A day in the fresh air! I walked to the square and caught the local bus (65c) to near where the cable car departed.
Walked up the hill to the terminal and had a gondola to myself. The weather forecast had said rainy yesterday and fine today and they were right ✅. Amazing views back over Tirana the sprawling capital in one direction and then up the mountain, draped in autumn leaves in the other.
The cable car station at the top is modern, a funky hotel, putt putt, roller skating, quad bike rides, pony rides, giant bunnies!! And then a large map with some hikes.
The signage was very limited and I chose what I thought was a 1.5km hike but was 6kms return, straight up the mountain 😂. It was slow going as the trail had a slippery clay base, with loose rocks and all covered in a thick layer of autumn leaves and painted markings on the trees to follow. The forest spectacular in its autumn colours.
I reached the saddle between the two mountains and chose the left peak to Maja e Dajtit to continue my climb. Rewarding views of Tirana and the sea to the west and then mountain ranges, a lake and river Delta to the east. I saw and chatted to about a dozen or so walkers, from USA, Finland and Italy.
Retraced my steps to the hostel to collect my backpack and walk half an hour to the bus stop, local busses all full at peak hour but I eventually got on one to the long distance bus terminal. Last 2 buses to my destination today cancelled and a friendly Albanian student negotiated with the bus driver of another destination on my behalf to arrange a taxi at the other end to my hostel.
A quiet lovely hostel and a great tasting plate for dinner at a restaurant down the road in Shkodra.
Wonderful day in nature 😊
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