Switzerland In Kosovo

Who would have thought 3 hours drive from Pristina you could enter the (relatively) trash free, rolling hills, winding mountain streams and distant snow-capped mountain peak paradise of Boge? We certainly didn't and although Pranvera has lived most her life in Kosovo had never been to this place. After our exciting engagement week with all (mostly hers) friends and family congratulating and celebrating our engagement (as well as receiving so many incredible well wishes from all of you), we decided to disappear for a couple days to fresh air, sunshine and peace and quiet.

Driving in Kosovo is never a relaxing experience but we left early enough on Saturday with my projects very big SUV so we made it out to our mountain adventure launching city of Peje where we enjoyed a nice Machiotto outside in the run-down socialist hotel right next to the river. With the sun darting in and out of the clouds we only needed the welcomed t-shirt to catch some rays. From here we entered into the Ragove gorge which is the most beautiful drive in all of Kosovo. At least 1000 meter cliffs rising up on both sides with a raging river paralleling the very windy road which was even carved into and through the stone cliff faces. As Pranvera noted, thank God this was done during the Yugoslav era since nothing like this would be attempted these days.

Further up into the mountains to gorge widened into more of a canyon where we found a very large restaurant, resort where we had an average lunch outside staring up into the mountains with the sun barely balancing the canyon winds. No matter. Everything was perfect. The air, the mountains, the love of my life.

Anxious to get in a short afternoon hike we continued on till the end of the paved road where it turned into 28 kilometers of an incredibly beautiful dirt road with some serious size potholes and small river crossing that made me thankful I chose to drive our 'tank'. Listening to some fun tunes on the iPod we bounced our way all the way to the end of the track in the very small and sleepy 'ski-resort' of Boge. Essentially they have a single toe-rope life dragging its victims to the top of a big beginner hill. Since the snow at the lower elevations had melted it was hard to imagine what the skiing would actually look like. The scattering of houses revealed several lodge style hotels and a series of cabins for rent (all right near each other). We opted for 4 relatively new looking cabins up on the hill with much more privacy and better views. Problem is no one was home, no number to call, neighbors didn't know how to reach the owner and the one lodge who was told would have the answers claimed they had no idea who ran them but they had rooms open in their hotel (NOT).

Finally we found the local who had the keys and rented it out for the owner. Basic as they were one had dirty dishes in the sink and none were cleaned very well or stocked with anything from towels to toilet paper. No matter we made due with what we had and purchased a bottle of wine to keep us warm for the night, dropped our gear off and headed out and up the mountain. Since all the trees, for the most part, had been cleared in the valley it was very easy to look off in the distance and see where you wanted to go. Basically all options went up. So that is what we did. After about half way up the first peak we decided to take a lateral trail that would eventually loop us back into the village rather than a straight up and back. Not to mention it was already getting on the later side and a number of black clouds could be seen in the distance.

It was exactly as we hoped. Nothing...No one. No sound. Just us and mother nature. I couldn't be luckier that I found the only Kosovar that loves to hike and spend time in nature as I do. So after laying on the grass for awhile to take it in, we continued on through an ancient abandoned town on the mountain side and eventually got snowed out forcing us to take a trail descending off our mountain. But not finished yet we decided to head up a dirt track into another valley passing by an odd collection of empty houses, shacks, barns and many burned out frames left from the war. So sad to see the fighting extended even up to this beautiful and sacred space. Since we were just on the other side of mountain from Montenegro, Pranvera said most likely this route was used as an escape from the Serbs. Hard to imagine families leaving everything behind except what they could carry and trying to head over these during the winter time.

Finally a soft rain sent us returning to the cabin to clean and chill a bit before venturing out for a late meal. We made it cozy and lit the wood burning stove which would be needed to keep the place warm for the night. The second floor had the adults bedroom next to the 3 single kids bed room. We took the adult room:-) The balcony door afforded us a wonderful view that we enjoyed the next morning. Before we became too comfortable we wandered out into complete darkness and a slight mountain chill down to one of the cafeteria bright lodge restaurants that was only occupied by a high school class of kids. At least the place seemed lively and we had a wonderful fresh salad, fish from the rivers and a light baklava to finish off the feast. I was hoping for a nice post meal, moon-light stroll but the heavy rain forced us to jog slowly back to the cabin to bunker down for the night.

Everything would have been perfect with the rustic wood-burning smell and the nicely heated cabin, if it weren't for the winds. The gusts started to force the smoke back down the chimney and before too long we had to have all the doors and windows open so we could breath. As I ran upstairs to open the balcony doors as well Pranvera awoke from her nap on the sofa yelling my name and most likely freaking out since there was smoke everywhere. We finally aired everything out but the smell stuck like glue on all our clothes. As we ventured off to bed I put a towel under the door to keep the smoke out. BUT, it kept happening and pretty soon we had had to extinguish the fire and sleep with the open windows (so much for a warm cabin). Our heavy blankets kept us warm but lesson learned for next time (ie come when warmer).

Our short sleep was greeted with almost cloudless skies as we enjoyed the mountain high having fresh fruit and coffee outside. After some good laughs about the night before we grabbed out gear to summit another set of mountain peaks. Starting off on the road our target was the top of some towering rock cliffs that overlooked the valley we were in. Easier said than done since we ended up walking around the backside and had to head straight up the hillside to bushwhack our way through a beautiful pine forest before it opened up into another back-country valley and another set of peaks to climb up and over. Again we were able to keep our bearing and hike by sight which made it more adventurous. Almost no people again. Finally, we reached our destination to find a hut that must have been made by local (hunters or fugitives). The snow was much thicker in certain areas so we eventually made our way back down the mountain the road and strolled our way to the village. The drive back home was just as nice with enough time to have a nice lunch atop the sky tower we have been to before staring back into Ragove valley and saying goodbye to the clean air and mountains...until our next trip.