A Thethi Albanian Experience

Driving our newly rented white Dacia Jogger SUV across the border from Montenegro to Albania, I asked the immigration officer, “What do you think of Theth? That’s where we are going for five nights?”

A grin spread across his previously stoic face, “I like it too much.” And then handed over our passports.

Our family was now in Albania, which we too, would like too much.

Old Misconceptions Spurred on by the Simpsons

We arrived without any preconceptions about Albania. or the Balkans for that matter. Our entire rolodex of Albanian knowledge could be traced back to a single episode of The Simpsons, “The Crepes of Wrath.” In this episode, Bart participated in a foreign exchange student program where he went to work as an underaged grape picker on a French farm while the rest of the Simpson family welcomed little Adil Hoxha. He promptly showed suspect interest in the Springfield nuclear power plant. And in the end, Adil is found to be an Albanian spy by the FBI and deported back to Albania. Together, we watched this particular episode as a family.

Albania has a complex history. It declared independence in 1912. Italy and Germany controlled Albania during World War II. After 1945, Enver Hoxha (reference to the genius of the Simpsons) established a rigid communist state that isolated Albania for decades. It was a Communist country until 1991, then held its first democratic elections. Instability marked the early democratic years including the 1997 economic crisis. Since then, Albania has very slowly stabilized and opened itself to the wider world as they currently would like to join the EU. When Yugoslavia broke up into many countries, Albania was already its own country and does not actually speak a Slavic language like Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.

A Thethi Hiking Experience While Annoying the Aussies

Being active and outside was the goal of this family summer trip, and without any prior knowledge about Albania, the village of Theth and the Accursed Mountains surrounding it were a surprise. The Accursed mountains appear look like they are racing to touch heaven, so it’s no surprise they are referred to as the Albanian Alps. And the road to Theth included hundreds of narrow switch backs to the town of Theth with minimal development. It was during the drive that I muttered that would become our travel motto. Turning around one of many turns we saw a sign for “Thethi Experience.” Sounded a lot more like “sexy” when I said it with these braces. From this point everyone talked about the Thethi experience we were going to have in Albania.

For the most part, it felt like it was off the grid. A man I spoke with at his restaurant mentioned that the village of Theth had roughly eight homes in this valley many years before and that the Communist Albanian government would withhold resources to the community because of its’ affiliation with the Catholic Church.

But during the day, it wasn’t as quite repressive. We hiked to the popular Gruñas Waterfall and Blue Eye, overall easier hikes. These served as preparation for the big one. Välbone Pass is a unique hike that climbs up to 6,000 feet and traverses to other villages, but we felt that would be too much for the kids and Nadine’s hip. So we decided on reaching the pass and returning back to Theth.

In the end, the Theth to Välbone Pass hike ended up being 9.5 miles roundtrip over four and a half hiking hours with 3,000 feet elevation followed with the descent back to our Thethi lodging. I never expected the four kids (ages 18, 16, 11, and 10) to power through and complete this longer hike and climb without much complaining. It goes without saying that Nadine and I were quite proud of them.

At night, Albanian fare consisted of Tave mishi, or mixed meat platters, served with various cheeses or some type of meat stew. I’d usually follow dinner with a couple Korça beers at Dreni Hostel to watch World Cup games. The highlight being the USA vs. Australia game. The hostel, as is the case at any hostel in the world and I dare you to find me a single hostel in the world that doesn’t have at least one Aussie, this one was full of Aussies in their yellow and green soccer jerseys. The USA went on to win the game 2-0 to the chagrin of the majority of the patrons. One even wanted to discuss politics with me afterwards. I told him I would be right back. As I walked to my lodging.

To sum up our time in Albania, I’d compare to just like that time when a New Mexican finds their favorite bolo tie that has been lost for months, Albania was an inexpensive outdoor surprise that has Nadine and I contemplating a return trip. You could say it quite a Thethi Experience.

Logistics

Lodging

While in Theth, we stayed at Guesthouse Natyra Theth. This was run by a local Albanian family and provided breakfast every morning. Rooms were clean and the views were great. The location was close to the Gruñas Waterfall hike and it was close to the Dreni Hostel where Nadine said she could hear some of the Aussies crying one night.

Restaurants

Once a day in Theth, we would eat at a local place, but there is only one we went to twice.

Montagne Blanche

This place was by far had the best food in Theth. The owner has worked in several restaurants across Europe and decided to come back to open his own place back in his country.