Theth is a small settlement of the Shala Valley in the northern Albanian Alps. As the crow flies, it is not far from the coastal town of Shkodra, but in reality it is a world away. Getting there involves crossing a high mountain pass on a twisty road. Heavy snow blocks the pass from October to May and leaves Theth in splendid isolation, sometimes for weeks on end. Though it is one of the remotest corners of Europe, Theth has never failed to attract visitors. Edith Durham was in her element when she visited the valley in 1908, as were the Austro-Hungarian scholars Karl Steinmetz and Baron Franz Nopcsa, and the American writer Rose Wilder Lane. During the long years of the Stalinist regime that isolated Albania from the rest of the world (1944-1991), few foreigners were allowed into the valley due to its proximity to the Montenegrin border. The region was severely depopulated in the 1990s and only a couple of families remained in Theth over the winter. Things have changed in the last
