Albania: Valbona, 16 September 2012

The second day in the Valbona Valley we went up the river bed to where the Valbona River starts. The Valley are inhabited by three ethnic groups: - In the upper part people from the nearest village to the west: Thethi (Orthodox Christians). - In the middle part of the valley; Montenegrins (Orthodox Christians). - In the lower part of the valley to the east: Kosovo Albanians (Muslim)

View from our bedroom window

The Valbona Valley. For agricultural purposes the land has been terraced

A house in the upper part of the valley. The steep roof probably reflects the need to avoid problems due to big amounts of snow.

A happy pig on its way to the grazing together with the cows

The very start of the river before it disappears between the stones

A farm

An eagle (?)

The ruins of the school where the brothers from the farm went when they were children. Parts of the building has been swept away by the river, so there must be water above the stones some times.

On our way back we had a cup of coffee at a nice new hotel is situated where the road ends and turns into a jeep track. The owner drives this impressive Toyota LandCruiser turbodiesel. The hotel is situated at a spring. In communist times the place was popular among top communists (by then it was another building than the present).

The Toyota LandCruiser is a gift from Danida (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark)

In the late afternoon a group of 12 members of New Zealand tramping and mountaineering clubs came to the farm to stay overnight. They had crossed the mountain pass between Thethi and Valbona. In front the guides and the horses carrying their luggage.