#134 Finding new friends in Kosovo made easy

May 25 - 26, 2022: Skënderaj, Berim

F. The following blog entry is about one of our most beautiful and best experiences of our entire European tour. I could probably write a book about these two days, but I'll try to keep it short and if anyone is interested in more details and stories, they'll have to invite me for a beer.

When we were at Gjipe Beach in Albania (#123), we met a group of young men who had spent a weekend at the beach with their off-road vehicles. We only talked to them briefly and they said that if we are in Kosovo, we should contact them. We did that and there were also a few tips for places we should visit. Among them were the war memorial in Skënderaj and the mountain region around Berim. For these two tips, the author of the Facebook message, whom we didn't know yet which of the 30 people from Gjipe Beach it was, said that he wanted to come with us when we are there. I thought it was strange. Well, in the meantime we had gotten a WhatsApp contact from Shpetim and were supposed to meet him somewhere in the pedestrian zone of Skënderaj. The city is moderately large with its 20,000 inhabitants and while looking for a suitable parking space, a person in a purple doctor's coat caught our attention by waving wildly. We stopped and met Valon the dentist and the person Jenny had talked to the previous day. What a coincidence, I thought. Valon briefly called Shpetim to let him know that we had parked at his practice. A short time later, Shpetim had arrived at the practice and we drove together with our van and Shpetim's car to Valon's holiday home just outside Skënderaj. There we met Valon's brother, who was also named Shpetim. Together, we were shown around the house and it was emphasized several times that we should feel at home. In addition, Shpetim, Valon's brother, apologized that he had to do some work with the tractor on the adjacent field in the evening and would therefore be on the property of the house. For me, this apology was a bit strange, since I was just a guest here and it was Shpetim and Valon's house. But he told me that it is now my house, since I am a guest here and the guest is always like God (freely translated). Amazing, that's true hospitality!

Valon had to go back to his dental practice and was driven there by his brother. We drove together in Shpetim's car to the war memorial in Skënderaj. This war memorial is the original site of the massacre of the Serbian army against the family of Adem Jashari and here are the graves of the 42 killed family members. Adem Jashari was the leader of the insurgent independence movement UÇK and the Serbian government thought that if they eliminate the leader, the rest of the UÇK will also disappear. But after this massacre, the UÇK grew so big that it led to the Kosovo War.

The other Shpetim had dropped off his brother at the practice by now and also came to the war memorial. So, we walked through the large complex with the two Shpetims and they told us some of their own stories from the time of the massacre and the war. Walking through the buildings destroyed by bullets and artillery and at the same time hearing stories from eyewitnesses who are the same age as me was extremely moving.

Jenny and I had to process all these impressions and Shpetim dropped us off at our new holiday home. After a shower and some rest, he picked us up again and we met more members of the Offroad Drenica team in a bar. After a sumptuous meal, to which we were invited, we continued through the city to another bar. The owner was a good friend of Shpetim and it was an honor for him, according to his own statement, to have us in his bar and he invited us and our two guides Valon and Shpetim for a few beers.

The next morning, Shpetim picked us up again and we went back to the first bar from the previous evening. Here we met Adnan and Emin, who wanted to accompany us to the mountains. A short time later, the five of us were sitting in Adnan's large off-road vehicle and we first went to the supermarket. Here we bought groceries for lunch. Then we met two more companions for the mountain tour - a quad rider and a motocross rider. Once we left the main road shortly before the mountains, Shpetim next to me in the car started jumping up and down with joy like a little child. Now I realized how much joy everyone involved had in doing this tour. With the other two companions, once we left the side road, they quickly disappeared from sight. But contact was still maintained with them via walkie-talkies - there was no cell phone reception out here. Adnan took us over rough and rocky terrain to the most spectacular viewpoints, which would have taken us ages to reach on foot.

All three vehicles met again for lunch and together we conjured up a very delicious and extensive meal from the groceries we had brought. After lunch, we visited more phenomenal viewpoints and a hot spring. The whole day was an absolute blast that I won't forget anytime soon.

Before we drove back to the holiday home, we stopped at Shpetim's family. His wife and three sons are super nice and the just playful outdoor enthusiast Shpetim turned into a loving father of three children.

In the evening, we sat on the terrace of the holiday home with the two Shpetims, Valon, and his wife, and ended the day with pizza, beer, and homemade raki.

On the last morning in Skënderaj, we met the small off-road team from the previous day again in a café in the pedestrian zone before we left. We chatted for quite a while and exchanged contact information. Here too, we were invited by the landlord/owner in the end.

Although we spent not even two full days with all the people from Skënderaj, this incredibly great hospitality has made everyone close to my heart. Not only did we not feel like we had a chance to pay a bill in the two days, but also how much time the people took for us. Work was interrupted or even a whole day off was taken. The holiday home was made available to us without hesitation and all this just because we had talked to a group of off-road enthusiasts for 5 minutes on a beach in Albania.

Day 223 - Total tour 16,611 km

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Email: querfeld2@gmail.com