Skadar lies between the Skadar Lake and the rivers Kir, Drin and Buna. The border with Montenegro is only 34 kilometers away. The 2400 years old city has always been regional administrative center. Today Shkodra is Headquarters Bashkia (township) and capital of Qarks Shkodra.
For a long time the labeatian Kingdom was an eyesore for the Romans, when they started with the deployment of a Roman army in Illyria the first time in 229 BC. The first Illyrian war began, and Scodra itself and the Illyrian armies of Queen Teuta were defeated by the Romans. The labeatian Kingdom fell apart and the dynasty ruled over the area of the city. 168 BC it was conquered by the Romans and who interned King Genthius in Iguvium in Italy.
In some of our topics along the journeys along the Roman road system, the old, partly Greek or Roman names of the settlement areas of the tribes or settlement areas that have long since disappeared today also appear.
In our article about the Rozafa fortress, we had already mentioned the first settlement of the Illyrian tribes, which settled here in Shkodra in ancient times. The earliest traces of human settlement date back to the 2nd millennium BC, they were found south of today's town at Tepe and can be classified dating back to Bronze Age.
Our first stay in Shkodra already had surprised us because of the huge Lake Shkodra, the dams and rivers of the Drin, the Kir and the Buna not only with regard to the huge water surfaces but also the related ecosystems.
When two people celebrate wedding, this is always a special event, not only for the two main participants. Family and friends usually enjoy it at least too, it is celebrated, danced and laughed.
It was early afternoon when we talked with the operators of the Legjenda campsite about the Ottoman bridge Ura e Mesit, which ended spontaneously in the approach to the bridge.
In and around Shkodra, the Albanian habitual right, often referred to as Kanun, was revived with the beginning of the 1990s together with the decline of the dictatorship of Envar Hoxha.
If you are traveling from Montenegro to the second largest city of Albania called Shkodra as a mobile home camper, you will inevitably encounter the outflow of the Lake Skutari, which is called Buna.
Almost as before, the preparations for many camping and vehicle exhibitors, travel agencies and other participants have already been completed, as the start of the trade fair will start soon (14 - 22 January 2017) in Stuttgart.
"The place of testimony and remembrance," as the Museum of Communist Crimes in Albania is described, crime committed and held by the dictator Enver Hoxha, which is in Shkoder too because of so many victims of the communistic regime from here.
The next day at Legjenda Camping should bring another surprise for us, because Linda and Franc invited us to a special boat trip to Shurdhah Island (Albanian: Ishulli i Shurdhahit).
There is no doubt that the city tour through Shkodra shows the influence of the Ottomans, which is not only evident in the numerous mosques.
Kelmend, the northernmost part of the Albanian Alps, is mainly formed by two valleys: the deeply cut valley of Cem and the valley of Vermosh in the northernmost tip of Albania.
The "Peaks of the Balkans" hiking trail is a 192 kilometer long hiking trail in the Prokletije mountains, also known as the Albanian Alps. For practiced long-distance travelers, this trail leads of about ten day stages through Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro.
Indicated already during the first 100 meters of the ascent into the Valbona valley, in spite of the foggy weather in the late autumn now, what a splendor of autumn colors would still await us in the further course of the valley.
About two hours we had already crossed the mountain valleys and canyons until we ended up in Fierze, a small village in the north at the end of the Koman dam.
The ferry trip over the Koman Lake (Albanian: Liqeni i Komanit) usually takes about two and a half hours and is increasingly popular among tourists because of the passages between the high rock faces and the narrow gorges of the Albanian Alps.
Several travelers and campers had already told us about the gorges and the lake at the Koman dam, which is said to contribute to the indescribable character of its nature, due to its length and narrowness.
After some explorations in the city of Shkodra and the surrounding areas, we also wanted to have a check at the Adriatic beach in the coastal area, especially as the sun started laughing again in the cloudless sky.
After our tour to the Ottoman bridge Ura e Mesit, we had continued along the river for a few kilometers and had quickly reached a valley between the foothills of the Albanian Alps, which in recent years have increasingly established themselves as an attraction for mountain hikers.
After a few days of mostly cloudy skies with light rain showers, the sun is back, so we prepare ourselves for further excursions around Lake Skutari and, after a brief consultation with the hosts of the Campsite Legjenda, also on the lake, the largest of the Balkan Peninsula.