I crossed the pass from Valbona to Ses. It was a pleasant hike and not too difficult (↑1200m and ↓1400m over 10km). The only thing was that rain started in the last hundred meters or so, but it didn't ruin anything.

What surprised me was how many people were on the trail. In Valbona, it seemed like there weren't many tourists around—they were all scattered across the guesthouses. But in the morning, everyone headed out to hike together, plus there was a stream of people coming from the opposite direction, so it was pretty crowded at the pass.

Not all the hikers were properly prepared. I was especially impressed by two overweight guys who set off with just a half-liter bottle of water. They made it to the halfway point. I hope they managed the second half too.

If someone came with heavy luggage, you can hire horses to carry the bags. The animals are really worked hard—they load them up to the max, and often not even skillfully. I saw a load fall off one horse, and the handler had to quickly tie everything back on. Mostly they carry hiking backpacks. The hike isn't really difficult enough that you can't carry even a large backpack yourself. So there's no point in making the animals suffer like that.