Cavtat, Croatia

Wednesday May 31, 2017
One last walk, a beautiful Adriatic sunset, an amazing dinner of scorpion fish at Bugenvila, and lots of memories filled our last evening in the Balkans.

The Blue Eye

Tuesday May 30, 2017
Our last day in Albania encompassed our longest hike - 12 miles roundtrip to Syri Kaltër, the Blue Eye.

Getting lost in Nderlysa, we resorted to calling Nard who said "Follow the powerlines!" We did so, and ended up at the Nderlysa Stone Bathtubs, carved out by the river.

From here we were able to find the trail. How do you get lost in such a tiny village? We did see one very old man in the village who we asked for directions (pointing to our 👁). He wanted to lead us, but we only had a 20€ note and sign language. Travel Tip - always carry change!

Climbing up the canyon along the trail and down some rickety ladders, we reached the Blue Eye, and indulged in an icy cold drink chilled in the frigid water.

Climbing up another series of ladders, we found ourselves in a treehouse "cafe" - Albanian ingenuity and creativity. We could have ordered lunch!

The treehouse gave a wonderful perspective on the Blue Eye. Here (see video post), we met little Crystalina - 5 years old and very curious about what we had for lunch.

Exhausted, we ejoyed our last night in Theth eating a traditional Albanian meal under the star

Hiking Theth

Monday May 29, 2017
We found one map in English, but we still got lost. No signs here, just the same red/white marks on the rocks for all the trails.

After rock-hopping up the wrong beautiful river canyon, we finally got back on track and made it to the waterfall for some photos and our picnic lunch. We had it all to ourselves!

On the way down, finding a trail intersection (arrows with destinations written on rocks), we decided to checkout the Kanioni, the trail taking us down to a little wooden bridge overlooking a narrow gorge, reminescent of Slovenia.

Now could we find the Lock-In Tower? Lock-In towers are unique to Albania, and we knew there was one still remaining near Theth. When a blood fued errupted, like the Hatfield and McCoy's, the men would be locked in stone towers by their families and the ladders drawn up. Food was delivered by the families, and the men would remain in the tower until the despute was settled- in some fashion. The tower was set up as it would have been, livestock below, living space above, with pictures on the walls of some tough looking dudes!

Theth, Albania

Sunday May 28-30, 2017
Our last destination before starting the journey home was Theth, in the heart of the Albanian Alps. Nard Polia, frontman, owner, and driver, met us at the Podgorica Airport, where we left our car. Having rented it in Slovenia, we could not drive it into Albania, which was a good thing. Tom got a break and this was the most white-knuckled ride yet - the heights dizzing, the road extremely narrow and from the top of the pass down, it was dirt, rocks and potholes. We were glad to be riding with a local, Nards's family going back 400 years in this valley. The views were the most stunning, and it's easy to see why the Turks (Ottomans) never made it back into these high alpine valleys. Nard stopped and pointed out the 5 mountain passes that surrounded us.

Lake Skadar

Saturday May 27, 2017
We reached Lake Skadar via a tunnel through the coastal mountains. Bordering Albania, this huge lake, with its waterlilly lined banks, is one of the most important reserves for wetland birds in Europe. The mountains come down steeply to the lake and along the narrow road we passed through tiny grape growing villages with farmers selling their local wine at roadside stands. We enjoyed our favorite picnic lunch overlooking this beautiful lake.

Petrovac, Montenegro

Friday May 26-27, 2017
Petrovac is a beautiful gem on the southern Montenegran coast almost to Albania, frequented mostly by Russians seeking the sun and sea. There are certainly some ugly (Russian backed?) buildings here, in various states of completion, but it has a lot of charm along the waterfront, with its pink coarse sand beach, seaside promenade, fort on the point and island church. The light was perfect when we arrived and I found an old road, now pedestrian, reached from the waterfront. What a wonderful coastal walk!

The Bay of Kotor

Wednesday May 24, 2017
Nestled at the very back of the bay, Kotor is a walled city. For the majority of the time under Venetian control, Kotor withstood many Ottoman attacks. It's walls reach up the mountainside to a fort high on the ridge. The Venetian lion graces the walls at every gate. We walked the city, reminescent of Debrovnik, but on a much smaller scale.

The Cathedral of St. Tryphon, with its native pink columns and Romanesque vaults, has a collection of 13th century crucifixes, and an elaborate reliquary for St. Tryphon, patron of the city.

We wandered in and out of churches and shops, before having a little lunch and tackling the wall. Over 1,200 steps up, we climbed to the crumbling fort, where the sun came out for some great views.

We would repeat this climb later, at least to the church, for a night view!

Perast, Montenegro

Tuesday May 23-25, 2017
The Bay of Kotor, set back from the Adriatic, is reached through a small straight unless you go over the mountain, as we did. There were amazing views of the bay, but with 25 numbered hairpin turns, Tom did see many of those views. The most extraordinary roads in Montenegro are also the steepest, narrowest, white-knuckled drives.

Perast, north of Kotor, is a small town of palaces and churches right on the water. Two islands with churches are right offshore of this picturesque town and we have a great room overlooking the water at Monte Bay Retreat.

The symbol of Perast - the Venetian lion, with Catholics and Orthodox united against the Ottomans on the crest.

The ceiling of Our Lady of the Rocks, the blue domed island church......

An evening stroll along the waterfront and dinner by the bay was a delightful end to our day.

Morača Monastery

Tuesday May 23, 2017
Back toward the sea and the Bay of Kotor, we followed Morača Canyon stopping at Morača Monastery for a lunch break. The outside frescoes were weathered, but we were awed as we stepped inside the small St Nicholas Church (Crkva Sv Nikole). So many of the churches here have been destroyed in conflicts over the ages that to find one in such a state of preservation is glorious.

The larger Church of the Dormition (Crkva Uspenja Bogorodice) has an amazing frescoe with a slide of fire to hell, two-headed sea monsters and angels spearing deamons......sounds like Dan Brown.

Biogradska Gora National Park

Monday May 22, 2017
Almost missing the park sign pointing to a very small bridge crossing the river (Turn here?), we were able to catch the afternoon light hiking around Lake Biograd. This was a park for wood nymphs and fairies, one of the few remaining primordial forests in Europe. Many of the hardwoods here are over 300 years old and it is forbidden to remove dead ones. Mosss thrives in the moist cool air, and wild garlic blankets the forest floor. The river feeding the lake enters through a long braid of lush growth crossed on a boardwalk. Magical and surreal, I really wanted to linger here.

We found Hotel Ravnjak nestled next to a beautiful waterfall near Biogradska Gora National Park. This is our glamping experience - a wooden bungalow right by the river and rushing waterfall sounds to fall asleep to.