We kept asking, “How much further to the han?” but the answers were never clear. After ten more minutes, we continued walking. Half an hour later, we asked again, and the response was “another five minutes!” We kept going for another 45 minutes, but all we saw around us was empty, desolate land. The Turkish soldiers, frustrated with the long wait, started swearing at how long an Albanian “ten minutes” really was.
Climbing the Hills Again
We climbed the hills again, and once more began a steep, dangerous descent. A flash of lightning lit up the path, revealing that it was a narrow, rocky ledge with a steep drop on one side. I don’t claim to be brave, and I definitely wasn’t feeling brave at that moment. I got off my horse and decided to walk. The Turkish soldiers seemed relieved and followed my lead Rough Experiences in the Mountains.
Lost and Separated
As we made our way down the rocky path, we lost track of the path and got separated. We had to shout to keep in touch with each other. It was good that the night was so dark, because if we had seen the dangers of the route more clearly, we might have been too scared to continue. The ledges were easy to jump across, but the real challenge was getting the horses to follow us.
Escaping Danger
We managed to avoid disaster by luck. After some time, we reached a swampy area and waited for the others to catch up. It was raining, and we were all in a terrible state. We shouted across the swamp to the others, using the small light of matches to show them where we were. The Albanian guide told us that the han was just around the corner. He was mostly right, because after struggling through the swamp with willows brushing against our faces, we finally heard the sound of a river. We crossed the fast-moving stream, climbed to higher ground, and suddenly saw the han ahead bulgaria private tour .
Reaching the Han
We knocked on the outer gate, but everything was quiet. Looking over the wall from my saddle, I saw someone crawling in the dark. I shouted to my dragoman in English, and he shouted in Turkish to the guard captain. The captain of the guard shouted in Albanian to the guide. After a lot of shouting and confusion, the old han keeper finally understood that we weren’t enemies and weren’t trying to attack him, like he had feared.
