Lake Koman was formed when the rugged Drini valley was dammed in the 1970s, allowing Albania to quickly develop its own industries and become an energy exporter. The lake is up to 170m deep, contains some 320 million cubic metres of water, and stretches 30km to Fierza, the location of the third Drina dam which holds back another lake that backs up 50km, all the way into Kosovo. Incredibly enough, until the construction of the highway to Kosovo, the Lake Koman ferry route was the fastest way to get from northern Kosovo to the sea, popular with holidaymakers on their way to the beach; nowadays there's enough local and summertime tourist traffic to keep three car ferries in business.

On the southern Koman end of the lake, the ferry is boarded at the terminal near the top of the towering Koman dam - reached through a slightly scary tunnel. The two to three hour trip passes tiny hamlets, deep gorges and jagged 1,500-metre-high mountains rising up from the lake - with some of Albania's higher peaks occasionally visible to the north. There are few signs of human life on the shores, though passenger ferries occasionally stop to set off hardy locals who proceed to climb up the steep hills to their hidden homesteads. Ferries terminate on the northern banks of the lake near tiny Fierza, 16km south of Bajram Curri (for access to the alpine Valbona valley) and 30km from the Kosovo border crossing.

One third up the lake from Koman, the beautiful Shala river canyon branches off to the north, a wonderful day trip or overnight destination catered to by an efficient fleet of fast boats. The wild landscape of Lake Koman, reminiscent of the Norwegian fjords, is easier to explore than you may think, and is a dramatic highlight of any trip to Albania.