In was a dead hot afternoon when I embarked on a journey through endless tobacco fields, dusty roads and mountain serpentines on the way to Theth.
Theth is a famous place attracting all sorts of hikers, climbers and adventurers. I would love to show you more from that mountain village, but I am sure there are plenty of reviews on that one. Instead what I will share with you is my rather hangovered trip on an old broken mountain bike. Temperatures reaching 40°C is (at least for me) a good sign of a day consisting of near water activities...
I wouldn't even have gone so far wouldn't it be for an empty river under the old Mesi Bridge. My plan to shake away beers and rakia from the night before with a little swim in cold mountain water started to look like a mission impossible.
Wouldn't it be me, if I didn't go that extra mile and kept going further into the desert like weather of an early August.
Having still something like a litre of water with me it was a no-brainer. I actually find pleasure in chalanges and uncomfort from time to time, so why the heck not. Let's go!
At first it looked like I am the only one going this direction and I felt a strong feeling of freedom.
Soon enough I have reached the river which actually turns into an underground one later on, hence the reason why I couldn't swim under that bridge. The access to water is rather poor and I am forced further. No biggy. My hangover is disappearing with each kilometer as I am swetting all those toxins out.
Soon enough I discover how popular this place is. Mainly between the locals and their old Italian scooters.
With every possible entry to the canyon, there was a kiosk of some sort and bunch of Albanians. You can imagine I didn't wanted to melt into that crowd. Albanians are really nice people, but sometimes one just feels it is not the best time and place to intervene in their space.
And so I was pushing my "Iron horse" further, squeezing the juice out of my bottle of water... And than I suddenly found it. Overgrown bush fence with a little entry just next to the road leading somewhere down. It turned out to be an absolute paradise.
I have went swimming naked without any fears. So out there and isolated place I just counting resist this temptation. And if you've ever tried that, you know it is well worth it.
Of course even here I have found traces of our civilisation. Handful of rubbish collected just on my way out of there is a reminder how important it is not to throw even a small cigarette tip down on the ground. Every little action helps at this point. I know the big players are to blame for other way, way worse events like oil spills or chemical leakage. But we don't have to make it works ourselves and we should make a good example for the generations to come. Or at least the one to come, than is all up to them anyway :)
All the best,
Global Local