Albania's Accursed Mountains

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July 26th 2016

Published: September 4th 2016

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Delek Delek

View Of The Valley

Looking back towards Valbona from the top of the pass towards Theth.

For me, Albania is a country of intrigue. A rare majority-Muslim country on European soil and with a language that looks a bit like Turkish - and a language where I can literally recognise nothing - its culture alone promised to make it very different from anything else I had seen in Europe to date.
Which is why Albania was the country I was most interested and excited about visiting on this particular leg of my journey. It isn't really on the tourist radar either - I don't think I have ever had a friend or colleague come back from vacation telling me about their amazing holiday in Albania.

Rolling into Shkoder exhausted from the all-night party I pulled the night before back in Montenegro and with the Austrians Frido and Simon that I had met there in tow, my first impressions of the place was that it looked, well...pretty communist. It was however, tidy, well kept and more developed that I was perhaps expecting.
Which was why I struggled to understand why things were so cheap. Beers for less than a euro? Full meals for 2€-3€? This is the cheapest country I've been to in Europe. I was still

Valbona

View from the guesthouse.

amazed at the prices despite expecting them.

It was also so hot - much like it was in Mostar. Hot enough for us to wait until after 6pm to visit the city's Rozafa Fortress. The taxi ride was a mere 1.50€ in total - cheaper than public transport in many European cities!
The fortress itself isn't that much apart from its age (the oldest parts date back to the Illyrians before Christ), a few different tunnels running underneath it, some building interiors you could explore and best of all, its fantastic location atop a hill giving you sweeping views of Shkoder, Lak Skadar and the surrounding land and rivers. It wasn't bad as a sunset-viewing spot either.

Back in the city, I notice that the place is full of bakeries, bars/cafes and betting shops. They also have the "giro" here, a nightly Balkan phenomenon where people simply stroll up and down Rruga Kola Idromeno, the city's renovated, colourful and lively main pedestrian thoroughfare, a tradition I first observed in Sarajevo.
Before doing a spot of people-watching however, we had our first proper taste of Albanian cuisine in a rather posh-looking outdoor restaurant. I wasn't really that blown away

Lake Koman

Lake created from the damming of a river in the 70s.

by the peppers stuffed with rice and spices - here's hoping that it gets better...
As we people-watched, it became noticeable that the vast majority of people are fare-skinned, with the odd, darker, Turkish-looking member of the local population. Much like Turkey's population - particularly in Istanbul - most of the locals tended to be dark-haired although blond hair and blue eyes isn't uncommon either.

We decided that we would do what Lonely Planet described as two of the highlights of Albania; a ferry cruise along Lake Koman; and a hike over Albania's "Accursed Mountains" from the village to Valbona to the village of Theth. We had heard that these were experiences that gave you a genuine slice of rural Albania as well as some stunning scenery, so we thought that we might as well since we were so close.

I couldn't sleep the night before we left for some reason and an early start meant I had just three hours sleep before our two-day expedition.
Our ride from Shkoder to the ferry terminal was rocky - it was rough, but I've had far worse in Latin America.
Described as "not set up for tourism" by Lonely Planet,

View From The Cafe

View from one of the cafes on the hiking trail from Valbona to Theth.

the boat wasn't as non-touristy as Lonely Planet had promised and indeed it was mostly tourists on-board - certainly not the "great adventure" it was when my Lonely Planet was written.
Lake Koman itself is actually a dammed-up river, meaning that the water level has increased markedly and thus the original shorelines are now deep underwater, with the cliffs now plunging into the turquoise river-cum-lake. It is pretty cool to see and reminded me of the £50 tour I did of the fjords just outside of Bergen, Norway. This was much cheaper, thank God.
On board the ferry, I then came across the incongruous sight of an American girl speaking Albanian with a local. It turned out that Emily - who was travelling with her Norwegian friend Ana - had worked in the Peace Corps in Albania for three years and was fluent in the language. She provided some interesting insights and perspectives into Albania and its government, which by all accounts, is rife with corruption. Among other things, Emily also tells us about how family and the reputation of the family name comes first in Albanian society, how women get a raw deal here, how Albania has always maintained a

Hiking To The Guesthouse, Valbona

Frido, Simon, Emily and Ana hike towards the guesthouse.

proudly secular and religiously tolerant society, how and why the USA is extremely popular here (the US vetoed the intended partitioning of the country among neighbouring states following WWII) and how the country has managed to hold on to its language and culture despite centuries of occupation by various empires and several threats to its existence as a country. It was a fascinating insight into this intriguing nation.
Emily also provided knowledge of a great guesthouse for all of us to stay in in Valbona; it was modern, clean and had a decent restaurant too! And just as well, as I was way too zoned out to contemplate organising anything. Along with her knowledge of the local lingo, Emily proved herself to be extremely useful - so to show our gratitude, we let her be president through several rounds of Scum.

While Emily and Ana were to spend one more night in Valbona - we will see them again in Tirana - the Austrians and I were to take off the next day for Theth. It was weather-dependent though; we had a good six to seven hour hike to get to Theth and thunderstorms were forecast. Hiking through the

View From The Riverbed

At the start of the hike from Valbona to Theth.

mountains, the last thing you want is to be doing it with lightning flashing and rain bucketing down all around you.
We had a dry morning however and with the storm due to hit us around 11am, we decided to set off three hours earlier at 8am - and hope that the storm would either be delayed or wouldn't be that bad.

Set in a valley in the Accursed Mountains, Valbona's setting is stunning. The mountains almost looked as if they have been painted into the background (in HD). The higher we got, the more and more spectacular the views over the valley became. As we initially walked along the riverbed with the mountains soaring up above us, it did remind me a little of my hike through the Samaria Gorge on the Greek island of Crete.
Right on time, the rain started precisely on 11am and it got heavy. Luckily we were only minutes away from one of the hiking trail's cafes where we enjoyed a coffee and a slice of fli - a soft, layered, pastry pie filled with goat's cheese, mincemeat and curiously, honey. Its unusual combination of sweet and savoury hit the spot - it was delicious.
After waiting out the rain

Theth

Farming town spectacularly located in a valley in the Accursed Mountains.

in the cafe, we completed the rest of the hike downhill to Theth. Including the forty minute break we took to wait out the rain, we had only taken six hours to complete what was a satisfactory hike with stunning scenery. I would say it was, along with the ferry ride on Lake Koman, definitely worth it.

Down in Theth, we managed to nab a triple room in the first guesthouse we came across. New and modern, the stone-built guesthouse was nice and comfortable although neither Frido nor I could understand the wall-less showers that get water all over the floor in these poorly-designed Albanian guesthouse bathrooms. At least they gave you bathroom slipper to kind-of keep your feet dry. Nevertheless, the guesthouse was decent value at 20€ each for accommodation, a four-course dinner and breakfast.
As for the town itself, it isn't really a town but more a collection of farm and guest houses sparsely spread over a large area. People had been raving about this place but despite the beautiful scenery, I didn't think that it was much better than what we had seen in Valbona. Perhaps the scenery from the hike had spoiled us.

We

Ferghese

Delicious Albanian dish of baked goat's cheese, paprika and peppers.

had some decent local food at the guesthouse however. Among the dishes we had was a sweet spinach and cheese byrek (Albanian spelling of burek), Greek salad, soup, tasty but overcooked meat (always overcooked in Albania) and a goat-cheese baked cheesecake which was initially nice, before the pungent taste of the goat's cheese kicks in and spoils it somewhat. The bread also was amazing - although the bread at the guesthouse in Valbona would probably rank as some of the best I have ever had with its crusty, oregano crust. We also had ferghese back in Valbona, a baked goat cheese, tomato and pepper dish that resembles a clay pot of hot, oily but tasty ricotta.
I consider myself now officially impressed by Albanian food.

The next day we could've visited the nearby waterfalls for a swim but it was a 3km hike away. Besides, I've seen some waterfalls.
This just left us the journey back to Shkoder via a furgon - which is Albanian for a colectivo, a shared mini-van that doesn't go until its full.
I have to say that this mini-van wasn't the newest I have ever seen and seeing the rocky roads ahead of us, was a little

Rruga Kola Idromeno, Shkoder

Main pedestrian thoroughfare in Shkoder.

nervous about how it would perform.
There is only one road in and out of Theth - and it is high on the ridge of a mountain, with the valley an extraordinarily long drop below. It really was like driving along the Death Road. By the end, a local was crossing his heart. So was I.
During the ride, we were treated to some traditional Albanian music. I wouldn't say that it is my favourite but it definitely has a Turkish/Middle-Eastern feel to it.

Back at the hostel in Shkoder on our last night, we got the dice game going again and things didn't go great for me, as I had to down about a glass and a half of pure, cheap, nasty raki (to play with raki was my choice so perhaps I was getting my comeuppance) before stumbling to bed. We also had Carmen, a 17-year old playing with us who probably drank the most. She took it like a champion though and managed to hold it down - kudos.

As well as travelling, I am also looking out for business opportunities as I would love to open a hostel somewhere one day. Albania was a place

View From Guesthouse, Valbona

Look at those spectacular mountains.

that I thought might be an emerging travel destination - the next Croatia, perhaps. But from what I have seen so far, there are already quite a few well-established hostels in place and guesthouses in Valbona and Theth are popping up everywhere, many of them still under construction. Along with the number of tourists on the Lake Koman ferry, I can't help but think that perhaps I have missed the boat here in Albania regarding tourism. We'll see, but it's something to think about, definitely.

Next up, the Austrians and I head to Albania's capital to learn some history; to Tirana we go!

Shihemi me vone,
Derek

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