Albania might not come to mind as a destination for amazing ruins and cultural heritage, especially in the shadow of an archaeological giant like Greece, its neighbour to the south. Yet ancient civilisations have left their fascinating marks throughout the Balkan peninsula, including Albania. In fact, all of Albania’s three UNESCO-listed World Heritage Sites exhibit grand-scale traits to rival any of their Balkan neighbours.

As we approached the cave, it was evident that forces were at work. Bilingual signs mark the way and warn against littering, guardrails line steep edges, steps ease along the steeper inclines and benches punctuate the trail at the finest viewpoints. The trail is impressively tourism-ready. Who was behind this massive effort?

Local-minded travelers in Albania love to get deep into the heart of Albanian nature and culture. That is why they choose traditional, family-run guesthouses for visits to Theth and the northern Albanian Alps. These wood-shingled stone structures have long endured the harsh winter-weather conditions of the region and now exhibit a visual charm captured by local partner Outdoor Albania’s co-founder and photographer Genti Mati.

Laura Payne, co-founder of Outdoor Albania and a local travel activist, believes that travelling is all about meeting and connecting with locals and experiencing their cultures – bringing real economic benefits to those who need it most. Laura paid her first visit to Albania six years ago and immediately fell in love with the country’s spectacular scenery and people. She saw the enormous potential for tourism and decided to do something about it that would help the locals too.

I took this picture on an early September afternoon in 2008, on a week-long trip to shoot a documentary on the Albanian Alps. The house of the Terthorja family was our destination – a guesthouse where we could rest and spend the night. It is located in the centre of the Thethi valley and most likely has the best panoramic setting of any of the other houses of this typical Albanian mountain village.