Monday, 7th of September, 2020.
The ride from the highway to Patok it is much longer than Google Maps showed me. I am glad that this nice man driving me decides to give me a lift all the way to Patok, even though he is going back to the highway after.
The man is from Kosovo and unfortunately I have no idea where I put the paper he gave me with his name and number. We stop to have a coffee at this crazy restaurant called “Universal”. Crazy because it has the symbol of the movie company, Universal, in the top of the building. While we are drinking the coffee, he calls his cousin, who leaves in Switzerland and can speak English. This cousin knows a few Brazilian people and even lived in Brazil for a while. We talk for a while and he translate to me from his cousin that, if I am ever in Kosovo again and need anything, I can just give him a call. Damn it, I have no idea where have I put his contact…
In Patok, I decide to walk an walk, as much as I can and until I find a good spot with a great view to enjoy plus to find the best place to take photos of the traditional buildings inside the lagoon during the sunset.
When I am looking outside of one restaurant, a waiter come along to talk to me and he say if I need anything I can just come back and they can help me. Very nice, thank you very much!
Outside another restaurant a little further, I take some photos and even though I believe it is a great view, there is no shaded place where I can stay and the sun is super strong. So with the intention to explore more the area, I ask at the restaurant if I can leave my backpack for a few hours while I go for a walk. The young man with whom I talk is very polite and he says there is no problem. Unfortunately, when I walk just a bit further, I realize that there is no much more where to walk to. Apparently there are just some abandoned buildings ahead and the area itself does not look very attractive.
I go back and after choosing the traditional buildings I like the most plus after looking at the sun and analyzing where it will be the best shot for the sunset, I take my backpack and head back to the beginning of the lagoon. There is an abandoned building, I mean, a building which was in construction and now looks abandoned, which provides a great shade, a good view and it is very close to the buildings from where I want to shoot. So I make my headquarters. I eat and lie down there for the whole afternoon. It is a very chill day for Lei.
When the sun comes down I start to walk to my shooting spot. I want to make sure I will have a nice angle after waiting the whole day for these photos. The buildings I chose are behind an hotel which is closed. I think, for what I can see inside, that they ran out of business. The traditional buildings are also abandoned and I am not sure what they used to be, if private rooms, like a hotel, or just a place to eat… For a moment I think about spending the night in one of them, but then I see some clothes around and I assume that might be someone living there or something so I give up of the idea.
While I am shooting, a fisherman comes in his boat. He speaks good English and tells me have lived in London for a while. I ask him to take a photo of me too even though I took plenty already. He leaves after some minutes and even knowing that I have to go, I do not want to. The view of the sunset from there it is absolutely amazing! Really beautiful! But I have to find a place where I can camp while there is still some light in the horizon.
There are a few open fields beside the road but most of them I cannot reach because there is a water gap in between them and the road. When I finally get to one with and entrance, I go in. There are houses not so far but is almost dark already and I am tired. I settle my camping and I hear some noises around the water. Probably just some small animal.
