The Balkans in Autumn are something to behold. The colors are more vibrant and varied than what we see in Steamboat where it is mostly golden Aspens glimmering in the wind. It’s also different than our home in terms of the jagged peaks of white Dolomite that pops through above. We felt we had a bit of un finished business so we swung back east for a few more days…
We are headed to Theth Albania. The main starting point for Peak of the Balkans. We thought they would have snow by now so we did a Kosovo leg a few days ago, but we are running about 3 weeks ahead of plan. That also meant we had time to take the Fierzë-Koman Lake ferry before season end. The ferry runs down the Drin River to Koman Lake in northern Albania. The lake itself is a long, narrow reservoir created by damming the river in the 1980s, so the boat basically follows the old river course for about 2.5 hours through a deep gorge. The gorge is the real show: steep limestone walls rise hundreds of meters straight out of the turquoise water, and in the tightest sections the passage narrows to only around 50 meters across. Forested slopes climb above the cliffs, with the occasional waterfall or isolated house that can only be reached by boat. It’s often compared to the Norwegian fjords and is one of the most dramatic ferry rides in Europe.Epic!Getting a bit cooler now. Still tracking with our goal of about 60F for the highs. Further we haven’t had a real rain day since Sept 7 the day we picked up Spud (🥔 = 🚐 ).AmazingNotice on all these lakes you see essentially no houses or watercraft.So fun! But now up the drive to Theth…So you understand these drives. This was 40 miles up from an elevation of 30ft to over 5500ft in about 40 miles.The roads are often 4 meters wide. Spud is 2.2 meters. So every time you pass a car it is very nerve racking. So you slow to 5 mph or stop and hope the other car can squeeze by. When another van comes you both have a wheel off the pavement and clear by about 4 inches! Above pic this truck broke down. They were trying to get me to squeeze past it!! Nope. Just turned it off and waited till he got it running. In the mean time car after car squeezed thru ahead of me!!Up at the top we always find amazing places out of the blue.$13 breakfast with coffee for two.So this is Theth. A very daunting site in all directions.Ok. Here we go. We will essentially go to the top and turn around and come back down. So 6 miles round trip. 2300 feet up. We’ve suffered on some hikes rated moderate. This is rated “hard”.Trails are pretty well marked.Up, up, up…A tame stretch!Finally close to the top!I’ll end with this. Turn on audio. 1.5 miles from the bottom. Rest break in typical Albania style. Beer cooling via a mountain stream flowing thru a bathtub! Oh and one of those guys was from Kalamazoo my home town! Ok recoup and on to Montenegro.
Kosovo, a small country in the western Balkans with a large ethnic Albanian majority, still bears the scars of the late-1990s war with the forces of the former Yugoslavia. In that conflict, Serbian and Yugoslav troops carried out widespread violence against the civilian population—mass killings, the systematic destruction of villages, and the forced expulsion of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians, who fled as refugees into Albania, North Macedonia, and beyond before NATO’s intervention brought the immediate fighting to an end.
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević was later indicted by a United Nations tribunal for crimes against humanity and related offenses, but he died in detention in 2006 before a verdict was reached.
As we spent time here, with our new friend Maltin and his family listening, we realized the words above don’t do justice to what the people here endured.
Maltin & his parents (our guesthouse family who took us in) shared how their parents were forced to evacuate and all the houses in their village burned. They have tremendous resolve and over time returned to rebuild it.
I used the KLA flag vs the one created by NATO to honor the Kosovo Liberation Army who found bravely with hand weapons vs Serbian tanks to defend their people until NATO intervened.
Lastly, we are always a bit uneasy traveling with the required USA sticker on the van given all of the international events the US is involved in. But in Kosovo America is seen as one of the key allies who stopped the masacres here. And if you don’t know it the US has somewhere around 7,000 troops stationed at KFORCE, a large NATO base here pledged to keep peace.
Driving in we stayed at a small campsite that overlooked the city of Prezine.Teena as always was greeted by a (biting) puppy that almost ended up in our van!We came to Kosovo to do part of the Peak of the Balkans trail. It is a 10 day trek across the Accursed Mountains (hoping we wouldn’t be cursed!). These are also known as the Albanian Alps. We are late in the season with threat of snow so we had to plan our portion carefully.Just driving up here is no joke. The mountain road is now paved with guard rails. Our friend Maltin’s grandfather was killed when his breaks failed coming down and no guard rail. Photos don’t do things justice here.The shear cliffs are crazy!Finally we arrive at the Qorraj’s Guesthouse in full color. We found out later they have around 1000 hikers pass through each year. (We were secretly hoping we are the only ones so we can truly meet a new family).Up the trail we head. This is one of the mellow sections. 6.7 miles 2400 feet up!Looking down the trial from above.Crystal clear mountain water.With the sun shining we figured we better get the action shot before the suffering started to show!And there you have it! Officially in the books. Just over 5 hours.And now the best part. I mentioned we were the only hikers. Well Maltin’s parents (Visar & Halime), invited us to spend the evening with them. Visar’s brother (a real character), and others all gathered together for a big dinner, a glass of Raki and a few beers. So much fun! By the end of the evening Teena had earned an Albanian nick name, I already had mine!Oh boy, Raki (Albanian moon-shine). So Teena’s nickname is Marigona . They claimed it had something to do with their first flag. I think it was essentially Teena’s-gone-a after all the Raki! Ha so fun!!And sadly as always, our visit comes to an end but not our friendships and memories created together.
Mavrovo National Park is North Macedonia’s largest national park, set in the far west of the country along the Albanian border. Established in 1949 and covering about 73,000 hectares, it takes in the Korab, Šar, and Bistra ranges, including Golem Korab (2,764 m), the highest peak in North Macedonia. The Radika River cuts a long gorge through the middle of the park, while beech and pine forest, high meadows, and the artificial Mavrovo Lake fill the valleys below. Wildlife includes the rare Balkan lynx, bears, and chamois. Villages such as Galičnik and the Sveti Jovan Bigorski Monastery sit among the mountains, and the lake’s half-submerged church is the park’s best-known landmark.
Still in North Macedonia we made a mad dash to another State Park. Stealth camping down on the shore of Movrovo Lake. “My Way”. Hmmm. Funny how the words on that boat would play true by the end of our visit.Great hiked up and over the lake in the morning. No boats, or water activity.An interesting church that when the reservoir is high it is half underwater. Note grass even growing on top.We took off driving up thousands of feet along a twisty winding road headed to a somewhat lost village of Galichnik. Some drives provide more entertainment than others. We love meeting real people, I guess real horses count too! Always fun to watch to see horses, donkey’s, goats, sheep, dogs & cats in this world. Never know what you’ll see…Finally arriving as sunset draws near. 5000+ feet to another village far below.Galičnik is a stone village halfway up Mount Bistra, built by Mijak sheep people who summered their flocks here and spent the rest of the year as the Balkans’ traveling masons. By 1900 it had a few thousand residents and hundreds of slate-roofed houses, and then almost everyone left. A few still live there full time.Finally the highlight of our time in North Macedonia. It’s been said if you want to hear all the bad in this world, watch the news. If you want to see the good in the world, go and meet the people. We are well on our way to meeting these people, and they all are great! As we walked thru town we saw no one. Frozen in time as if some strange event had removed everyone. We heard there was a restaurant/ hotel that may still be open. Looking at the 25%+ grade up, halfway we almost turned around. Then we found who we were looking for. Lena, and Jose, owners of the hotel. We spent the evening with them. Just the four of us by their fireplace. Lena spoke great English. Told us the history of the village. Once the pride of Macedonian yellow cheese production, now Nov 1 they close and only one family of 3 stay for winter with supplies brought up by horse. Then came sharing about her family. All of them talented but especially her son (self portrait in the back ground).Paval, among other things, a professional award winning singer. Lena played this video which brought us all to tears. From a small town great things happen when they can do it “My Way”
Lake Ohrid sits on the border of North Macedonia and Albania, one of Europe’s oldest and deepest lakes, formed by tectonic forces somewhere between two and five million years ago. Its water is unusually clear, its shores lined with the old town of Ohrid, churches, and the Bay of Bones, a reconstruction of a prehistoric pile-dwelling settlement out over the water. The lake and the cultural landscape around it are a UNESCO World Heritage site, shared by both countries and still home to species found nowhere else.
We are down from our farming “high” to Lake Ohrid. We are still on the Albanian side at the south end. Tourist season is over as it’s early October. It’s amazing how little development there is on this lake. 20 miles long 10 miles wide. Crystal clear. We see no boats, sailboats, or other water craft.The evidence of beach lounging still there for summer tourists.The old world charm still lingers with an occasional visitor just strolling along…They have an amazing greenway path on this side of the lake which you’d think would invite many riders but only a few walking.Then to remind you where you are, you see one of the many bunkers still along the road. Remember the country border cuts right thru the lake so this was a big point of patrol.Still scenic and quiet. I think we will find more adventure ahead…Ok. Crossed into North Macedonia. How many of you know where this is or that it was still a country!? So far border crossings are pretty simple. Don’t even look inside.Ok. At this end of the lake we found a premo spot (ok we took two spots)!The water is the nicest I’ve ever scene. (oh Go Green)!Heading out for a bike spin for lunch.Just stunning…Morning sun calling me out the side window. Today we head south to The Bay of Bones and a Monastery. This place is a replica of an encampment built somewhere between 1200 – 900 BC. Pylons were inserted into the deep water farther out. Then a colony lived on it with only a narrow walkway to it. Water around here is magical.Inside the stone and mud huts you can tell the rooms and where a fire stove would be. For those of you in a 2000-3000 sqft house it looks small. For Teena and me living in a 120 sqft house it looked huge!!Ok entering the Monastery. Yes after 85 days on the road we’re still smiling! Saint Naum founded it and was key in bringing Christianity to the area.Just so calm and peaceful.Row boat cruise up the quiet Ohrid springs.And now headed way up that mountain above the lake. Adventure awaits…Ok about 3,000+ feet up parked at a Paragliding launch point!Kind of long video but you’ll see where we are. No one else here!Sitting top of the world, well sitting on top of Spud (our Van).Crazy sunset!Evening skyline. And so this chapter ends…
Shebenik National Park is a roughly 34,500-hectare mountain park on Albania’s eastern border with North Macedonia, running from valley floors near 300 m to about 2,250 m, with beech and fir forest, alpine pasture, and 14 glacial lakes. It was declared a park mainly to protect one of the last ranges of the Balkan lynx, along with bear and wolf.
The military story is the border itself: after the 1948 Tito–Stalin split this ridge was a closed Albania–Yugoslavia frontier, patrolled and dotted with Hoxha-era bunkers through the 1970s and 1980s, and that isolation is why the forest and the large animals survived; it is now part of the European Green Belt of former Iron Curtain borderlands.
But this is not why we are here. We are always looking for Authentic Life to experience vs tourist sites. We are staying on a family farm owned by Neri an Albanian Farmer whose family has owned property here for some 400 years. Neri is no ordinary farmer. He is both steeped in Albanian culture and tradition, but also a highly educated attorney who chooses to continue his families legacy of goat and sheep farming high in the Albanian country side.
Also, this is not some “dude’ farm like in the U.S. It is as real as it gets, and our experience here tops all that we’ve seen. He genuinely welcomes us as if long lost relatives (I’m nicknamed Armen by his uncle), and immerses us in traditions, cultures, meals, and celebrations of his ancestors.
We have also met some of the most amazing people here who are fellow travelers searching for a life of the past that our modern world has forgotten. Nigel & Dianne from the U.K (ThisisVanLife.com), Jurgen & Mandy from Holland (Rooftoptravel.com), and Greg, his wife Alex and two adorable kids, all of whom are on a life journey to see the world first hand…
We rolled up to Neri making trout and potatoes for all of us at a family table. (Video courtesy of Mandy – Rooftoptra el.com). Also seated with us was “The old guy” as Neri called him. An 80+ year old friend who had walked 6km up the dirt road to pay homage to Neri’s grandfather who had recently passed. This is a tradition where for 52 days people come to the house. Some 1800 friends had visited from the town below… An amazing evening.The farm has about 20 sheep that roam around the house. Two guardian dogs instinctively guard these sheep with their lives.Sasha is the lead dog. Not to be messed with. Has battled bear, wolves and other evening demons. Missing one eye and two ears. Still an ever watchful eye on all things going on.At least once a day Neri or Nori, Neri’s uncle cooks us a family meal as they eat.Sharing stories of life from other travels over these meals is a highlight.The simple kitchen Neri’s grandfather used for decades. Still in use.Living and eating off the land. Today was an edible mushroom day as we took our three hour hike. Neri takes us out each day for an adventure. Not ‘cause we are paying him (we aren’t), but because he wants to show us where he walked with his grandfather since he was 5-6 years old.Listen to his stories and you may get a feel for the richness of this experience.You may have heard about the Communist regime in Albania with the closed boarders. The dictator built 56,000 bunkers throughout and close to the borders. Boys and girls at 15 – 16 years were trained to shoot and field strip (to clean), a rifle. All men required to serve.With intense fear of German, Italian, or Yugoslavian invasion, soldiers were constantly stationed on watch. This one held two men.And then the goats. Over 500 of them watched by 1 Sheppard and 10 Guardian dogs. Sheppard moves them up and down the mountain each day. He watches them like Sheppards in the bible. If one is lost he will find it.Tucked in for the night. Game cameras keep an eye on night activity, but it is the dogs that respond.Then there’s vipers on the trails. One goat and one cow bitten in the last week. Very poisonous.The Guardian Dogs ever watching. See the two white ones far up the hillside. These are not Sheppard dogs. They don’t herd the goats, they protect them. Born on the ground in the middle of the goats, they are instinctively taught to care for the goats and will die protecting them.Main production from goats is milk for cheese. 120 liters of milk makes 30 kilos of cheese. With water rotated every 15 days and kept in the shade, the cheese will last 6 months.The Sheppard’s accommodations next to the goats. Work goes on 24/7 rain or snow. Up & down walking them, milking, & guarding.With Fall in the air work takes other forms as well including preparing for heating stoves in the winter.They also have a stone mill driven by a water wheel when the water is high. Neighbors come and stand in line to use the mill. Neri said his sisters job when she was 6 was to sit at the door and charge 20 cents for people to use it. (She’s now a Cardiologist in Italy). Amazing people this family!As I sit here trying to wrap this up. Here is Neri with a delivered lunch plate. Pork, potatoes, and cheese from the farm.Ah Raki. An alcoholic moonshine type drink made from only grapes. Held fermented for 21 days then boiled. A sweet type of hard liquor. Appropriate as a final “Gezuar” (Cheers), to three days of the life we were searching to find. And finally. Friends from many backgrounds and countries we will never forget! ♥️ 🇦🇱
Berat is what a hillside does when it decides every house needs a front-row seat. White Ottoman houses stack up both banks of the Osum, windows punched into the slope so densely the town earned the name City of a Thousand Windows, while the castle on the ridge has been lived in since antiquity and never quite emptied out. Mangalem and Gorica face each other across the river like two neighborhoods that never agreed which side was the view. UNESCO listed it with Gjirokastër in 2008, which is a fancy way of saying the place still looks like someone forgot to modernize it — and that is exactly why you stop.
We found when we arrive in a new town the key thing to do is find where you will stay. We stayed at Agro Camping Harmony Berat. Eglantina & Fatos were wonderful hosts. Beautiful place. I guess we are getting more remote. They have never had Americans visit their place.Sharing the road as we arrive.We started the day riding into town then hiking up a 2 mile cobblestone road to the Castle/Fortress.This is a huge place like you might image from Game off Throwns. Now shops restaurants, multiple churches, and families living up there.Video of town from the Castle.Oh then there’s this view too.Christian church in town.We ended our time here looking at the 1000 windows while the sun eventually set on the City. So tomorrow we have networked with other van lifers and have been invited up to a family farm high up in the Shebenik National Park. This looks to be the ultimate adventure we’ve been looking for. Stay tuned…
The Riviera here is pretty amazing. It is very quiet now but stretches for endless miles with a beach town every 20 miles or so. We chose to only stay at one for the afternoon and night. We have had a lot of beach time in Greece and are anxious to explore inland Albania.
Driving over you are on amazing roads that pics don’t do justice.The views are stunning at the top of the pass.Top of the pass.Typical part of the boardwalk you see. Water here was a lot calmer than we saw on Naxos.Beautiful mountains as backdrop.Coming full circle you can see Corfu across the sea.Lots of color as sun sets.Oh, we are parked 30 yards off the beach for the night. Treated to a colorful evening.… and of course you knew this was coming! Dogs here are friendly but hungry. Often fully stretched out on the sidewalks. And for you cat lovers, that think it’s fancy feast or nothing, cats here will eat French fries, cheese or even lettuce! Hunger does that. Oh and we literally saw a cow eating out of a garbage can! Not to be confuse with the donkey standing on a stone table! (Driving too fast to snap those photos). Ok on to Berat. The city of 1000 windows. Stay tuned…
Most people still picture Albania as a blank on the map. For nearly fifty years it was. Enver Hoxha ran a hard-line communist state that sealed the borders both ways: almost nobody in, almost nobody out, bunkers instead of welcome signs, and a country told it was safer alone. That isolation lasted until the regime cracked in 1990–91. Protests, a first multiparty vote, and the old system simply ran out of road.
What replaced it is a parliamentary republic — messy, young, and still finding its footing — not another closed shop. The coast road is open, the springs never closed, and the stone villages are deciding, one house at a time, whether to come back to life. You do not come here for a finished postcard. You come because the door finally opened and the place behind it is still figuring out how loud to be.
For me since middle school I was always intrigued by the mystery of the closed place. To finally get a chance to visit and meet the people is special.
But let’s start with how many of you know where this even is! Ha. (Just north of NW Greece).
Customs was really rather simple. People like the van so it seems to take the focus off of other stuff.We headed for Permet. A small little town on the Vjosa River in SW Albania. Driving along the river you feel an emerging simple vibe to life. Roads are nice but some very narrow. At 60 km/h it’s both hands in the wheel, full attention.Then out of nowhere will come a fantastic restaurant. Food prices very low. A big salad, pasta dish, and Coke Zero $16.Eventually we got to the countryside where we were going. Camped by a small farm. Sheep were running all around.Then of course you know who they come after!Ok. They’re friends!We had a great evening with two Brits (worked on the Tolkien series), and Albanian friends. In the morning they gifted us an Albanian flag for Spud (our van)! Super excited for it. As we drive around locals were flashing their lights and waiving to us. I should add after 73 days in the van we have yet to see a U.S. plate on any other vehicle, so this combo had people quite puzzled.Day two got us out on our bikes for a short ride before the rain. Beautiful country side crossing the Vjosa River.Farm country made me feel at home.Had to stop and talk to a farmer. Tried to explain my farming heritage (cousins and sisters would get this).Late afternoon we headed out. A typical road crossing. Lots of farmers with about say 20 sheep or goats heading down the road. I have to add that we get lost a lot it seems. Google / Apple will give us a location whether with “driving directions” or Lat Long Coords. We will end up down an alley that is so narrow you can’t turn but slowly have to backup. Headed for a restaurant with a few parking spots sent us into basically a landfill! All part of the adventure!Finally found the restaurant which we couldn’t believe was this nice on a road that for 10 km had nothing but woods around it. We will stay parked here for the night and give Teena a night off from cooking.Local Albanian appetizers.Today was a big hike day (5miles), to a place called Blue Eye.Blue Eye is a massive single underground spring that comes up and feeds the Vjosa River. It is over 150 feet deep. Divers can’t reach the bottom due to high pressures below. Vivid clear water.Crystal water flows for miles.Hmmm. Tempting! Well off to the Albanian Riviera. Stay tuned…
Naxos is the big, green Cyclades island that never settled for a white-cube postcard. Up in the mountains, Panagia Drosiani is the old stone church that matters: built in phases from the fourth to sixth centuries, with fifth-century frescoes still on the walls. It is among the oldest churches in the Cyclades.
Said another way. You come for the beaches and stay for the mountains, history and charming towns.
The main city of Chora is a beautiful view. It is one of the things along with their beaches that attacks you to visit. Got our workout in one day going up endless steps.From the top was an old monastery for girls made into a restaurant. Views worth the effort.Day two the bikes came out. A good 20 mile ride till we realized the first 10 was wind at our back! Ouch.Teena flying by!Epic colors.Day three we rented a 4 wheel ATV and took off into the mountains to find history and adventure.We found an old old stone church. Built 5 BC!Amazing history, just think about it…Light of the world shining thru for Centuries.Two candles for the two girls lost in Fayetteville over the weekend. Rinny’s close friends.Walking and exploring quiet towns.Have to stop for traditional Greek lunch.The walkways are often made of marble from the island. Bright spot of my day!Spud (our van), relaxing at the campground.Final dinner in this Greek paradise.On the Ferry. Here we go again. Off to the Balkans. Now the real adventure begins! Stay tuned…
Yes, the Acropolis. The marble on the hill. You go. You take the photo.
Then walk down to the water.
Palaio Faliro is where the city actually sits: a long path by the sea, coffee, bikes, ferries heading out. There’s a bronze emperor on a horse facing the water—Constantine XI, last ruler of Byzantium, who died when Constantinople fell in 1453.
Hill for the famous view. Shore for the rest of the day.
Ok. What’s emerging is the relationship pieces of the trip top sight seeing. We met up with one of my dearest professional friends Uta Werner. One of the three most influential people in my career. Brilliant, passionate, supportive, on and on. She was a Partner at Marakon Consulting. Worked together at both Kelloggs and Tyson. Taught me so much on strategy, business, finance. Part of her family is in Athens and she was there, for perfect timing to see us!While we saw buildings from 400 BC, the other ones built for the 2004 Olympics complemented the others.One of the many sailboat harbors.Over looking the kids Optimist sailboats while we were having lunch. Much like the ones our kids sailed on Gull Lake.Speaking of lunch. I had to go halfway around the world to see Uta, AND have smelt (fish) to eat.… and boats for big kids!Teena, Teena, Teena. They find her everywhere!Such an amazing day with my dear friend. One to always remember!… and we are off to Naxos. Stay tuned…
