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.
There was an odd haze in the air, probably because of the incoming heat wave. Almost seemed like a smokey haze, but there was no smokey smell at all.
Breakfast buffet.
Some of the other guests getting ready to go.
We had a steep climb out at 8:10am.
Butterflies and wildflowers.
Not often the butterflies sit still enough for a photo.
Despite the haze, it was still wonderful scenery.
Ruth, on the trail.
Often when a relative dies, they will build a water fountain at a natural spring.
Filling our water bottle.
Another trail intersection.
The road ahead.
Looking back at Ruth.
Thistle flowers.
Pretty little butterfly landed on Ruth's knee during lunch.
Another mountain stream coming up through the ground.
More pretty wildflowers.
Another mountain stream comes right out of the base of the rocks.
Me on the trail!
We are headed down there!
Almost there!
We made good time. It was a shorter hike, at 14 kms (8.7 miles), but other than the steep two hour climb at the beginning, it wasn't that difficult. We arrived at the guesthouse at 1:30pm, so we had the rest of the day to relax.
Roshkodoli Guesthouse.
Beautiful views... but what's new!
This place has ducks and chickens.
So, this Roshkodoli Guesthouse was okay, but probably the worst of the bunch. The guy was an Albanian, but he had spent 20 years in Switzerland and had obviously learned something about tourists and money.
It had the most expensive wine and beer of any place we stayed, and the least quality of food.
However, we had a surprise visit from the owner of the tour company we used at Balkan Adventures. We found out later that he visits as many clients as he can along the route to make sure things are going according to plan. And, he brought us a surprise gift!
Surprise bottle of Kosovo wine!
Soup and salad.
Some kind of sausage stew for dinner. Not that appetizing looking, but it was okay.
The group of Israeli tourists arrived at the same guesthouse and we socialized with them for a bit in the evening.
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Record low deal on Coleman's 4-in-1 Portable Camp Stove. This is a cool little stove/wok/griddle/grill that gets great reviews.
And in Canada...
Our son lives in Tampa, FL and they are dealing hazy skies caused by a large cloud of dust from the Sahara. It happened a few times last year as well and was a complete surprise that it was possible!
ReplyDeleteWe have had this happen to us in Spain as well but we are pretty sure this haze was due to the heat that they were having.
DeleteIt really is amazing how far that Sahara dust can travel, we are surprised that it can reach all the way to Florida.