ALPES ALBANESES, VALBONË | ALBANIA #5

Well, a new day begins, I'm already on the move, as you can see I'm in, well, in a song. This is Komani lake, it's in the northern part of Albania, about two and a half hours from Skodra, Where he spent the night. And this morning at 6:30 in the morning I went to look for the van that brought me here. Y es porque I'm going to go to the Albanian Alps. The Albanian Alps are a mountain range that is here, well, that shares both Albania and part of Kosovo. And Montenegro. And it has some very cool routes, there's one especially I want to do that's called Balbona Pass. I'm going to go now to a village in the mountains, which is called Balbona, and I'm going to go to another town called Ced. So, this route is from A to B, or sea, it's not circular, it's not round, or sea, you can turn back, but in the end it doesn't make much sense. So, what I have to do is leave the suitcase at the hotel where I'm staying, at the guest house where I'm staying tonight. I'll keep it for a couple of days, which is how long I'll be here. Today is Monday, I'll be here until Wednesday. The road up here has been almost three hours of quite a lot of movement, or sea, quite a bit of rock and roll. So don't expect, even if it's 6:20 in the morning, you won't expect to be able to sleep on the trip. Because the road, I tell you, has more bumps than my life. Yes, the views are spectacular. If you go over the mountain, then you'll see some incredible landscapes, super beautiful, all green, mountains. You're seeing the river that's coming up to the lake. It was spectacular. So, nothing, we're gonna make a little ferry trip now of two and a half hours to cross the whole lake. Like it was a Norwegian fjord or something. Oh, it's impressive how everything is surrounded by all these mountains. There are many people who come directly only to spend the day or to spend the morning to simply take a walk by the lake, do some activity. The thing about the ferry is that it only leaves once a day, so it leaves in the morning, because it only leaves at nine in the morning. And then the turn, from Cierce, which is the town where we arrived, turn back, I don't know if it's half past one or one, I'm not sure, but only one turn a day. So I suggest you check it with time for reservation of space and time, so that it coincides well. The ferry is about 800 leks, which will be about seven euros more or less. And to come here, if you need anything else, because I took a van, which is the most recommended to not have that... Because you won't come back here if you do the same tour as me. That's 700 leks, which will be about six euros. So, well, it's pretty good. And nothing, there's another van, I don't know how much it will be, so you can get directly from the ferry terminal to the pueblo de Balbona. I arrived in Balbona, which was the town I wanted to get to after all this odyssey. It's been like seven hours to get there, because he already told you, it's been three hours plus or minus the first part of the van to the lake. Then about two and a half hours by ferry to cross todo el lago. And then one more hour to get up here, to El Pueblo. But they drop you off at the hotel where you're staying, the conductor says to bring you to the door. So very well, this is the hotel Marieke. It's a hotel like everyone else, that's right here in the middle of the mountain. It's a tiny town, basically all hotels that are built along a road. Super well paved, the truth is I was surprised how good it is all the way. It's perfectly paved. It's a tourist destination to come above all to make routes through the mountains and in general nature. The place is in an incredible place, or the views are a thing of the past, now I'll show you. What he did when he got here was talk a little bit with the manager of the hotel. He eats here in the restaurant downstairs they have, because likewise everything is so far away. The hotels are so far apart that there's not much choice of restaurants. So good, I've been given to eat here. A rather rich meal, he took a soup of vegetables. It's very good, a kind of cream of vegetables. Luego también como entrante or primer is a kind of crepe made by layers. That's how you know a blue cheese is typical here in Albania. El chico told me that it's one of the most typical dishes of Albania. And now what I'm going to do is go through this whole area, not the whole Balbona area, But I'll take a look around and see if I see a good view. Seeing a little to see if I encountered the river that he saw climbing that looked incredible. And well, I'll show you the room now before you leave. The room is quite good, there is a bed that is quite large. And then here's a private bathroom, which is always appreciated. Plato de ducha also thanks you. So nothing, it's pretty good. I'll tell you more, I'll rest five minutes and we'll go. I'm here to march for Balbona. In the area where I am are the Albanian Alps, the famous Albanian Alps. It is a series of mountainous zones that have an altitude of up to two thousand meters. In the area where I am, this pueblo of Balbona, is a few thousand meters more or less. It's a very touristic place, especially among the Albanians. But it's becoming more fashionable among international tourism as well. Especially in summer, this is upstairs. In fact, on the way here you'll see how they're building quite a few new hotels. Y es un camino donde simply hay... It's a road that's in perfect condition, with plenty of hotels on either side. But the distance between everything is quite long. Then there's not much to do besides having your own hotel, guesthouse, whatever. And I'm making routes here, through the mountain. What an icon! So nothing, I'm gonna leave this chapter here. I hope you enjoyed it. It was the first contact with the Albanian Alps. This area is precious. We'll see what happens tomorrow and the weather, see what happens. Because it's starting to rain and... I don't know. We'll see.