Albania, the next big "thing"!

The quickest and most painless border crossing so far, from Montenegro to Albania. 
Border control officers of both countries sit in connecting booths and one hands your papers to the other, you get them back after around 30 seconds and off you go. Nice!

The first city you get to is Shkoder. Once you are there, you donˋt really know why you came, other than it is the jumping off point for trips into the mountains around the tiny villages of Teth and Valbona.

Shkoder lake, the largest lake in the Balkans

Little cycling trip along the lake

The weather was, well, you know...

Both settlements have been only sparsely populated at the beginning of the century. It was very hard to get there in summer and almost impossible in winter. The last 16km of road into Teth were paved only in 2021!

But, as in all of Albania, tourism here started in earnest around 2010 and the number of visitors to the country have increased tenfold since then, from around 320.000 to 3,4 million. 

So if someone tries to tell you Albania is the next big thing, they are 20 years late!

Since the drive up to either of those villages is not much fun, many switchbacks, blind corners, huge potholes and the generally bad state of the roads, my human decided to leave me in a campground close to the city and take a bus up to Teth.

Because there is only one bus every day, going up at 7am and back down at 11am, you pretty much have to spend the night. 

She took off on a Sunday morning. Just after leaving the city, it started raining. Shortly thereafter, it poured. Once they got a bit higher up, they hit a wall of fog. No view whatsoever. Great start.

After 2,5h, the bus arrived in Teth, and she went to find her guesthouse in the rain. There she met an Austrian guy who assured her that it was the same yesterday and that it had opened up at 11am to become a beautiful day.

Guest House Flodisa

Teth valley

What a relief, it turned out to be just the same that day!

There are plenty of hiking options around, but the one you have to do is the hike up to Grunas waterfall and then along the river Lumi i Tethit through a beautiful valley to the Blue Eye, a small circular pool fed by a pretty waterfall with exceptionally clear water. 

Grunas Waterfall

The Blue Eye

Since she didnˋt pack any bathing gear, she found herself a nice secluded spot along the river on the way back to go for a dip, rather than jump butt-naked into the Blue Eye with some 50 people around. 

Itˋs been a while since she was in cold water, and she definitely noticed the lack of "training". 

A perfect little bathing spot

She spent the evening at the guest house, chatting to Florian, the owner and a far-travelled English couple around her age.

Once she got back after midday the following day, we drove for five mostly grueling, but also very scenic, hours up to Valbona.

Walking distance from Teth to Valbona is 17km and itˋs a very popular hike. Driving, it takes you 7 to 8 hours and 265km.

Komani Lake, a huge fjord-like reservoir

Valbona river

Over the next couple of days, my human climbed Maya Jezerca, with 2694m the highest mountain in Albania (there is a higher one, Korab, 2764m, but itˋs on the border to North Macedonia and the countries are of differing opinions as to whom the peak "belongs" to; we will get to this one in due time) and Zla Kolata, 2535m.

Starting from 1000m in Valbona, that meant a pretty decent change of altitude and hard work, especially for the knees, on both days. 

She was lucky with the weather, though, a little cloud, a little sun, good temperatures for hiking. And once you got away from the passes where people go over to Teth or follow the 200km trail of the "Peaks of the Balkans", the scenery is all yours.

View from our sleeping spot in Valbona Valley

On the way to Maya Jezerca

Plenty of old snow fields to cross on the way up

Hiking up to Zla Kolata

Only one small snow field to cross just under the summit

After a very pleasant time in Valbona, we hopped across the border to Kosovo, where the officer actually asked my human whether she speaks English. Usually itˋs the other way round.

In the very north-western part of the country lies the Bjeshket e Nemuna National Park, the Accursed Mountains.

There are a few different stories as to where the name comes from. One of them says that the Devil himself came up from hell and created the mountains on a single mischievous day.

I just hope he went back down as well!

The jumping off point for hikes in the mountains is Peja, Kosovoˋs fourth-largest city with close to 100.000 inhabitants.

There really is nothing much to take photos of in Peja

The city itself is not all that noteworthy, to be honest. But if you want to buy cheap fake shoes, clothes and handbags, this is certainly your spot.

Around Peja, though, there are two very important monasteries for the Serbian-Orthodox faith. 

Both places have to be protected by the KFOR, the Kosovo Forces, a NATO led international peace keeping force in Kosovo, due to ongoing religious and political tensions in the country. 

The Patriarchate of Pec Monastery is from the 13th Century, and, weirdly enough for something called a Patriarchate, the place is inhabited and run by nuns.

My human spoke to one of them and asked how many nuns lived here. Not enough, was the answer. I donˋt think she was hoping to recruit.

The other one is the Visoki Decani Monastery, founded by Stefan Decanski, King of Serbia in the 14th Century. 

It is considered one of the most endangered European cultural heritage sites and is by far the largest medieval church in the Balkans. 

No fotos allowed, tecnically

So after a rather brief visit to Peja, we went on to explore the Rugova Canyon and the Accursed Mountains.

Carmelo looking forward to being carried up a few more mountains