We left the rocky gorges of lake Koman and took another cramped minibus to the Valbonë Valley National Park. A wild, high, mountainous region inhabited by strong and fiercely independent people, the area has never really been conquered or subdued by the various waves of invaders during the last 2,000 years of Balkan history. While the proper name of the mountains around Valbonë specifically are the Malësi e Gjakovës (after the town of Gjakova in Kosovo), their name is most often translated in English as 'The Accursed Mountains', based on the name given to them by disgruntled Serbian would-be invaders.
We stayed the first night at one of the local guest houses in Valbonë, followed by a night in our tent. The high mountainous walls completely encircle the valley, giving a sense of isolation and being cut off from the rest of the world. Inga made friends with a couple of helpful canine guides who directed us the entire twenty minute walk between our guesthouse and the breakfast house.
We didn't quite manage the planned two-day wild camping, but we sure did end up giving our unfit bodies a run for their money up and down those steep mountains! The first day's walk we hiked up to Maja e Rosit (or as close as we could manage, anyway). This five hour walk ended up taking us eight and a half hours, and six litres of water... that heat, wowsers! This walk tested us against the Albanian 'highlander' scale, and we came out wanting. After a late start and an hour walk to the trail head at the school in Valbonë village, we walked across a river through the little hamlet of Kukaj and then up into the Bjeshket, or mountain meadows.
We finished off at the Stans of Plan, where Sami’s family in their shepherd hut sold us some cool-ish cans of drink and the children commandeered Matt's phone to play some games, followed by a picnic lunch eaten sprawling on the grassy hillside, staring up at the looming Jezerca mountain, and picking some of the hard to find, tiny, but oh so sweet mountain strawberries. One little berry packs in more scent and flavor than a, entire tray of those tasteless fat things we got in London.
Here comes our friendly pack donkey for our trek over the mountain - we got very excited to meet our donkey! We were going to have a donkey friend! Except that it wasn't a donkey, it was a horse. Ohhhh, oh well. The next day saw us hiking from Valbonë valley over the mountains to Theth valley. We weren't just being lazy snot-gobblers - it seemed that the thing to do here was to hire a donkey (or horse!) to carry your belongings over the mountain (along with the accompanying guide). Glad we did in the end anyway, as the hike was fairly arduous to say the least... to say that the trail was characterised by one solid ascent followed by an even longer descent would be putting it lightly. The route was all steep slopes through mountain river valleys carved into the mountains, rocky peaks and belts of mountain pine, punctuated by a few 'mountain cafes' for the seemingly obligatory can of cool-ish soft drink.
We finished off at the Stans of Plan, where Sami’s family in their shepherd hut sold us some cool-ish cans of drink and the children commandeered Matt's phone to play some games, followed by a picnic lunch eaten sprawling on the grassy hillside, staring up at the looming Jezerca mountain, and picking some of the hard to find, tiny, but oh so sweet mountain strawberries. One little berry packs in more scent and flavor than a, entire tray of those tasteless fat things we got in London.
Here comes our friendly pack donkey for our trek over the mountain - we got very excited to meet our donkey! We were going to have a donkey friend! Except that it wasn't a donkey, it was a horse. Ohhhh, oh well. The next day saw us hiking from Valbonë valley over the mountains to Theth valley. We weren't just being lazy snot-gobblers - it seemed that the thing to do here was to hire a donkey (or horse!) to carry your belongings over the mountain (along with the accompanying guide). Glad we did in the end anyway, as the hike was fairly arduous to say the least... to say that the trail was characterised by one solid ascent followed by an even longer descent would be putting it lightly. The route was all steep slopes through mountain river valleys carved into the mountains, rocky peaks and belts of mountain pine, punctuated by a few 'mountain cafes' for the seemingly obligatory can of cool-ish soft drink.
Arriving in Theth valley mid-afternoon gave us the rest of the day and half the next to recuperate, before the minibus took us back to Shkodër, and we carried on to the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro.
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