We departed the Guesthouse at 9am in a private minibus, which would take us across the Albanian border into Kosovo.

After an hour we had crossed the border into Kosovo and arrived at the Decani Monastery. The Monastery was built in the 14th Century and is dedicated to the Church of Serbia. It is the largest and best preserved medieval Monastery in Serbia (even though it is within Kosovo). The Monastery is protected by UN Forces from Italy as ethnic Albanians would like to see the Serbs leave and have attacked other monasteries and churches in Kosovo. In order to go to the Monastery we had to get permission from the UN Forces and we passed a number of armed guards and tanks before arriving at the entrance. Once we arrived at the entrance we had to hand in our passports. However, as soon as we entered the oasis of the Monastery the armed guards were forgotten. The Monastery is situated in a valley at the base of the Kosovo mountains nestled amongst a forest of pine and chestnut trees. There are approximately 30 monks currently living at the Monastery living in total isolation from the local community. They make honey, wine and Brandy, which they sell in the Monastery shop.

The church itself is absolutely stunning. Standing 26m high it's outer walls are made from alternate layers of white and pink marble. Inside the walls are covered in twenty major cycles of fresco murals, which represent the largest preserved gallery of Serbian medieval art. There are over 1000 compositions and several thousand portraits all depicted in deep blues, reds, gold, white and green. The inside was breathtaking as pictures weren't allowed inside you really had to concentrate and focus on the amazing artwork covering every spare inch of the interior. We were joined by a monk who gave us an explanation of the significance of the monastery to the Serbian people as well as describing its turbulent past.

After an hour we left the monastery and continued on to Peja (Pec), which is surrounded by sites, which are vital to Orthodox Serbians. There is a Turkish style "Old Bazaar", a river running through its middle and it is surrounded by mountains. First impressions is that it is a beautiful place to spend a couple of days.