“Kosovo 🇽🇰 ~From Prizren to Rugova Canyon and Mountains, to Boge Village”
We love that we found our overnight stay last night in a village called Boge, because not long ago, we had another lovely stay in another village by the same name in Albania; just a few weeks ago. From this remote village, we are only 35 miles from Montenegro; so we are very northeast in Kosovo.
After a few hours of driving from Prizren to the Canyon start, we then enjoyed many hours of this narrow road through the slit of the surrounding Rugova Mountains. We drove the main roadway, then took several side roads which dead-ended, but showed spectacular scenery as well. This area is not very touristy and a bit out of the way for sure, but in Boge, there is a small ski resort, which is no doubt occupied in the winter months.
We had stopped for hot cappuccinos, at one point during our exploring and the moment could not have been more perfect. As we sipped our coffee, we enjoyed the higher elevation coolness of the mountains, the view of the rugged Alps, and watched four mamas and their calves peacefully grazing and relaxing, while their cow bells jangled.
As is our new normal, during these pandemic months, we have no pre-bookings. We start looking for a place in the late afternoon, get our dinner, and be settled by dark. Even in the remote mountains we found an adorable chalet cabin. Since it was empty at this late hour, we asked to pay our budget price of 30 Euros vs 50, and we were granted the request. We even get to stay all day the next day, with no rush to check out. It is because of this, we can do our travels through Europe like we are.
We thank you, Art Resort, and we absolutely recommend your cabins!
Since our cabin has a kitchenette, we needed to pull something together for breakfasts. We went to the only tiny market in the village. Two old guys were in there. We found no bread, butter or eggs. Again the English convo is a challenge. We got the best the man would have eggs by 6, so we said we would co e bank. Everybody smiled. At dinner, I asked fir bread and butter, which we did not eat, but took with us. We stopped at the market around 6:15PM, and Daryl learned the 6 was upside down, and the message was 9AM the next morning. Ha! Daryl is currently back at the market this morning, and I’m hoping he brings back eggs.
The bread is so we can enjoy the honey butter we bought earlier in our Kosovo travels, also from another mountain village.
Update:
Daryl returned with no eggs, so it’s possible we misunderstood all the previous strained English words from the original conversation. It wouldn’t be the first time!
I’m going to let the photos speak for themselves, now, as I show you from the first interesting sites, on our way to the canyon and into the mountains.
It is not known when exactly the bridge was built, but it is thought to have been at the end of the 15th century. This is due to the bridge having been erected on a medieval route, which connected Gjakova and Prizren. The bridge at that time, was later expanded, as a result of the flow of the river.
In the 18th century it experienced major modifications, which gave it its current appearance. These works were financed by the Terzijski guild from Gjakova, confirmed by an inscription carved in Turkish.
The bridge was built with trimmed stones, in dark gray and an ocher shade. Its length exceeds 623 feet, The bridge consists of 11 rounded arches, among which are embedded niches.
In the far western corner of Kosovo, beyond the town of Peja (or Peć, as it is known to Serbs), there’s a narrow pass that enters one of the most spectacular locations in the Balkans; the Rugova Gorge Canyon, where granite walls vault 2,000 feet above the Drini River. The gorge is traversed by the M9 road. This gorge runs due west from Peja to the Montenegren border. The road ends abruptly on the border.
The Rugova Canyon Road, from Peć to Kućište, is 16 miles long. The road takes startling hairpin turns and plunges into hand-made tunnels to reemerge beneath vistas of soaring peaks and alluring caves. A continuation up the road are the villages of Bo-gaj (Boge) and Stankaj, the best launching points for hikes in these mountains.
Almost all over the area of Rugova Mountains you may encounter the hidden miracles under the mountain wilderness of flora. There are two beautiful lakes located in 1860m above the sea place called Liqenati i Kuqishtes, two waterfalls in village Reka e Allages, rich flora and fauna which is dispersed all over the region and the beauty of landscape which may be viewed from the different parts of these mountain.
Nowadays, this mountainous region is creating more and more tourists in Kosovo; not only to stay in nature, but also to perform recreational activities. This region now is well known also as tourism destination where visitors from different countries come specifically to visit the beauty that this mountain region offers and spend time in the great environment which still is very wild.
The region is known for its hospitality of its habitants, which visitors can enjoy, while staying in one of the traditional houses that can be found along the trail in all three countries. The variety of accommodation ranges from traditional stone houses, so called “Kullas,” to mountain cabins and small mountain lodges where local and house-made dishes are served by the local hosts
The region is known for hospitality of its habitants, which visitors can enjoy while staying in one of the traditional houses that can be found along the trail in all three countries.
Join the Conversation
Leave a Reply to Darl Cancel reply
Archive Blog Posts of Our Country Visits
About Us
About Us
Hello and Welcome to our Travel Blog Website, We enjoy writing about our experiences and taking photos of our adventuring along the way. Our names are: Daryl and Pen, but Daryl calls me “Bunny.” We met, quite randomly, whilst both… Read More
Just WOW, beautiful country side and thank you and sorry to hear that you are in jail
It is beautiful, and we are loving it. I just posted another blog here on the site. Not able to notify of this on FB like I normally do. I got in FB jail when I posted about a friend of mine who got asthma from wearing a mask for two weeks. She had her asthma under control for years, and now its really bad and she is on medication again. True stories are against the community standards of FB. Its so lame. I don’t like being in the “slammer!” seven days!
It will go quick. I just read your new entry, might not of got far but some beautiful scenery. Enjoy your
Yes, it was a wonderful day… as they say, it’s not always about the destination, but the journey ! We had one of those!
I’m skirting the system by using daryls FB account to respond to posts on FB. I have two accounts, one gets a violation, but both are shut down…. oh bother!