Pilgrimage from Stenje to Gollomboc 28/04/08

Waking to a beautiful day is always a nice feeling and to top it off the view over the lake from our hotel room is fantastic.

We wander down for breakfast and get into some serious discussions. We have a choice to make. Go round the lake to the north through Bitola, or go round the lake to the south through Albania. There are many good reasons not to go through Albania…it is more hilly, we don’t have any Albanian money (and the villages we will pass through are only tiny so there isn’t likely to be anywhere to get any), we are not entirely sure of the distances involved, people say it isn’t safe, and we don’t have a map…

But it still seems like the best option to me :) Even though I can see why Sabine has her doubts. And after the last couple of days her biggest concern is the hills!

We come to a compromise that if we can find a map in the town we are in then we will head south, otherwise Bitola it is.

Not to anyone’s surprise there’s no map. We are heading north…

As we start walking Sabine makes a comment about being a bit disappointed about not taking the “adventurous route”.

“So let’s make the gods decide…do u want to flip a coin?”

“Yeah sure, why not!”

There isn’t a coin to be found anywhere so Sabine breaks a stick.

“Short stick we go north, long stick south”

“Ok…”

As the stick starts coming out of her hands Sabine lets out a squeal of dismay. It is the long stick :) The gods have spoken! Albania here we come!

Half an hour later we are at the border. The exact line being marked by the road turning from tar to dirt…I love Albania!

Making good time through the hills we decide to stop for breakfast. I can see Sabine has really gotten into the pilgrim spirit as she orders a raki :) It was only polite to join her ;)

The meal is divine but when we go to pay the bill comes to €20! I have spent two weeks in Albania before and apart from in Tirana I have never been charged close to this! I ask to see the bill and as I start flicking through previous orders to get a better idea of the prices other people pay the first thing I notice is that they have charged us 50 for raki and everyone else 40.

“Why is our raki 50?”

“You got different raki, this one here”

“Hmmmm” My suspicions are aroused…

After further inspection I can see that the fish normally ranges from 300-450 per serving. We got charged 800!

“But you got special fish!”

I’m not convinced. We only pay €14 and leave it at that. They don’t seem very happy but we all smile, say “thank you” and wish each other the best.

I have to admit though that it is possible they weren’t trying to rip us off but merely assumed that since we were tourists we wanted the best of everything. If this is the case then we can all just put it down to cultural misunderstandings. I should no better than to order a meal without checking the price, even if it is in a small café in the middle of Albania. And they will soon learn that serving up their best produce, when it hasn’t been specifically asked for, to people walking in off the street with a backpack probably isn’t the best idea either :)

The walk around the lake is stunning! Why are there no tourists here???

Our stroll around the lake comes to an abrupt halt as the road ends but luckily here is a young boy there who speaks English. We tell him where we want to go and he points up this little road out the back of his village…

“Shortcut”

Seems like a good option to us so off we go. Funnily enough when we agreed to come to Albania the idea was we would be fine as long as we didn’t leave the lake. And here we were leaving the lake and sure enough the road was almost vertical!

We make slow progress but on reaching the top it is well worth it. We are greeted with one of the nicest views I have had on the whole pilgrimage. Looking straight across we can see Macedonia while looking slightly south I get my first ever glimpse of Greece. And there’s not a soul on the lake. It’s Magical!

Sure enough, as we try to navigate our way south, the track ends. Here we are, once again in the middle of nowhere making our own way through the bush. The view keeps us in good spirits though, and the foliage isn’t thick so the walking is still easy.

A road appears below us and an hour later we are once again on the right track.

We follow it until dark and set up camp. Trying to work out how far we have to go till Greece is nearly impossible without a map. I don’t believe that four days into the pilgrimage I still don’t have a one!!!

Pilgrimage from Galioica National Park to Stenje 27/04/08

It was freezing last night!

Sabine’s sleeping bag is only designed for summer so she didn’t get much sleep. I’m amazed though that she is still in such good spirits. Only two days into it we have already taken numerous wrong turns, gotten snowed on, been kept awake all night by loud music, then ended up lost in the mountains…

The joys of a pilgrimage :)

Continuing our way south, our track once again comes to an abrupt halt! We still haven’t come across the other road we are looking for but one thing I have learnt the hard way many times before, and still forget continuously, is that tourist maps offer a guide only. They are not to be taken literally :)

So knowing that east is the direction we want to go, the compass comes out once again and we start making our own track up the mountain next to us. With our packs it’s a big struggle to make it to the top, but exhausted we finally succeed. The view is not what we were hoping for! To the east are mountains, mountains and more mountains! Where is the lake???

Spotting what appears to be a main road off to the west, it seems like the only logical choice…not the choice I would have made if I were on my own (me of course preferring irrational and illogical choices like trying to make my own track through 20kms of national park), but a good choice none the less :)

One of the traits of my pilgrimage so far has been to continue on a set course, way beyond what most people would consider practical, just because that’s the course I’ve decided to take. A fine example would be when I was in Italy I tried to scale a 10m high cliff with my 25kg pack on my back, just to save myself walking 3kms back the way I had come. Needless to say I only made it half way up and after risking my life had to backtrack the 3kms anyway :) That is definitely one advantage with having a walking partner, the decisions remain reasonably sane…reasonably ;)

Slowly we make our way over to the road, sometimes finding little tracks to follow, sometimes making our own. Arriving, it is a relief to once again be on a definite trail. Continuing south, and in much better spirits we are happy just to walk and enjoy the scenery.

One of the most surprising things about this national park is the lack of life. We haven’t seen a single living thing other than insects and birds…apart from being lost it‘s amazing.

I keep hoping that the track will turn east but to no avail. As we go farther and farther south a huge snowcapped mountain looms up before us. After a quick look at the map we realize that we can see Albania! I start to think this isn’t such a bad thing. I loved walking through Albania last year and given the opportunity would happily do it again. And we have now tried twice to make it to Bitola with little success, so maybe the gods are telling us something ;)

About 1pm, much to our relief, we finally come across signs of civilization…a brand new hiking hut. No people, but at least we know that if we are still wondering around up here come summer someone will be likely to find us :)

Eating the last of our nuts and cheese we realize that it is going to be very unpleasant if we gave to stay another night up here. I’m still hungry and we are out of food :(

Two hours later, we stagger out of the national park to the sight we have been waiting for since yesterday…Lake Prespa! Finally!!!

As we are sitting there enjoying the view three carloads of people turn up. It just so happens that it is the Park Ranger showing some German businessmen around. He is very interested in hearing our story as he is trying to promote the park as a tourist destination.

I show him the map and explain that we wanted to take the road from Ramne to Istok…

“Hahahahaha, yes that’s a mistake. That isn’t a road”

“No kidding!!!”

It turns out the village we can see below us has a restaurant and hotel. With any luck this will be our home for the night. It only looks about 3kms away but as we start to wind our way down the mountain we realize that it is about 10kms!

We are exhausted! We have been walking now for about 8 hour straight. In the mountains we could only stop for about ten minutes at a time, any more than that and we froze to death…

My legs are hurting. My back is hurting. My hips are hurting. My shoulders are hurting. My stomach is grumbling. And my feet are killing me!

As I sit down to rest I hear some people speaking English above me. Two minutes later Sabine rides past on a motorcycle. “See you at the restaurant” she yells as she wizzes by…

I don’t blame her… :)

I have to admit, the plan was to take it easy for the first couple of days but pilgrimages being pilgrimages plans don’t often work out. The last two days have been bloody hard work!

An hour and a half later I make it to the restaurant, and true to her word Sabine is there waiting for me. So are the two bikers that picked her up. They are on a journey riding from the U.K to the Black Sea. We all sit round, have a well earned beer and a huge feed. Life is good once again.

Afterwards we stagger down to the hotel, Sabine crashes out within two minutes of getting a room and leaves me to fend for myself in the bar downstairs.

It isn’t long before one of the locals takes it upon himself to ensure that I’m having a good time. For the next half an hour I stand there listening to his drunken ramblings, all in Macedonian of course. I soon realize why his mate is sleeping face down on the table across from us… ;)

The only useful thing I find out is that it’s only 4kms to the Albanian border...will that be where the road takes us?

Pilgrimage from Ohrid to Galioica National Park 26/04/08 26

“Douff, Douff, Douff”

I’m stirred out of my sleep about midnight by a dance party starting up somewhere down the road.

“Shit, I should have gone out” I thought to myself, quickly followed by “How close is this place?” I could feel the beat through the ground; it wasn’t looking like I was going to get much sleep…

At some stage during the early hours it did finally stop and by the time my alarm went off at 6:45 I felt like another 6 or 7 hours sleep would have done nicely. But camping so close to a walkway, that was a luxury I didn’t have. It was time to get moving.

Fifty meters down the road the offending nightclub came into sight. How did we manage to stop 50m before a great night out???

Making good time we soon make our first landmark, the Metropolitan Hotel. Time for breakfast :) After living in Australia Sabine was having raw meat withdrawals, so after spotting Beef tartar on the menu she was the happiest pilgrim alive.

Then came the bad news…

There was no road across the mountains where we had been told we would find one! The only road around would add an extra 50kms to our journey. It wasn’t much of a decision, we had to go back to Ohrid :(

Normally I will try to walk my way out of a problem, but after only walking 20kms so far on this leg, to walk 8kms backwards seems a bit stupid. The taxi wins over and back to Ohrid we go.

There is some good new though, the post office is actually open today, soon all our excess crap receives the boot. This cheers us up immensely :)

Sabine managed to acquire a map from the hotel and we notice there is an alternate route to the main road after all. A couple of false starts later we finally make it into the mountains. All the stuffing around is worth it though, within fifteen minutes we get treated to some amazing views. Today is going to be a great walk!

The road we were following was marked on the map as being tar sealed and things soon started to look awry. The road turns to dirt, then into a track, a fence-line, a riverbed, then finally nothing…!

We struggle with every step over the loose stones. It is bloody steep! Slowly, slowly we inch our way up the mountain. Finally, with a sigh of relief we reach the top…

Here we are, 1600m up, freezing cold and not having a clue where to go. I drop my pack and climb a little peak to get my bearings, but to no avail. There is just rolling, rocky hills as far as the eye can see. Then just to make us feel great a light snow starts to fall! We appear to be screwed!

Luckily Sabine is well prepared and has a compass (something I have been meaning to buy for the last 10 months :) ). We start heading east and come across a little track heading north/south. Studying the map furiously we decide even if this road doesn’t lead to our destination, if it keeps going South it will still meet up with another road which will do us fine. So off we trudge, and trudge, and trudge. The snow only lasts a few minutes and the mountains are beautiful. There is not a soul around, not even a cow or goat…we are completely alone.

Before long the suns starts creeping below the horizon. We make camp, eat some nuts and after a couple of games of backgammon it’s time for bed…

Let’s hope our luck changes tomorrow!

Pilgrimage from Struga to Ohrid 25/04/08

I wake to the sound of voices on the street. It is light, but I am too lazy to get out of bed and check my mobile for the time. I sneak a peak and see Sabine is still fast asleep…Great! I roll over and get comfortable…

The next time I wake I feel that it is lunchtime and figure I better make a move, Sabine is probably just being polite and waiting for me to get up :) Luckily it is only 09:30, all my stuff is strewn around the room still waiting to be sorted. You (or those that don’t know me anyway) would think that somewhere in the month leading up to today I would have got all my shit together, but no…that was never going to happen :) Here I am the day I am meant to be starting, shit strewn everywhere, trying to fix a puncture in my sleeping mat that I knew was there before Albania.

But finally we hit the road!!! The pilgrimage begins anew!!!

It feels strange to be back into it again. My pack feels twice the weight that I remember and my legs start to hurt after 100m. It’s going to be a long day.

The weather is perfect though, not too hot, not too cold, with a few clouds occasionally blowing in to give us some relief from the sun. I am in good spirits. And to top it off the view over the lake is spectacular!

A few kms down the road we spot a little restaurant, it’s time for breakfast. The meal is amazing and just as we were heading out the door the owners show up…

“Raki? Raki?”

Only one hour into it and we are already getting treated to our first real “pilgrims experience”! Sitting there, sipping raki for breakfast next to these two old Macedonians merrily chatting away really bought back all the other wonderful experiences I have had over the last year. It was the perfect way to start! ;)

The raki also helps relieve the sore legs so we make pretty good time to Ohrid. I had been told that Ohrid is a decent size town, but as we walk in I start to feel a bit worried. Where were all the shops and people?

I still have a couple of things with me that were meant to be posted off weeks ago, and my pack (with them, close to 30kgs) could really do without them. After asking after the post office, we discover it is Orthodox Easter and nothing will be open till Tuesday! Shit!!!

Finally we round a corner and find the center of town…Ohrid is pumping! There are people everywhere and being a holiday, there is a carnival atmosphere in the air. I’m feeling the urge to go out and party!

After checking the internet, we decide to see if we can get a room on the edge of town, and if not camp close by. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be…all the rooms were full and the walkway out of town was also busy with people. By the time we find a place to camp we are already too far out of town to go back for a night out…but oh well.

I’m sure I will have plenty more chances :)

All Ready to GO!!!

Hi guys

We are all ready to go!

I met Sabine at the airport today and we headed straight down to Struga. She is an extremely energetic and fun woman and I know we are going to have a ball :) I can't wait to get back into it!

But I have to say I wasn't impressed while hopping off the bus in Struga, straight away it started to rain!!! Bastards!!! And looking over the lake these huge dark storm clouds were brewing. Let's just hope the Gods are smiling on us tomorrow and it clears up.

I have to say a big "welcome" to everyone who is just starting to follow our walk, and also a big "thank you" to all of guys who are still following from last year.

And, unfortunately my boots didn't raise the $100000 I was after to finance my doco...actually they didn't raise anything :) but the auction was still a success. I had many people contact to offer support so "thank you" to all you guys as well...

All the best and hopefully see you here again :)

My Boots Are Back On eBay!!!

These are the boots that took me all the way from Canterbury to Rome!!!

The money raised from this auction will go towards making a documentary of my pilgrimage...

Already on my journey I have met so many kind and generous people. I want to share this with the world and show that regardless of nationality, religion, social standing, or anything else, people are people and I will get treated with love and respect everywhere.

This is my motivation for carrying a camera in my backpack and making a documentary of this pilgrimage.

SO DIG DEEP!!!


Click Here