A once incredibly remote Albanian village, now easily accessible in two hours from Shkoder, Theth is a popular gateway to the stunning Albanian Alps. The drive there gives a good idea of what is in store, and though the road is sealed, it is very winding.

I stayed at Guesthouse Polia, one of the many guesthouses in the Theth Valley. Tourism has definitely arrived here, with the Theth to Valbona hike the most popular one day hike in Albania. The guesthouse had fast wifi, ensuite bathrooms with hot showers, and tasty food.

It also had expansive views up and down the valley.

Next to the guesthouse was the photogenic Theth Catholic Church.

I walked up the valley, along some pretty serious river infrastructure. It must get a lot of snowmelt in the spring.

A local was bringing her goats up the track, but stopped to see if I would be interested in buying anything from her.

More enterprising locals had built some rather precarious looking bars by and above the river.

There appeared to be people sleeping inside this van with no wheels…

This bridge looked a little dodgy, and got worse as I crossed and saw the increasing number of gaps in the planks…

This rather beautiful traditional house was offering food, drinks, and camping spots.

I headed to the scenic 25m high Grunas Waterfall, enjoying the cool spray on an unusually hot day in mid June, over 30C.

Returning I came across this frog.

Which I was so busy photographing that I barely noticed these cows approaching for a drink.

There is some pretty epic scenery here.

The heat was exhausting, but made sitting in the river a wonderful experience to cool down on the walk back.