Day 19-24: Kosovo

Wow... Kosovo. Actually, i just planned to visit 1-2 days. In the end, I stayed a week :D Entering Kosovo was easier than expected. No extensive control, we just needed to show our passports and buy a car insurance.

Ben's friend Ilir organised a motel in Peja. Actually it was a petrol station but with motel, restaurant/bar and supermarket. The owners, a Kosovan couple from Switzerland cared lovely for us.

Following their advise, we discovered "Rugova" valley, a huge canyon formed by the "Lumbardhi i Pejes", a cyan blue river. Once more, the road was a wonderful gathering of tunnels and curves crossing rough rocks along the river.

After Peja, we drove to Mitrovica. The city was no remarkable beauty but a symbol for the deep rift in the Kosovan society. Flowing through the city, the river "Ibar" also divides Albanian Kosovars from Serbians. Both sides of the city live on their own. The connecting bridges are secured by KFOR-troops.

Luckily, we met Floriana, a Canadian, who just moved to Kosovo again. She showed us Mitrovica and even accompanied us to Pristina. Pristina is quiet modern and we arrived at the national holiday of the albanian independence.

Donald Trump even reached Kosovo. On the right side: Floriana

Thanks to our tour guide, we visited two great cafes nearby the governmental building: "Dit' e Nat" (Day and night) and "Soma's"

Dit' e Nat'

The famous table of SOMA's

We stayed some days in Pristina because I needed to get a new radio. Finally, we left the city with a new radio and new friends. I met Ardian and Oscar in a hostel. Ardian wanted to show us his hometown Prizren. It is one of the older cities in Kosovo and the most beautiful for me.

Ardian, Oscar and Ben

We met two more travellers in Prizren: Beatrice and Kathrin, both from Switzerland drove through the Balkan states for three weeks. We had a great evening with great fun and some "Appenzeller" too.

Day 16-18: Montenegro

Montenegro, the country of the "black mountains" was a huge experience. We entered Montenegro in the late evening after our Maglic-Trip in Bosnia. The Border Patrol officer was really nice. "Your first time in Montenegro?" - "Yes" - "I hope you like it, welcome.". Even the streets were welcoming us... Bosnia's streets ended with a 3,5m wide pavement and 1m of gravel on both sides of the road to sidestep, if cars of the opposite direction appear. Montenegro had a proper road with enough pavement for two-way traffic and an unbelievable number of short tunnels blown into the rocks.

We stopped in the first village to stay for the night.

The new day greeted with a great view. We found our selves in a valley surrounded by mountains. We followed the road along "Pivsko Jezero", a lake surrounded by cliffs.

Right before "Pluzine", we took the road to Durmitor National Park. The panoramic road was an epic adventure. As soon as you leave the valley, you feel like in another world. Suddenly, it is quiet, only a soft breeze of wind.There are wide grasslands in the beginning. Later, rough mountains appeared with bizarre formations. The road has only 17km but we spend more than 4 hours driving slowly and enjoying this beautiful landscape.

In the afternoon, we became friends with a Swiss Montenegrin we met in a restaurant. Vlatko was super friendly and open. He invited us to the restaurant of his mother in Berane for the next day. Spending the night in a cheap hotel in Zabljak, the winter sport centre of Montenegro, we decided to follow the invitation. The way through a large valley was nice. Only trash alongside the streets is disturbing, but its quite common in the Balkans.

Berane is a smaller city but we were overwhelmed by the welcome in the restaurant of Vltakos mother. Her restaurant "dwa jelena" (two deers) was just about to be reopened. She was a known cook in Montenegro and she was even cooking for Tito in former times.

The evening was a orgy. We started with a spirit "Slivovitz", followed of a plate with bacon sausages and cheese, accompanied with salad and pickles. Afterwards, we had Polenta, cabbage rolls, a delicious fish soup until we arrived at the main dish: Meat with one of the best baked potatoes i ever had. All this was finished with a Turkish coffee and a wonderful apple  strudel. I haven't eaten that much since years. Thank you so much, I will never forget this hospitality. Sorrily, i have no more picture of the family :(

Starter

Right before the main dishes appeared... The starters still remain on the table, if you should get hungry :)

We planned to leave for Kosovo in the morning. When we arrived at the border patrol station, we learnt that this border is closed. In exchange, we had a funny conversation with the friendly officers of the border patrol.

Still, we had to return and take a different border station to enter Kosovo but i will remember Montenegro as a great country. Thanks a lot!

Day 13-15: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia denied entrance for us. At least at the first border we tried, the officer told us to use another border check point.

On the second attempt, we could pass the border after our cars have been searched. I accidentally carried Bens drone in my car. We had hid it beneath my blanket while visiting Dubrovnik, so nobody raids the car. Usually, border police doesn't react friendly to drone equipment, especially if it is hidden and not declared.

Fortunately, everyone was checking for the storage below my wooden sleeping construction. Nobody had a look at my thick blanket... puh. 

Also thereafter, I didn't feel welcome. Houses were decayed, the roadsides covered in plastic waste, cows walked along the street. We saw a five men butchering a pig. They stood around the wriggling pig, its head was covered in blood spluttering out of the cut throat. Nobody seemed to be interested to end the suffering fast.

Many houses still show bullet holes from the war. We found a bus station that seems like a place left in a hurry. Hundreds of bus tickets laid on the ground.

We arrived in Mostar and successfully escaped the parking ticket mafia which had already tried to hoax us. Unfortunately, Mostar is very, very touristic. The famous "old bridge" was completely renovated and seemed to be brand new. Some men offer to jump off the bridge for 30€ ("old tradition... exclusively for you..." hm OK) and most shops sell pretty much the same souvenir trash.

The bazaar was well maintained and all the houses are renovated, but i feel a stronger aversion against these theme parks for adults.Maybe I am just wrong, maybe i was hungry. One thing is certain: After we shared a huge grill plate, my mood improved a lot :D

From the right to the left: Ben, Daesu and me

Daesu spend the night in a hostel while Ben and I stayed the night in our cars on the campus of the Mostar University. The look of the professors and students in the morning were priceless.

The following morning, we drove to Sarajevo. The city was interesting, but i had the same feelings about the bazaar as in Mostar and the famous Sebilj was not that remarkable for me. 

There is a colourful side of Sarajevo too... and have a look at the necessary prohibitions for Bosnian banks.

  

We also visited a exhibition about the war in the early 90' and that was definitely impressive for me. I knew some facts, but the devastating dimensions of cruel suffering were new to me. We left the centre, looking for a place to sleep. The ruin of a fortress of the Ottoman Empire was our shelter for the night. 

The next day we drove to Maglić, the highest mountain of Bosnia and made use of our off-road capable cars for the first time. It was great fun. I will upload videos soon. So far, you get a picture :)

Day 10-13: Croatia Part 3

We left Zadar and drove to Split via Krka National Park. Once again, we found a place not of this earth. On wooden bridges, you can cross the river "Krka" branched over a wide valley, disgorging into several vast waterfalls.

As we arrived in Split pretty late, we had to postpone our walk around to the following day. Splits centre is surrounded by a square city wall. The thick stone walls reminded me a little of Jerusalem. A broad promenade separates the city from the harbour. East of the centre, we found a big market. Ben and I bought pork belly for roast potatoes in the evening. Delicious!

 

 

Next stop: Dubrovnik. To reach Dubrovnik, we had to cross Bosnians 5km part of the coast, re-entered Croatia and proceeded our way to the South. Shortly before arriving in Dubrovnik, we passed two 450 year old trees in Trsteno.The branches are so heavy, that they need to be underpinned.

Dubrovnik really is a beautiful city. Being declared UNESCO world heritage since 1979, it's thick walls survived even the bombardment in the war 1991-1992. The tourism brought wealth but also made some authenticity go loose. Christmas Market at 17°C feels just wrong.

Christmasmarket in Dubrovnik at 17°C

Beautiful view over the roofs of the old city

The best bar in town, when it is sunny: Buza Bar

We had a lot of fun in Dubrovnik. In the evening, we found a place for the night at Fort Imperial with a perfect view over the city and a great sunrise in the morning.