Having had a late start waiting for the Gracanica Monastery to open and taking a cab ride there I was now at the Pristina bus station at 10.05. There was a 10.20 bus to Prizren where I would have to connect to get to Gjakova. Then I noticed a 10.30 direct bus to Gjakove. I was trying to do three towns in one day on my last day.
This did not leave till 11am wasting time while the driver was chain smoking and chatting with people outside. I was wondering if I made a mistake and should have taken the 10.30 to Prizren which left on time.
He followed the same route from yesterday towards Peja but then took a left turn outside of Peja. We arrived in Gjakove about 12.25 and bus fare was 5 Euros. In retrospect taking the direct bus was the best option as going to Prizren then taking a bus back would have taken up most of the day.
Using my walking route first I came across a former Tekke (Dervish House) which is now a family home
I made my way thru the winding roads of the old town trying to find the main Mosque
At the Mosque was some recital going on in Albanian. I"m sure the locals realized I was not local so had to discretely try to take photos seated on the floor of the Mosque and not act like a tourist.
If there was not some service taking place then there are detailed art work and calligraphy which I could not look at properly as more locals kept arriving for Friday prayer. I was short on time so had to just leave and not get stuck in the prayer crowd.
I then wanted to make my way to the local museum but was not able locate it in the winding streets and google maps often positions wrong
I wanted to get back to the bus station but had completely been thrown off my map
Nothing was matching my map, I had no idea where I was. Locals kept pointing me how to get back to the bus station navigating lots of local streets with new apartment buildings. I had come across some interesting Mosques and Shrines too.
Eventually I did make it to the bus station and after cross checking google maps with the places I had visited somehow I had gone all around the town centre when it was an easy walking route back to the bus station. With the amount of sights I chanced upon it is an interesting town to visit and overlooked in favour of Prizren my next stop
See also Vlog of Kosovo [Pristina - Decani - Peja - Gracanica - Gjakove - Prizren] (36 mins) - https://youtu.be/hgjHvoR_7KQ
2025-05-22