About an hour’s ride from Tirana is a mountain with a cable car, called Dahji (pronounced Die-tea). It’s a well-known attraction, with great views, but when we got here in June it was too hot, and it stayed that way through much of the summer, so we never went back. The cable car top station is 3400 feet above sea level, and we started from there, but mostly walked on flat surfaces. Our trail was actually an old Communist road that they used when Albania was afraid of attack, and the top was a good vantage point. I lost count of how many bomb shelters were up there, but it must have been challenging to build them since the “roads,” back then were probably dirt, and little more than car width wide.

After almost two weeks of incessant rain we finally got a break, 11 other local hikers who I brought together via a WhatsApp group, and me, enjoyed a great day after our shuttle ride to the top, and were blessed with clear, fresh—and chilly- mountain air. We’ll be here for about six more weekends, and there are a few more longish hikes I wanted to do before we left.

Of course pictures cannot convey the beauty of the mountain, but I’ll try.