Rain fell in the early hours and I woke up in a puddle. My Polish friends gave me some tangerines they’d picked in the mountains and asked why I was putting myself through this ordeal, clearly puzzled. I don’t wake up in a puddle everyday I explained.

Torrential rain showers hammered on the surface of the water and pretty soon I was soaked through, but still warm so long as I kept paddling, and cheerful with the knowledge that I had a warm shower waiting for me thanks to Vojo and Milusa.

It was only a few kilometres to their house, but I decided to paddle along the shore past some villages to Perast, and visit the two nearby islands. Vojo met me on the way and took some great photos.

Legend has it that one of the islands, Our Lady of the Rocks, was built by sailors after in 1452 they found an icon of Madonna and Child on a rock in the sea. After every successful voyage they threw a rock in the sea where the icon was found, and over the years the island rose out if the water. The tradition is still alive today, with locals throwing rocks on the sunset of July 22nd each year.

On the island is a church, built in the 15th century, and on the other island, Sveti Dorde, is a Benedictine Monastery.

Fed up with the rain, I paddled back to Prcanj where Vojo met me. We had some delicious cheese and potato pastries made by Milusa and I had my first shower since Vlorë, three weeks ago. It was worth the wait for the new found appreciation of standing under hot water, as it was for the feeling of sinking in to a soft bed.

My timing was good, because all of a sudden a fierce wind started blowing down from the mountains, whipping up the lake. What worries me is that it wasn’t forecast and arrived with a click of the fingers. These winds are common here, so I’ll have to watch out.

Milusa grew up in the mountains in the north of the country and does ultra marathon trail running, the kitchen adorned with her trophies and medals. Also with nautical memorabilia from Vojo’s long career as a captain of a container ship. Having grown up in Prcanj, he’d followed a long line of seamen, as I found out when we went for a coffee in the beautiful monastery next door. Although just a tiny village, Prcanj was one of the most important maritime centres from the 16th century, producing many great sailors like Ivan Visin who between 1852 and 1859 circumnavigated the globe in a ship called Splendido.

Thank you so much to Vojo and Milusa for hosting me so generously, it was lovely to meet you.