Biking in North Vietnam

Hubby and I decided on a 5-day bicycle trip from outside of Hanoi to the Ninh Binh region, a water-filled karst environment we were eager to explore. We both love the motion of cycling and to see places at the pace of a bicycle. We can go far enough in one day to see a variety of places, yet slow enough to enjoy the scenery, observe how folks live their lives, and not run over the wandering chickens and dogs!

Day 1 – Man Duc to Mai Chau

Mileage – 32.8 miles, Elevation gain – 2,525 ft.

We were picked up at our Hanoi Airbnb and fitted with bikes and helmets. We checked the toolkit, and filled the one pannier for daytime needs – extra water, snacks, sunscreen, windbreakers, etc. Darrell was on a regular “push bike” and I was using an e-bike for the first time. It turned out we were accompanied by both a driver and a mechanic on the entire tour! The owner of the bike tour company was afraid the driver, who called us “grandparents” out of respect, was too old to help us with mechanical issues, and the mechanic wasn’t a driver. So, our “self-guided tour” was really 2 bikers and 2 men in a van – carrying our luggage to the next stay and inflating the tires of our bikes each morning.

On previous tours in Europe, daily luggage transfers were handled by one hotel sending luggage on to the next hotel – since they were only about 35 miles apart. That kind of system has not been set up here. And since wages for workers are low, it doesn’t add greatly to the cost of the trip. Many tourists hire a car and driver for long-distance tours.

We were driven over 2 hours SW of Hanoi to a quieter village near Man Duc and began biking on dirt roads toward a large reservoir. We followed the edge of the reservoir, winding in and out of each bay before finally climbing a large hill to Go Lau. It was approaching dusk, but we coasted downhill to our first night at a lovely homestay in Mai Chau, a traditional White Thai village.

Note: There are 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, with the Vinh (also called Viet) making up 87% of the population, and the other 53 groups contributing a small fraction each to the overall population of about 100 million people. When we were in Hoi An I went to the Precious Heritage Museum and saw photographer Réhahn’s gorgeous images from each of the ethnic groups. It is an amazing free museum!

View from our balcony at Green House Mai Chau

Day 2 – Mai Chau to Ban Lac to Ban Hieu

Mileage - 36.3 miles, Elevation gain – 3,250 ft.

We had a lovely breakfast at our homestay, then got on our bikes around 9 am to start our hardest day. Or I should say Hubby’s hardest day since I was able to just kick the e-bike into a higher gear when the heavily forested hills got too long or steep! I realize I can make the bike ride as easy or as challenging as I want – but it is tempting to not push too hard – especially when you are “conserving” energy for later in the day… Excuses, excuses…

The reward near the end of the bike ride was amazing views over terraced rice fields and an incredibly steep descent on a narrow cement track. 

Terraced rice fields near Pu Luong

Just when we thought we were close to our place, we realized we had a 1.5 km hill to climb – and it was the steepest yet. Darrell got in his last big workout of the day getting to the Na Co Lodge Homestay. Thank goodness there was cold beer at the top!

We visited with a French family at dinner who were on a 2-week car tour with their driver. They were seeing many places off the beaten track, arranged by a friend who could speak Vietnamese. We all relied on google translate since few people speak English (or French).

We had a mosquito net over our bed in this small bamboo cottage but there were few mosquitoes and we both slept well!

Na Co Lodge Homestay

Day 3 - Ban Hieu to Ngoc Lac

Mileage – 39.1 miles, Elevation gain – 1,550 ft.

Today began with the steep descent, retracing some miles from yesterday, and then heading south and east to Ngoc Lac. There were a few nice sections but much of it was on a busier road than we preferred and not as scenic as the previous two days.

We ended up in a larger town and stayed in a sterile hotel that looked more like something the Drump would build – including gold fillagree – than the previous two nights homestays.

We did have an entertaining meal with our two side-kicks – where we had tender goat meat (a local delicacy). Our driver shared some of his brother’s homemade rice wine with all of us. We had more than one toast...

Toasting to our health!

Day 4 – Ngoc Lac to Cuc Phuong National Park

Mileage – 46.7 miles, Elevation gain – 1,425 ft.

The next day was our longest ride – but also relatively easy. It was mostly flat through many pineapple fields until we approached Cuc Phuong National Park (Vietnam’s first National Park) which is on two karst ridges. We began biking early so we would have time to see some of the Park after we arrived. Because the Park stretches along both sides of a central 18 km road, Hubby rented a motorscooter and I jumped on the back for a 2-hour jaunt through the tropical rainforest. We took side paths to see both ancient trees and giant tree ferns.

 

Giant tree ferns dwarfing Hubby

Day 5 – Cuc Phuong National Park to Tam Coc 

Mileage – 33.6 miles, Elevation gain – 500 ft.

We woke early and made our instant coffee in the room as usual - and then heard the loud chorus of gibbons as dawn broke! The noise was wonderfully raucous though we didn’t see any of these native primates. We went for a bird walk before breakfast by the places we didn’t have time to visit – the Endangered Primate Rescue Center, the Turtle Conservation Center, and the Carnivore and Pangolin Conservation Center. You can tell they are doing a lot of conservation work at this National Park!

 

This last day of biking (on Christmas Day) took us to Tam Coc Nature Lodge. We had read the description in our guidebook and I really wanted to stay here – though it was a more expensive option at almost $50/night (crazy huh?). I figured it was our holiday present to ourselves, and it really was a delightful place.

 

View from our balcony over the pool and "moat"

View of the cottages with towering karst backdrop

Summary: Parts of the bike ride were just plain fun - when kids waved and flashed the peace symbol as we biked by. Some parts were depressing - like trash on the ground and poor air quality. But most parts – especially the scenery, friendly people and amazing food - were absolutely wonderful.

The trail was varied – from crowded streets through small towns, to quiet lanes between pineapple fields, to dirt paths through rice paddies, and potholed roads up and down steep hills in dense forested areas. We enjoyed the shifting views of peaceful fields and striking karst topography with hills like the bumps on a dragon’s back!

 

The local karst topography from the Tam Coc Heritage Trail

Hoi An, My Son, Hue and Phang Nha – Ke Bang National Park

We moved from our Lavini Boutique Hotel in the rice paddies of Hoi An to “Local Beach Homestay” just a short walk to the beach. The homestay can’t be accessed by cars as it is on one of many narrow alleys in this area – so we walked the last bit there. We’ve learned that "homestays" are a family's way to run a small hotel – usually 2-4 rooms for guests. They serve breakfast but you don’t live with the family. They vary a lot as you would expect.

Signs showing the places in the alley to the right!

I walked along the beach most mornings, and many locals were exercising – swimming, calisthenics, tai chi, soccer, and more. The beach was busier at 6 am than it often was later in the day with the few tourists around. The beaches near where the tourists hang out have much less trash than the beaches that have no hotels or restaurants.

The fishermen were up even earlier. I missed seeing them out on the water but caught them as they dragged their basket boats up the beach to store above high tide for the day.

Hauling in the basket boats and their morning catch

Sunday, we took a tour of My Son Sanctuary, an ancient Cham (Hindu) site dating from the 4^th to 13^th centuries. Unfortunately, it was also a site of massive bombing during the Vietnam War (called the American War here) and many of the original standing temples were destroyed. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 and ruins of about 70 buildings from successive dynasties of Cham kings have been partially restored with contributions from other countries. It feels peaceful nestled in a gorgeous mountain setting.

My Son Sanctuary

We left Hoi An on December 12^th and got a ride (Grab is the Uber of Vietnam) to the Da Nang train station where we stored our bags while we toured the Museum of Cham Sculpture. The Museum is on the Han River near the coast and has fine displays of Cham culture from My Son Sanctuary as well as other Cham sites in the region.

The Museum of Cham Sculpture

An afternoon train took us to Hue where we walked to our very bright Sky Homestay. Our host was amazingly proficient in both English and French and super attentive to her guests while also helping her husband corral two busy young sons!

Sky Homestay in Hue

While Hubby worked, I walked to the Imperial City of Hue which began when the Nguyen Dynasty moved the capitol city from Hanoi to Hue and ruled the country from 1802 to 1945. While the Nguyen were conservative Confucianists, the French also had a large influence during this time, and were the de facto rulers from 1884 until 1945, when the last emperor abdicated his throne. A huge fire in 1847 burned much of the Imperial City, and then the American response to the Tet Offensive in 1968 pretty much finished it off. The site gained UNESCO World Heritage status in 1993 which spurred massive funding to help restore some of the buildings.

Imperial City of Hue

It rained most of the next day but we did a little more sightseeing before catching the afternoon train to Dong Hoi. A driver met us there and delivered us to the Karst Villas in Phong Nha in time for dinner (delicious as always) and a nice room and sleep. We couldn’t see the karst features that night – but the next morning we had this view from our room.

View from Karst Villas in Phong Nah

We borrowed one-speed bikes and headed to town where we joined with two other couples (French and German) to rent a dragon boat to take us to the largest cave in Phong Nha–Ke Bang National Park. The karst formations here are about 400 million years old – and the Park is home to the world’s largest cave – though we didn’t go to that cave. We were lucky that the water level dropped just enough to allow the boats to enter the large Phong Nha Cave opening. We were dropped off to stroll back through the impressive formations. We then climbed a zillion (almost) steps to tour Tien Son cave before returning to our boat.

                   

After an amazing bahn mi at the recommended Thang Nhuhg café, we took advantage of the dry weather and the borrowed bikes and headed to the beautiful Bong Lai Valley just a few kilometers past where we were staying. They are just opening up to tourists now - but you can get coffee and wifi along with beautiful views. You'll need to zoom in on the photo to see the offerings!

Beautiful Bong Lai Valley

The next day it rained (again) so Hubby worked inside and I walked on the paths through the rice paddies. We found a nice café for lunch and got in some birdwatching on the way. It is a pleasant area and the folks in the village we biked through yesterday and walked through today were incredibly cheerful and friendly, waving as we went by.

Last view from our porch - incredibly hard working farmer plowing rice paddies in the rain.

Welcome to Vietnam!

We flew to Vietnam at the end of November, just before our 90-day Australian visa expired. We have never been here before and it is popular for many reasons – friendly people, delicious fresh food, good internet connections, safe place to travel, and relatively inexpensive. We don’t know how long we will stay – but it is a great new place for us to explore!

Our plan is to get used to the country and allow Hubby to focus on his work by staying in one town, Hoi An, on the central coast for two weeks. We chose to stay in two places for one-week each. The 10-hour time difference with Arizona makes it so he can connect with his colleagues and students in our early morning and in their late afternoon.

We started close to the UNESCO Heritage old town of Hoi An and stayed in a small hotel on an “island” surrounded by rice paddies. It was a great retreat from the busy-ness of town where there is nonstop motor scooter traffic and lots of people everywhere.

There are narrow cement roads that connect the rice paddies to each other and to town. My favorite thing to do was birdwatch along the rice paddies in the mornings.

You can tell these paths are not meant for cars, though our hotel was close to town so cars could get in and out the shorter road – but not pass each other! Most folks (over 90%) travel by motor scooters though – including the postman, trash pickup, delivery services, etc. Scooters had trailer attachments hauling long loads of wood, pipes and rebar!

The “sidewalks” are obstacles to navigate as they serve as parking lots for cars, bikes and scooters, as well as sites for people to pile garbage, burn garbage when it was dry, weld metal together, cook meals and as sidewalk cafés. Sidewalks are NOT meant for walking so the few people that walked (mostly tourists) end up on the sides of the streets. Because of the traffic flow it is customary to just walk on the same side as all the other traffic. Pretty crazy at first – but I’m getting used to it.

Hoi An has a lantern festival every full moon, and we were lucky to be here for it. The festival dates to the 16th and 17th centuries, when Hoi An was a lively port and trading post. The Chinese and Japanese who settled in Hoi An brought lanterns and hung them in front of their door as a reminder of their homelands, and all the stores today are required to have lanterns. You can buy lanterns everywhere, take a boat ride and float your own lantern on the river, or just enjoy the spectacle of an electricity free night. It is pretty and marvelous!

If you miss the full moon festival, you can still enjoy the lantern-filled city and the boat rides every other day as well! But you will miss the alters that people put out in front of their homes to honor and feed their ancestors. Here is the alter at our hotel. You can see our hotelier working into the night in the background.

We have had a lot of rain though the rainy season should be nearing an end. Darrell caught a cold and was trying to get a lot of work done so he didn’t get out as much as I did – but I walked in rain or sun to see the sights.

One popular tourist activity is to go out in the round basket boats that have a long history in Vietnam. This article has more information on these unique boats. The boatmen and women can make the baskets spin – causing lots of tourist fun, though I haven't tried it myself.

I’ve been impressed by the incredibly industrious Vietnamese people. Honestly, everyone seems busy doing whatever they can do to make a living and still be friendly!

Yesterday, we moved to a beachside homestay for our second week in Hoi An. More adventures to follow! 

  

Staying on the trail with Atlas Guides

My good friends at Atlas Guides in Flagstaff design and code the "go-to" apps for staying on the trail while hiking - a challenge for me at times! They worked with the Trailblazer crew in Great Britain to develop a series of British hikes that I eagerly downloaded. I hiked sections of three different trails, while based out of enchanting cottages with lovely hosts. I deemed it "reconnaissance" hiking since I only did a few sections of each trail - but it was great to see different parts of England as well as hike the unique trails.

First up was the Cotswold Way. This trail begins in the most charming town of Chipping Campden - near the 14th century Woolstaplers Hall (now a museum). For those of you not up on woolly lingo,  a wool-stapler buys wool from the producer, sorts and grades it, and sells it to manufacturers. The Cotswolds were a key center of the wool industry and I never walked a section of the trail that didn't also include sheep. :)

The beginning of the Cotswold Way in charming Chipping Campden

The Cotswold Way also has loads of archeology - including the Crickley Site that shows occupation as early as 3,700 BC by some of the first Neolithic people in Britain. Another Neolithic site along the Cotswold Way is the Belas Knap Long Barrow. Excavations in the 1860's found remains from 38 humans in the four chambers and behind the portal.

One of the chambers in the side of the long barrow

The strangest section of the Cotswold Way goes by the Cleeve Hill golf course. Cleeve Hill is a large common area - and during the spring and summer grazing sheep are allowed on the course! I got lost on the course (it all looked the same to me) and thankfully the app brought me back to a nature reserve - a much less homogenous landscape!

Grazing sheep on the Cleeve Hill Golf Course

From the bucolic Cotswolds, we headed to Pembrokeshire. Several of my friends had just walked the full 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path and raved about it. Though it wasn't yet on the Atlas app, I figured if I stayed close to the coast, but didn't go over the cliffs, I would be fine. Each section I did was fantastic and my hubby and I also went out on a boat trip to an offshore island with PUFFINS! Not to mention diving GANNETS! Oh, and RAZORBILLS! It was glorious.

Wildflowers in May

The trail goes close to the cliff edge in places...

Next up was the Lake District where I hoped to hike part of the Wainwright Coast-to-Coast Trail. This 182-mile track, created by British hiker extraordinaire Alfred Wainwright, crosses three National Parks; the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, and North York Moors. It is not well sign-posted so having the Atlas Guides app will likely save you extra hours of hiking. We connected with the trail near Patterdale, but didn't hike very far. The fog limited our visibility to almost zero as we climbed, so we hung out in the lowlands with the sheep. I researched why we see so many painted sheep and got two answers - one is just identification of your sheep from your neighbors, and the other is to determine which ewes have mated - the ram is loaded up with a sack of dye and deposits it during mounting so the farmer can tell which ewes have been impregnated. The things I'm learning...

Pink sheep in the Lake District

My final England hiking goal was the 84-mile Hadrian's Wall Path, steeped in the history of the Roman Empire's northern boundary. While trail guides tend to start the hike from the east, the app has a slick feature where you can change the direction you are hiking so you don't have to read the guide backwards, no matter where you start or which direction you go.

I first toured the Tullie House Museum in Carlisle, near the west end, to learn more about the Roman history of this area. The museum had an entertaining and educational animated film where I learned that the wall was begun in AD 122 under Emperor Hadrian to separate the Roman Empire from the barbarians (Scots!) to the north. The history is interesting and I'd love to do the entire walk, reading more about the history as I went along. You can't see much of the wall near Carlisle, but it is another charming town, and I enjoyed walking along the river and parks.
 

Communal latrine at Housesteads Roman Fort

Hubby and I drove to Housesteads Fort, the best-preserved of the 16 forts along the wall. We toured the fort and you can see my favorite part above. It is a communal latrine for Roman soldiers. No privacy for them... The poopers were along both sides and the troughs in the middle held water they hopefully used to clean themselves... Then hubby drove me to Cawfields, Castlemile 42, and I hiked along miles of solid wall until I found him at the Twice Brewed Inn in the town of Once Brewed - or something confusing like that!

Section of Hadrian's Wall in the mid-country

All said, I loved the hikes I did in England and want to do more. You can check out all the British hiking apps from Atlas Guides here!

Wool-gathering Walks

Since I've been enjoying Darrell's sabbatical year, I've perfected activities that I term "productive procrastination". I could be pursuing another degree, devoting more time to assisting non-profits, or learning all the things that have been on my to-learn list for decades - like GIS or French. But, instead, I go for long walks. My newest form of productive procrastination is not overly productive - but has a long history - so maybe that lends it enough cachet. I've been gathering wool as I walk, especially on several rambles in rural England.

Beautiful beautiful ewe and lamb...

Wool for the taking...

Wool-gathering has two distinct meanings, that I, along with the revered poet William Wordsworth, who lived where I am now wandering, dare to conflate. On my rambles, I am often guilty of "indulgence in aimless thought or dreamy imagining". I am also intentionally gathering wool from the meadows where grazing sheep leave woolly gifts.

Turning wool fluff into felted balls (brown fluff not shown)

There is some reason behind this pursuit. I got the wet-felting bug from watching an Albanian artisan create a felted slipper in about 20 minutes. After gathering, I wash and fluff the wool, and then with warm water, soap, and lots of hand massage, the wool alchemy begins. The fluff can be turned into balls, ropes, sheets, and more. It is an ancient and fun craft that also involves enviable amounts of thinking time, aimless or otherwise. My thinking led me to wonder about the etymology of wool-gathering - and to this lovely poem.

Intent on Gathering Wool from Hedge and Brake by William Wordsworth Intent on gathering wool from hedge and brake Yon busy Little-ones rejoice that soon A poor old Dame will bless them for the boon: Great is their glee while flake they add to flake With rival earnestness; far other strife Than will hereafter move them, if they make Pastime their idol, give their day of life To pleasure snatched for reckless pleasure's sake. Can pomp and show allay one heart-born grief? Pains which the World inflicts can she requite? Not for an interval however brief; The silent thoughts that search for steadfast light, Love from her depths, and Duty in her might, And Faith, these only yield secure relief.

Pink sheep in Wordsworth's Lake District

My freshman year college roommate Rebecca, who would leave quotes by Shakespeare on our dorm-room door, helped me tease some meaning from this poem in consultation with her fellow literati husband. They agreed that Wordsworth is skillfully combining the two meanings of the term "wool-gathering" in this poem; the term has been used for “wandering thoughts” since the 16th century.

The poet is watching children literally gather wool, but then in the middle of the poem (at “far other strife”) it moves from the literal to the poet’s own thoughts about the children’s future, and by implication his past. The “heart-born grief” along with the “Pains which the World inflicts,” are sorrows that the poet is ruminating on (wool-gathering about) — sorrows of an unknown origin, but they seem to stem from a sense that he has wasted his life (made pastime his idol). Then the last three lines, the end of his wool-gathering, he offers the hope of comfort for his sorrow — not from the “World,” and he says it will take longer than a “brief interval,“ but comfort will come through “silent thoughts,” love, duty, and faith.

So what say you, kind reader? As my literal and figurative wool-gathering merge, I am often considering my own idle pastimes (constructive procrastination defense not-withstanding) and also of the sorrows of the world. I hope love will prevail. And as I continue to gather wool, I keep one hand free to connect to "us".

Albania Time

Albania has the most incredible wilderness I have seen in Europe, accessible with Drive Albania!

Darrell and I met up with our good Flagstaff friends Vera and Kathy in Tirana, Albania on the last day of April. Vera had long been planning a trip to Albania to visit places her botanist father had explored - via donkey as needed - in 1924. I asked to tag along, as following her father's footsteps into the alpine regions of Albania was a compelling reason/excuse for another great adventure with Kathy and Vera! Darrell was looking forward to bicycling in Germany while I traveled even more slowly by van with two of my best friends. Welcome to Albania time!

Kathy, Ed, and Vera toasting to our planned trip

Vera worked with Ed Reeves of Drive Albania and e-mails flew back and forth as they planned a two-week trip that reached key locations her father had visited as well as unique cultural, historical and natural sites that Ed knew we'd enjoy. Our trip kicked off with an amazing dinner and we met Ed, Ardi (our tour guide and driver), and Chris (an American of Albanian descent living in Albania and apprenticing on the trip).

The other significant partner in our trip was the newest Drive Albania van - a 60th anniversary model of the 1958 Russian UAZ. The first model of this series was a 4wd ambulance, arguably the best in the world for use in remote areas, and perfect for rural Albanian roads.

Chris in front of the eye-catching UAZ van

Our first visit was to the House of Leaves in Tirana. This museum is "dedicated to the innocent people who were spied on, arrested, prosecuted, convicted and executed during the communist regime." The building housed the Gestapo during part of its occupation in WW2 and then housed the Sigurni (Secret Police) from 1944 to 1991 when Albania was under communist rule. Enver Hoxha, the head of state from 1944 until his death in 1985, wrote "State Security is the sharp and dear weapon of our Party, because it protects the interests of the people and our socialist State against internal and external enemies."

Partial list of executed prisoners during the communist years

We tested both Ardi's driving skill and flexibility as soon as we left Tirana. Vera hoped to drive over the Kraba Pass where her father had traveled. This road is now all but unused as a newer road has been completed, but Ardi managed to find an entrance onto the older road, and Vera, nose pressed to the window, eyed the landscape her father had traversed 95 years earlier.

We went up and over our first of many mountain passes arriving at the lovely town of Lin along the shore of Lake Ohrid. We met Rosa, our super host, and enjoyed her upstairs room overlooking the lake while we drank hot tea and homemade raki to warm up. Ed had written that "Rosa will look after us as if we were her own children!" which is humorous considering we are all older than Rosa's own mother!

Super Hostess Rosa in Li

Vera, Mindy, and Kathy above Lin

Geek out: Lake Ohrid is Europe’s oldest lake, formed by tectonic rifting over 2 million years ago. The lake’s deepest part reaches 288 m. There is unique biodiversity due to millions of years of isolation, including the famous and delicious Ohrid trout that we ate for dinner. There are more than 1400 species in the lake including about 300 endemic species. Vera researched and discovered a 570+ m core extracted from the lake sediment in 2013 that recorded 1.9 million years of deposition and natural history.

From Lin, we traveled around the southern part of the lake and into Macedonia, but instead of following the coastline around, we went toward Lake Prespa and then over another pass in Galicica National Park - enjoying the subalpine beech forest that was remarkably green with lovely spring flowers to enjoy. 

Nature appreciation stop in the beech forest

Galicica National Park

From the peak we dropped down to Lake Ohrid again and drove north to the town of Ohrid; one of only 28 places designated as both Cultural and Natural UNESCO World Heritage sites. The unique architectural style of the homes is mimicked by the same form on their streetlights!

St. John's Church, Ohrid, Macedonia

Ohrid's unique architectural style

The next morning we drove south around the lake to visit the lovely springs and Monastery of St. Naum (est. 905 AD by St. Naum himself) and enjoyed lunch at charming Drilon Springs before heading into the mountains of Shebenik-Jabllanice National Park. We bounced on dirt roads to our homestay high up in Stebelev. Our host Baki Nura served us tea and raki (are you sensing a theme here?) while we listened to birds in the late afternoon sun. We slept in a large room with its own wood stove and plenty of blankets to keep us warm. The next morning, Ed arrived with his faithful dog Bubi, and we all piled into the van to get higher into the National Park and hunt for elusive spring wildflowers just coming out from under the snow.

Vera and Kathy on the hunt for subalpine wildflowers

Orchis purpurea Scilla sp.

Besides flowers, we also saw some of the many bunkers that were built in the mountains during the communist era. That evening our hostess made us a delicious traditional meal with a huge variety of foods including roast lamb, meatballs, yummy crumbled cheese, byrek (feta cheese, cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, and meat all layered in a tasty filo pastry), pickled green tomatoes, savory yogurt and bread.

Delicious dinner with so many choices to tease the palate

We woke up to more rain, rain, rain. After breakfast we loaded into the trusty van and drove to Bulqize, a mining town where a young entrepreneur Lulzim (Luli for short) has been renovating his family's old stone kulla, a fortified tower from the 17th century. After dinner, Luli told us about how he had been working in the mines plus working every free hour on the kulla, plus helping his wife in their shop in town, when he received some funding so he could focus on creating a guesthouse at his kulla. His mother still lives there and is an amazing hostess to the guests. And Luli is full of ideas of how he can improve the local economy in a safer and more sustainable way than the mine provides.

Sophia roasting mushrooms over the fire

Luli in front of his renovated family kulla

We were getting deeper into Albania time as we stayed in places where the old traditions were honored, but there were also adaptations to the conveniences of the 20th century. While his mother upholds her ties to older ways, Luli has a strong online presence and has added electric outlets and WiFi to the family kulla. Both conserve and treasure the integrity and beauty of the historic stone and wood structure.

Ardi at the monument to Skanderbeg, an Albanian hero, near Bulqize

From Bulqize we drove high into the mountains again to Radomire, a village at the foot of Mt. Korab, the highest mountain in Albania at 2764 m (8983 ft). It was still raining but we found our way to our homestay with a Muslim family. Ramadan had just begun the night before, and we were all woken from our cozy sleep at 2:15 am by drumming! Kathy, who lived in Turkey for many years as a teacher, said that it was the call to wake up and prepare the meal before sunrise. We were lucky to hear the call, and then roll over and go back to sleep.

The Radomire mosque under the fresh snow of Mt. Korab

Instead of hiking up Mt. Korab as we had planned, the rain turned to snow above us, so Ardi rearranged our schedule to visit Prizren, Kosovo. Prizren is a beautiful town with gorgeous Ottoman bridges crossing the Bistrica River and weaving the two sides of the town together. The trees and lamp posts had whimsical tricotag (tricot-graffiti aka yarn bombing) that also tied the town together!

Tricot-graffiti in Prizren

Detail of charming Prizren tricotag

We admired the Sinan Pasha Mosque and had a picnic at the Prizren fortress. Kathy, Vera and I toured the ethnographic museum and wandered the streets. Then we all met for a lovely dinner and later some drinks at a Route 66 style bar in Prizren.

Ardi trying out his new cigarette holder from Vera

The next morning we stopped at one of the longest Ottoman bridges over the Terezingeve River on our way to the Decani Monastery.  Vera had to move out of the way of a flock of sheep crossing the bridge!

Ottomon Bridge outside Prizren  - Right photo shows Shepherd and sheep crossing bridge by Vera

The Decani Monastery is absolutely stunning. It was begun in 1327 and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, citing it as "an irreplaceable treasure, a place where traditions of Romanesque architecture meet artistic patterns of the Byzantine world." We could not take photos inside but it is worth looking at this wikipedia site to read more about it and see some images. There are over 1,000 fresco murals. Most are painted in a rich blue that came from Afghanistan and cost as much per kilogram as gold. Unfortunately, the monastery has been attacked several times, most recently in 2016, and is now under 24-hour guard by KFOR (Kosovo Force), a NATO-led peacekeeping force.

Outside of Decani Monastery (photo from Wikipedia)

We arrived in Gjakova, where our homestay was with a family that had been displaced by the Kosovo War 30 years earlier. They later returned to rebuild their heavily damaged home. Our hostess told us about the horrors of watching the bazaar (the oldest market in Kosovo) burn and seeing her friend running down the street with her children after having to step over her husband’s shot body and having her wedding rings stripped off. I will not forget the intensity of our hostess’s face as she recounted this nightmare. We couldn’t understand the words as she spoke Albanian with Ardi but we understood the message...

Mindy, our hostess, Vera, and Kathy in Gjakova, Kosovo

The next day we took the Koman Lake Ferry down the dammed and drowned Drin River. It was a beautiful ride despite the cold weather. A bumpy road led us to Shkoder, where Darrell and I had ended our bike trip less than 2 weeks before. We stayed at the Hotel Tradita in charming rooms and had an amazing meal at their restaurant.

Backing the van onto the Lake Koman Ferry

Our penultimate destination was Theth, a highlight of wilderness Albania. The winding road up and over the pass and down to the village had me clutching my seat, but Ardi and Chris drove it like the professionals they are, and we had great views whenever we stopped or I dared look out the window.

Looking down into the Theth Valley

Theth is incredible! It is in a beautiful bowl surrounded by mountains. Edith Durham, a British visitor who traveled and worked extensively in Albania in the early 1900's said this about Theth: "I think no place where human beings live has given me such an impression of majestic isolation from all the world." Theth has been "discovered” in the last five years so the number of guesthouses has gone from five to 30 or so. We were well accommodated at Shpella Guesthouse near the old Tower in Theth

View back to the Shpella Guesthouse and the Tower

Ardi on the shortcut "bridge" over the river

We toured the lock-in tower and Ardi told us the amazing story about how they settled blood feuds in the past. It was intense and you will need to go there to hear it, as I cannot possibly explain either the complexities or potential horrors of it. 

We woke to the first truly sunny day we've had since arriving in Albania. Vera, throwing open the window, said "Eat your heart out Switzerland! What a lucky bunch we are!" We had a grand day beginning with a trip to a nearby waterfall and then our longer hike to the Blue Eye. Of course Vera found special wildflowers on both hikes.

The beautiful Blue Eye near Theth

Our final place, before returning to Tirana, was a community-supported organic farm, hotel and restaurant. Mrizi i Zanave is agrotourism at its best. Drive Albania had organized our stay and our dinner, just as they had at every other place, and this was a fantastic place to experience how 400 families in the community work together to create, and be supported by, a local and sustainable enterprise.

Making rosewater for the restaurant at Mrizi i Zanave

The next morning, donning raincoats and umbrellas, we headed out to see the farm and watched the geese being led into the fields to eat the bugs! We received a personal tour of the farm and were proudly shown their cheese and meat production, as well as their homemade preserves and freshly baked breads.

We then drove to the charming hilltop town of Kruja, where we toured the museum that was an ode to Skanderbeg, the Albanian hero that lived here and led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in the 1400's. We wandered the market stalls and watched while a man created a felt slipper from raw wool in about 20 minutes! Vera and Kathy bought the irresistibly warm slippers.

Skanderbeg leading the charge with replicas of his helmet and sword below the mural

Showing us the family business - making irresistibly warm felted slippers and hats

We returned to the newly remodeled Sarajevo Art Hotel where we had begun our journey and repacked our bags for our upcoming flights the next day. But we had three more "encores" before we left Albania. First we enjoyed dinner at an experimental restaurant with Ed, Chris, Ardi and his girlfriend. We were treated to incredible food plus the spontaneous singing by a local group celebrating a child's 1st birthday! I captured 26 seconds of the singing below.

Encore two was exploring Bunk'Art - a HUGE converted bunker built during Enver Hoxha's four-decade communist rule to protect him and his cronies in the event of a nuclear attack. It has been turned into a spooky museum showcasing its history, and also has contemporary art, and information on the cave ecology of bats that now live in some bunkers! It is definitely to be experienced.

Encore three was the most beautiful of all. Drive Albania had arranged for Vera to meet with a retired botany professor, Dr. Kashta, from the University of Tirana. Vera had written to him about her father's research in Albania and his botanical specimens in the University herbarium. And she had earlier mailed her father's photographic plates from his 1924 expedition to the University. Professor Kashta introduced us to others that came to meet Vera, and organized a tour of the natural history museum, herbarium, and a dedication poster of her father's work that reads: "Friedrich Markgraf - One of the most authoritative scholars of flora and vegetation". This honorary treatment and seeing Vera's father's work from so long ago being recognized was incredibly moving...

Vera and Dr. Kashta with poster honoring her father's contributions to Albanian botany

Vera looking at her father's floral specimens in the herbarium at the University of Tirana

Eventually it was time to leave Albania. There is no question that we all want to return to Albania and to delight again in Albania Time.