THETH

Shkodër to Theth Bus

Everyday, there is a bus from Shkodër to Theth that leaves around 7:00am. This is not a typical public transportation bus that you buy a ticket for online or at a kiosk and wait at a stop. In typical “know a guy” Albanian fashion, you have to work with your hotel, who calls “the guy.” While we had been planning to return to Theth via the bus for several days, we forgot to ask our hotel from the first and last night of the Albania leg to set it up for us. Fortunately, not much pre-planning is needed.

The evening before our departure, we go to the hotel at 10:30pm to get tickets and drop-off our suitcases. Joelle had found online that the tickets are 10 euros each, so I brought just over 2,000 lek to pay for the tickets. Turns out, the tickets are 12 euros each, and I am 200 lek short in paying for the tickets. Quickly, I run to the Airbnb and back to get the extra cash. Fortunately, it is only a five minute walk away.

On the way back to our Airbnb, tickets in hand, Joelle quickly ends up on one of the street dogs’ bad sides. We had already passed this dog together once on the way there, and I passed it twice more to get the extra cash. This time though, the dog has it out for Joelle. As we are walking by, the dog locks in on Joelle, barking ferociously at her while I easily walk by it. Joelle starts to freak out, as the dog starts barring its teeth. I tell her to cross the street and walk down the road that way. She does, while I walk down on the dog’s side of the street. Seemingly a safe distance away, Joelle crosses back over the street to meet me, when the dog starts barking and chasing us (well, her). The dog is tiny, and we have a solid head start. So, we both take off sprinting back to the safety of the apartment.

The next morning, we walk to Hotel Tradita to arrive by 6:50am. The same dog is laying on the concrete, while two toddlers and a mom are in close proximity to the dog looking at it. The dog seems relaxed and unbothered, so we do not worry about it. As soon as it spots Joelle though, the ferocious dog immediately starts barking at her, while a local tries to scare it off. That dog really has it out for Joelle.

At Hotel Tradita, we let the person at the desk know we are here for the Theth bus, and they call “the guy.” It is a call to an individual person, not a company. Like I said, you have to know a guy and have their WhatsApp number. When the bus arrives, the driver puts our backpacks in the back and we get in. It is more of a van, not your typical city bus, and we are the only ones so far. We pick up a few others at their hotels in Shkodër before heading to Theth.

This is one of the strangest bus rides I have experienced, and I am somewhat in and out of sleep. On the journey, we stop multiple times. Each time, the back opens, locals gather around, and various things are added. It soon dawns on me that this is not really a bus ride for people. It is more of a supply delivery to pickup and bring supplies to Theth. They just happen to bring people because there is room. We stop multiple times on the way out of Shkodër, even to grocery shop, and we stop multiple times on the way into Theth to drop-off the supplies.

At some point in Shkodër, a local woman joins the bus driver in the front. As we approach Theth, she asks us all where we are staying, as the bus driver does not seem to speak English. Then, the bus stops, and the woman says “stop.” The four of us in the van are confused. Is this where we get out? We are in the center of Theth, which is about a mile from our guesthouse. With little information, we get out, grab our backpacks, and start the walk to the guesthouse. It is hot. Some distance down the road, the bus that dropped us off finds us, and the driver ushers us back in, indicating he will get us closer. On the way, the driver yells “Shkodër” out the window at passerby, presumably trying to pickup anyone who needs to go back. It is quite the system. Eventually, he tells us to get out, and that the guesthouse is two minutes up the hill. Out of the bus, we start to get our bearings. The guesthouse is right up the hill, but we do not actually see anyway of getting to it from here. So, we start walking back the way we came to get to a connecting road, thinking the driver did not really help us in getting closer.

Kisha e Thethit (Theth Church)

When we walked by the Theth Church after our Valbone to Theth hike, we were too tired to explore. Now, we are rested. We climb the ladder that goes over the fence and walk into the church. It is small and simple with few decorations. We circle the outside and meet two people—a woman from Ohio and an Albanian man who now lives in Italy. Off to the side of the church is the graveyard. While small and quaint, the church is quite central to Theth as one of the main sites to visit.

Guesthouse Pashko

Joelle and I find a shady table on Guesthouse Pashko’s lawn, where we can relax for the day. We are greeted with a “hello girls” by the woman who helped us find a ride to Shkodër a few days prior. She is very sweet and certainly remembers us. We play cards for awhile and get lovely whiffs of the homemade bread being baked inside. When our room is ready, we head upstairs for a nap. Just as I start to fall asleep, a light knock on the door wakes me. Apparently there is a switch up, and we are in the wrong room. On our way to our actual room, we walk outside and see one of our guides—Ted. Wow! They made shockingly good time. We were expecting them around 4:00pm, and it is noon. We say hello and ask about the hike. He answers by asking if we have heard yet. Umm..heard what? Apparently, once we left the group, everyone got sick. Ted is one of the last to get it, so he rode to the guesthouse today in the car with everyone’s bags, while they are still hiking. Yikes…we will have to hear more about that later.

A couple hours later, we return to our shady lawn table to play cards. Shortly into our game, we see Astrid, from the German couple, making her way up the path to the guesthouse. The group must have made it! But, it is odd she is alone. We say hello and ask about the hike. Again, the response is along the lines of, “Haven’t you heard? Have you talked to the guides?” Apparently, she and her husband also arrived by car today, rather than hiking, because she still feels unwell and her husband is in bed with a fever. Yikes…it seems like we might have dodged a bullet by not doing those middle days of the tour.

Continuing chatting, Astrid tells us about the small adventure she went on today while her husband rests. A short walk down the road, she found a makeshift bar, swimming holes, and a waterfall. Intrigued, Joelle and I decide we must explore.

Adventure to Waterfall Theth

With some rough instructions from Astrid, we start down the road in the direction she points us. We use Google Maps to try to get to the main road and end up confused. We ask a local at a nearby guesthouse how to get to the road, and he points us to a small, hidden path. That path dumps us out precisely where our bus driver dropped us off this morning. Apparently it was just up the hill; you just have to know where you are going around here. Eventually, we find the rickety bar, and it certainly is rickety—made out of a shipping container and tarps hung for a small seating area. We find a fork in the road, and unsure which way to go, we ask two people approaching if the waterfall is in the direction from where they are coming. They assure us it is, so we continue on until we find a red, metal bridge with most of its wooden floor attached—only a few gaps. We cross, and just above the river rushing below us, we see the large swimming hole Astrid mentioned. Someone formed a wall with rocks and even lined it with a tarp. Many people are swimming in it, with floaties, tubes, and all.

We continue up the trail, following the red arrows painted on rocks on the “waterfall” sign. This is feeling like more than a short walk but a fun adventure nonetheless. Through a break in the trees, we see the top of a waterfall and continue on, hopeful we are headed in the right direction. The path meets the river, and we are not sure where to go from here. People are on the other side, so naturally, we decide to cross. While certainly possible, there is not a direct route. Joelle worms her way up a large rock and carefully finds a path, jumping from dry rock to dry rock. I follow her lead until we are both on the other side. We follow the path down, looking for a good swimming spot. Astrid had mentioned there were some. To our excitement, Joelle finds one, and we both wade into the water. It is quite chilly, although eventually it becomes refreshing. The water here is crystal clear and amazing. We splash around for awhile. Passersby ask how to get to the waterfall, and we shrug. That may have been our initial plan—if you can call it that—but we are perfectly content.

Looking at the time, we decide to head back. We guess dinner is probably around 7:00pm, and the hiking group has likely made it to Theth. Joelle masterfully navigates us back to familiar territory, despite going in a new direction. We push through some grass taller than us, but other than that, it is easy. Her sense of direction never fails to amaze me.

Walking up the road leading to the guesthouse, we spot our hiking group. They made it! A few of them are on their way to the church with Menduh (one of the guides), so we join them and swap stories from the last few days. It sounds like they enjoyed beautiful scenery and fun evenings at the guesthouses, despite everyone getting sick (some sicker than others). At the church, Menduh fills us in on some of its history, including that it was used as a maternity ward during the communist era when religion was banned. Some of Theth’s current residents were born in the church.

Guesthouse Evening with the Group

Tonight, our whole group is back together, although one is not feeling well enough to join us for dinner. We enjoy another homemade, traditional Albanian meal. The highlights of tonight’s meal include the fresh, homemade bread and a flaky pastry filled with a tomato sauce (similar to what we had the first night in Valbone). We thank our host for dinner, and Joelle and I go get a deck of cards to play awhile before bed.

After a couple hands, we are ready to check-in with Menduh about our transfer to North Macedonia in a couple days, before heading to bed. Once that is situated, he asks us about the card game we were playing, clearly wanting to join in now that his guide duties of arranging logistics is done for the evening. We offer to play another hand and start explaining Rumy. It is quickly clear this game is not of interest—too much thinking. So, we teach him Egyptian Rat Slap instead. He picks up on the game quickly and loves it. This game can go on forever, so Joelle and I suggest picking an end time (we are ready for bed). That simply will not do for Menduh who is thoroughly enjoying himself and slowly taking all of the cards, as needed to win. It is a lively game, and we have a lot of fun. Menduh wins and is overjoyed… (“This is my favorite game of my whole life”).

Lock-in Tower (Reconciliation Tower)

The morning starts with a group breakfast, where Joelle and I ask for bowl of hot water after bowl of hot water to make our oatmeal and rehydrate our meal packs. I think some people see us as weird and others see us as smart; our group members are intrigued by them. When asked if they are expensive, I respond, “Not really. They are about $7 each.” Astrid’s jaw drops; apparently that is expensive by German standards.

Our first stop today is the Lock-in Tower, also known as the Reconciliation Tower. Joelle and I tried to find this yesterday but with no luck. We are welcomed to the tower by the person who currently maintains it. He is the descendant of the family who used to run the tower, when it was actively being operated. The tower itself is dark and dingy, with about three levels and a latter leading up to each. In Theth, there were many blood feuds that needed to be resolved. Perhaps someone killed another person, and their families needed help reconciling to prevent it becoming a cycle. This is where the Lock-in Tower assisted, serving similarly to a high court. Their tactics, though, seem less than pleasant. If you or someone in your family killed someone in another family, a baby from your family (whether yours or a niece or nephew) would be taken. After the person who committed the wrongful act was locked in the tower for fourteen days to let tensions settle, both families would come together in the tower, with the baby in the tower’s cradle. The reconciler would then flip over the baby cradle, giving the wronged family a mere couple of minutes to decide whether to save the baby’s life or allow it to suffocate upside down so the cycle of death continues. There were mediators in the room who would save the baby if needed, so the baby never actually died. But, if the family did not choose to flip the cradle back over and save the baby themselves, they would be shunned by the community for a year.

Back outside the tower, the group takes some leisure time, while some try Raki. There seems to be a widespread belief across the Balkans that Raki will fix anything. Just when we are about to leave, the person who manages the tower serenades us with a song on a unique instrument—a leaf from the nearby tree. It is high-pitched with an impressive range of notes—an actual song. We give it a try ourselves on some leaves he hands out but nothing but the sound of us blowing hard can be heard.

Theth to Nderlysa Hike

Today’s hike begins similar to our adventure last night. We are going to Waterfall Theth, which we failed to find yesterday. This time we are in the trusted hands of our guides, ensuring we will actually find it. The path starts familiar, and I realize where we went wrong when we take a path that goes upward more steeply. The waterfall is beautiful, pouring over the cliff, and we are glad we found something else yesterday, leaving a new find for today.

We cross the river in front of the waterfall and continue hiking down the path, following our guide. After a bit, it opens up into a glade, which was once a pre-historic town and is now an archeological site (an American University is helping with some research in the area). We take a turn on the path to head downward, toward the canyon our guide says. The path turns to a bridge, from where you can see the river running below and the canyon it has cut through the rocks. Like all the water we have seen, the river is bright blue and beautiful.

We backtrack up the path until we are back on the main trail to continue on. Our guide pauses to give us two options: Cross the river here where it is slow and there are lots of rocks or cross the river up a bit using a very rickety bridge. Will the bridge fall? “Eh, probably not,” he assures us. Sounds like an adventure! Joelle and I take the bridge (after watching Menduh successfully cross), sticking close to the edge where Menduh says it is more sturdy. We both make it…not actually too bad.

Lunch at Prek Bjeshka Guesthouse

Today we have what our group tells us is a luxury—a warm, “real” lunch at a guesthouse, rather than their usually packed lunch from breakfast. The food is what has come to be normal, but Joelle and I stick to our meal packs to help ensure our protein intake is enough for the day of hiking. We pour the meal packs into a bowl for the first time, which actually seems to improve the taste. The guesthouse is nice and a bit busy; there is even a pool!

Blue Eye of Theth

Our next stop, and the one I am most excited for, is the Blue Eye of the North, once called the Black Well before the name was updated to attract more tourists. At lunch, Menduh warns us the hike is challenging, although only one hour, and to prepare for the worse. Yikes, I wonder what we are getting into. Seems odd considering the number of people the Blue Eye attracts; surely anyone who signed up for an eight day hiking trip can do it.

It is quite hot, but the trail is not bad, especially considering what I was expecting based on the guide’s warning. It takes us 55 minutes. There are three bars (bars seem to be everywhere) and two swimming spots. The first bar is before either swim spot, the second is at the first swim spot just over the bridge, and the last is at the Blue Eye. The first swim spot is beautiful. There are few people with deep, blue water pooled in the river. A bridge extends over it, which was independently built during COVID. The man who built it lived in the U.S. and returned to build the bridge; his grandpa and dad lived in the house just above the river. Before the bridge, hikers had to take a different route to the Blue Eye; this seems to have improved the experience!

Up the trail a bit more, the Blue Eye comes into view, busy with people around the edge. The water is a big, deep pool with a waterfall cascading into it. The Blue Eye is known for being very cold, but that does not stop us. We have to swim! We peel off our hiking boots and clothes and take the plunge. Yep, it is cold. There is debate over whether the Blue Eye or the Valbone River (where we swam the first day) is colder. My vote is the Blue Eye. We take several dips—it is quite refreshing—and even jump off a rock into the deep pool several times.

Content with our time at the Blue Eye, Joelle and I decide we want to swim at the lower spot. It looked so nice on the way up! We have 10 minutes (the downside of traveling with a tour group is the time limits), so we throw our hiking boots on and run down the trail in our wet swim suits. When crossing the bridge, I scope out the jump into the water. Hmm it is a decent size jump but looks pretty nice. When a little girl runs past us and jumps off without a second thought, I decide I have to do it. We walk to the riverside below to leave all our stuff, and then I return to the bridge. There is a rope across the top, so I kind of awkwardly stick my head past it to jump. I am a bit taller than the little girl. Ducking under the rope requires me to look straight down into the water of the jump I am about to do. Yikes. I decide not to think and just go. This is definitely the better swimming spot. Joelle eyes the jump a couple times and understandably opts to just swim in the beautiful water. We see our group walking down from the Blue Eye so rush to put our hiking boots and clothes back on. They missed out!

The hike back out is relatively quick, and we end in a slightly closer location, where the bus is picking us up. The river is below us, bright blue, clear, and open with lots of people swimming. It looks amazing. Joelle and I really want to take another dip, but the guides decide we do not have enough time, despite initially saying we could make time if we want to swim. Seeing the line most the group is forming at the bathroom, Joelle and I decide we have time, promising to be quick. We run down to the water, throw off our hiking boots and clothes, and quickly get in. This water is a bit warmer and very nice. True to our word, we are quick and start to get out, when another from our group follows our lead and does a quick dip too. We change to our sandals to save time and run back to the group, just in time to walk with everyone else to the bus. We did it!

Bus to Shkodër and Feast at Hotel

Our adventure in the Albanian Alps—The Accursed Mountains—has sadly come to a close. Fun fact: Apparently the Accursed Mountains are called the Accursed Mountains due to a translation error after being translated multiple times. We take the bus from Theth back to Shkodër; this one is much less eventful since we are with our group.

Back at Hotel Tradita in Shkodër, we clean up before our last dinner together. When we learn we are eating at the hotel, Joelle and I get worried given our experience a few nights ago. As it turns out, you just need a guide telling them what to feed you. Dinner is good, and the food just keeps coming. There is so much; we cannot possibly eat it all. The group recaps their journey. At first, Joelle and I are sad to have missed some seemingly amazing experiences and memories. Then, they get to the sickness part of the story, and we are less sad. It seems the group likely had norovirus, and they are not the only group on the trail. One of the guesthouses reportedly has sick guests every night.

All in all it is an amazing trip, and we meet some very kind and fun people. Everyone is falling asleep at the table as Menduh encourages us to stay. Everyone is exhausted while not really wanting it to be over. Joelle and I stand up to head to bed, along with many others in the group, while Menduh tries to get us to go to the festival at Rozafa Castle or to the bars for some drinks. We have to sleep we tell him. How does he have so much energy?

In the morning, we see everyone once more at breakfast (a very nice one, with chocolate croissants and all) before heading our separate ways. We take the group transfer back to Tirana with the guides and the two friends from London before transferring to a private car to take us to Ohrid. Ted, one of the guides, lives in a city on the way to Ohrid, so he joins us (entertaining the driver who does not speak English) for part of it. We hit border control and leave Albania, entering North Macedonia—our 21st country. This is the first time we have crossed a border by car, and we are excited for our next adventure.

Kisha e Thethit (Theth Church)

Kisha e Thethit (Theth Church)

Guesthouse Pashko

Exploring Theth

Exploring Theth

Exploring Theth

Exploring Theth

Exploring Theth

Exploring Theth

Exploring Theth

Exploring Theth

Lock-in Tower

Lock-in Tower

Lock-in Tower baby cradle

Lock-in Tower leaf instrument

Waterfall Theth

Canyon

Theth to Nderlysa Hike

Blue Eye hike

Blue Eye of Theth

Blue Eye of Theth

Below the Blue Eye of Theth

Blue Eye hike end point

Hotel Tradita dinner