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.
Leave a Reply