July 23 Don't miss Oko Skakavice (the blue eye). There is a wooden sign and a wooden trail on the right side of the trail. It's a beautiful spring with very cold water! Nice views, lead us to Peja pass and then a pretty long descend to Theth valley with the mighty Arapit stone wall (that some people actually climb, we are told) right next to us. Photo taken from Patagonia.com A nice"Bar" waits for us in Okol and a car takes us on an unbelievably bad bad "road" to Theth. The Theth valley went through a very strong flood back in 2012, and the results are still very obvious! Harusha guest house offers us very comfortable double rooms with a bath and hot water!!

A rest day in Plav - Montenegro - July 22 Great place to stock up on some things you were running out of... Beautiful swim in the lake! We stayed at Kula Damjanova that recently underwent a fire in its main building. Great Kebab sandwiches at Izvor.

Transfer from Drelaj to Kuqihste Kosovo Walk from Drelaj to Babino Polje Montenegro Transfer to Plav Montenegro - July 21 As usual, we start with an ascent, this time to the "big lake" (Leqinat lake), which is a nice spot for a stop and a swim and an encounter with numerous swimming lizards and other water inhabitants. The small lake is not far away, but it was almost. completely dry. Swimming amphibian in the Big lake More beautiful passes and views, and a walk on the border between Kosovo and Montenegro ( some of it we walked on accidentally two days ago on our way to Milishevc...) The descent to Babino Polie is mostly gradual and beautiful and the bright skies are filled with clouds and thunders and... luckily, this time - only light rain.

Walk from Reke e Allages to Drelaj Kosovo Bags travel by car - July 20 Another day that starts with an ascent, beautiful views towards the valley that we came from. There is a nice picnic table along the way with a nice sign that was put up by outdoor Kosovo, who apparently also marked the trail for that day.  From here, you can walk to Drelaj (a very short day), or go up to the pass and from there to the peak ( ( Mount Hajla ), then you come back down and walk to Drelaj. Note: the trail to the pass is marked but there is no actual path! The views from the top are very rewarding! We were met by sudden thunderstorms and hale storm which made us practically run all the way down, back to a nice log house which ( if open), can serve as a nice shelter or coffee stop. The walk from there to Drelaj goes through the village of Pephi ,it is a pretty comfortable walk with beautiful views and with strawberry "fields" along the way. S...

Walk from Millshevc to Rugova camp (Drive from Rugova camp to the zip line and back) Transfer to Reke e Allages - Kosovo Bags travel by car - July 19 We started by walking up on the cars road. We missed the trail to go up to the pass and ended up free walking towards the pass (2400m). Later we found the trail and followed it to the pass and then to a dry lake behind it. Pretty quickly we started the steep (1500 m) and long descent, all the way to Rugova camp where we were happy to find beer/coffee and ... wifi!!! (It's a restaurant so food is served there as well.) Alban from "Outdoor Kosovo" picked us up and took us up the stream (15 minutes drive) to a beautiful canyon where you can zip line (a little over a minute, 70 m high, above the trees and the river) and do some mountain climbing in Via Ferata. Alban then took us through Rugova camp to our guest house in Reke e Allages, w here Mustapha and his extended family took great care of us...

Walk from Dobredol to Millshevc Bags travel by horses - July 18 First night in Kosovo! After a wonderful and very rich breakfast, we started with a steep climb to the pass, where we waited for one hour (freezing cold) for those who went all the way up to the peak (where the three borders meet) and returned. The road continues on a beautiful ridge which is the Montenegro- Kosovo border. This is a long day, around 20 km, in which we somehow missed the turn towards Roshkadol, and ended up on the ridge in the opposite side of the valley... An older local cow owner showed us the way straight to Millishevc , which was partially "Make your own trail"... Zeki (Zeki's Mountain Hut) waited for us in his very welcoming cabin and we were thankful when he lighted his wood stove and invited us to seat in his living room after a lovely dinner that he prepared himself. Zeki was very helpful and he is extremely knowledgeable on everything that has to do with ...

Walk from Cerem to Dobredol Bags travel by car - July 17. We started walking on the cars trail all the way to a small shack that serves coffee and tea (our first coffee break for the day). The walk continues in a forest and then as you go higher - the view changes . After leaving the trees , there is an area with a few shepherds' huts. We were very lucky when we entered the last hut for tea,  and ended up staying for over an hour to a "cheese making workshop" and tasting! The lady was very kind as she explained and demonstrated the process, and let us taste it all, with great patience and hospitality. Like everyone else on the mountains, she and her husband live there throughout the summer with their 200 sheep, milking them twice a day and producing butter, cheese and yogurt from their milk (which their son takes to Bachram Curi to sell), and go down to a lower village with the sheep for the winter. All these people work very hard during...