Valbona and the Valbonë Valley National Park is absolutely worth the effort to get there.  The pictures above speak for themselves.  The trek is doable even for first timers, though there is a portion of the trek near to the Valbonë Pass where a wrong step may lead to slipping off trail. 

The transfer from Fierze took some 75 minutes, arriving at it stop point at the Fusha E Gjes Hotel, after dropping passengers at their respective lodgings in the valley.  My lodging was made through the host in Shkodër where the homestay owner was their relative and the rate would be affordable.   A Finnish Traveler by the name of Ville asked if he could join me at my homestay.  I had no issues but our host just was not there at the Hotel to pick us up.  We were lucky that we were allowed to use the internet at the hotel restaurant to establish communication with Shkoder, who helped informed the Lamthi homestay (most likely) about our arrival.  Our host, who didn’t speak a word of English finally picked us up at 1430hrs with a Mercedes Benz.  Upon checking in, he suggested through signing that we could do a hike behind the house up the hill to get a feel of the Valbona Valley.  I did the hike alone, as my newfound company was too tired to join me.

The hike was worth it and I felt like singing “The hills are alive with the sound of music.”  The scenery was so pretty that I felt light in my footsteps despite having been up since 0600hrs. 
We went to bed by 2100hrs after a rather relaxing dinner until the sky is too dark to remain seated in the patio.  We did not wake up until 0800hrs when the day is all warm and sunny.  By 0930hrs, our host had drove us out to the start point of the hike.  With the past 18hours disconnected, I felt the urge to check my emails and asked Ville to commence the walk first as I would catch up.  The emails took an hour or so and it was 1100hrs when I started the hike proper from the Fusha E Gjes Hotel.

I started out the walk fast and I had reached Rrogam by 1200hrs.  However, in my haste, I went straight ahead instead of turning right up the trail, as there was no one else in front as I had overtaken everyone else.  I ended up at a waterfall where some locals were basking in the waters and the sunlight.  I asked them if there was a trail up, which they replied that they do not know of.  I backtracked once, went back to the waterfall again, and backtracked again further on the second time all the way to Rrogam.  This was well I finally saw the sign pointing to Theth.  By now I had lost another hour and it wouldn’t be possible to catch up with the Finnish.  I took the ascent at my own pace, taking lots and lots of photographs, and reminiscence the view of the waterfall from afar.  Entering the wooded portion of the ascent, there were many other hikers taking a break in the shade while I trodded up, heaving. At a clearing after the wooded portion, I can see many hikers ahead attempting a steeper ascent.  I finally reached the top at 1530hrs, marveling at the sight of the scenic mountains in the Valbona Valley.
At the pass of 1795m, one could even go slightly higher to 1815m.  The view to the Theth valley on the other side of the pass, paled in comparison.  Going downhill was also a painful ordeal in the seemingly unbroken pair of Salewa.  The path was neither too steep nor slippery, but it was just painful with each and every step.  I eventually reached the foot hills to the village of Theth at around 1900hrs, an extra hour on the descent compared to the time duration for the ascent. 

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