The Accursed Mountains: Exploring the Borderlands of Albania and Montenegro

Introduction

The lads at the landing were working hard as the ferry pulled in. Laden with cars from the city of Shkoder to the southwest, the boat would need to deposit its cargo safely at Fierze, in the northeastern section of the snaking Lake Koman. But this meant digging out a fresh landing site from the gravel at the lake side. As the boat dropped its ramp, the ferry terminal crew buried it with rubble on the shoreline, giving the cars a smooth – or, at least, a relatively smooth – route up onto dry land, and onto the tarmacked road beyond.

There is nothing unusual about this. It happens every day. The vehicles roll out eastwards from Shkoder as far as Koman and they are loaded up onto the ferry. Three hours later they arrive at Fierze, ready for their onward journey.

For the people of the Valbonë valley, or other parts of northeastern Albania, this is the most efficient connection with Shkoder. The only alternative is a rambling road route that would take the best part of a day. And yet, as the crow flies, Valbonë is less than one hundred kilometres from Albania’s second city. In contrast, Thethi – just twenty kilometres (twelve miles) west of Valbonë – is only two or three hours from Shkoder by road.

The reason for this discrepancy is the Accursed Mountains – a range of peaks that is both a blessing and, appropriately enough, a curse, for the region. Boasting views worthy of that fantastic name, this is a hiker’s paradise, and one of the unsung gems among Europe’s numerous mountain ranges.

Though it lags behind more popular hiking hotspots in France, Germany, Switzerland, and even Slovenia at the northern end of the Balkan Peninsula, it is beginning to bring in significant revenue for the country’s developing tourist industry. In a practical sense, though, the chain of tops stretching forty kilometres (twenty-five miles) from Maja Gosdines in the north to Maja Toplanës on the shore of Lake Koman in the south, form an impassable barrier – a real logistical headache for anyone living or working in northeastern Albania.