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The journey to Theth
The second edition of “Zâ-Fest” stirred my desire to visit Theth. I had heard about the festival, but far more about the beauty of that part of the Alps, which I had yet to see.
Everything I had heard turned out to be more than true!
First, it should be said that Theth lies in the heart of the Alps, separated from the Valbona Valley by just one stretch of mountains, 1,700–1,800 metres high, around 200 metres higher than Dajti, called the Valbona Pass. When I managed to climb Jezerca, I covered only part of the Valbona–Theth trail, or crossing, an adventure not to be missed, one you absolutely have to try!
Theth is 177 kilometres from Tirana and can be reached in around 4 and a half hours, via Tirana–Shkodër–Koplik–Boga–Theth. The final stretch by car, from the Thora Pass to Theth National Park, was punishing. 17 kilometres of unimproved road that took more than 1 and a half hours to cover.
Still, once you arrived in Theth, you forgot that whole road. The panorama between the mountains was hypnotic. The valley is surrounded by some of the highest peaks in the Alps: Jezerca (2,694 m) to the northeast, Kakia Peak (2,357 m) and Boshi Peak (2,371 m) to the southeast, Biga e Gimajve (2,232 m) to the southwest and Radohima Peak to the northwest (2,568 m).
Because we set off on Friday afternoon, we could not catch the first night of the festival. But we still had Saturday ahead of us.
Ndërlysaj and the Blue Eye
So the first day of the weekend began with a drive of around 30 minutes to the southernmost village in the Theth area, Ndërlysaj, 8 km away.
The Theth River (which farther on, as it crosses the whole region and joins another river, is called the Shala River) had carved a fantastic canyon called Grunas Canyon. Farther on, in the village of Ndërlysaj, the Black River, flowing in from farther west, joined it. By following that latter river towards Kaprrej, we visited two of the most astonishing places in the Alps.
The Ndërlysaj Pools and the Black Pool, otherwise known as the Blue Eye of Theth.
The water’s erosion and the limestone had created an extraordinary sight, forming what were, in places, actual bathtubs of water.
After around 40 minutes of walking through endless greenery to the sound of the river, we reached the pearl of the Alps. Local residents had put the trail in good order and installed wooden resting places so visitors could enjoy as much as possible that small waterfall on the Black River and the well-like eye it formed just below.
I had also seen the Blue Eye in Sarandë, but I felt this one more deeply, perhaps because getting there gave me more time to take in nature, since it can only be reached on foot.
You could also swim and sunbathe at the Ndërlysaj Pools, and there were local restaurants nearby where you could have lunch.
An evening at Zâ-Fest
After visiting these places, we enjoyed the second night of “Zâ-Fest” that evening. We enjoyed the music of the duo Redi Hasa and Maria Mazzotta, Ema Andrea’s performances, Vlashent’s songs and, as the icing on the cake, Andrra. 
The atmosphere was fantastic. Beneath the stars and the crown of mountains, it made you feel wonderful.
For me, the real song was nature! We lost track of time. In fact, we had not looked at the clock at all when we found ourselves back at the guesthouse at around 2.
The church, the tower and Grunas Waterfall
The next day, Sunday, brought still more fantastic places.
We had seen it only at night, but in the morning we had a better look at Theth’s church, where a century earlier Father Shtjefën Gjeçovi had opened the area’s first Albanian-language school. 800 metres farther on, we visited the “Tower of Confinement”, which the Koçeku family’s heir preferred to call the “Tower of Reconciliation”, because its main function had been precisely to resolve various conflicts. He told us a great deal about the area, its customs and especially its former social order.
That time so misunderstood today, known only for its “blood feuds”. 
It was interesting to encounter testimony, in stone and in speech, to that order which Father Shtjefën Gjeçovi had recorded in writing around a century earlier… the Kanun, the customary code of Lekë Dukagjini.
We continued on…
But what most captured my heart with its fantastic natural beauty was Grunas Waterfall. Hidden among the greenery beside an extremely steep slope, it poured down water, fresh and plentiful, a wonder of nature. It was astonishing to see so many beautiful places so close to one another.
I left full of impressions and certain that the places I had visited were only one part of Theth, the heart of the Alps!