There was no sitting around for the Koppels this past weekend. On Saturday morning we got up early to meet Art & Marsha in front of E’s office. Equipped with the requisite chocolate croissants we headed east to the Peja region. Known as the town where the Kosovo beer brewery is located, Peja is more than just hops and barley. It is a beautiful area of Kosovo where the mountains are majestic, the fall foliage rivals that in J’s New York home town, and the brooks all babble effortlessly. 

After navigating a lengthy traffic snarl outside Pristina, we drove along yet another Kosovar highway lined with petrol stations, motels, and the bombed out remnants of a number of churches and homes.  

We met up with Dr. Gashi in Peja. A devoted outdoorsman, during the week he is a local doctor who works with UNMIK. His enthusiasm is contagious and so with little pause, we happily headed out of Peja and to the Rugova mountains along the Kosovo-Montenegro border (and not so far from the Albanian border).  In many places, the picturesque road was literally cut out of the side of a massive rockface. We climbed higher and higher as Marsha adeptly, albeit nervously, maneuvered the corkscrew turns and we oohed and aahed at the fantastic foliage and the dramatic cliffs that fell to a rushing river.  Dr. Gashi pointed out the entrance to a cave that apparently extends more than 12 kilometers. I’ll stay above the surface, thank you very much! He also showed us a beautiful church that many Peja locals drive out to on Sundays.  

Finally we reached a turn-off. Straight on would have taken us to Montenegro. Instead, we turned off the paved road, engaged the car’s 4-WD and started climbing even more steeply on the muddy track. At about 2000 meters(?) we had finally arrived at the sleepy village from which we would start our several hundred meter ascent through the forest. 

It was drizzling and there was snow on the ground, so we all bundled up as best as possible. Unfortunately for E, he doesn’t own hiking boots. So, he borrowed J’s extra wool socks and was quite a trooper in his leather soccer shoes.  

Led by Dr. Gashi, the first part of our hike was through a bunch of small alpine cottages – very reminiscent of a small Swiss chalet village. From there we moved into the forest. They had quite a serious forest fire a little over a year ago, so as we moved up, we moved closer and closer to the burn area. There were lots of pine trees and the bark had been stripped off parts of some of them in order to extract the valuable resin.  At the time though, besides some animal tracks in the snow, we were the only sign of life around. 

The terrain became more rocky and the trees began to thin as we moved up. The snow also became deeper. We arrived at the primary site of the forest fire and it was fascinating to see that the fire had been extinguished by rain just before it leapt  to another stretch of forest, so burned tree stumps were directly next to healthy old trees. The even better sight was the small saplings growing on the site of the fire. 

A short traverse across a boulder strewn clearing, through another forest, and there we were: at the lake we had come to see. The lake was covered with a thin sheen of ice. It was quite narrow across and stretched around a bend, so I’m not sure how long it is. The mountains rose up all around it – the definition of picturesque.  

Back down we went. Once we reached the point where Marsha was taking a well-deserved respite, E headed out in front of the group. His feet were slightly the worse for wear after hiking through the snow and rain for two hours. We all rendezvouzed about 3/4 of the way back to the trailhead. From there we took a slightly different route back, along a dirt road. At this point we were hiking through pea soup fog. The coffees and teas we enjoyed in the mountain hut near where we started were much appreciated.  

The drive back to the paved road was a bit nerve-wracking since the fog was all around us, but Marsha took it nice and slow, and we eventually made it.

We made one more stop on our drive back to Peja. Dr. Gashi showed us an absolutely gorgeous trail to a beautiful waterfall that has been painstakingly created through the collaboration of several groups brought together by the Kosovo Environmental Action Group. Those I remember include Soros, Colgate University, and Deutsche-something or other. It was a short trail on planed wood planks and small wooden bridges. As you arrive to the waterfall area, there is a final winding staircase carved into the stoneface opposite the waterfall. When you arrive at the top, you’re at the same height as the mid-point of the waterfall itself – where a pool has formed, and the water collects before continuing its descent.  

Many thanks to Dr. Gashi for being a fantastic tour guide, to Art and Marsha for inviting us, doing all the driving AND providing some fantastic banana nut bread and homemade cookies.  

It was a fantastic adventure. Rugova – we’ll be back again and we’ll definitely spread the word to other people. It is a shame that Kosovo has such an incredible natural environment, and yet so few people are aware of it. For those of you who are nerdy like me, I found the following link to the Kosovo Ministry of the Environment’s Action Plan: http://kos.rec.org/english/pdf/KEAPS.pdf It addresses everything from air and water quality to soil and radiation management.