Albania 2020
Rather than last year this project week was even more focused on finding the locations of the planed hydro power plants. Taking as much panoramas for easy comparison over the years was the goal.
Based on our experience last year, we decided to go straight to a certain guesthouse near Permet to do our tours from there. The first hours we drove through many remote valleys and forests. Until we reached our main destination of this trip - the Vijosa River.
The last part to our guesthouse followed the untamed Vijosa River downstream who didn’t wanna stop giving us incredible beautiful views on its riverbed.
Almost at our guesthouse we had to pass through the beautifully located town of Permet. It offers a cultural mix of Turkish, Italian and Russian influences and is surrounded by high forested mountains.
Since we are located uphill we can wake up or go to sleep with an astonishing view into the valley close to the town of Permet.
But by all this beauty we came across we should not forget why we are there. To help protect this natural and cultural beauty. So the next days we spend looking for several locations with planed hydro power dams. We took photos of the environment, panoramas of the valleys and interviewed the locals.
Due to some locals we found out that there is a remote village upstream who would be directly effected by a hydro power station wich is planed right there where you can see the bridge spanning from one riverbank to the other. So we decided to visit this village, named Kute, right away. The lack of sunlight that evening made us come back the next day but not just surprised us with astonishing views over the Kute village but also give us some great friendships.
The hospitality of the Albanians made it quite easy to get in touch with the villagers. I made the friendship witch some of the young men who live there. We quickly got along well - without speaking each other's language. Asking them for the favorite place in their village, lead us uphill.
Without knowing the language and where we would end up, it was an interesting walk with lots of conversations carried out via Google translator. But suddenly we stood on top of a mountain that dominated the village Kute and revealed an impressive view of the landscape wich surrounded us.
On top of the mountain these young men showed me not just their beautiful home but also their favorite game - football.
I told them for the very first time that a dam was planned downstream that might destroy their fields and livelihoods. As they replied with the Albanian national symbol, shaped with their hands, it was quite an emotional moment.
Even the walk back down in the village held up some stunning views for us. Nevertheless we enjoyed our trip to Kute we had to went back to the airport the next day to fly back home.
