Days 42 to 46: Two Rest Days in Shkodër and a Hike from Valbonë to Theth

July 19, 2026

Days 42 to 46: Two Rest Days in Shkodër and a Hike from Valbonë to Theth

As it turned out, only one cyclist showed up a few days ago. Her name is Niamh and she’s from the United Kingdom. Her front tire got a puncture while coming here so she spent some time finding a new tire in town. The following day, we cycled to the nearby lake town of Shiroka and chilled on the bank for a bit before cycling back.

Niamh told me about the hike she did the last time she was in Albania. It was organized by her hostel, The Wanderers Hostel. The hike is six hours long from Valbonë to Theth. There’s also a separate hike to a waterfall and a pool called the Blue Eye in Theth. I decided to sign up with the hostel. So for the past two nights I was in the Albanian Alps.

The trip to Valbonë took about seven hours from Shkodër. It consisted of a bus ride to Koman, a ferry to Fierzë, then a minibus ride to the Adenisi Guest House.

Since the trip was organized by the hostel, everybody knew each other beforehand except me. I tried to be social, but still felt ostracized since everyone was in their early twenties and most of them were paired already, either as couples or as friends.

In any case, I took a nap at the hostel and didn’t even eat lunch. The dinner provided by the guest house was too shy on the meats and I only had one chicken leg as the protein. However, I did pack three boiled eggs, along with a few other things, for the hike the next morning.

The hostel manager drove us to the trailhead and we started hiking around 6:30 AM. It took me two hours to hike to the top of the mountain then about 3.5 hours down to Guesthouse Dreni in Theth. The view was great, but on the way down I slipped several time since I didn’t hike with hiking shoes, just regular walking shoes. There were some cafes along the hiking route but I kept going.

I was one of the first few hikers from the group to reach the hostel in Theth. Apparently, I would have been the first one if the people before me didn’t catch a ride.

This guesthouse had a buffet style dinner and I ate a full meal by the time I went to bed. I slept for almost 12 hours last night.

This morning, I opted not to do the hike to the waterfall and Blue Eye because yesterday’s hike was the longest hike I’ve ever done in my life. I simply didn’t want to hike anymore, so I took the minibus back to Shkodër.

When I arrived back at Chuck and Susan’s place I met a German couple and a French couple. I didn’t quite catch any of their names since they are all busy doing something.

I really don’t know what to do for the next several days. According to my current plan, I will stay in Shkodër for six more nights before cycling further south.