The Road Out of Theth

Today, we woke up to a rainy and cloudy Theth. I had initially thought the weather would take away from the experience, but somehow, it seemed to add to it. A light drizzle settled over the valley, while clouds covered the mountain tops, making the whole place feel like something out of a storybook. It was so beautiful that I sat out on the steps for a good 30 minutes just taking it all in. Lewis, however, had a much less enjoyable morning. He had woken up incredibly sick after spending the night vomiting and shitting himself. We tried to work out what might have caused it, but I had drunk everything he drank and eaten everything he ate. Whatever it was, I had somehow managed to dodge sickness yet again. There is some sort of guardian angel looking over me.

Lewis had originally planned to stay another night in Theth and do the Blue Eye, a short hike away, but between his sickness and the weather, those plans quickly changed. He decided to join us on the journey back to Shkodër instead. The bus that was supposed to arrive at 11 a.m., however, didn't show up until 2 p.m., resulting in several hours of very boring waiting around. While we were enjoying the rainy Theth experience, it was pretty clear that the weather was making it difficult for the buses to get in and out of town. At least, that was the theory.

When the bus finally arrived, it turned out to be one man in a very banged-up old van who had apparently come specifically for the three of us. He didn't pick anyone up from the other guesthouse, which made us think they had simply forgotten about us and sent this random guy just for the three of us. We eventually found out that the bus that had arrived to pick up the others had also been late, got bogged, and then eventually broke down. So, it wasn't exactly smooth sailing for anyone. Still, I maintain that they forgot about us.

Unfortunately, our relief didn't last long when the old man finally arrived in his battered old van. The vehicle did not look particularly suitable for the roads we were about to take, but we had very little choice other than to get in. Because I was still pretty tired, I laid down across the seats, taking advantage of the fact that there were only three of us. Apparently, this was a blessing in disguise. The old man nearly drove us off the road on multiple occasions, but thankfully I was completely blissfully unaware of this until we arrived.

We eventually collected our bags and started walking towards our accommodation. It was a bit of a trek, but eventually we arrived and prepared to park up for the night. Our accommodation was next to an old, abandoned train track with a surprisingly large number of goats wandering around.

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