That’s it, you are now over the hump. You will be surprised at how quickly the remaining days go! This leg of the Peaks of the Balkans is by far the shortest and easiest day of the trek. With that in mind I highly recommend the optional extra four-kilometer return trip to the Hajla summit. It’s the only other true summit of the trip, and even more there is a lovely hut near the top where you can buy a refreshing drink afterwards.
The day starts with a reasonably steep 500 metre climb. You will eventually meet a small shelter marking the top. Its’ here that you meet the turnoff for the optional peak. If you don’t want to climb the peak you can then just follow the trail down to Drelaj from here.
Halfway up to the peak you will find the Halja mountain hut just off to the left. This is generally inhabited and sells cold drinks. If you ask nicely, they will let you drop your bags there whilst you continue up to the summit. The rest of the walk up is quite steep but if you dig in it does not take that long. Once you are at the top, the 360 views are amazing. You can see the town of Rozaje in the distance, or if you turn around you can see the entire mountain range that you have been walking for the last few days. If you’re game you can ridge walk for a bit and go down the steep way. We’re a bit afraid of heights so opted to just go down the way we came.
Take a well-earned break at the hut and even an early lunch if you want. There aren’t really many other places to sit down and eat from here until you reach Drelaj. You can either go back down the way you came or follow a track directly behind the hut back down to the road. Either path will eventually meet back on a main tar seal road that you will walk down for a few kilometers.
Eventually you will reach the end of the road and be back on a lovely path that will take you down to Drelaj. Its not that steep and well covered so we really enjoyed it. Eventually you will pop out behind Drelaj and that marks the end of a short but sweet day of the trek.
We stayed at GUESTHOUSE SHQIPONJA (yes I know its yelling at you but that’s how it is in Google Maps). It’s a lovely guest house and we also met many campers staying there as well. They will even offer a transport for you the next day to Leqiant where the trail officially starts. They even lit a bonfire and started lighting some fireworks as a bit of entertainment. After a few shots of homemade raki we decided to turn in for the night.