Photos from Our World
 |
 |
 |
Valbona, a mountain village in the far north of Albania
The mountain village of Valbona (or Valbonë when in a sentence with a preposition as in "to", "in" or "from Valbona"), in the Albanian Alps (Alpet Shqiptare) lies in the valley of the Valbona river, only a few kilometres from the border with Montenegro, formed by the Prokletije mountains. It used to be a village of around 1,500 people, with an attractive hotel, but this was all in ruins after the disturbances following the fall of the communist dictatorship in the early nineties. There was absolute anarchy here in 1997 when the village was largely destroyed. Now there are very few people, on farms around here. But it is a stunningly beautiful place; the river Valbona, Lumi i Valbonës, probably the clearest in all Albania, has its source in the mountains near here, around Rrogami, and there are wild mountains all around, some still with snow on the peaks in midsummer. This is the real wild tribal area of Albania, its people fiercely loyal to each other and obeying none but the ancient Kanun of Dukagjin, the Highland Law of northern Albania and Kosovo, with its emphasis on honour and, more notoriously, its blood feuds that could last for centuries.
A dirt road that leads along the narrow Valbona river for 22 km from Bajram Curri finishes here, but a track could be followed through the riverbed to Rrogami and on to the village of Thethi to the west. These are truly the wildest Balkans, closed to outsiders for years but now offering great possibilities for adventurous travel.
 View from Valbona
|
 Valbona farm houses
|
 Prokletije mountains
|
 Valbona river valley
|
 Village of Valbona
|
 Valbona village
|
 Farm house in Valbona
|
 Farm near Valbona
|
 Bunker in Valbona
|
 Farm view
|
 Ruined hotel, Valbona
|
 The Valbona river
|
 Smashed hotel and bunker
|
 Ruins in Valbona
|
 Farm house near Valbona
|
Custom Search
|
 |