Hello and welcome to Looks
like and welcome to Albania, or more precisely, in the Albanian Alps. We're in the north of the country,
see if it's really that way. looks beautiful as it seems on the Instagrambilder so, and what one here still can discover everything in this way. Let's go! We fly by plane to Tirana, the capital of Albania.
The flight takes about two hours. From here we continue directly with a driver to Shkodra, in the north of the country. This is where the Albanian Alps lie, our actual destination. Also
on this journey we use Instagram as a travel guide. Under the Hashtag
Albania Alps one finds mainly nature photos. The landscape outside looks
but at the moment it still looks more like how the many Albanians might introduce, rather
run-down, dusty and not really photogenic.
Our driver seems like a nice guy. to be. The one with the cell phones at the
Driving a car here, however, is more likely to be Loosely seen.
The journey takes two hours and costs 40 Euro by German standards
pretty cheap. In the afternoon we in Shkodra at and also in our
Hostel for the first night. Let's see if anyone's home. The hostel has pretty good online
ratings and was the very first in of the city. A single room costs here
30 Euro, so average hostel price. Practical: all
Trips you want to take can be can be booked directly on site. You can
so you can decide spontaneously what you want to do. Now let's go see the city a little bit. Shkodra was
for a long time under Venetian Rule, that is to say, one can still
I think I can see some traces of it. a very, very beautiful boulevard here.
...and I'll give you a little more. Let's go to the city. The city of Shkodra is ancient. Since 2400
People have been living here for years. It is regarded as the cultural centre of the
North and can of course also be on Instagram. The promenade after
Venetian model was used in the twentieth century complete
restored. This looks a little like this.
an italian holiday resort, so beautiful broad promenade, people chilling somewhere on the benches... I bet there's ice cream somewhere.
My change is enough for just one scoop of ice cream. for the equivalent of 70 cents. European ice standard, I'd say. Then we have to go to the
ATMs. So 120 leks is about one euro. I think so. That is, we have now withdrawn Lek 20,000, that is about 180 euros? Something like that will do. By the way, in many places you can see statues of Mother Teresa. She is considered a national saint in Albania. The city center of Shkodra is quite
pretty, and in the evening light of course especially atmospheric. Away from
Promenades also have less beautiful corners. There you are here in this beautiful
and then you're here. such ruins. You don't know exactly, is this now... if it's still being built, is this ready yet? Anybody run out of money? There's a whole lot of them here, I'm sure.
I'm actually wondering why. A little too bad. Semi-finished buildings
are in fact mostly broken off or even illegal construction projects. To make the demolition
but nobody seems to care here. As well as the street dogs and the
-cats, a sight to be seen from Germany is not so used to. My first
Impression of Albania is such a a little bit of a so-so. On the one hand
houses superbeautiful, landscape is pretty as a picture, but on the other hand.
also many building ruins, many things, which look broken, there's a lot of rubbish around, there are a lot of street dogs, which makes me very, very sorry always, made and on tomorrow I am also very curious, because there we go on river expedition cruise across the Koman Sea up the Shala River, and what we're looking at.
I'm expecting you, let's have a look. First night was great, I slept very, very well, except that about five a.m. some of the occupants of the house somewhere.
have broken open. There was a little noise outside the door, but that's the way it is at the hostel, a little noise might be a good thing.
is super cheap. Now we're looking for each other. a breakfast, and then we're off on our river tour. Mmmhmmm, still warm. For us it goes today to the Komansee, one of the largest reservoirs of Albania. From there we go by boat to the
Shala River, which, according to Instagram. I'd like to think it was beautiful.
In order to get there, we first have to two hours to the mountains.
The biggest challenge here: the Albanian road conditions. Nico, my cameraman, has even bigger problems with the wobbling than I do. Calm hand, Nico, is very important, calm hand. And the further you go towards the mountains, the more beautiful the landscape becomes outside. Our destination today is a guesthouse at the
upper part of the river. Here we will have lunch and time to relax. The whole tour we have about our
Hostel booked. After almost two hours of driving on bumpy tracks we have now arrived. In fact, in the middle of nowhere. I've got
completely lost their bearings. Now we're just boarded into our
Boat, uh, looks very trusting... and now we're going up the Shala River. At least that's the plan. Above all, there's no one here. Well, yes, here on the boat already. But out there like that... Megageil. It's lonely. The problem: this Shala River has an
a little bit of water now. Actually you want to go by boat to the guesthouse where you have lunch, but we're gonna have to run the last of the rest for half an hour. Let's have a look. There you go. I don't want them to get wet. The other tourists are of course much better prepared than we are. Sometimes vanity hurts. Ow. I'm completely anti-slapping. It's a dangerous country, Albania. You have to be careful. So, already travel tip for Albania: if you want to do such a river tour, highly recommended, but take trekking sandals with you or aqua shoes. Looks like shit, I know, but
makes sense. Sometimes through the water, sometimes over pebbles it goes along the river bed. And the hike is worth it. Because deep in the valley of the Shala River.
hides this little paradise, which can only be reached by water.
And while our tour group arriving is busy, you'll find
we've prepared our lunch. Well, the food looks great, there's trout, cold water trout here from the area, Pork meat and salad and a lot of
Vegetables. Looks very good. The guesthouse where we eat, is relatively new and has a bar, an
open fireplace and also some Sleeping places. If you really want to
you can also relax here. spend a few nights, and that's all
without mobile phone and internal reception. Get some food going. I'm starving. That's what's so exciting about travelling, when you go somewhere and order something on the map, or something just gets you where you have no idea what it is, but I think that's how you learn. actually know a country best, and
it's usually worth it. I haven't eaten much, where I said, boah, it's not mine right now. Try everything. Stay curious. So this is the fish now, trout,
Cold water trout, or something called that, I think I need to take a look. But... tastes outstanding. Like everything here. Very, very horny. After dinner we still have a little time to relax. On Instagram this place is often compared to Thailand. I've never been to Thailand, but I must say. that's pretty much what I'm thinking. So the thing that makes you realize that one is not in Thailand, but in
Albania: the water is sack cold. But of course you can see that in the
Television doesn't. You just have to think about it. Oh, I can't feel my feet. After a total stay of about three hours we are already on our way back. So, on the bus, we drive two hours, then we're home. And even here, in the remote mountains.
there are stray dogs. Unfortunately, for him in our suitcase.
No room. What a day. about three, three and a half hours.
by car over gravel roads and then another two
hours of boat, was somehow quite nice exhausting, but the hike at mega, mega horny. So, if you ever look for Albania's coming, he's making a big mistake.
Shala River Tour, very very cool, now has pro nose cost 40 euros, I find in
order for what you get for it, and the prospects are really simple
wonderful, and of course very suitable for instagra, but I have to say, I had my cell phone.
not much in the hand today, there you can I'll have a look myself. That's it.
but for today and we're going again back to the hostel. In the evening, we set
us with Ani, she directs our Hostel and has therefore of course a
special view on the rising Tourism in Albania and a few tips
for us. There's a lot of tourism recently in Albania, or it rises, I think, what do you think about that, is it a good thing, or a bad thing. Tourism can somehow ruin places, but we are still not at that level in Albania at all. Which is nice, I think, that's why we are here. Why do you think, people come here? A lot of places are undiscovered, then the people, still they are very nice and helpfull, accommodating, What is typical albanian for you, what do you have to experience if you are here for a visit? The alpes I would recomment of course, to go to Theth, Valbona now, it's very famous, and then of course Shkodra, the Shkodra lake is very nice, and the river is very beautiful. So much to discover and so little time.
We'll have a last beer at the hostel bar. and then it's time for bed again. Because tomorrow we have to get up pretty early. We are picked up at the hostel at six in the morning. Tell a driver to take us to Theth.
central place to visit in the Albanian Alps to go hiking.
So far the road was actually quite good, relatively well asphalted, there were even crash barriers, whereby the not very confidence inspiring you have to say.
I see, it's getting more uncomfortable. This must be the street everyone was talking about. Now the fun begins. The road leading to Theth is partly unpaved. Official tour operators recommend at least four-wheel drive. We play it safe and let us rather drive, for
ten euros per person. The road is currently being renovated. In two
years the path to Theth must be completely asphalted. At the current main part of the construction site is the road is blocked with rubble. Kindly
an excavator clears the way for us. Albanian pragmatic. *Music* We're hanging behind a guy like that right now.
Bulldozer, unfortunately the road is just single-lane. Therefore our journey is delayed by a few minutes, we ask to excuse this disturbance. On the bus we met Lena and Vincent. They travelled by bus from Munich to Albania for 75 Euros. That took 24 hours, too. The two of them are mainly for hiking.
here and sleep in the tent. This is allowed almost everywhere in Albania. Short stopover. Old Swede, that's beautiful! That now probably the beginning
of this Thethi National Park. Behind this mountain range is apparently
Montenegro. There's the border. In this valley here is Theth, and back there is Valbona. These are the familiar places here. Beautiful The GIZ, the Society for International Cooperation, promotes tourism in
Albania for many years. Families were able to develop concepts for guesthouses
and thereby grants for their building projects. Since then, the valley and the Thethi National Park have been flourishing as a tourist destination. Also our guesthouse makes a good and relatively new impression. A room here costs about 10 to 20 euros per night. But here you get absolute peace and wonderful Albanian country idyll. Thank you for driving. Well, we made it through the ride. It was a little adventurous in between. But I wasn't really scared, the driver made a very, very competent impression. You see, it's wonderful, beautiful here. Really, it's breathtakingly awesome. Now we have just arrived here in a guesthouse, looks also very quaint. Coffee and tea, we'll get there first, and then we'll look further. There's definitely nothing going on. But WLAN does exist, let's see what else Theth has to offer. Mama Rosa, the owner of the house, brings us tea and coffee. But we only treat ourselves to a very brief
Take a breather, because as long as the weather is good. is good, we of course want to
Explore hiking trails. The valley of Theth is surrounded by mountains, some of which are over 2500 metres high. A perfect area for hiking fans and
Outdoor enthusiasts. Especially when you're traveling in areas like Albania. where not every hiking trail is perfectly signposted, it's pretty cool when
you have a card with you or somehow you can orient yourself differently. We are now
of course in the digital age on the way and there are quite, quite many
various apps, where you can find the download maps and then
can track the route offline via GPS, and that's the probability,
to get lost, relatively small. Since 2006 the tourism in Theth has been
actively promoted. Hiking seems to be not necessarily a typical Albanian
To be a hobby. I'm sweating already... Almost all tourists who visit Theth,
are from abroad. Not all Albanians think it's good.
Critical voices fear that the Valley lose its originality
could. *Music* And like any well-planned hike.
the food is the be-all and end-all. Like this. Like this? A candy bar of a popular brand... By the way, in Theth.
not a single EC machine yet, so bring enough cash for the
Time you want to spend here. There is a small supermarket. The most popular hike in Theth is the day trip over the pass to Valbona. It is considered one of the most beautiful hikes in Europe. We can't get all the way to the Valbona Pass today. But already at half height the
Awesome view. *Music* No matter where you look.
it's nice. So almost everywhere it's really nice. The cool thing here is, there's
not the one Instagram hotspot, not the one the Eiffel Tower, or do I know, the Big
Ben, where everyone's running to and taking a picture. but the whole area is just beautiful, and I think so, relaxes the whole thing a little. I could be in these mountains weeks but for seven o'clock in the evening.
at our guesthouse dinner, and of course we want to do that
I wouldn't miss it either. Profitipp when hiking: always enough
I've got water with me. There's nothing Stupider than being on a mountain somewhere.
and has nothing to drink. Bad. But the good thing is: here in Albania there are such small mountain streams and the water is like this good, you can even drink that. *Music* While we air our hiking boots,
Mama Rosa is already at the stove. The kitchen is located in a small cottage next to the house. The menu consists mainly of vegetables, cheese and meat, and homemade bread. Just what I want after a long day of hiking. We eat together with the other guests, and it tastes really good again. And with our stomach full, we slowly retire to our room. It was a rather long, but also very adventurous and beautiful day today. The journey I found totally horny,
adventurous, but beautiful, and the Landscape here in Theth and in the
The surroundings are simply wonderful. You can do that quite well on photos
Instagram hasn't got us there either. too much promised, but in his own eye
you can actually see it, I think, Best. So come and have a look yourselves in any case. I'm afraid tomorrow it's supposed to be
rain all day, that's why we have to take a look, if we could make our plans a little bit
to make new arrangements. Now we're going to bed.
that's what we deserve. Good night. That was actually a short night, it was a relatively violent thunderstorm, we woke up, but for now there's a hefty
Breakfast, homemade bread, Fruits, jams, yoghurt with honey
and coffee, of course. And now we have just been brought a fresh fried egg, and a kind of puff pastry machine ... I was just about to put it all together.
but it still Pancakes, two pieces. I'm actually already full... But you don't want to be rude. Mmmhmmm Should we go quick before she comes back? We'll have croissants or something. ouch man... The weather today is not as bad as it should be. And we're gonna go back down to the village to see a church in Theth. and a blood axe tower. I'll explain what this is all about. The church was built in 1892. The time of communism in Albania
it only survived because it was used as a warehouse and in a military hospital. This is the church we're looking for, and we found an instagra picture of it in the The morning light is here. Very, very beautiful,
I'm really pretty too. That's the classic photo motif. When you're in Theth, you have to pass the church. and take a picture of it. Of course, we'll do it now, too, of course. This is of course shit: full of beautiful place and again thick fat overloaded garbage cans stand around here. Of course you don't see that on the Instagram pictures. Maybe we'll go to the other side, then we'll have the mountains in the background. That's even nicer. Insta gold! Will you make another one of mine? On edge maybe? Our next stop is the
the so-called Blood Ark Tower. According to old Albanian customary law, someone who committed murder was outlawed. So it was here in this tower that the murderer entrenched himself, to escape the vendetta of the victim's family. Meanwhile, he was hoping that his
I've been able to reach an agreement with my family to settle the blood debt. To
Example through money or gifts. This is a beautiful place.
you'll hang here, you'll have loopholes. can hardly peek out, that is of course really bitter. Well, I mean, if you've killed someone. maybe you've already done a few things before, maybe not quite right in life, but it still sucks. It's a little creepy, this tower, isn't it? I mean, that there really is a
for all this time, to wait for their families
settle their quarrels, bit creepy somehow. But fortunately the tower is only used for tourism today. Both the church and the Blood Avenger Tower are very easy to hike. So you don't have to be a super athlete,
to have fun here. However, surefootedness is already
pretty important, and the way to the Grunas waterfall is always worth it. It's crazy, actually, or that it's the
People so fascinated when water from of a great height. But there's nothing you can do about it, I think it's just amazingly beautiful and here at this Grunas waterfall Instagram has I never promised too much.
I actually think it's almost It's more beautiful when you experience it in person.
Just be careful! The stones are very slippery. Why do waterfalls always have to be so high? You can't get them all right. That'll have to do, won't it? After the souvenir photo at the waterfall we have to go again, because the weather outlook for the afternoon don't exactly look friendly, and
our shuttle to Shkodra is already waiting for us. And once again we have really
Luck with our planning. Once we over the pass, go outside
the world with weather technology. The return journey but also survived are
just in time for the thunderstorm in Shkodra ...and I've come back to you. Theth is just insane, really, so. if you like hiking and have some
Outdoor activities: highly recommended. The people are nice.
is great and we have a very very very I've seen an awful lot of it in a short time,
that is, if you spend a week or even two, there's still a lot to be done.
a lot to discover. Now, there's one more night.
here, in Shkodra, and I believe we have we deserve plenty of dinner. One last time we enjoy in Shkodra traditional Albanian delicacies:
grilled sheep's cheese, flatbread with Tomato, homemade bread and stuffed
Aubergines and a good portion Meat. For dessert, there's a kind of
Caramel cream and beer. Photo souvenir with our waiter Vitor included. The next morning we'll have a drink. Shared taxi from Shkodra to the airport in
Tirana to take our flight home. I've described Albania as a wonderful country. I got to know the country, the people.
enchanting, totally hospitable, as well as you can always imagine it, the food is great, the landscapes are great actually look even better than on
the photos, and you can see that the Tourism clearly on the rise here
is. But the Albanians see it in my Perception actually as very positive
and I hope that in the future. it evolves in such a way, also
remains positive, both for the tourists as well as for the Albanians themselves. That's it again for this time from lookslike from northern Albania. I hope you have
a little fun travelling with you and if you liked it, then subscribe
but our canal and leave a comment, and then next time we'll see each other.
again at lookslike!
