Wednesday 12 June

 Yoghurt and fruit in the courtyard / drive of the hotel and then we wait for our taxi transfer. We talk to a couple from Norfolk who have just completed the Valbone Valley route and are envious 🥴 of our mountainous option. There is a delay and then we are briefed and given GPS and emergency burner phones and more detailed instructions. Our taxi ride is terrifying. The electric car has incredible acceleration which is used in abundance in traffic queues, short cuts and on main roads. I’m in the back sandwiched between the warm sweaty thighs of Simon and a slim elderly Dutchman. White knuckled does not quite describe it! We do arrive safely in the even safer mutual knowledge that we do not want to hire a car here in Albania for the second part of this trip. On arrival in Shkodër we manage to cancel the hire arrangements and book taxis instead. 

We wander the streets of Shkodër seeing mosques and Catholic Cathedrals before supper in the courtyard of our hotel. Very authentic and popular with live music that is still going on! We have a 6.15am pick up tomorrow as we get closer to starting our walk!