I started writing this a while ago and never finished it, after this one hopefully I will write another to update everyone with what we have been doing since summer.
In June, the Peace Corps along with the embassy opened the northern sections of Albania to be explored and visited by Peace Corps volunteers, for the past year we had been able to visit that part of the country but only using annual leave, the same type of leave we use to visit places like Italy, Greece, and America. It attracted a few volunteers, but most of our group explored the Albania that we could access without annual leave days.
In June, the Peace Corps along with the embassy opened the northern sections of Albania to be explored and visited by Peace Corps volunteers, for the past year we had been able to visit that part of the country but only using annual leave, the same type of leave we use to visit places like Italy, Greece, and America. It attracted a few volunteers, but most of our group explored the Albania that we could access without annual leave days.
We had been in contact with a group that runs a summer camp in Theth for the children that live there all summer while their parents run guesthouses, cafes, or just live in their traditional village (most traditional villagers now live in and around Shkoder all winter and move back to Theth when the pass opens in the spring).
Tiffany and I started talking about visiting Theth and another small village across the mountain called Valbona in May and hearing different stories about how to best visit the northern expanse of Shkoder. We had heard about a trail that was hike-able from Valbona to Theth and thought that we could with a group of people see a large chunk of the north in one trip. We decided our first stop would be the ferry that runs up the artificial Lake Koman, from the village near the hydro power plant of the same name to Fierze, the next hydro dam on the Drin River. 16 people ended up joining us on the adventure, 15 Peace Corps Volunteers and 1 Albanian who wanted to be outdoorsy with us.
The journey was extremely hot and long but after nearly 3 hours of cruising up Lake Koman we arrived at Fierza, we all loaded into a furgon and were driven to Bajram Curri, the largest city in the north and a place for us to pick up supplies for the trip. After a great lunch organized for us by two volunteers placed in Bajram Curri, we had some time to relax and gather supplies. I immediately went for sausage and bread, while Tiffany wandered over to the fruits and vegetables. Camping isn't as easy in Albania as it is in America, finding foods that are hiking and camping friendly is much more difficult. We spent the night with the volunteers and much of the next morning hanging around in Bajram Curri, around 1:30 we gathered in the center of town fully stocked up (and weighed down) with supplies. We made the furgon trip to Valbona in what must have been record time. I was a little surprised to see a lack of anything in Valbona that you could consider to be a town or village. Where the furgon let us off was a large hotel/ cafe/ restaurant but nothing else around. I knew that these places were remote but I expected to see some houses clustered together. We hiked from Valbona about an hour to another village where we would set up camp for the night.
The next morning we packed up our gear and started the trek towards Thethi. The lower section of the hike took us slowly around the mountains that surrounded the Valbona River, as we continued to climb the hike got harder and the rewards sweeter. The views of the mountains and valley below were remarkable and along the trail were patches of wild strawberries. Sometime you would get into a clearing and the smell of strawberries would flood your nose and everyone immediatly began looking for the little red dots hidden in the green along the trail. They were so sweet and ripe. After many hours of climbing, sometimes slowly and sometimes very steep sections, we arrived at the pass between the Valbona and Shala valleys. We had climbed almost 3000 feet and had almost as much to descend before we could rest and relax in Theth for the next couple of days. We took the opportunity to snap a few pictures at the top.
The next day we visited with the Balkan Peace Park summer camp project and also had some time to explore Thethi. Some of us helped make musical instruments with the younger kids while other took a hike with the older ones. After the camp ended, we took a walk around town to visit the church, and tower as well as a wonderful family who served some of the best food we had ever eaten. After lunch we went to cool off at the waterfall.
The next day we all got into a furgon and headed back towards Shkoder where we once again drove over the mountains out of the valley only this time to the west of Theth. It was a remarkable trip and one that we will always remember. For the rest of the pictures head over to: Great Northern Circle Pictures
The next morning we packed up our gear and started the trek towards Thethi. The lower section of the hike took us slowly around the mountains that surrounded the Valbona River, as we continued to climb the hike got harder and the rewards sweeter. The views of the mountains and valley below were remarkable and along the trail were patches of wild strawberries. Sometime you would get into a clearing and the smell of strawberries would flood your nose and everyone immediatly began looking for the little red dots hidden in the green along the trail. They were so sweet and ripe. After many hours of climbing, sometimes slowly and sometimes very steep sections, we arrived at the pass between the Valbona and Shala valleys. We had climbed almost 3000 feet and had almost as much to descend before we could rest and relax in Theth for the next couple of days. We took the opportunity to snap a few pictures at the top.
The next day we visited with the Balkan Peace Park summer camp project and also had some time to explore Thethi. Some of us helped make musical instruments with the younger kids while other took a hike with the older ones. After the camp ended, we took a walk around town to visit the church, and tower as well as a wonderful family who served some of the best food we had ever eaten. After lunch we went to cool off at the waterfall.
