Peaks of the Balkans Day 8... Roshkodol to Babino Polje... 11 kms

June 21 was a relatively short hiking day as we had only 11 kms scheduled due to guesthouse allocation. That was totally okay with us though, because it still entailed a steep one hour climb at the beginning, and then a descent into the valley that seemed like it would never end.

And wildflowers... lots of beautiful wildflowers!

Casino Fun On The Fly: How To Keep Playing In Prairie or Park - Gambling On The Go

We all love a little time resting and relaxing, whether that looks like chilling on your couch with a good book or spinning a few reels at an online casino. When you’re trotting around the globe, either at a breakneck pace or snail-slow, taking the odd breather is pretty crucial in making the whole journey worth it, but a lot of people think they’ve got to hit casino central to indulge in their passion for high-thrill gambling… not so!

Peaks of the Balkans Day 7... Gacaferi Pastures to Roshkodol, 14 kms

Continuing with our recent ten day hike in the mountains of Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro.

We woke up to a wonderful breakfast at Gacaferi Guesthouse. Probably our best overnight experience of the trip. Really friendly people, and the food was great. It was going to be a hot day, and once again we wanted to get an early start.

Peaks of the Balkans Day 6... Climbing Kosovo's highest mountain, 18.5 kms

This was probably our favorite day of the whole ten day adventure. The Gjeravica Peak hike is one of the most scenic, with sweeping views over a mountainous landscape. 

We had separated from the friends we had made over the previous days. They were now one day ahead of us, and some of them had done the Gjeravica Peak hike the day before but they encountered clouds near the top, and weren't able to enjoy the great views. Not the case for us!

Peaks of the Balkans Day 5... a day off? 8.5 kms

We had done some strenuous hiking over the previous 4days, having already completed 65.7 kms (40.7 miles) since the start of our Peaks of the Balkans adventure. 

So, we had scheduled a day off to give ourselves a break. When I was speaking with Marigona at Balkan Adventure, she included a short 8.5 km "day off hike" to keep us busy during our rest day!

We interrupt this program for a special news bulletin

We have a lot more to tell you about our hiking trip to the Peaks of the Balkans. However we're going to delay that for a day or two to tell you what we've been up to since our hike ended.

What an adventure the last 36 hours have been!

Peaks of the Balkans Day 4... Cerem to Doberdol, 15 kms

A relatively easy day on Monday June 17th. Only 15 kms (9.3 miles). Still with 1,025 meters (3,363') of cumulative altitude gain, but it didn't seem as strenuous. 

A bit of a late start as we set out at 8:30am. Again a beautiful sunny day!

Peaks of the Balkans day 3... Valbone to Cerem, 16 kms

So, Sunday the 16th. Day three of hiking. Breakfast not as good as yesterday. Bread, cheese, eggs, apples and some kind of fritters. Fine, but not as good as the day before.

Set off at exactly 8:00am. The route was known to be difficult. "Only" 16 kms (10 miles), but this would prove to be the toughest day of the entire trip, with a cumulative elevation gain of 1,215 meters (3,986') over 5 kms (3 miles). And a rocky karst trail that was difficult to get your footing right.

Top scenic walking tours to experience this summer

Looking to go on some scenic strolls this summer? You’re in the right place! In this article, we will look through some of the most beautiful trails from across the world. 

Peaks of the Balkans... Theth to Valbone 17 kms

We have returned from our hiking adventure, and will try to quickly get caught up in posting. If you missed day one, you can read it here... https://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2024/06/hiking-peaks-of-balkans-day-1-theth-to.html.

Day two was the popular Theth to Valbone route. This is the most popular hike in the whole region, with many people only coming to Theth to do this route.

Hiking the Peaks of the Balkans... Day 1, Theth to Blue Eye, and return, 17.7 kms

We are now finished our 10 day Peaks of the Balkans hiking trip that took us through the  Accursed Mountains (also known as The Albanian Alps) of Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro. It's going to take us a while to get caught up on blog posts because that's the longest we've been off line since we did our Kilimanjaro trip over three years ago!

But we shall start at the beginning. On June 14th, we woke up in a hotel in Shkodra, Albania where we helped ourselves to a wonderful buffet breakfast at 7:00am.

Some pics from the last few days

I'm writing this post from my phone, so apologies in advance for any formatting problems!

This is the last time you'll hear from us for a while!

Today is the official start of our hiking trip! No hiking involved, but a hotel in town is part of the trip, so we have moved there. Then tomorrow morning they supply breakfast and then they drive us up into the mountains at 8:30am where they have a 19.8 km (12.3 mile) day planned for us!

And the long term weather forecast looks fabulous! Sunny, with highs of around 25C (77F), except for a couple of days where it's supposed to get up to 30C (86F). Gonna be sweating on those days!

Motorhome Trips in America’s Wild West

The freedom of the open road has always been a major attraction for us and we have been lucky enough to experience the great outdoors across a variety of continents. But a road trip that is on many people’s bucket list is one taking in the wild west of the United States.

 

Generations have grown up on old western films and even more modern stories depicting this fascinating region of the world. Those long straight roads were built for motorhomes to explore and we thought we would share with you a trip that would allow you to take in the stunning scenery and sights – as well as a chance to check out all the Las Vegas betting online sites.

Albania has become a tourism hotspot

We slept in a little after arriving at Tirana Airport so late. Made it down for breakfast just before 10:00am. Pretty refreshing to see the prices, after having spent almost six weeks in England! 

Although, things are more expensive than the last time we were here, just like everywhere else in the world.

Arrived in Albania - a little later than planned!

Tuesday was a travel day! We had to make our way from Birmingham, England to Tirana, Albania.

We left the hotel just before 9:00am and did the twenty minute walk to Birmingham Coach Station where we caught the bus towards London's Luton Airport. We had to transfer half way to another bus, and arrived at the airport right on time at 12:15pm. Cost for the buses was £21.85 ($27.85 USD, $38.25 CAD) each.

Major change of plans.

I mentioned the other day that there's a lot going on behind the scenes here at Travel with Kevin and Ruth, and that is proving to be totally true.

Our original plan for July was to continue through the Balkans, with quite a lot of time spent in Serbia, a country that we have never been to. Then perhaps Georgia for August, before heading back to Canada in September.

Well, all that has changed.

4 Affordable Ski Resorts in Europe for Holidays on a Budget

Excitement is high when you decide to go on a ski holiday, but it plummets when people check the prices. You won’t have to go through that if you search for deals at affordable ski resorts in Europe. Chances are that you haven’t heard much about such budget-friendly establishments, but there are many out there. In this article, you’ll discover four of them, which are characterised by amazing prices and excellent services, so that you can enjoy the exhilarating experiences offered at the best ski resorts in the world without breaking the bank. 

Hiking in Peak District National Park... day 2

Unknown to most who have never been, the name "Peak District" has nothing to do with mountains or the landscape. And to be honest, we didn't know that either. In fact the terrain in Lake District National Park has more mountains than Peak District does. In fact, the highest point in Peak District is only 636 metres (2,087 ft) above sea level.

But Peak District is not quite as busy as Lake District, and the scenery is just as good. And there seemed to be a lot of walking trails in just about any direction.

I'm not gonna lie, we were pretty much done!

We had done Friday overnight at the Ravenstor Hostel in Peak District National Park. We had met our friends Antoinette and Ki there, and we all had breakfast together and then headed out. They do a lot of hiking in this park, and they had planned the route for us. 42 kms (26 miles) over two days!

We set off day one at 9:30am...

We have arrived in Peak District National Park!

We said goodbye to Aly and Martin this morning. Thanks again for putting up with, and looking after us! We wonder where in the world we shall meet again.

And we headed into the city of Sheffield. This is the city where my grandfather went to work in the steel mills when he was 13 years old!

It is so frustrating!

While we have been quietly meandering our way through the English countryside, there is a lot going on behind the scenes here at Travel with Kevin and Ruth. Let me explain...

Although we've been enjoying ourselves doing this "senior backpacking" style of travel, as we call it, we are missing our favorite method of travel... motorhome.

The area where some of my relatives came from

A bit of a dismal morning, so we just stayed indoors until things cleared up. It ended up being a decent afternoon, but with a cool breeze.

Aly and Martin took us for a drive through some of the smaller towns. My grandfather (my mother's father) was born in nearby Wakefield. He started working in a steel mill there when he was 13 years old.

Funny story...

We fly to Albania on Tuesday evening for our 11 day hike in the Albanian Alps. We're so excited!

In preparation, we've been trying to do some walking every day, but it's tough to get in any hilly areas to work the legs. So we've booked a walk in Peak District National Park this coming weekend.

A nice walk to the next village

Monday was a dull morning, and we had some computer work to get caught up on. Aly and Martin went to do some work on an investment property they bought, and they did not make it back until dinner time.

The skies cleared mid afternoon though and so we went out for a 10 km (6.2 mile) walk to the next village and back.

Beautiful day in York, and more photo matching

The forecast was for a gorgeous Sunday with sunshine and a high of about 21C (70F), and that's exactly what happened. It was a perfect day.

We set off just after 9:30am along with Aly and Martin and the four of us drove about 45 minutes north to the ancient city of York.

May Expenses - thanks easyJet!

Well, we had a budget of $2,750 CAD  for the month, and we ended up spending $3,097 CAD ($2,275 USD). Not bad, considering we always make our budget purposely at the low end of the scale to give us something to strive towards, So it's actually pretty rare that we meet our budget. But considering Ruth bought new hiking boots, that's really the item that put us over the top. Having said that, I should have budgeted for them in the first place.

Technically, we spent far more than that, but we were lucky that our easyJet flight had been late and they compensated us £880. We also used some credit card points to pay for our flights from Antalya to Paris on the 1st of May.

The pubs in old town Hull, England

Saturday morning we went for a walk in the center of Hull. They call the area "Old Town". 

Hull has a lot of history, dating back to the 12th century, and next to London, it was the most bombed city in the UK during the blitzes of WWII when 95% of the city's buildings were damaged or destroyed. 

We're lucky nobody was hurt!

We took a rare blogging day off yesterday! But we're back on track now, and so I'll combine Thursday and Friday together in this post.

On Thursday, we spent the day running some errands with friends Glen and Steve.