A Trek Through the Mysterious Accursed Mountains

Springtime in northern Albania sparks the herding of goats from the lowlands up to the towering mountainsides. Follow Prek Gjoni and his 160 goats on a grueling four-day journey across the spectacular Valbona Valley, a land that seems to exist out of time. Read more: www.theatlantic.com/video/ind...
"Mountain" was directed by Grégoire Verbeke (www.gregoireverbeke.be). It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.
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[@konfusedkomet]

Shepherding is a profession from time immemorial. I know it’s hard to see animals be treated a certain way, but goats are notoriously stubborn. These people have traditions not based on a modern sense of right or wrong; they’re based on survival. As to the fact that it’s not narrated or explained ad nauseum, it’s a journey of two shepherds taking their herd of goats through the mountains to forage. Everyone knows what a grueling hike is like. Imagine doing it in the Alps and wearing what they’re wearing.

[@metigame1450]

Better than farm factories

[@jetonbalidemaj]

Him "mistreating" the goat seems to be more of a cult thing than animal abuse. After all we are Originally Pagan and our whole National thing is the cult of the Eagle...

[@aureliogj7966]

Albania is one of those hidden gems that is either misrepresented, misunderstood or completely unknown.

[@JamesLeithart]

As a creator that is currently working on trying to better the image of Albania and show it's beauty to the world... Thank you!

[@JamesHahnII]

This old man out here walking hundreds of miles in an argyle sweater, jacket, slacks, and dress shoes. Meanwhile I get winded going up a flight of stairs.

[@levelstothis4919]

The way they call out loudly and talk in the beginning and throughout the video gave me goosebumps. Unbiasedly being born in the states, living around and being around people from all sorts of cultures and backgrounds, there's just something about my people in the north..the voice of a northern Albanian mountaineer just strikes you in awe. Proud to be a Malesor! This was a beautiful video sir! Cheers.

[@ianmedium]

These guys hiking up and down mountains and not a sign of thousands of bucks worth of fancy hiking gear in sight that so many so called outdoor survival channels here on KZbin say are essential to survive!

[@balham456]

Among the problems of Albanians, obesity is not one of them. Nicely produced.

[@BruceLee-xp5fc]

It’s like the videographer is just creeping and watching the from a far

[@elianekeller8504]

10:52 What you're carrying in your bag there? -Oh just my newborn goat no biggie!

[@MyCatFooed]

Fantastic filmmaking!! Breathtaking shots were the highlight. Need the audio adjusted just before the end .... otherwise, this was just *brilliant!!!* Thank you to the creator & publisher!! Domari Nolo

[@BEhistoricStudios]

Its all fun and games until a flock of wolves start to show interest, when I was 27, we did a trek through the accursed mountains and as we were passing a valley, we split for some reason in two groups, we were 4 to beginning with and did not notice much of the local wild life until we cracked into two groups and deep into this valley, and cut of from the rest of the group we quickly discovered we were being followed by a group of curious grey wolves, well, after gearing up with sticks and stones litterally together with the other group member who luckily knew the road, we found ourselves being chased and running into this rocky steep hill and nearly freakin fell of the entire mountain several times, combined with super extreme weather and bad footwear, we barely got through the valley alive, knocked on a door where a dude basically sheltered us and made us soup until we had someone from the hotel complex to get us with the ATVs.

[@xhonibravo1340]

albania,most beatyfull country in europe

[@juniorrivera2336]

WHAT A GREAT VIDEO. I WHISHED IT WAS AN HOUR LONG 😟

[@splendorintherain]

What a beautiful thing to be able to experience. Thank you.

[@proletar-ian]

great footage 👌

[@mariosmalapetsas4045]

congratulations. an excellent film!!!

[@andyginterblues2961]

My family raised goats. Birthing the kids is a magical time.

[@karlinchina]

How often does the mother not take to her own baby?

[@rogerkaiser8691]

Last kidding time we ended up with 18 babies that had to be bottle fed every 4 hrs for 3 months. The 18 were out of approximately 75-80 does. Not all of those were due to mother abandonment , some were triplets (of which most does only can feed 2 properly) and a few from mothers that only produced milk enough for 1 kid or had only one functioning teat. The first few months kid can and will eat itself to death so without a mom, it is up to us to make sure they survive . Hope that answers your question.

[@andyginterblues2961]

@@karlinchina Very rarely did we have a doe who rejected a kid. Sometimes a doe would let a kid suckle that wasn't hers, and I think I recall that once one of our sheep let a kid suckle. Our goats were free- range, and very unconcerned as to which kid suckled on which doe. Unlike cattle or horses, baby goats will stand up on their legs shortly after birth and go straight for the teat. It's amazing to watch. We had one pygmy Nubian who birthed FOUR kids! It was a miracle, three survived. They just kept on coming out.

[@DanielKimRush]

The Atlantic has by far the best youtube content from a news publishers. Granted, it's probably not as "KZbin-y" like Vox but we have so much of that anyway... but they are seriously pieces of incredibly art and feel like proper proper docs. Thanks team.

[@DontcallmeaCuck]

Vox is terrible .

[@psadelachute363]

Don't worry, they turn on the light at 0:27. 🤔

[@omninulla9472]

Why are the mountains accursed?

[@gabegabriel9288]

Because they are mountains

[@ijonilisha]

They're inhospitable. Bjeshke means high pasture and not mountain.

[@AnthonyMonaghan]

Did you see how the old guy was walking? He does this every spring. I think he probably curses that journey every time he thinks about it.

[@arvanitase1832]

There is a book I read long time ago. Acc. to it, the mountains have been accursed by the Romans, because they couldn't conquer these lands (easily). They can be seen when one travells from Italy to Albania via ship.

[@horsingaround1276]

Because so many ghosts and jin existed there. I lived there with my family long ago and everyone who lived there had a ghost story

[@Ayorhin]

Why do I want more?!!!??!!

[@psy-lion]

9:56 hmm wtf?

[@MsCherade9]

Yeah... that's fucked up. But they are living a lifestyle 100 years before ours. It's difficult to judge the entirety of a culture by the one person you know?

[@coincollector542]

Animal abuse

[@dylon537]

Where the hell is PETA

[@MyCatFooed]

I'd suggest just observing -- not judging....

[@goldiegolderman1842]

@@MsCherade9 Yet you liberals do it all the time to Christians/Conservatives/Gun Owners/Republicans/White People/etc

[@outpostorange9580]

Some ASMR segments in here

[@arikasa4713]

👍♥️

[@wakememckinney7126]

Who’s the hound man. Cute

[@AEL231]

I love Albania! I just wish they would fix the stray dog population, it’s so sad.

[@tim..indeed]

No mentions of the recent earthquakes?

[@DinaricUbermensch]

The Albanian highlands

[@albanianlover1983]

Is this country in africa?

[@jroberts40]

No, its in the Balkan region inbetween Greece and Bosnia.

[@harit7421]

No it's in Bangladesh

[@kairosm5331]

There’s only like three comments

[@boyanatodorova9786]

Very interesting, aside from the animal abuse

[@besnikillyrian8520]

Do you eat meat ? So you are abusing an animal . Do you drink milk ? So its come from an abused goat wich is touched at her boobs 😂😂😂😂. True animal babuse happens at the farm factories

[@jennalee5967]

what language/dialect are they speaking?

[@layna8924]

ALBANIAN...IT'S ALBANIA...;)

[@Morgenstern505]

Theyre speaking gheg

[@horsingaround1276]

Northwestern gheg albanian. Almost Uninteligable to most lowland Albanians

[@metigame1450]

Gheg dialect Albanian language

[@DinaricUbermensch]

@@metigame1450 northwest

[@quitlife9279]

Good cinematic, but not much of a documentary.

[@jimboa20]

Why would you go on a long trek on foot if your shoe is busted?

[@pierregonnet1310]

It's called being poor.

[@jimboa20]

@@pierregonnet1310 ok, but again...why go on a trek on foot? It doesn't look like they're being paid to do it, so why do it? And if they are being paid, then why wouldn't you spend some of your pay on fixing or replacing your shoe? Walking on broken shoes for long periods of time permanently damages your feet and/or legs, which is infinitely more expensive than fixing/replacing a shoe. Plus, even in poor countries, shoes are still affordable, even to the poor. Even a cheap pair of tennis shoes is better to have than a broken one of the type he was using.

[@pierregonnet1310]

@@jimboa20 The only thing that I know, is that I know nothing.

[@layna8924]

THEY HAVE TO...THEY ARE SHEPHERDS...THAT'S THEIR WORK...;)

[@jimboa20]

@@layna8924 ok, then why doesn't he use some of his pay to fix or replace his damn shoe? Shoes ARE NOT that expensive, and protecting your feet is pretty damn important, especially if your job has you constantly on your feet