A beautiful day-trip from Tirana; the Cave and the village of Pellumbas

I have always been interested in caves and I have seen many, below you can read about my day trip to the cave and village of Pellumbas

Driving into Pellumbas brought a smile to my face. Just a half our drive from the busy and modern city Tirana and suddenly I find myself in a small village surrounded by beautiful nature and silence.

Pellumbas is a friendly village, near the Erzen River, with a view on some of the most stunning mountains. Up in those mountains you can find the Shpella e Zeze; the cave of Pellumbas. In this cave they found the skeletons of Cave Bears who, according to specialists, used to live there more than 10.000 years ago. Together with our guide Ilir Mati from Outdoor Albania we started the one-hour hike to the cave. Only the walk up was already worth the tour; the singing birds, the bright colors and warm smell of summer. The refreshing breeze that blew around the mountains made it perfect. The trail was very good as the Outdoor Albania Association, together with volunteers and the villagers, structured and signed the path one year ago (2009). Next to the path grew some deliciously smelling herbs that Ilir pointed out to us. While hiking he taught us more about nature, about how the mountains around were shaped, and why Albania has so many different kind of mountains.

When we arrived at the cave of Pelumbas we put on our headlamps and entered the dark hole, what an amazing experience! Usually when I visit cave there are many other visitors, and often places are enlightened. Here we were alone in complete darkness. The cave smelled like earth and I felt some healthy strain when we entered the dark cave. A cave always has something stirring and mysterious, especially when you just follow the small ray of light of your headlamp in the darkness. When we explored the cave I saw a bat sleeping upside down on the archway of the cave, and some amazing stalactite and stalagmite constructions. Ilir took me to a place where you can see the face of an old Albanian warrior created by stalactites and stalagmites. He told me his imaginary story that, whenever Albania is in real danger, this warrior will come to live, rise up from its place, and help Albania. I love these kinds of legends!

After hiking back to the village we sat down in a small village restaurant where they prepared a delicious lunch for us. The salad was fresh, the tomatoes tasted full and warm from the sun, and the spring union seemed to come fresh from the garden. There was a traditionally prepared chicken with lemon and we drank home-made dhalle, a drink made from yoghurt and a little water.
After a wonderful day we turned back to the busy but lovely city-life of Tirana; happy, full, and satisfied.