The Cursed Mountains

Vusanje, Ropojana, Gusinje, Prokletije, Bjeshket e Nemuna

The village of Vusanje in the spectacular Ropojana Valley, Montenegro.

Forming a natural border between Montenegro and Albania is a jagged spine of mountains called the Prokletije in Montenegran and the Bjeshkët e Namuna in Albanian. Both names translate to “cursed mountains”, likely due to their foreboding vertical spires, deep winter snows, and inhospitable ruggedness. These are the biggest and burliest mountains in the Balkans, but despite their grandeur remain relatively unknown and surprisingly undeveloped. In late July we spent 5 days trekking a loop route through the heart of the range, mostly camping and sometimes staying in Albanian villages along the route.

After jumping through a series of bureaucratic hoops at the police station in the nearby town of Plav in order to document our proposed border crossing into Albania, we started hiking from the village of Vusanje, near the town of Gusinje in a far southern corner of Montenegro.

cave, hiking, Prokletije, Bjeshket e Nemuna

View from a cave entrance high in the Prokletije.

The “cursed mountains” lived up to their name in one respect, which was the oftentimes oppressive heat during the day. This big cave entrance provided a brief respite, with a chilly breeze blowing out from its depths. During the hike up here we met a Serbian caver who has explored this cave numerous times in the past and was back again with a group of friends to explore and chart even further.

Albania,Maja Jezerce,Bjeshkët e Namuna, Prokletije
Maja Jezerce Sunrise : Prints Available

Maja Jezerce (2694 m / 8839 ft.) is the highest mountain in Albania.

For our first night we camped up on Qafa e Prosllopit, a high pass right at the border between Montenegro and Albania. After an evening spent huddling in the tent with lightning and thunder booming around, my inner masochist convinced us to wake up in the middle of the night to hike up Zla Kolata before sunrise.

At 2534 m, Zla Kolata (aka Kollata e Keqe) is technically the tallest mountain in Montenegro; 12 meters taller than Bobotov Kuk, which is generally considered to be Montenegro’s tallest peak. Why does Bobotov get all the love, when it’s not even the highest? First of all, Bobotov Kuk is indeed the tallest Montenegrin peak that is completely within Montenegro territory; Zla Kolata is right on the border so shares its summit with Albania. But once we hiked up Zla Kolata, I realized perhaps the real unspoken reason why Zla Kolata gets no fame: while Bobotov Kuk is a beautiful, striking peak and the crown jewel of the beloved Durmitor National Park, Zla Kolata is actually just a fairly nondescript summit overshadowed by a plethora taller and more spectacular neighboring mountains just over the border in Albania. So it just wouldn’t be fitting for Montenegrins to pride themselves on such an unremarkable “bump” surrounded by taller giants!

Albania,Bjeshkët e Namuna,Prokletije,Valbona, panorama, sunrise
Sunrise Above Valbona : Prints Available

Sunrise light shines into the Valbona valley and the Bjeshkët e Namuna (Prokletije) mountains, as seen from Podi e Kollates (2556 m).  

Despite the obscurity of Zla Kolata itself, it’s part of a high plateau that offers incredible views of the surrounding mountains as well as a jaw-dropping overlook into the 1600+ meter (5,000+ feet) deep Valbona valley, where we would be hiking down to later this day.

Albania,Maja Jezerce,Bjeshkët e Namuna,Prokletije,wildflowers, Kollata e Keqe, Zla Kolata
Maja Jezerce Wildflowers : Prints Available

Maja Jezerce and the Bjeshkët e Namuna (Prokletije) mountains rise behind a high meadow plateau near Kollata e Keqe (Zla Kolata) – July.

Albania, Europe, Prokletije, Bjeshkët e Namuna
Grassy Steps : Prints Available

A long walk down from our pass took us into the valley of Valbona in Albania. Here we pitched our tent in the grass at an idyllic campground that even had its own spring-fed creek complete with stocked fish for dinner! We kicked off our boots and enjoyed a tasty feast and a delicious bottle of Vranac! We earned it that day.

Remnants of a feast in Valbona.
Remnants of a feast in Valbona.
Albania, Europe, Prokletije, Valbona, wildflowers, Bjeshkët e Namuna
Flower in the Dew : Prints Available

Albania, Europe, Prokletije, Valbona, hiking, Bjeshkët e Namuna

Walking down the road out of Valbona, heading for a high pass over to Thethi.

A recently paved access road and a push for tourism is quickly transforming this traditional shepherds’ valley into a more popular destination. The direction of development seems unclear, which became apparent even as we descended into the valley and could hear the thumping of techno music blasting from a party thrown by the Albanian Mountain Club of all people. The party bumped long into the night, including even a set of enormous spotlights spinning around illuminating the mountain walls. At 1:30 in the morning once the band finished playing, a gang of motorbikers felt obliged to rev their motors for half an hour, no doubt scaring the crap out of every animal in the valley. Quite an odd way for a mountain club to celebrate their love of nature if you ask me. But you didn’t ask me, I’m just another tourist after all. But I do hope that the people of Valbona can find a balance of increasing tourist traffic while still retaining the traditional atmosphere of the valley.

Valbona, Prokletije, Bjeshket e Nemuna, hiking

Walking out of the Valbona Valley, Albania.

In the morning we walked out of Valbona, up the valley, and over the Qafa e Valbones mountain pass towards the next village of Thethi.

Albania, Europe, Prokletije, Valbona, hiking, Bjeshkët e Namuna

Hiking through the forest in the Valbona valley.

Albania, Qafa e Valbones, Bjeshkët e Namuna, Prokletije, Valbona

Rainy and thundery weather up on the Qafa e Valbones pass high above the Valbona valley.

As we neared the pass, the clouds got thicker and darker, and sure enough the rain started falling and thunder started booming. We ducked down and did our best speed-walking to get over the pass before all hell broke loose!

Albania, Qafa e Valbones, Prokletije, Bjeshkët e Namuna, Thethi

Misty mountain near Qafa e Valbones, the pass between Valbona and Thethi.

Thethi, Albania, Prokletije, Bjeshket e Nemuna

In the Prokletije (and most mountains along the Dinaric Alps for that matter) water can be scarce. The karstic limestone and dolomite rock of these ranges is full of cracks and caves that drain all the surface water, so permanent lakes and streams are a rarity. Most water must be collected at natural springs. In Albania sometimes at these spring locations you’d find little remote cafes that chill sodas and beers in the buckets of spring water to quench the thirst of weary hikers. After our hurried crossing of the mountain pass in a thunderstorm, we were quite relieved to take a load off here!

Albania, Europe, Prokletije, forest, Bjeshkët e Namuna

Hiking through the forest down towards Thethi.

Thethi, Albania, Prokletije, Bjeshket e Nemuna

Walking along a path in the village of Thethi, Albania.

Thethi is another traditional Albanian village in a deep, remote valley. There’s no paved road here (yet) and although more trekking lodges are popping up, the village still retains an almost completely traditional atmosphere. We stayed in a woman’s home in the village; she grew all her own crops, milked her own cows, made her own cheese, even made her own rakji spirits with grapes strung along her terrace.

Albania,Bjeshkët e Namuna, Prokletije,Thethi,church
Church of Thethi : Prints Available

The church in the center of Thethi village.

Thethi, Albania, Prokletije, Bjeshket e Nemuna

Church in the village of Thethi, Albania.

Albania, bunker, Prokletije, Bjeshkët e Namuna

One of the many old hidden Albanian bunkers scattered in the mountainsides near the border of Albania and Montenegro.

Our fourth day of hiking took us from Thethi over another big pass, across the border, and back into Montenegro.

Karanfili,Liqeni Geshtares,Montenegro,Prokletije,wildflowers
Jezerce Spires : Prints Available

Vast fields of little yellow wildflowers adorn the dried Liqeni Geshtares lakebed below the jagged spires of Karanfili. The spot is just a few meters from the border of Montenegro and Albania.

On this last day of hiking the heat was especially oppressive. We missed a few springs on our way down into Montenegro and were facing another extra few hours of hiking in the dark to the next spring when we miraculously came upon a friendly Austrian couple who were camping out in their camper truck; they graciously offered us a big 6-liter bottle of water, a plate of freshly cooked veggies and cheese, and entertained us with anecdotes from their extensive world travels over the years. Our saviors! The next day they even gave us a ride back down the dirt road of the Ropojana valley back to our car in Gusinje, saving us many more hours of hiking in the heat. Perhaps these mountains aren’t so cursed after all…

Our Austrian Saviors
Our Austrian saviors! Bert — if you’re reading this, we lost your email address!

6 thoughts on “The Cursed Mountains

  1. Beautiful photos and a really good story. Its a shame that you went such a long way from home but didn’t actually visit my country Bulgaria, home of the Rila, Pirin, Rhodopi mountains, the Balkans which gave the name to the peninsula and last but not least, mount Musala, the undisputed, 2925m high, tallest peak of the whole region, Albania included! Sorry, couldn’t help that. Anyway, next time you plan a trip to Eastern Europe please plan a small detour. Happy hiking!

    1. Hello Djidji, thank you for your comment, and for correcting me about the highest mountain in the Balkans! I have fixed the error in my post. Also, I admit I was ignorant of the mountains in Bulgaria; after googling some images I agree that I absolutely must visit there someday!!! On this last trip we probably would not have had enough time anyways, but hopefully I can return someday to experience your beautiful mountains. My wife and I have already talked about hopefully someday doing a more extensive travel through eastern Europe.

  2. Hello! Thank you so much for your post! And the gorgeous photos! I am glad you enjoyed the magnificent beauty of my country(albanian/kosova). Quick correction its spelled Nemuna not Namuna. Hope you continue your travels! And keep posting 🙂

  3. these are very pretty mountains. i was a forest cop in king co wa and have driven many miles of logging roads and seen lots of garbage it is nice to see beautiful scenery with out the roads and garbage . what was the elevation of the valley;s you started from? and what months did you do this in and year? how much problem did you have with the government ?

    1. I visited Albania in June 2017. It is a gorgeous country with exceptional people. I have been part of a 35 people group and went everywhere in south Albania. We had an overnight in Llogora Pass which they call the mount of Zeus or Keraune mountains. I knew this name and wanted to absolutely visit the place and I am telling you the scenery is OUT of THIS WORLD.

      We purchased a week-long tour to northern Albania after the one in the south. Southern Albania is full of history, more than 7,000 years of history and beautiful nature too. North Albania is about Alps and scenery.

      FYI we purchased the tours from http://www.apollon-tours.com

      I know Valbona and Theth too but visited Vermosh and Razem too. Albania is clean, pure and with a lot of character. Everyone is after Austria and Switzerland but this country is so so exceptional because of the people too.

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