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.