OCTOBER 6, 2012
If the previous three days on beach
and trail were not enough to fulfill my nature fix, the next two days would
meet that need tenfold.
To get to Thithe National Park
in Albania, my route require that I double back east to Shkoder, Albania where
I would reconnect with Chris from Australia and attempt to find passage north
through the park. The owner of the guest
house Chris was stayin in helped line up private for us. The first driver to show up wanted 50 euros
($70 USD) each way which was well above budget.
Thirty minutes later another option presented itself for 10 euros,
although it was the same driver as our first attempt and we were unclear what
was going on exactly. Basically, we
drove into this bumble fahk of an intersection in the center of the market
area. Then the driver left us with the
vehicle and disappeared.
The hustle and bustle
experienced in other old town markets was nothing compared to this place. Excepting perhaps Amsterdam, I have never
seen such a large portion of travelers on bicycles mixing with automobile
traffic. Some of these cyclists were
carrying massive amounts of goods with them – 50lb sacks of potatoes from the
market, pairs of full size dining chairs, small appliances, and on and on.
After half an hour of witnessing
this crazy scene, another stranger who knew essentially no English would
approach us dangling the keys to our vehicle.
Apparently we had a new driver.
Two days later after leaving his house, we would finally learn his name
to be Ded. But let’s not get too far ahead
of the story.
The drive to Thithe was
advertised as a four hour ride by faragone (bus-like 4wd group transport) or
three hour by an oversized 4 wheel drive vehicle, like a Land Rover. We did it in two hours and two minutes in a Kia. If you know me, you’ll know why I love the
name of the vehicle.
As a former Jeep and Subaru
owner, I’ve tested my off-road driving skills on more than one occasion. Yet, in all my time spent on and off road,
reaching trailheads in 30+ US states, I can only recall one route that compared
to what we travelled. And all we could
do was laugh when the driver took endless off-camber turns through piles of
rocks the size of volleyballs, all the while smoking cigs and texting.
And of course, the views were
spectacular.
Through the charade-like game
that most international traveller have become quite accustomed to playing, we
let our driver know we had no place to stay.
We rolled into Ded’s property and were shown our rooms. They were situation in immediately east of
the field where the pigs played, about an acre west of the sheep’s pasture,
directly above the modern bar built on the property, and towered in all
directions by huge mountains.
We were served an amazing home
cooked meal and a glass of raki, the Albanian version of moonshine that
provides an experience similar to drinking lighter fluid. With a full belly and burning throat, it was
off to bed. 
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