More Walk of Hope

Day Fifteen

Day fifteen has been an interesting day. It dawned clear and beautiful here in Borsh so it was relatively easy to get up and get ready to walk. We went to one of the local cafes for our morning coffee and since Richard lived here for many years it was like being with a rock star! Lots of folks called out , "Richardi, Richardi !!" He greeted folks, we had our coffee, and then we went back out to our starting point. It was a wonderful day to walk and our first 4 miles went by very quickly. We passed back through Borsh then began the long climb out of the village on our way to Piqeras. When we reached the end of the climb, we found a nice spot for a picnic lunch. Tom had purchased supplies when we passed through Borsh, but without Shaban, it was a bit different from usual. Tom got us some nice bread and white cheese, but there were no cukes and the tomatoes were not the best we had found along the way. It was a good lunch anyway, and we washed it down with a Fanta Exotic. While we were there a family drove up and went to a shepherding shed up on the hill behind us. As they walked up the hill they fed their two dogs. A few moments before, Roy had cut his finger as he cut a tomato (the handle on the knife is broken and the blade kind of slides around a bit!). As he was standing there with blood dripping off of his finger, we told him to be careful because he would draw the wolves with the scent of his blood! We were joking, but only a couple of minutes later a couple of shepherds' dogs showed up on the crest of the hill opposite us, followed by their flock of goats. We said, "See - we told you you would draw the wolves!"

Also while we were stopped for lunch, Gary got a call from his sister. His mother is very near death and the doctors had called the family and told them it would just be a matter of two or three hours now. Gary's mother has been fighting a losing battle with ALS (Lou Gherig's Disease) for some time and he has been expecting this call since he arrived here. We prayed for him and his family and then set out walking again. As we walked he told us how his mother knew that he was coming to do the walk, and that she really wanted him to be here. After we wrapped up our walking for the day, Gary decided it was time for him to head home, so he is on his way to Saranda tonight, and from there to Corfu where he will catch a flight home tomorrow night. God Bless you and your family Gary! We will keep you in our prayers!

We walked several miles beyond Borsh today. Our target was Piqeras but we reached it early and were still in the mood to walk, so we kept on another couple of miles. Once again the views have been spectacular all day. When we could not see the Ionian Sea we were walking through beautiful olive groves. As the region is quite mountainous, we are often winding down into a valley only to wind back up the other side and when we round that next hill we are high over the sea gazing down on impossibly blue waters and secluded coves (usually with the infamous Albanian bunkers!). Tomorrow we will start out a couple of miles the other side of Piqeras and walk the rest of the way into Saranda. Only three more days of walking until the finish line! Today we walked just over 15 miles over rolling hills and through major road construction sites. In a couple of years the roads here will be much better than they are now, and it is good to see the progress being made. If you could not tell from this blog, I am really enjoying the walk at this end of the country.


Day Sixteen

Today is day sixteen of the walk and we have finally left my beloved coastline behind - but only for a bit. After a bit of a climb out from Piqeras we kind of leveled off for a while but again today we passed through several construction areas. Since there has been no rain for a while it was quite dusty so we were pretty dirty when we finally stopped. After Piqeras there are only two more villages to pass through before reaching Saranda and we made pretty good time all day. One highlight was when Hervin decided to take a "shortcut" straight up a hill to try and cut off a corner (he was successful - he actually came out about 20 seconds ahead of me) at the village of Shen Vasil. The sun was pretty hot all day but as we were making good time we did not slow down much. After walking about 11 miles, we started looking for a shady spot to eat lunch but had no real success. We finally stopped a mile or so down the road at one of the many springs that we walked past and sat in the shade of the vehicles. While we were there eating and old lady came up and asked if she could fill her water bottles - she had two of the large 5 liter plastic bottles in her hands. We invited her in and she began to talk to us. As she was leaving, Shaban, our Albanian driver, collected up all of our leftovers and put them in a bag to take home with her. She was very happy about that - it was obvious that she was very poor - and blessed us repeatedly as she left. Richard called her "the woman at the well" and it was really a very cool thing to see.

After lunch we walked the last few miles into Saranda, and I could once again see the water. We walked right down to the waterfront and along it a ways until we got to the "worker's camp"- and old communist era hotel that is now empty. We were reminded that today is Orthodox Good Friday and this weekend is Orthodox Easter. There were lots of cars passing us today with Greek license tags as folks take advantage of the holiday long weekend to come home to Albania. As I type this, the bells at the Orthodox church on the hill below us are ringing slowly - in fact they have been ringing since we arrived this afternoon. We got a shower, went up to Richard's house where his wife Linda had prepared a wonderful meal for us, then went out for a walk. Tom wanted to find an internet café, so once we got there I quickly browsed through my e-mails then Hervin and I went out in search of more blister plasters! Roy stayed behind with Tom, but apparently has wandered off a bit, and now Tom and Richard are going out looking for him. I hope they find him soon.

Today's total was just over 17 miles. Two more walking day ahead of us before we see the Greek border. I told Richard today that when we get there, we need to give greetings to the border guards from the border guards at Hani I Hotit! Tomorrow's walk will take us past Butrint, and ancient city and a national park here in Albania. It is a place that I have wanted to visit for some time now.

Also, on a sadder note, we found out that Gary's mother did indeed pass away - about 5:30 this morning. Please keep him and his family - his father in particular - in your prayers.

Day Seventeen


What a difference a day makes! Today is day seventeen of the walk and it was very different from the last several days we have had. Today was cold and we watched as rain blew across the valley and finally caught us!. As we left Saranda and walked towards Butrint the road was pretty narrow most of the way. We were walking along Lake Butrint and it struck me - we started the walk on the shores of a lake (Lake Shkoder) and we are approaching the end of the walk along the shores of another lake! The walking was easy and after leaving the shores of the lake we went around behind a hill to where we could see the Ionian Sea again, and just across the way, Corfu. There were only a couple of villages that we went through today and then after we entered into the National Park of Butrint the traffic dropped off dramatically. We arrived at an old ferry - just a flat barge pulled across the channel by a cable - and as we waited there was a large flock of sheep and goats. I quickly spotted a little lamb - the shepherd told us it was born the day before yesterday. It was so cute! Also while we were there, waiting for our turn on the ferry, we took the time to pray over a little "lokalë" or coffee bar where he has seen indications of the trafficking trade.

Walking today was much cooler than the last few days and we did get pretty wet at the end, but we think we have only about 10 miles or less left to walk. In the distance we could see the village of Konispol, but we needed to get back to Saranda for the meeting so we left it for tomorrow to finish things up. Hopefully the weather will be nicer tomorrow and we will go out on a sunny note. Unfortunately, Hervin will have to leave us tonight, so it will be Richard, Tom, Roy and myself crossing the line tomorrow to finish the walk. Today's total was about 11.5 miles - a very light day.

Some cool things we saw today - while we were at the ferry there was a couple with two pack mules, a cow with her calf, and 3 dogs and a puppy. They boarded the ferry with the mules, cattle and the puppy and one dog, but the other two dogs were left on shore. As the ferry was going across the man was calling for the other two dogs to come on and after the ferry was almost across she finally jumped in and swam after it! We watched, silently (and not so silently) cheering her on. That water had to be cold! After a longer delay and more coaxing, the other dog also swam across. Also related to the faithfulness of our canine friends, this evening we had a meeting in the local Four Square church. Many of the kids from the local Christian orphanage came to the meeting. On the way there, we stopped at the orphanage to pick up an amplifier and there were two snarling dogs inside the gate, guarding the children. Richard and Linda told me about how the dog (Gina) was such a good guard dog, but was gentle as a lamb when she came to church. Sure enough, when the children came to the meeting, Gina came too, and she was just as sweet as could be - though she never left the kids out of her sight. You gotta love dogs!