The old man kept us waiting for a long time before he finally appeared with a dim light and opened the gates of the han. I was relieved to lie down on the mud floor in my wet clothes while he gathered some sticks and started a fire. The smoke from the fire nearly filled the room. We had no proper meal, just some soggy bread from our bags. We were all so tired that we fell asleep where we were.
Early Start and Cold Morning
At half-past three in the morning, we were up and on the move again. The only breakfast we had was cigarettes. Even though cigarettes weren’t much, they felt refreshing when we were cold and damp. We spent hours following the river, walking along its muddy banks and crossing it frequently. My dragoman (assistant) told me that, by the end of the morning, we had crossed the river 31 times.
Strange Rocks and Cold Weather
The river started as a large, fast-moving body of water, but as we followed it into the hills, it became a small stream. The weather was freezing, and we were shivering from the cold. When the sun finally rose and reached us, we were very grateful. We were high up in the mountains, above the clouds. Looking back, we could see mountains with rounded tops rising from a sea of clouds. Sometimes, there were breaks in the clouds, and we could see dark ravines below. The sight reminded me of some of the artwork by Dore.
Climbing Steep Mountains
We hadn’t yet reached the top of the mountain range. We kept winding our way up through the broken hills, like walking up a staircase. Some parts of the path were so steep they felt like the stairs in a house, but there was no railing to stop us from falling off the edge into the clouds below.
Reaching the Summit
I’ll never forget the moment when we reached the top of the mountain. Behind us were the dark ravines, and ahead was a thick blanket of clouds. Beneath us, we could see a small valley bathed in sunlight. Beyond the clouds, we could make out another range of grey mountains.
Descending into the Clouds
We began our descent into the clouds, which surrounded us like a sea fog. As we went lower, we came across shepherds who were rough-looking and wore shaggy clothes. Eventually, we reached fields of maize and saw small Albanian huts. We kept going down until we found a road, although it was a poor, dirt road. We finally reached another han, where we were able to rest for a couple of hours.
A Well-Deserved Rest
We were exhausted from the long ride and lack of food, so we didn’t mind eating the dirty rice we got from the soldiers in charge.
