Day 4: Approaching the Albanian Alps - Bogë

On day 4 we made our way towards the North to explore the cursed mountains. Also known as the Albanian Alps, this area is known for its untouched natural beauty, rocky peaks and crystal clear springs.

It was very difficult to reach and isolated until a few years ago. In fact, it took me 8 years of marriage and 4 trips to Albania to attempt an approach. However, in 2021 a new asfalt road was built all the way till Theth and even beyond, till Nderlusaj. Still, we were unsure what to expect, so we planned to reach only until Bogë the first day, which is a 3-hour and 150km drive from Durrës.

We were driving during the day so we wanted to stop for lunch on the way. The road takes through the towns of Lezhe and Shkoder, both offering plenty of restaurants. If you want something quicker with guaranteed parking, there are numerous restaurants just along the highway as well. Some of these places look very extravagant and completely misplaced in the middle of nowhere. We choose a small family-run place (Bar Restaurant Antoni) along the road and experienced authentic Albanian hospitality with simple traditional dishes and huge portions. I tried some kid (i.e. young goat) meat. Now I can tick it off from my bucket list, but won't go for it again: full of tiny bones, fat and other connecting tissue.

After our meal we quickly left civilisation behind and started our ascent to Bogë. I watched excitedly the unfolding landscape (rather: how the plaines are folding into mountains) through the windscreen.

We reached our accommodation, Boga Alpine Resort in the late afternoon, just on time for a short hike while the kids enjoyed the small pool at the resort.

The hike took us to the rocky slopes just above the village, starting on a dirt road at the resort entrance. We took more or less the path indicated in yellow in the satellite image. Our host explained our itinerary: climb up till the caves, turn left, walk till the trees and then come back down.

There were a few signs along the way but not enough to be sure which way to go. It is hard to get lost though as you can always look down and see the village. Also, a nice village dog decided to come and guide us. We did not always follow him but he turned out to be right all the time!

In any case, there turned out to be several ways to come down. Wikiloc has a few trails recorded in the area if you wish to follow one exactly.

Already after this short (1.5hour) hike I was convinced it was worth driving up to the mountains, even though Bogë is just the entrance of the national park!

They served dinner at our resort, with a few items on the menu, including meat, fish and vegetarian options. I choose a vegetable cream soup and a foil-baked trout that melted in my mouth - recommended!

Later on, the evening sky surprised us with some serious stargazing opportunity from our balcony (I wished we had packed our binoculars!!), before continuing the journey to Theth the next day.

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