According to the BBC, the site is believed to be the oldest known lakeside palafit (pile-dwelling) settlement in Europe, with evidence suggesting that a community of hunters and early farmers lived there as far back as 8,000 years ago.

PM Rama noted that Albanian and Swiss archaeologists, interviewed by the BBC, continue daily work on the site, diving up to three meters deep to excavate the remains.

“So far, less than 1% of the settlement has been uncovered,” he said, adding that artifacts such as wood samples, bones, ceramics, and other materials have already been retrieved.

Experts from the University of Bern and the Albanian Institute of Archaeology estimate that the site was inhabited between 6000 and 2000 BCE, making it Europe’s earliest known pile-dwelling community.

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In the restaurant, the fire in the fireplace offered a spectacle. The flames crackled lightly, while shades of red, yellow or crimson gave way to each other.

“Good morning! How did you sleep? I hope you had a great time!” asked the girl who would serve us, while leaving the menu on the table in front of us.

“Good morning. Everything is just fine. We still have the good taste of the feast of the night before,” we answered while ordering a “traditional Albanian breakfast” as the inn managers had described it in the menu.

The traditional Albanian breakfast, next to the fireplace and the mountain outside the window on the other side, was way more delicious.

We set out on a journey to Theth, just 50 minutes away from the guesthouse in the village of Boge. The winding road had more twists and turns. The slope was incredibly steep. The sight before us was as magnificent as it was fascinating. Some white clouds sometimes appeared like a waterfall, which was about to slide down the mountain slope, and sometimes like the ashes of a centuries-old giant, which holds the secrets of the Albanian Alps inside it, which preserves the sound of the çifteli, traditional Albanian stringed music instrument, and fanatically protects the lute. The traditional stone towers, churches and typical buildings along the river were like a cradle between colossuses.

We set foot on the center of Theth. The characteristic church was packed with tourists. Some had chosen the adrenaline of the zip line, some off road motorbikes, while others had embarked on hiking to explore the area. We trusted the traditional and safer method of travel, “trekking”, and headed to the waterfall; two kilometres from the church, one kilometre from the Lock-in Tower (Kulla e Ngujimit). The trek was an adventure along the river that passes through Theth and stretches to the “blue eye”, which we would explore later.

On our way to the waterfall, we crossed a small plank bridge with red painted guardrails. The path was marked and it was not difficult to reach, while we met local and foreign tourists. A Swedish couple, who had chosen biking to traverse the path, soon came to the conclusion that they had to return to the “traditional” way of moving, on foot, since the path was no longer a dirt road, but a path where you could find grazing goats.

With the help of local residents, the couple secured the bikes and joined us. Michael Young told us that together with his lady they had made it to Theth by campervan and together had travelled through Europe from Sweden, to Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Shkodër. “Wonderful!” Young said. It is now November, but the sun shines as if it were summer. It’s warm, but also cool in the shade, just the right time to explore nature. We arrived here two days ago to explore the area after having been told this is a must-visit place. We will stay here for about three nights and then move on to Tirana and further south and Greece. We are on a Balkan tour.”

Young acknowledged he had heard about Albania through the media reports. “There is a lot of talk on the social media and tourism blogs. It is an important destination in Europe. We came to visit the country and we can say that what we have heard is true,” he added.

As we walked, Young told us that the target was the Theth-Valbona pass, which takes about 8-9 hours walk. “Maybe we’ll make it to the highest peak and come back or maybe just go out to Valbona and come back tomorrow. We will find out what local residents will advise us,” the Swede said.

We arrived at the waterfall. Everyone was seeking to take pictures, while the Swedes wasted no time, undressed and jumped into the water in bathing suits. “I am used to bathing in ice water. The water temperature here is eight degrees,” he said, looking at his smart watch. “It’s really fun to enjoy this water, this waterfall and the scenery around us,” Young said.

And in fact, the sight was indescribable. Water flowed from the height of the Alps into its interior. The dark blue color in the center faded towards the side. Crystal clear. He hid under the stones, some steep and some not, to find the way and continue down the slope, towards the valley. And as you saw the waterfall and then turned your head slightly, in front of you appeared an “endless” range of mountains, which gave way to each other.

The return was for “strong knees”, and great concentration, the downhill was not small to overcome, but we managed to return to the center of Theth, where we had left the car and drove back to Tirana.

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Some visit the area just for its food. That’s why local restaurants were full and we barely stood “calm” in the face of so many gastronomic delicacies.

Others headed to the thermal baths, whose popularity has spread not only across Northern Europe, but across Far Asia. Kayakers love the adrenaline of sailing along Vjosa River rapids. Along its 270-km stretch, Vjosa River flows naturally freely, and it is home to scenic landscape, stunning canyons with islands and bends that create almost surreal meanderings. A river described in the Greek Antiquity books, as well as during the Illyrian era; the last wild river in Europe.

As soon as you cross the Dragot Bridge, you start thinking like a poet from this area. Autumn has started to cast its magic all around. Standing over the Vjosa River, the bridge may be one of the most beautiful in Albania.

The bridge is also a significant point of reference in the history of Albanian engineering and architecture, as a crossover connecting Permet and Southeast Albania with the rest of the country.

The suspended metal truss and arched bridge features a very peculiar structure.

Its history dates back to 1936, when it was built by the Genoese firm ANASALDO, and was funded by the Albanian government. Apart from its engineering significance, the Dragot Bridge bears cultural relevance. This is why it has been declared a Category II Cultural Monument. The bridge is a rare piece of engineering technology that has withstood the test of time remarkably.

On the way to the town, one encounters down to earth and hardworking people, with amber kindness, exactly what we lack, who come from the capital’s tumultuous and harsh life.

Përmeti simply engulfs you in its peaceful atmosphere.

The Stone of the City

To Edith Durham, a huge boulder in the town of Permet “is the most beautiful in the world!” Geologists say that the rock was cut from Mount Dhëmbel. But legend has it differently: It is God’s stone. It descended as a gift from heaven to also give the name to the city.

“The feudal lord of the province Premti, who gave the name to the city, had built a castle on the Stone of the City. The castle has been razed down. The walls remain evidence to the legend. It was the end of the XIV century. Sultan Mehmet’s army invaded Ioannina. After Ioannina it was Përmet’s turn. Premti had died and the town’s feudal lord was his nephew, Gjergji, who had a daughter, Diestra, a young mother. One night the Turks arrived in the city. The lord was out of it. His daughter was alone in the castle. The Turks demanded the keys to the fortress and the handover of the girl. Diestra took the cradle of her infant son in her arms and jumped off the top of the cliff. At the foot of the City Stone, there is a smooth stone where Diestra land-crashed. On the stone one can see some marks: the baby’s hand or the lines of the cradle.” This is how the legend has it.

Twilight

Dusk starts to sweep down over the town and as the lights start to turn along the beautiful promenade, with grandparents being the first ones to go out for a walk. From time to time, they talk and laugh, and even scold their naughty grandchildren.

The wonderful scent of pines is the most rational companion during the entire walk. One can feel the absolutely positive vibe here.

Bënja

After a “gourmandizing” breakfast, from which not a single crumb was left out on the table, we headed to Bënjë.

Popular since Antiquity, the Bënjë thermal baths are warm natural sulphurous springs thrusting out from deep tectonic cracks. Everyone knows the 6 famous baths here: the skin bath, the stomach bath, the heart bath, the kidney bath and the priest bath. With irregular shapes, but their miraculous effects, the baths are described by researchers as incredible for their healing properties.

This means that even at the end of October dozens of cars park in the designated parking lot. “They stay here for 12 consecutive days, a local peddler, who sells oregano, as well as sage, wild apple, mountain tea, strawberry, wild blueberries, fresh chamomile, sturgeon flowers, special brandy, honey and freshly cracked hazelnuts. If you are mad about these gems that you usually find in the Albanian mountains, just stop by.

After taking a sip of local cornel raki – with cornel being really abundant this year – you dive into the so-called skin bath, which surrounds you with the vapors of thermal mineral water. In front of you magnificently stands the imposing Nemërçka Mountain. While you are sitting under the sulfur vapors, like the kings of ancient times, you look at the Kadiu Bridge. As always, a bit grumpy since all the visitors’ attention is on the thermal baths…

Also known as the Ottoman Bridge, the Kadiu Bridge is a Category I Cultural Monument. This bridge is a real beauty too.

Spanning the bubbling Langerica River, the bridge lies over a single elegant arc of stone with a span of 6.4 meters. The vault of the arc is 70 cm thick. The arc rests 7 cm on the lower arch in the bridge’s structure, where the stream’s narrowness and the fortress of the banks have been taken into account by building it in the narrowest part and resting on the stable rocky shores. The arch’s central part features four small columns of pumice stone.

The bridge was the only pass to connect Bënjë with the rest of the area around it.

With sulfur on the skin and some unique gliko preserve with me, we turn right as we leave the city behind. We drove for about 30 minutes on a gravel road stretching along green lawns all the way. Then the white domes gradually show up…

The Tekke of Baba Ali or the Tekke of Baba Abdullah, is a Bektashi shrine built 1857 as a peace and worship house. On the entrance gate you would find this inscription: “the Tekke of Baba Ali Alipostivan – 1857.”

The shrine complex buildings are white with green lines, while the domes shine under the October sun and stand like art temples on top of Alipostivan hill. The domes are nestled amidst magical natural landscapes at the foot of the Vjosa valley and the Nemërçka mountain.

Just like always in the past, people keep coming over here to find some peace, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and, of course, to come closer to God.

Other much revered clerics walked in the footsteps of Baba Ali, serving as an inspiration and guide for the Bektashi community and not only.

One of them is Baba Hekuran Nikollari, who has further elevated this amazing shrine through his humble work.

Baba Hekuran Nikollari’s door is open to anyone who needs it. His advice, calmly and directly articulated, is the peace you have been desperately seeking, as you arrive in this holy shrine.

An enviable cleanliness prevails here. This is because, in addition to Baba Hekuran, the workers who take care of the maintenance and operation of Tekke continue the blessed tradition of love that Baba Ali started.

That’s why these blessed buildings are actually more than a Tekke; they are the story of hope and humbleness, which only getting closer to God can bring.

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This groundbreaking archaeological discovery is of crucial importance. Not only for the archaeological findings and artifacts, which are expected to be displayed in the resort town of Pogradec and which will give a quality fresh impetus to development of archaeological tourism, but also for local residents. Nowadays they engage in subsistence fishing activity and agriculture, development of which – according to researchers – “is one of the earliest evidence to agricultural practices in Europe.”

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Who hasn’t been impressed by the scenic beauty of the Lin village as you catch the sight while you drive along the road winding down from Qafe-Thane to Pogradec. Houses look like lovely and colourful tiny boxes from the distance, gently sitting at the foot of the hill, the adjacent cultivated land areas and the Lake Ohrid itself, with its light-induced water colours changing in different shades, are all breathtaking views.

The locals are calm and hospitable people.

Vaide and Avram Shegan haven’t left Lin. We love so much this place – they say. “This is where our parents and forefathers rest and this is where we will die.”

After welcoming us with a glass of home-made raki, we find out that Avram has once been working as rail controller. However, he says he has contributed to the railway’s construction back in the distant year 1976. He recalls excessive hard work, but also the modest life they lead back then.

Now retired, they have both turned to farming. They grow onions, potatoes, beans and seasonal vegetables. The housewife makes pickles, jam and gliko or preserves at home, while Avram also makes some raki and wine.

Vaide is sitting on the side of the makeshift stand at the door of their house. Dean Weinberg, a tourist from North Carolina, walks by. Vaide takes him “to a tour” to her modest farm. She shows him tomatoes, peppers, green beans, vines and grapes. And finally, the lake.

Dean thanks her profusely, takes a picture with her, and hastens up to the Mosaic. “Don’t forget to send me the photo,” Dean asks us. His story is almost just like the story of every foreign tourist visiting our country: after hearing a lot of stories about Albania, he decided right away to visit this much-talked-about country. And he had found it really fascinating.

We assure Dean that we will send him the photo.

“There are many foreign visitors, my daughter. You just need to see the buses stopping here; dozens a day. Here, they come to visit the lake and then the Mosaic. Now and then they buy pickle or jam, as well as raki and wine, which are really good ones. They then head to the restaurants up on the hill to eat. There are a number of restaurants, good ones – they say. I am not a restaurant-goer since I am very busy and I don’t have strong legs to climb the hill, yet the restaurants are good ones.”

We arrive at the Mosaic of Lin. The site has been opened to the public for several years now and, since then, the hill, where the 700-year old mosaic is located, has been visited by tens of thousands of local and foreign tourists. The Paleochristian basilica of Lin was first unearthed in 1967 by an expedition composed of local museum staff in Pogradec. However, it took the excavations a year later for the mosaic to be completely unearthed in 1968. Since 1973, this important cultural heritage site has been declared a first category monument of culture.

The centre of the mosaic features the shape of a baptismal font with a unique shape of a four-leafed flower, once covered with marble tiles. The pergola motif is dominant and impressive.

After taking some pictures, we ask the mosaic keeper abruptly about the number of visitors to the site in June. “Let me count them” – he said briefly retreating under the shade. He took out an old notebook and started counting visitors and the days when they visited the mosaic. “The notes show 1094 visitors. Not bad at all, isn’t it, considering that they have to walk all the way up here amid the scorching heat that has hit this area too. However, it is really cool in the evening. All those accommodated at the hotels on the hill have expressed their best impressions.

At only five minutes walking distance from the mosaic you arrive in “Guesthouse Helga”, one of the recently opened hotels in Lin, an ideal place to spend unforgettable moments.

A carefully-built stone structure, freshly mowed grass carpets everywhere, fragrant roses and idyllic landscapes. The emerald blue lake tempts you throughout your stay here.

Adventure lovers, in addition to history, can enjoy exploring the area by boat, hiking the surrounding hills and, of course, diving into the fresh lake water. All this can happen in just 10 minutes around “Guesthouse Helga” and it would take everyone just asking for help at the 24/7 hotel reception.

Helga, woman of the house, told us that many tourists visit Lin and the Mosaic on a day trip, yet only spending a few nights there would allow them to really enjoy the area’s peaceful and sustainable lifestyle. A group of young women, who were sipping on a fresh plum juice made by the hostess of the hotel, were ready to very elegantly answer that they had come from Tirana because of their friend who lives in France, who had booked here since January. “Booking a room at this hotel is not an easy feat and therefore we rushed to book early.” Another hotel guest, a Danish tourist, happened to be a writer. “Here I wrote some fantastic poems”, she said. “I don’t know, but there is a human feel, a detail I have to explore in my writings. Plus fantastic food”.

Here you can really enjoy the traditional “lakrori” pie, doughnuts, organic salads, goat cheese, fresh brown trout (Alb. Koran) and excellent local wine and raki. Lin’s taste would have been meaningless without this evidence of tradition that “Guesthouse Helga” has turned into a real art.

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Prime Minister Edi Rams shared Sunday the story by the leading French TV channel, saying that the francophone audience has picked out the most crystal-clear example of a colossal transformation that has taken place in Albania.

“A nice surprise on one of the most –watched TV channels in France, namely TF1 that in just five minutes let the Francophone audience know all the enchantment of Gjirokaster, whose alleys are buzzing with visitors this early summer, in an impressive journey from the legend of Argjiro to the culinary, natural and cultural tourism in the area, as the best example of the colossal transformation that has taken place over these years,” PM Rama said.

The museum stone city of Gjirokaster, a UNESCO World Heritage site in southern Albania, hosted the National Folklore Festival this week, one of Albania’s most important cultural events.

The weeklong festival was a celebration and showcase of traditional costumes, dance, music and songs from all of Albania’s regions, Albanian communities in other Balkan countries, as well as the diaspora.

Gjirokaster is a very important historical and cultural city known for its extensive use of stone in building the houses, which resemble small fortresses, and cobblestone streets, which is how it got the name “The City of Stone”.

The old citadel and the domineering 4th century castle and fortress grant Gjirokaster the UNESCO World Heritage Site status because it’s a rare and wonderful example of a very well-preserved Ottoman town. And it’s one of the prettiest towns in Albania.

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