Around 11:30pm I wake to the sound of distant thunder. I didn't wake Shadow until I knew the storm was heading our direction. The tallest thing on this knoll is our hiking poles a.k.a. lightning rods that hold our tent up. We had 2 options, move lower before the rain started or take the tent down with us inside until the storm passed. Since the rain started while we were debating on which to do we lowered our tent poles to the ground and waited. Just when we thought the storm was gone, we raised the tent. Boom! Lower the tent. This went on for an hour and a half. Needless to say we were tired this morning.
The low clouds and fog rose as we descended into the next village. A beautiful lake set against the rugged Albanian mountains. Like most mountain villages here, the homes are used for the Summer to raise food for the Winter. Large gardens full of potatoes, garlic, carrots, peppers, and cabbage. Pigs, cows, and goats are also raised all Summer. As we walked into the village an older man motioned us over. His goat greeted us first, but was shooed away. Within seconds our packs were off and we were sitting at a picnic table with his wife, son, another lady, and her son. She poured us a shot of Rakija, started some coffee, plated grapes, apples, and an apple strudel before we could make any introductions. I had forgotten to tell Shadow that a travel book said not to empty your glass or clean your plate unless you wanted more. 3 Rakija shots later, I whispered my intel. We toured their garden and met their pigs. It's amazing what you can learn even with a language barriers. The man's son spoke with Shadow about fishing in the near by lake. Since Shadow had rarely used his travel rod this whole time, he thought this would be a good place to leave it. My partner is the most thoughtful man. Acts of kindness like this make me love him even more. The son was obviously moved by Shadow's gesture.
It was time to go, but they wanted us to stop by their son's house on the way out of town. Before we know it, we were sitting inside and being served warm fresh milk, homemade prosciutto and cheese, carrots, garlic, and onions from their garden. His wife was wrapping a pound of cheese up for us to take. We had one hell of a time getting out of that. Instead we left with a half pound of prosciutto. Shadow wanted me to take of photo of him and the older gentleman. Each was holding one of Shadow's hiking poles. The man was using a piece of PVC pipe for a walking cane when we arrived so, Shadow lost one of his. I've got to get him out of here, before he gives away his underwear.
Our map showed a gravel road out of the village and up a mountain pass. After gravel road walking for 2 days, we hit a traffic spurt. An older man carrying a water bottle and an axe walking the other way wanted us to turn around and come to his house for coffee, which we declined. Near a spring we found 2 couples from Poland traveling the back roads to Greece with their Land Rovers outfitted with snorkels, winches, and extra gas. While speaking with them, an overloaded truck full of wood passed us, followed by a family leaving their Summer home for the season. If you hadn't known what was going on, you would have thought you saw the Beverly Hillbillies. A big blue truck with an older couple being driven down the hill with 6 giant pigs and their belongs's in the back of the truck. Not 20 minutes after saying good bye to the Polish couples, we walk up on a traffic jam. The four vehicles stopped. We notice the truck full of wood had busted a tire.
Just as we walked out of the next town, a storm began to build. We had planned to hike longer, but the storm was growing fast. We needed water for camp and no houses were around. Shadow, thinking outside the box, happened to find 2 water bottles half empty on the side of the road. We snatched them up and found a nice stone terraced field for the night. Don't be grossed out about the water. We have a filter that cleans the water.
Villages
Traffic jam.
1 comment:
After catching up on the last few posts, I can see why you love Montenegro and suggest it for us. I love all the little old historical buildings that seem in the middle of nowhere. Beautiful pictures! Bummer about the weather, but if you loved it through the rain, just think how much you would love it in the sun! Glad you find your hiking stride again because I don't want you to stop! I'm having too much fun living vicariously through you!
Post a Comment