Getting (near) to Theth

After a few low-key days in Shkoder it was time to set out on the adventure that had brought us there in the first place. At the crack of dawn we left our hostel and climbed into the van to Theth with several other would-be hikers. The ride was long and winding, though our driver had no problem tearing around hairpin turns on the edge of cliffs. We made one brief stop at a roadside cafe to use the bathroom and grab some food. From here we got our first hint of the amazing scenery that was to come.

After a couple of hours our driver, who spoke minimal English, pulled over to the side of the dirt road and told me and Dan to get out. He pointed down the mountain and said ‘your guesthouse down there’. ‘Down there’ seemed to refer to a few houses sprinkled in a little valley. After some futile attempts to get more detailed directions we started to make our way, now on foot, towards the buildings below.

What we didn’t realize at that point was that the guesthouse we had booked was not actually in the town of Theth but a couple of kilometers away. Of course, we didn’t get any cell service in rural Albania. Luckily, I had downloaded the maps for the area. Less luckily, the spot on the map where our accommodations were supposed to be was nothing but empty hillside.

We kept meandering down the road, hoping we’d find a person at the bottom who could point us in the right direction. Before too long we came across our first bunker!

If you haven’t already, go back and read my first post about Albania which gives an overview of the country’s recent history. During the communist era, Albania’s dictator was extremely paranoid. In order to defend against possible foreign invaders, he launched a campaign to install cement bunkers all over the country. In total Enver Hoxa built almost 200,000 bunkers – that’s an average of over 14 every square mile!

They were mass produced and all look like the little space ship above. Sadly, producing bunkers was a huge drain on Albania’s already struggling economy during that period. Today they contribute to the very unique character and landscape of this little country.

We made it to the bottom of the hill but the first few houses we walked by were dark and quiet. Just when we were really starting to panic we saw a little old man standing at the bottom of a long driveway. He didn’t really speak English but he knew the name of our guesthouse and seemed to be waiting for us.

We followed him back to the house where a young woman checked us in and made us the most amazing lunch with produce and cheese straight from their farm. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing, trying to save our energy for the long day ahead.

Hiking from Theth to Valbona

The next morning, after another fantastic meal, we thanked our hosts and set out on our trek towards Valbona. Theth and Valbona are separated by mountains and, currently, the only way to reach one village directly from the other is on foot, over a mountain pass.

I am not going to sugar coat it: the hike was brutal. The first several miles are up an almost vertical hill. I was immediately huffing and puffing and questioning my ability to finish this trek. We had read that there are little ‘cafes’ located along the way where hikers can stop for some refreshment. By the time we reached the first one I was in desperate need of a rest. Sadly, I was too exhausted to take a photo of us sipping coffee at this adorable little hut on the side of a forested mountain but it was just the energy boost I needed to keep going.

After the first cafe the trail leveled out a bit, with relatively flat stretches interspersed with the up hill portions. Before we knew it we had reached the top!

The ‘top’ is a saddle shaped pass from which you can see down into the valleys on either side. The crazy thing is that the landscape totally changes from one side to the other. Up until this point we had been hiking on a bed of pine needles through dense forests.

The Valbona side of the pass was more arid, with mountains of jagged rock and the trail covered in loose gravel.

Making our way towards Valbona

The hike down was at least as challenging as the hike up since the trail was steep and slippery. Some nice hikers bequeathed me a walking stick they had found along the trail which was a huge help. As we neared the bottom we started seeing signs of civilization, little farmhouses sprinkled along the trail.

Up until this point the trail had been very well marked with red stripes painted on rocks and trees along the way. However, towards the end we started seeing red arrows instead. We (incorrectly) assumed these were trail markers and ended up getting totally lost. It turns out locals painted these arrows hoping to lure tourists to their homes to purchase food or accommodations.

By the time we realized this we were in what was clearly someone’s back yard being barked at by an angry dog chained inside a barrel. We could see what looked like the actual trail but it was up a small hill and over a sharp picket fence. We couldn’t figure out how to get over the fence but we found a loose picket which we were able to knock off and climb through. (Don’t worry – we put the picket back in place once we had gracefully crawled back to the trail.)

From there we were back on track and made it successfully to the end of the trail. Sadly from there it was still several more miles of walking to reach the town of Valbona. This was the first (and only) night of our whole trip that we hadn’t pre-booked a place to stay. We had read that there were plenty of guesthouses in and around Valbona and that we could just walk into one.

This made us a bit nervous but we needn’t have worried. The first place we walked into had rooms available and a restaurant on site that served us a giant platter of grilled meat and vegetables. Exhausted and well fed, we crashed early and slept well.

The Komani Lake ferry

Part of the reason we did the hike in the Theth to Valbona direction was to be able to take the Komani Lake ferry back to Shkoder the next day. We’d heard the boat ride was beautiful and it seemed like a relaxing way to spend the day after the hike.

When we had checked into our guesthouse the proprietor had ensured us he would make a call in the morning to have a bus pick us up and take us to the ferry landing. However, when we got up the next day he was nowhere to be found. No one else seemed to have any idea what we were talking about. I was able to get on WiFi and found a blog that mentioned the bus stopping at another hotel down the road. Though we were still exhausted from the day before, we decided to walk that direction and hope for the best.

Fortunately, the employees at that hotel were much more helpful. They called the bus for us and told us we could wait in their garden until it arrived. Just when we were starting to feel relieved the bus pulls up and the driver tells us its full. He assured us a car would be coming along to pick us up shortly and that we could pay the same rate we would have paid for the bus. After another twenty minute wait, during which I started to seriously doubt whether we were ever going to get out of Valbona, a car did arrive and the friendly driver delivered us safely to the boat.

The rest of the trip back to Shkoder was blissfully uneventful. The boat ride was indeed beautiful. Dramatic stone cliffs rose from the green waters of long and narrow Komani lake. We were just grateful to spend a few hours sitting down and doing nothing.

Traveling in Albania reminded me a lot of traveling in Southeast Asia. Having detailed travel plans wasn’t always an option. Often we had to be spontaneous and have faith that everything would work out. We were forced to rely heavily on locals for help, most of whom were more than happy to oblige. Our willingness to let go of control and go with the flow was rewarded with kind hospitality, amazing natural beauty and a very memorable adventure.