When – August 2023 15 th – 19th @ 9.30 am
Transport – Bus 1 – from Chamonix, France to Geneva, Switzerland with Flix Bus
Flight 1 – from Geneva to Tirana @ 1 pm with Easy Jet. 1 piece 23kg – 2 hrs
Flight 2 – from Tirana to Frankfurt @ 5.30 pm with Wizz Air. 1 piece 20kg – 2.5hrs
Flight 3 – from Frankfurt to Dublin @ 11 pm with Ryanair. 1 piece 23kg – 2 hrs
ACCOMMODATION
Night 1 – Shkoder – Open Rooms B&B
Night 2 – Valbone – Stonehouse
Night 3 – Theth – Shpella Guest House
Night 4 – Theth – Shpella Guest House
Night 5 – Home sweet home 🙂
Day 1 – August Tue 15th – Chamonix, France to Tirana, Albania to Shkoder, Albania
I woke up at 8 am and chatted with some girls in my dorm. I got up, got ready, went downstairs to make brekkie, and walked into town to my bus for Geneva that was leaving @ 9.30 am!! It left at 10 am. Easy Jet wouldn’t let me check two bags in (even though they were within the weight restrictions, I was only allowed one bag). So I repacked everything and checked in one bag hehe! The flight to Tirana was at 2 pm. I had a free seat beside me which was great :0). I got coffee and snacks and watched 2 episodes of Match Point on Netflix. Woohoo off to see Jen and the gang!
The airport in Tirana was tiny and the bags arrived very quickly. I scanned through with my passport and there was no queue through immigration. I got a bus outside the airport to Tirana – a random local one that you can’t book. It cost 400lek (4 euro). It was extremely hot and sweaty on this bus. I fell asleep and got dropped off at the side of this motorway haha. I didn’t know where I was but where I was dropped off was across the road from the main bus station (well 700m). This is where I was to get the bus to Shkoder, there was no timetable or pre-booking or anything. You just rock up and hope to get a bus! 🙂 **There are no toilets in the bus depot but you can run across the road to one of the restaurants and they should let you go. An old man let me use his cafe no problem! 🙂
I was sitting beside a very nice local guy called Adimer and we chatted for 3 hours about lots of random things! He was so helpful and worked as an Italian translator for a car company! We arrived in Shkoder at around 8 pm! OMG, it was a long journey and the traffic was mental. I think it took like 5 hours. He wanted to help me find my accommodation so he walked me 10 mins to the wrong hostel lol! In the end, I needed to get a taxi to the correct one. It was called OPEN ROOMS B&B and Jen came out to greet me!!!! Awh it was so good to see her! It was so good to see them all but she was so sick actually, God love her. The timing was typical as she only just got sick a few days ago, poor thing :(. We went out for dinner – it was late so we found a random place and had chips, nuggets, bruschetta, and dips haha! We had a few drinks too. The pedestrian streets of Shkoder were buzzing, on a Tuesday night like! Everyone was out on the street having dinner, drinks, shopping, etc. We got back around midnight and I had a cup of tea and packed for our hiking trip ahead. I got to bed at 1.30 and slept like a baby. The place was lovely and clean and I would definitely recommend it. It’s down a side alley though so it is not the easiest for taxis to find!
Day 2 – August Wed 16th – Shkoder to Valbone via the Komani ferry
We woke up @ 5.30 and we went downstairs for a quick brekkie (very greasy eggs and pancakes lol). We walked to the Komani Bus Terminal where we got the bus to the Komani Ferry! It was a 2-hour journey, down windy and bumpy roads but it was ok. The views were great. I also slept a bit! Then we got onto the ferry at 8.30 am but it didn’t actually leave until 10 am. It was a small enough ferry. There were crammed seats inside and then an area to walk around the boat on the outside. We just sat inside and chatted, did word searches, and read a bit. The journey was beautiful so I understand why people chose this route to travel to Valbone. The surroundings were green waters and hills as a backdrop and it was also very peaceful. It was a very pleasant ride – you could also buy beers, drinks, and snacks on board.
We arrived in Valbone @ 12.30 pm and then got another minibus to our accommodation. We got off the minibus and it was a 5/10 minute walk to it. There were gravel paths and it was quite remote. It was called STONEHOUSE. It was newly built, it was clean and the owners were lovely and very friendly. It was so remote though, like no shops or anything around but it was really peaceful. We chilled for a bit and then took a 2km walk to the ‘trailer’ shop. Haha, it was a tiny little trailer that sold soft drinks and snacks. There was a lot of construction going on so I reckon in 5 more years this place will be more touristy and developed. We found a place to eat where there were lovely views of the mountains. We had chicken salads, chips, and some drinks. We stayed there until 6 pm. It was really slow service but it was ok as we had nowhere to be! We got back to our accommodation at 6.30 pm. We chilled upstairs for a bit. We had tea outside and some chats in the garden and up to bed @ 9.30 pm. I slept like a log, not a sound from anyone! 🙂
Day 3 – August Thur 17th – Valbone – Theth Hike -15km
We got up at 6.30 am. The accommodation organized a packed brekkie for us :). We had eggs, bread, cucumber, tomato, and cheese (so salty yum)! We got a lift (taxi) to the start point, it was 7km down the main road and on dusty gravel. The hike was about 15km in total. We started @7.30am. It was a beautiful hike, although the views in the first half had lots of fog. It was a decent climb up but not crazy, crazy (900m). It was the heat that was tough. Mid to high 30’s! There were lots of friendly stray dogs around too!
We got plenty of pictures en route and the five of us had lunch together on top of a rock (near the summit). The views on the other side were so nice and much clearer of all the mountains.
We found a cute little hut on the way down and stopped there for a beer, some snacks, and some beautiful views. We got down to the bottom at 2 pm but I was very gravelly on the way down. There was a big supermarket shop and we got some ice pops in there and then it was a 2km walk from there to our accommodation at SPHELLA GUESTHOUSE – I loved it here!! It was so cute and it had a really lovely setup. The food was nice and diverse, the rooms were good and the showers were grand too. They have this whole outdoor area set up with dining tables, a campfire, and lights. We also got greeted with a shot of alcohol. I have a funny feeling that the staff is never completely sober here haha! They were very chilled but also very direct, lol!
We checked into a triple room and chilled for a bit. We had beers and nibbles downstairs and then I went back to the room for a bit and met the lads down in the river/stream for an ice-cold swim! It was freeeeeezing but also so refreshing. I had legit pins and needles haha. It woke me up for sure. There was a strong enough current so I had to hold on to a rock. Maybe don’t go by yourself but I’m sure you’ll be fine. We went back to the accommodation, changed, and went down for dinner. We had wine, chicken, veg, and dips, all quite yummy. We were so full. We all sat at the campfire for a bit and went to bed at 10.30 pm. I was sharing with Shane and Leonie, they were so quiet haha. We all slept soundly1 :0)
Day 4 – August Fri 18th – Theth – Blue Eye Hike – Theth
We got up at 8 am and went down for our brekkie. It was a buffet style, basic but perfect. It had fruit, bread, coffee, and eggs. We all sat at the lovely outdoor tables. Myself, Jen, and Ben went for the hike to the BLUE EYE. It was so hot today but a lot of the hiking was in the shade, which was good. It was a lovely hike and not steep until the end where it was 30 mins up a steep trail. It was about two hours each way.
Wow, it was stunning, there were loads of swimming spots along the way too, and little shacks in the mountains to get beers/water. We went for a swim in the blue eye, f**k it was baltic haha! Like pins and needles yet again lol. It was hard to stay in for long, even when swimming around I couldn’t warm up, but it was beautiful and refreshing all the same! There were a good few people there but it wasn’t too busy or annoying if you know what I mean.
We made our way to the other stream by the bridges and stayed there for ages and we did crosswords while chilling by the side of the water. Lots of people were jumping off the bridge and just playing around. Then we made our way back and stopped for a beer and snacks by another beautiful swimming spot! I went swimming in there and it was much nicer as it was so blue and you could stay in for longer (it got the midday sun, whereas the other swimming spots are in the forest and in the shade). We made our way back via the waterfalls @ 5ish. I could have stayed there for much longer! Now, the waterfall was lovely but omg it was a real Insta spot. Everyone was there getting their pictures and it was the busiest place we were at all day. And it’s small like you wouldn’t go swimming in there. Just take your nice pictures and off you go again. People were sitting around the area on rocks etc having snacks and stuff.
We got back to the accommodation at 6.30 pm. I went to shower (it was cold), packed up a little bit, and went down for dinner. I had wine and soup haha, then the SHPELLA BOARD – this was yum, get this if you stay here!! It was like a charcuterie board and it had veg, cheese, crackers, dips, pickles, and loads of different things. We had a lovely evening chatting away and we all hit the hay around 10.30 pm. A lovely sleep yet again! 🙂 What a lovely trip!
Day 5 – August Sat 19th – Theth – Tirana – Frankfurt – Dublin
We got up at 7 am and went downstairs at 7.30 am for brekkie. All 5 of us got a taxi to Schoder at 8.30 am. It was 2 hours (75 euro). Omg, the drive was beautiful along really high windy roads through the mountains, although a bit sickly with all the bends lol! We got our luggage back at the B&B where we stayed in Sckoder (the lady let us leave our stuff there for 3 days, so nice of her). Then myself, Shane, and Leonie got another taxi to Tirana airport at 11.30 am and arrived at 2 pm (70 euros) but we had no other option with the time we had. there are cheaper options such as a local bus if you are not stuck for time. The check-in was pretty smooth, we were there early so we had coffee and that for a bit first. It was really hot in the airport, no aircon or it didn’t feel like there was. I was going through my pictures and our flight to Frankfurt was at 6 pm. Leonie and I got the same flight to Dublin, so nice to have the company! We had to get two flights, one from Tirana to Frankfurt and then from Frankfurt to Dublin. I slept on the Dublin flight and we arrived at 1 am. Mam, of course, the legend was there to pick me up, home at 2 am, a wee cup of tea, and bed at 3 am!!
