Via Egnatia, Ancient Graves and the Trailhead of Guri i Zi

In the upper Shkumbin valley at a height of 1040 m near the village of Lower Selca no sign points to the monumental row of graves. Selce e poshtme is possibly the old city of Pelion of Illyrian king Cleitus, who was besieged there by Alexander the Great in 335 BC. The graves are hollowed out in a cliff in abandoned (mined) old quarries. The trail is a varied and engaging drive exploring the ancient grave sites, and the villages on the west side of the Shkumbin Valley up to the hikers' trailhead for Guri i Zi. A different return is suggested. The best of a day should be planned. The drive starts near the village of Golik. You may reach this point either coming from Qukes, on a poor dirt road, or more comfortably from Përrenjas, on asphalt. If in doubt how to reach the start of the drive, check out the trail "Pogradec to the Shkumbin Valley". At waypoint "left to graves", take an asphalt road to the village of Selcë e Poshtëme. When the asphalt stops, continue for a few hundred meter and park as indicated at the waypoint. The graves are a short walk up the hill. If your destination were the graves and you don't fancy much offroad driving, return from here the way you came. If you prefer to test your nerves, continue the dirt road down into the valley. If your aim is the trailhead of Guri i Zi and nothing else, you can skip the excursion to the graves (but it would be a pity). We recommend to drive the subsequent excursion in a clockwise direction. Going south from Proptisht, ignore the first turn to the right (this is where you will return). Take the next obvious road to the right (at waypoint right-3). At waypoint A, turn left. However, you can shorten the roundtrip by turning right here. The shortcut will get you to waypoint B on the opposite end of the loop. At waypoint "left to camp", you may turn left to the trailhead for Guri i Zi. This stretch of the road may be very difficult. If you don't plan to hike Guri i Zi, you may ignore this and continue straight to complete the loop back into the Shkumbin Valley. If you plan to hike Guri i Zi, but you felt your car was reaching its limits on the road until here, you may park here and walk this last stretch of the trail to the dam and further on to Guri i Zi. When continuing the loop, take the left fork at Waypoint B. The right (or rather straight) fork at waypoint B leads you back to waypoint A. The drive is rated moderate. The last to-and-fro to the trailhead can be difficult. For the hike to the summit of Guri i Zi, visit trail # 32141591