An unexpected journey from Valbona valley to Theth, in the Albanian Alps.

It was the 27th of June of 2018, a rainy day, I was staying at my apartment and suddenly I received a message on Facebook and I opened it and it was Rinor.

"Do you want to come with me on an adventure?" said Rinor.
"Where and when?" I replied.
"Tomorrow we go hiking from Valbona to Theth." said Rinor.
 I was for a second shocked I didn't know what to say and I said, "of course man".

I asked him how do we want to get there because it was obvious that neither of us hadn't cars. We decided to go and suddenly two more wanted to come with us. It was Berna with Ilir which they were eagerly waiting for that. And so it began the unknown adventure.

The next day I met Rinor at the Cathedral of Mother Theresa and headed for the bus station were we had to meet with Berna and Ilir. It was a rainy cold morning and a bit foggy. We had to find the bus that goes to Gjakova. We found the bus and we started at 8 AM from Prishtina and arrived at Gjakova 9:30 AM. When we arrived at the bus station in Gjakova, first of all we had to find the mini buses that go to Bajram Curr, and secondly we went to buy some food for our two day adventure. After some minutes, we finished buying things for the hike and went to the mini bus or how the Albanians call them "Furgon". It was a fantastic ride. There were 3 more people there: one person from USA and two from Bajram Curr, the other one from Bajram Curr was persisting to keep us at his house as his guest and wanted to kill a sheep just for us: it is an Albanian tradition that shows that he wants to respect you. The old man rarely encountered international people, only saw them on TV. He kept asking me and I had to translate because he was so interested about him. Later we arrived at Bajram Curr and the first thing what we wanted to do was to get something to eat. Rinor was telling us how he ate at a local restaurant that he was amazed from the service and the quality. The restaurant was called "Plaka-Cakaj", which we ordered rise with steak and fried potatoes with some Goat Yoghurt which in Albanian is called "Kos Dhie". The food was so delicious and Rinor was drinking a Korca beer, including us that kept drinking fresh spring water from the mountains.

Qafa e Valbones.

We asked about the other mini buses that go to Valbona but they would start at 2 PM however we had to be there at least at 1 PM. So we decided to do it, we hitchhiked, after some minutes a local guy which name was Shkelzen like the mountain of Shkelzen, he stopped at our feet and asked:

" Were are you going?"
"We are going to Valbona Valley," replied Rinor,
"Do you want me to get you there?" said Shkelzen,
"Of course we want," replied Rinor.



 And so forth, we got in the car and continued our adventure towards Valbona. We were so happy and kept singing songs that he was playing in his radio. The time flew, and we arrived there in addition we wanted to pay him and he didn't want to accept the money because Shkelzen was saying that he did it because he wanted so and not to gain any profit, but we persisted so we gave him 10 euro. The weather was rainy and foggy. The fog covered the mountain peaks with a pure white void. We kicked off and started our long awaited journey through the valley, following the path through the misty mountains of the Albanian alps. In the meantime a friend of us, Adnan had booked a place to stay at Theth, it was called "Pashko Pisha" were we could sleep over the night. The price was affordable: 15 euro per person including breakfast and dinner. Most likely, our hike wasn't over yet which we continued walking up the hill covered with huge trees that were saving us a bit from the rainfall, but we still got wet from the rain, mud on our hiking boots and a smile on our face. We made it to the first stop, a beautiful mountain coffee called 'Simoni Caffee'. We stopped there and had a break. We had something to eat and drink and changed our clothes. There were so many hikers from many different countries, they were having fun, eating and drinking and having lots of conversations. It was such a wonderful hike, the trail was so good to walk in, even the mud was beautiful, the nature that was covered by the fog was so mystical. It was so quiet, you could hear the rain drops falling on the leaves. According to J.R.R. Tolkien from The Hobbit:

Foggy forest near Theth.

 "Roads go ever and on.
  Under cloud and under star.
  Yet feet that wandering have gone.
  Turn at last at home afar".


We were having fun, we didn't mind the rain, we weren't concerned about our clothes either, we only were living in the moment, and taking a lot of pictures. After some hours we could see that we arrived at Qafa (Neck) e Valbones and from there on if it weren't from the fog we could see Theth and the whole Valbona Valley but we only saw some trees and our trail. We wanted also to do the peak, but the rain made it harder to climb there because it was covered by the mist also there would be no visibility. So we decided to descend down to the village, the first minute that we decided to go down we saw so many beautiful trees on our left we could see a huge mountain and it's peak was covered by the mist and it felt so big, so powerful I thought I was in the realm of the middle earth.

"Far over misty mountains cold.
 To dungeons deep and caverns old.
 We must away, ere break of day,
 To find our long-forgotten gold".

A wonderful steamy mountain.

We were walking through a magnificent forest, it was all covered with mist, it felt like walking in a another dimension and when we got out it was all clear, it was like we entered a different world when we returned back to see from where we were descending we could see a mountain that was extremely steamy and remarkably outstanding. The sun started to shine we could feel the warm presence of Theth, we almost got there after 5 hours hiking. As a surprise, Adnan was waiting for us in front of the Church of "Shtiefen Gjeqovi" and we were so happy to see him, and I said to him so you became the new priest of this church in a funny voice? He was laughing like he always does.
So the first day was over and we got to the Guest house and rested and had a shower and then we ate dinner, eventually we ate a watermelon and saw some TV, to be specific it was the World Championship and the best part we lit up a fire balloon, in other words it was amazing.


The second day began, we had the best sleep ever. The sun was shining but it was a bit cloudy and it was possible that it could rain after some couple hours. We went and ate breakfast, prepared our gears and greeted the host for being so friendly to us and continued to go to the "Grunas Waterfall". It was a very easy hike and with not so much elevation after 50 minutes we arrived there. The view was so spectacular, the water that was falling from above the mountain was hitting the rocks and we were gazing that view.




We stayed there and started to make some pictures and after some minutes some mountaineers from Tetova came also, and we were enjoying our stay. I was taking pictures with Rinor. He decided to remove his shirt and get nearer to the waterfall in order to take more pictures. I said to him don't approach the waterfall so near though he put his leg on a rock which was covered with slime and he slipped and felt with his neck on the rock. Ilir was watching him from a distance away and I was shocked. Berna's eyes were covered with tears. Ilir jumped and his body moved on it's own like a true hero. In those split seconds the mountaineers from Tetova saw what happened and they helped Ilir to drag Rinor from the water because he was laying there unconscious and gave him the first aid. He was better now, but a bit dizzy from the impact. We changed his clothes, gave him something to drink and eat, and decided to get back to the guest house were we could stay there for some time. So we decided not to continue our expedition anymore and we asked the owner if he could drive us to Shkodra and he said yes.


We started to go to Shkodra after we ate something, and after Rinor was feeling a bit stronger. We stopped at a small village near Shkodra, there was an Ambulance. The staff was so friendly as a consequence they immediately started to treat his wound on his neck, which he was cut during his fall. After they fixed everything, he started to feel much better. So we headed back for good and greeted once again the family of the owner, a true pure heart family, hoping we come back to visit them. Some minutes before we arrived at Shkodra we stopped and I went to a ATM to get some money in order to pay him. So we arrived in the city and parted our ways with Pashko and his son. We didn't know how to get back to Kosovo so we were staying in the road and suddenly a small bus came that was leading to Milot which is near to the highway. Thus, we got in and we were laughing and making fun and boy: yes it was fun. Hence, again we started to hitchhike when we arrived at Milot. We were hungry and I wanted to buy a watermelon and i did it and we sliced it and ate in the road - with one hand we were holding the watermelon and with the other raising our hand towards cars in order to stop and get us somewhere. The luck once again was on our side, and a bus came which it was called Arditi tours, and honked and we ran and got in the bus and we were laughing that we got in. And at last we arrived around 2 AM in the morning in Prishtina safe and sound. We wanted to celebrate that we came back safe with a pizza at Extreme Pizza, but Ilir apparently was tired and he went back home, such we went then to eat and return back at our homes.

Shtiefen Gjeqovi Church in Theth.