Travel Stories - Albania

"Koman" lake

introduction

It is just before six o'clock in the early morning when we leave our hotel and look for the stop where our bus (read: van) would take us to Fierze. But all we see, a bus is nowhere to be spot. Some people we ask tell whole stories where and when this stops, others tell us there is no van at all. Some people send us further into the valley, there suppose to be a busstop. Time is ticking and we are getting a bit nervous; aware that if there’s no bus we have to stay another day here. When it’s almost six we start to walk into the valley. We walk out of Bajram Curri and along the road. We start to put up our hand for a hitch but cars rush past us and are all full of probably workmen. Finally a van with a young boy stops - after a bit of a chat, he understands what we want - he says it is 2 kilometers to the intersection and we get in and throw our big bags in the back. It is certainly another 4 kilometers in my mind when we get off for a restaurant with plenty of cars in front of the door. Immediately someone comes out who offers to play taxi. We say we don’t want it, put our baggs next to the road and take a zip of water and wait.

Three boys are leaving the restaurant and stopping next to us - it is a black Opel Swing and the gentlemen offer to take us to Fierze. Our bags are crammed in the back and Pete is almost on my lap in the back. The young boy from the back shuffle over to his father's lap in the front. In about 15 to 20 minutes we drive to Fierze and we thank the men who have driven too far from the place where they should have stopped just for us. Here again is a large roundabout with a number of coffee tents that are already full of people. The only problem is that we still do not see a ferry or something that looks like it. On the bridge we see the river that we would soon have to sail, but no boat or harbor. Again we doubt whether we are here well and / or there is a boat. There is a van running past and the driver indicates that he is going to the port which is about 3 kilometers away. We jump in.

Departure from Fierze

The harbor is actually only of a small house where coffee is served, two berths with boats (and two ferry boats) and a part consisting of gravel that serves as a parking lot. A number of youngsters have camped here and are busy picking up their tents. When we arrive and order a cup of coffee because we are one and a half hours early. A very sweet dog sits wit hus. A few tourists with rental cars also show up and we wait together till we get on the boat. Just before we get on the boat it starts to rain and actually it does not stop anymore until we arrive in Koman. For the entire district of Tropojë in Kukës prefecture, the ferry across Lake Koman was the only designated connection with the rest of the country until 2010. We are with maybe 20 people on board and take place in a neat restaurant where we can see the valley through the big windows. The boat trip through the "Drina" valley should take 2 hours and sometimes goes through very narrow cliffs We spot very little other boat traffic. Small amount of birds and other animals but a lot of fog in the high mountains and lots of greenery but no jungle or forests. Also a lot of dirt and bottles in the water although it’s very clear. People go outside to take a photo but are back in a split second because the weather is so bad - especially a lot of rain. In 1970 a dam was built and electricity is still being generated. The lake, like the upstream Lake Fierz and the downstream Vau i Dejësmeer, is part of a large-scale hydroelectric system developed by the communist regime. It is almost eleven o'clock when we see a small built-in harbor (surrounded by high mountains) from the deck. When we come closer we see there is a small parking lot that stands full with motorbikes, vans and cars and there are plenty of tourists and local (tourists) to photograph the boat. There is also a restaurant and a sort of ticket office.

James Bond harbor (Koman)

When we set foot ashore we walk directly to the vans to ask which goes to Koman. We only hear Shkodra and ask the price. We have to pay 5 euros (700 Leke) for a ride of 2 hours which is far too much here in Albania. This must be a commercial ride. We also ask taxis that are not real taxis to drive to Skodra. The harbor really looks like a James Bond movie with a piece of gravel and a view of high mountains and a high dam and then a deep black tunnel. We start walking into the tunnel but walk straight back - it is pitch dark and we do not see the end. A man says that there is a village on the other side where we can take a "normal" bus and we risk it. It is really dark but in the middle of the tunnel a little bundle of light is on. Then we see the end of the tunnel and see at the beginning of the other side a guardhouse with two armed soldiers. The view gives a view of a large open area in a valley with a power station, some abandoned houses, the dam, a river, a field with crops, a bridge and some other industrial sites. Where is the van that the man was talking about? And where is the village? We start walking on a very poor asphalt road and there are some cars passing by that definitely have to rush if they want to meet the ferry. We are halfway down our way down into the valley when we stop a van for a hitch. What turns out is what people call "Koman" is that little harbor without anything. The man tells us he’s going to Skodra. We can come along and throw our bags on the car, which fortunately has a rain cover and we sit next to the man and are on our way.

Shkodra

The road is very bad and consists a numerous amount of bends and curves along mountains and hills with a view of lakes and rivers. Beautiful view, by the way. The journey takes and takes and I am happy when we arrive at the highway at a given moment connecting Tirana with Shkodra. Our driver stops at his house (it is about 14:00) or his workshop and we meet his mother who comes directly with two small glasses with homemade honey. Ten minutes later his wife comes with the landrover and they take us to the center. In Shkodra we go with someone who offers a room or apartment and we are happy that we made it – even before dark.

tips & advice (2015)

To get to the Koman Lake we first took a bus from Tirana to Bajram Churri (see POI Tirana); after having slept there for a night we were told that minibuses go to Fierze but we have never seen them (we hitchhiked instaed).

The ferry is docked about 3 km away from Fierze and should leave at 06:00, 09:00 and 13:00, but the latter turns out to be a big question mark. Buses depart from Fierze to the port of call - duration 15 minutes and 100 Leke costs. The ferry costs 300 Leke and that at 09:00 you can also get on with a car. The ferry ride takes 2 hours and arrives at the mini-port of Koman where taxis and commercial minibuses are waiting for you. For 700 Leke the latter brings you to Shkodra.

You can have a cup of coffee on both sides of the lake, but you can also order a sandwich or snack in Koman which is probably a lot cheaper. In Fierze there are some coffee houses with terraces.

Name: "Eurobushi" hotel ("Bajram Churri")

Address: near the police commissariat

Price: 2500 Leke (double)

Phone nr. : + 355 684032340

Content:

The hotel is situated next to another large hotel and is centrally located in the town. Within a minute you will be standing at the large roundabout which is the center of the poor city. There is a parking lot in front and some houses away. It looks really nice from the outside, marble stairs, wooden floors, a perfect breakfast room and / or restaurant room, but if you look a bit better, it is a bit disappointing. Nevertheless, the rooms are fine - there is soap, a towel, shampoo etc. available. In addition, there is WIFI, we had a spacious balcony, TV, tables, chairs and two clean neat beds. There should be some renavation done in the shower and the toilet in the corridor; windows did not lock, door could not lock, no shower curtain, water did not drain (whole floor 5 cm water), faucets did not work well and it was not really clean. Staff is friendly, a boy speaks good English but it was noisy and it seemed like the whole hotel until late moved chairs and furniture around. Our breakfast (included) was very scanty; old bread, jam, some cheese and a glass of water.