The Blue Eye “Albania”
You may go on a trip and think that your plans are going as you planned, but you do not know something may happen that will make you change the entire plan and this is what happened to me, yet with all this happening the experience was very amazing.
Tirana is the capital of Albania and its largest city.
Excitement can beat pain
What really got me excited about this trip was the low restrictions on traveling to Albania, and on top of that visa was excluded, and the only requirement is a PCR. My initial plan was to travel to the three countries “Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro” by hiking the balkans mountains, although plans can sometimes change. During my first day in the village of Theth, Albania I injured my leg and waited about two days to evaluate my condition but it looks like I was going to take time to recover. Reality is that it’s hard to walk long distances between the mountains with a 20kg backpack while my leg really hurtsو so I changed the plan because at the end the point is to enjoy the experience.
Majestic Castle
On a direct flight from Riyadh, I arrived in Tirana, the capital of Albania, and its largest city. Then I immediately got a private transportation from the airport to Shkodër, Albania. My driver of this trip was a couple of different religions, the husband is Christian and the wife is Muslim, and the difference of religions between spouse was common in the country which I thought was unique. I enjoyed my night exploring Shkodër and in the early morning, I visited the Shkodër Castel located in Shkodër, one of the oldest and most historical cities of Albania, as well as an important cultural and economic center. After enjoying a tour of the castle, I looked for a means of transportation to go to the village Theth as the road is not suitable to be driven by a regular car, so I had to find a 4WD vehicle with a driver. It is a mountain rugged road with large parts of it was not paved, and from the bumpy road, one of the tires was ripped apart and we didn’t even notice that.
Tree Ringtones
I saw a waterfall and wanted to drink water from the mountain, so I asked my drivers to stop, suddenly people came running to us and they were looking at the tire and oh my God there was nothing left of the tire and thank God we stopped. The driver’s brother came and picked me up and we continued the journey to reach Theth which is a small village within Shkoder county, in Albania. There I met an amazing man who has the ability to turn any tree leaves into a musical instrument, and he is really good at it, Then I went for a hike to explore the waterfall and here the injury happened but I pushed myself to see the waterfall and enjoy the day even when it meant coming back limping on my feet. The next day I could barely walk, so I decided to push myself and use a walking stick as my third leg, and I went with some wonderful people I met from Kosovo, to what they call Blue Eye. It is a beautiful little waterfall, characterized by its beautiful blueness, well worth the effort and time spent to reach it. Getting to the Blue Eye requires driving off road for one hour and then hiking for another hour and a half, because of my injury, it took me a two and a half hour hike to reach the destination. At the end of the day I have decided to chill and see what will happen with my leg for tomorrow, so I meditated near by the river for awhile which I really needed and it was really enjoyable.
Smile language
The next day I was still in pain, so I decided to change the initial plan, and got a private transportation to take me to Shkodër. During my transfer to Shkodër I decided to go to Montenegro as I had only one thing in mind which a new destination. So upon my arrival to Shkodër I met another person who will drive me to Montenegro. I didn’t even know where I was going in Montenegro, but I asked a Montenegrin whom I met at the airport in the beginning of my trip for his recommendation. He had recommended a city called Budva, a city in the Adriatic which is famous for its sandy beaches, nightlife and stone walls. I was not able to speak with my driver through any language but the only thing between us was the language of the smile and one word which we both understood “SUPERRR”. After a trip in which got me to explore Montenegro and Kosovo, I returned back to Albania, and spent the night in Shkodër. In the early morning I went to Lumi Shala, which is a river flowing inside the Alps in northern Albania with clear waters. The journey took two and a half hours by car and then another hour and a half by boat to reach Lumi Shala. I enjoyed swimming even though the water was very cold in the river and enjoyed the scenery throughout the trip. Then I was transferred back to Tirana to spend my last day of the trip exploring the capital city and eating great local food before I left the country.