Well it's been a full-on few weeks since I last wrote, definitely a bit of an emotional roller coaster personally and a step into a new world geographically. I am currently in another border town, this time Kukes in Albania, taking a couple of days break before I head into Kosovo. I finally managed to leave Bosnia & Herzegovina, passing a memorial stone marking the murders of 10 women from the war and serving as a stark reminder of the trouble this region has seen in relatively recent times. With my passport stamped again and a cat looking at me out of the rubbish bin I was given a leaflet by the border police. On one-side a road map of Montenegro, on the other a warning about the number of accidents on the roads complete with graphic photos - nice!

There was a beautiful view over the lake Bilecko as the sun beamed through some rain clouds, but not long later the sun was gone and it started to rain. At the height of a downpour I sheltered in the doorway of a deserted barn watching the growing torrent flow down the newly tarmaced road. With no sign of it stopping I went through the logistical palava of donning waterproofs and covering up everything on the trolley and my bag before returning to the road. A couple of police officers were dozing in their jeep as I plodded past and called me over and asked me questions as I stood in the pouring rain. Eventually good-cop persuaded bad-cop that I wasn't any threat and they let me carry on. By nightfall I had made it to the main road and started to look for a place to camp. The first family farm I asked appeared to say yes and I started to put my tent up. The rain had thankfully eased off by now and just as I unpacked the grandmother tottered over with 2 of the kids. A confusion in communication had me thinking that I couldn't camp here after all but in the end it turned out I couldn't camp there because she was insisting I come and sleep in the house with them!

I spent the evening in their make-shift kitchen (a woodburning stove in a barn, with a bowl of water on a table and some chairs) being fed homemade bread, cheese, grapes and turkish coffee. It was clear they were incredibly poor and the childrens' eyes bored a me as I ate but every 5 minutes I was offered, nay insisted upon something else. My minimal serbo-croatian and the little english the kids learnt at school meant conversation was very limited but the warmth from the stove and the family spoke volumes. I was made-up a bed in the living room in the house and nearly boiled to death under all the blankets listening to the rain outside! In the morning I was pulled back into the kitchen by grandma for turkish coffee and more bread and cheese. To my surprise a bottle of something clear and bloody strong was pulled out while the coffee brewed and this 80yr old was pouring some pretty big shots of rakija to kick-start the day. It was a bit of a shock to the system but definitely woke me up. The kids played in the tent as I was taking it down and they all waved me off as I set out again in the morning. Totally humbled by their kindness and generosity and full of love for my trip again after the difficulties of the previous week.

I moved through Montenegro quicker than I imagined. Even now after 9 months I still look at distances on the map and am surprised at how soon they dissappear. I stopped in the first city I came to, Niksic, to hide from a few days of torrential rain. It was a real introduction to former communist town planning and felt totally different from any of the other cities I had passed through. A sea of 4 or 5 storey appartement blocks in grids and lines, but still with every 2nd car being a VW golf or old mercedes benz! I may have left a day too soon though as I was caught up in 3 hours of torrential rain, low cloud and thunderstorms on the road to Podgerica and must have cut a pretty sorry figure. The only space on the road, which was cut into the side of a hill, was the storm gutter, so as I dodged the heavy spray of lorries and speeding lunatics I was trudging in a running torrent.

Podgorica is the capital of Montenegro and full of the contrasts and contradictions that seem to characterise life in the inner balkans, away from the tourist developed coasts. Within the city limits is a large piece of grass wasteland where cattle are grazed and in a central cafe a guy arrives for coffee on a segway! I spent 4 days chilling out here with my host Chris, taking the time to pop back to the coast for a last swim in the autumn warmth, moaning about our respective footbal teams (he's a Liverpool man) and trying to decide on a route ahead. It was also time to change the wheels on my trolley again. The kids' stabilisers were perilously wobbley and the push chair wheels were ready for action. And in just over a week it was time to stroll out to another border, Albania.

After the torrential rain a mini heatwave had returned and as with most borders it was an uphill climb to the frontier at the head of Lake Shkoder. The warm weather had also brought out my least favourite creatures - snakes. The dead ones were pretty fresh and grewsome looking on the road and the live one scurrying off the side of the road was thankfully heading away from me but they still put the heebie geebies through me. At the border there were questions about where? why? and how? for the first time. Plus some concern from one officer that I was on my own - not because of my safety but because at 30 I should obviously be married with kids and be being a good wife. This has baffled several people who have talked to me - I realise it is a cultural difference but I can't help thinking that some of them may believe I am actually walking as some kind of punishment for being a 'failed woman'!

Immediately after arriving in Albania the road stops, just dust and gravel, an old guy sitting on the train tracks, taxi drivers hanging around and no sign posts. Not that they are necessary, the route only goes one way and does eventually lead to wide open, empty expanses of tarmac passing through the lowlands bordering the lake. Again, when I stopped to ask to camp somewhere (resorting back to my italian a little to communicate) I was invited into a household for the night. This time they were better off and with a brother living in the UK - to whom I was hooked up on skype for translation and conversation purposes. So slightly surreally I was talking to a family in Hastings on skype, being poured shots of homemade grappa by Luigi the grandfather and dropping in and out of Italian with Lek in his Albanian home! He walked with me for a km or so the next morning as he and his family sent me on my way with 1/2lt of the pretty harsh grappa and bread and cheese for lunch. On the road I passed dissused bunkers, horse drawn ploughs in the field and carts and traps on the road. At the same time blacked out brand new BMWs and Mercs went past and kids came up to me with facebook on their phones wanting to add me as a friend! By the time I arrived in the outskirts of the city of Shkoder my eyes were boggling with all sights and juxtopositions I was absorbing.

In Shkoder I stayed at a beautiful family-run guesthouse 2km out of town. The yard is shaded by grapevines that produce lovely wine and more rakija and the folowing day they leant me a bike to have a look round the city. And I loved it - hustle and bustle, everything for sale everywhere, sheep waiting at the butchers to be slaughtered and butchered, old guys picking through fresh intestines, blankets laid out with a housewives selling fruit and veg on them, traffic going both ways down both sides of the street, every attempt at transport you can imagine. I cruised around on the bike with a big smile just soaking it all up, stopped at a bakery to eat like a pig then climbed upto the castle to look out at the city sprawl (although it is quite compact) and rural valley floor spreading off to the mountains. Also staying at the guesthouse were 2 cycle tourists who had met on the road along the Croatian coast; one from Holland heading my way and the other from Sweden heading to Greece to avoid the winter. In the evening we ate the guesthouse homegrown food and shared our travel strories with Florian the owner, in exchange for his excellent wine and tales of life in communist Albania under their dictator (crazy man as he described him).

From Shkoder I had decided to return to the mountains for the last of any 'good' autumnal weather and was headed for Kosovo, then Montenegro. The road has taken me up around 1000m and into some of the poorest parts of the country, but still people are always waving and beeping at me as they pass me on the road, enthusiastic thumbs-up helping me up the switch back climbs and through the questionable weather. The scenery has been stunning too - huge views over ridges and mountains, looking over to pine forests and explosions of reds, browns and yellows as the deciduous leaves change colour. One day I was passed twice by 3 little nuns rattling along in a huge range rover. When I arrivd in the attractively named town of Puke (pronounced Puka) they passed me again on their way to mass. If I didn't mind waiting for them I was welcome to stay with them. Another night I camped below a 24hr cafe (that closes 11pm -2am!) on the roadside and given free food and drink by the family who owned it.

Without meaninig to sound ungrateful for al this hospitality and generosity it can be a little overbearing at some points. One day I was climbing a hill around 11.30am when I passed a family heading down a track to their house. When they talked to me they insisted I stay with them that night. I had no intention of stopping that early and really wanted to kill some more kms for the next day but they insisted, and everytime I tried to explain or politely refuse they started to get offended. So I spent the afternoon like an ornament in their living room meeting all the neighbours, family, anyone nearby and trying to get over my frustration at the days lost kms. I have run out of luck with the weather too and been caught in more huge thunder and rain storms (see the video of me hiding in a disused toilet for one!) and 2 days ago the first snow on the mountain tops became visible.

I think with the return of winter my body is again realising how long I have been away. Being in such a male dominated country, a different culture for women completely (sometimes it feels like they are just not here) and with so little ability to communicate is very tiring. I don't feel unsafe in anyway just a different kind of isolation; still marvelling at amazing views and experiences but with no one to share it with. If I wanted to go to a bar for a beer it would be glaringly obvious I was the only woman and sometimes all that attention for being 'different' is exhausting (and/or I really want a beer!). A couple of my hosts have been American Peace Corps volunteers and the opportunity to have conversations and talk about our shared experiences here in Albania has been so welcome. But tomorrow hopefully holds the chance to let my hair down (now that it has been washed for the first time in a while!) in Prizren, Kosovo. By a fluke of timing I am there at the same time as a couch surfing meeting of the group Balkan Maffia, so I look forward to a few beers and speaking english (until I slurrrrr it) with some other people who know this crazy region. I think I love it, but I think it is taking it out of me, that and 9 months on the road. But the map is looking pretty impressive now if I do say so myself!!

And after a little count up of the kms I have just passed the 3500km mark. I celebrated in style aswell. Having a brilliant weekend at the couch surfing meeting of the Balkan Maffia group here in Prizren. In short about 70 of us from all over the balkans and originating from as far as Australia, Argentina and Israel, taking over a hostel for the weekend. A 72hr party with some sightseeing in between plenty of beer and rakija and a big bunch of hugs as we went our seperate ways today. Nursing a hangover on the sofa, watching football and preparing to head off in the next couple of days. I will have company too, as one of the Balkan Maffia has some free time and has decided to join me on the 100km to Skopje in Macedonia. All in all a pretty top weekend!!