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After days of being in the city and the sweltering heat it was so good to be outside in the Albanian countryside. After a hearty breakfast we jumped into a bright yellow 1970's, Mercedes van, which would take us to the starting point for our hike in the Valley. We were dropped off at the bottom of a steep incline next to a bunker. There were over 500,000 bunkers built between 1950 and 1985 and they are everywhere. On the hillsides, beaches and generally most other surfaces you see small concrete domes with rectangular slits. Over 600,000 soldiers were involved in the building of the bunkers with each one costing $400. Compare this to the average annual salary in 1991, which was $120 a year and you can see why many believed them to be a waste of money. In fact if the same concrete and metal used to build the bunkers was put towards Social Housing there would be enough houses for everyone in Albania.
After our brief but interesting history lesson we began our hike. We started by crossing over some small and rather rickety wooden bridges before ascending the mountain. Albania is currently experiencing a heatwave with temperatures in the mid to low 30's. Whilst the scenery was absolutely stunning the searing heat meant that the climb was very draining. After an hour we stopped at a local farmhouse, which gave us the opportunity to catch our breath and enjoy a drink, whilst looking out across the Valbona Valley. We carried on for another hour watching the scenery change the higher we got. From lush green meadows to craggy hills, sheep grazing in the fields to chickens running wild you could really capture the way of life of the people living in the Valley. Our hike continued with a slow descent into a small village, which offered a camping ground and restaurant. After 4 hours of hiking in the incredible heat we arrived at the restaurant a very weary bunch ready for both food and drink. The food was amazing - within minutes salads, bread, chips, meat, cheese and soup were all produced. Everything was homemade and tasted so good. After lunch we took our yellow van back to the Guesthouse for a well earned afternoon siesta!
At 6pm, just before dinner we headed out from the Guesthouse and across the field to visit the brother of the owner of our Guesthouse. At 77 years of age he is the oldest member of the family within the Valley. He has also lived there his entire life. Whilst he didn't speak any English our guide, and his nephew, Aronick was able to translate. He talked about the changes he witnessed after the Second World War and then during the Communist regime. His thoughts on the Balkan Wars and living in modern Albania. His wife of 46 years provided us with mountain tea made from fresh herbs that she went out and picked for us and 4 of their 13 grandchildren played all around us. It was such a unique and enjoyable experience.
From their we went to another Uncle's house were we ate yet another great Albanian feast of melted cheese, roasted vegetables, freshly made bread, chicken, rice and salad. One of the tour group was celebrating their birthday so an amazing vanilla and chocolate cake was produced whilst we all sang happy birthday.
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