Thursday 13 June

 A rude awakening with an alarm at 5.30am. We board a minibus filled with fellow hikers for a 2 hour journey to Lake Koman. The road is incredibly rough and damaged at times so progress is slow. The ferry port far from being a remote idyll seems to be humming with cars, buses, boats and people. Our ferry is small and there are no seats left by the time we get on. We stand outside and occasionally sit on the deck. It’s hot but there’s a nice breeze. We pass through dramatic gorge like scenery at the foot of the Albanian Alps which is very beautiful. The ferry stops every now and then to drop off supplies and sometimes people to remote settlements near the water. After 3 hours we arrive for another bus transfer, a lunch stop and then more driving. We wonder when we will ever start walking! We talk to a Dutch couple from Utrecht and an English couple from Yorkshire who came all the way here by train and ferry!

At about 2pm we actually start hiking. An undulating warm up route following the Valbona river upstream. Stunning scenery and clear glacial river water. We stop for a dip. More of a paddle and a splash really but it is lovely to cool down. We arrive at our guest house in good time for a welcome beer. It’s much cooler here at 800metres. We’re the only ones from our bus staying here and everyone sounds Danish or Scandi of some sort. Tomorrow we head up into the mountains and the real adventure finally begins.