Drinking Water[/caption]We were there around 11 o'clock if I recall correctly. We passed the holy ground and continued some 3-400 m to find a flat area to raise the tents. We stopped close to this water spring and after setting everything up we came back to fill up some bottles for the night. As you can see, animals get equal respect. The plastic bags at the bottom were full of beers and water melons. The water was so cold that you could use it as a natural refrigerator.
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Sacrifice[/caption]Making a sacrifice is one of the pillars of the pilgrimage. You can bring your ram or lamb or you can buy it up there, alive or cooked. If you are a vegetarian or animal lover, I strongly suggest not to visit this place. Although the animals meet a quick end, the rest is somehow macabre. Piles of intestines, streams of blood and a horrible stench dominates the surrounding area. As I said in my previous post, it feels like a travel back in time.
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Public Transport[/caption]Actually there is no public transport. As with most holy places, the majority of visitors are poor people wishing for better fortune. Hence the amount of people trying to go down to Polican. We were staying under a tent here, a sort of mobile fast-food selling bread with meat balls, feta cheese and french fries. Although 23rd of August, it was perfect weather, some 18 degrees Celsius and a breeze cleaning the air. The wall seen behind the car is the entrance of the holy ground. The man depicted in the picture is Abbas ibn Ali. As you see, alcohol is well blessed around here. The drink of choice is not beer though, it's raki. Every country in the Balkans have some variation of raki as their traditional alcoholic drink but the Albanian version doesn't have any smell like anis or whatever. It's like burning water, rushing down your throat and turning on your internal engine. :D
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