DAY 4 -Theth

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DAY 4 Theth

It was a quiet room. I needed the toilet three times in the night but other than that I slept well. Fitbit says 8 hours and an 86 sleep score. Must be the mountain air. Everyone but me is leaving here today so one by one they get up as I chill. Rosa comes in to get one boy for breakfast and the Aussie girl accidentally turns the light on. Still I stay in bed until its nearly 9. I see the Aussie girl drinking water from the tap and she says its good to drink here so I fill my bottle up to take my tablets. My clothes are still wet so I put them on the fence outside to dry. I sit outside beside the Cheshire girl who has left most of her breakfast, some kind of deep fried pastries. Breakfast for me is crepes, Rosa brings me three in a row with jam and honey, there is also feta, a boiled egg and goats milk. I get blueberry tea as there’s another power cut and eat some of my feta, Rosa brings me bread once my crepes are done but I’m really full now. The Dutch couple join and are offered Turkish coffee so I ask if I can have one too. Turns out its what I had yesterday the shot of super sweet espresso and a cup of water. The Dutch couple join me as Cheshire heads off and I talk to the guy about the Valbone hike as they did it yesterday and his wife is 20 weeks pregnant and he says it should be fine. He says they took 7 hours and really took it slow and my way has less steep uphill but more downhill. I’m thinking about money; food here is more than in Tirana or Shkoder and I’m thinking about needing to stop at cafes along the way especially if its raining. I might head to town today and get more cash but I need to wait for my socks to dry before I can go anywhere. The Dutch couple leave and I am now the only guest remaining. I explain to Rosa about the glue misunderstanding and she brings out a first aid kit full of bandages. I take two dressings and roll bandages with the intention of strapping both feet tomorrow for extra support. Then I bring out my laptop and memory card to sort my photos. The battery is low though but just as I set up base outside on the table the heavens open and I race my stuff into the dining room. Then I remember my clothes. Rosa has taken them in for me but missed my socks. I run into her and thank her. I hang my clothes all over the room. The rain passes but I’m not walking anywhere with wet socks. I decide to stay here a few hours and chill. I can go to town later.


Instead, I watch my hosts. Rosa is frustrated by the missing electricity and complains about politics. She does not seem to stop, even to eat. Her husband doesn’t seem to do too much. He eats a huge meal and brings the cushions in when it rains but its definitely an old fashioned set up. The dining room of the guest house is truly authentic, bags hanging off the walls, paintings, lots of red and white. I settle on a couch under a blanket and read the book I have on my phone which kills around an hour. The puppy who has so far growled at everyone comes over to me and befriends me. He is literally jumping up my legs so I pick him up and give him a cuddle. He then won’t leave me alone after I put him down. He climbs my legs as I try to walk until Rosa calls him off. I decide to head into town and I’m just going to go in flip flops and leave my socks to dry.


I walk slowly, chilling and am stopped first by an old man who tells me the owner at Rrashkoli is his brother. He literally won’t let me leave chewing my ear off about blue eye and not doing it in flip flops which I’d never intended anyway. It takes me ages to get away but he was just being friendly. His high five nearly breaks my wrist though. Then I cross 4 people with backpacks. I ask if they’re headed to Rrashkoli. They are, assuredly my roomates and we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of our respective walks in. Mine was longer but downhill. Theirs was shorter but uphill. I head on to the market only to be told he has no money. It will be here at 4. I grab a table and jump on the wifi.
I am on my own for an hour before the older Australian couple from the day before join me. They sit with me for around an hour and a half chatting and we have fries and I have a beer. They leave to go find a church I saw yesterday and I move inside in the hope of charging some things while I wait. I order another beer and fries and video call Mum and Dad and at 4 I head the market but he says the money will be here at 6. I’m worried about the clouds but having bought beer and fries I definitely need the money so have no choice but to wait. I take my seat back in the cafe charging my power bank very slowly and waiting until 6. It starts to rain, really heavily and my heart sinks. I chat to mum for a bit and switch up some of my ongoing accommodation and thankfully the rain stops. When the van pulls up I give them 30 minutes to unload, picking up water and snacks for my hike, only to find somebody has beaten me to it. He’s furious though about the cost of the commission and is arguing about it. I tell him there’s nowhere else in town to get money so he either needs it or doesn’t. He goes on about it bring too much before finally storming off. I finally get my money and head back up the hill.

The walk feels long, the last hill brutal but at least its not raining. There is a family sat at one of the tables playing cards. They’re perfectly pleasant but very much in their own company. I go to check on my wet gear to find it still wet so I borrow the hairdryer and do a good hour of drying stuff off. When I go back there is an American couple eating, they are very obsessed with each other; Rosa asks what I want. I’m really not hungry but she suggests salad, cheese and potatoes; sounds like something I could manage. I should have known better it was absolutely massive and the potatoes were chips which, having already had two plates, was the last thing I could manage. I ate as much of the salad and cheese as I could and then headed to my dorm. It was still empty so I sat there drying my socks with the hairdryer until my roomates came in. We chatted for a while, they’re German and on a ten day trip and seem very friendly. Two of then were just in Liverpool for Eurovision. They are all showering so it is after 11 when the light goes off and we go to sleep.

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