My adventure began in Albania"s capital at the Tirana Airport, where my guides (Mendi from Albania and Agon from Kosovo) from the tour company Zbulo greeted me with big smiles and introduced me to a dozen other hikers from Britain, Germany and New Zealand who formed our group. After a four-hour drive north, we arrived at Komani Lake, a vast emerald-green reservoir on the Drin River. To access the Accursed Mountains, we boarded a creaky, old ferry for a three-hour crossing to the Valbona Valley as eagles soared overhead.