On the Road to Macedonia!

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After a really swell day in Pristina I headed for Macedonia. My plan was to reach Skopje, the capital city and then take a bus to Ohrid.

I have been pondering over the idea of hitch-hiking around the Balkans. I would not even consider doing this in the USA, but this isn't the USA. In my mind I was thinking, "Come on Gina, you only live once." I have met several fellow travelers who have successfully hitch-hiked around the world. I can also do the same, right? I have even come across and heard about solo female hitch-hikers as well. I am also a solo female traveler. The more and more I think about it, the more exciting and adventurous it sounds. The only real concern I have, except the fact of nobody actually picking me up, is.... well... the obvious. I am a young, single, Black woman traveling in a part of the world where people like me are considered rare and exotic. During my several Balkan travels, I remember constantly being at the center of attention, so this just might be a bit too risky for even my taste.

I had basically two options at this point. A) I could just take the bus from Pristina to Skopje. B) I could hitch-hike. I decided to choose the latter. Ok, before everyone starts tripping, I actually hitch-hiked with my host, who is a local so it wasn't as bad as it seemed! Plus she has some experience hitch-hiking so I felt less worried about the whole thing! Since my host was on her way to work, we decided to hitchhike from Pristina to the town of her workplace. Once we reached the highway just outside of town, she told me to just stand back and she would do all of the work. I just stood there on the side of the road with my black suitcase while she went to work. It wasn't too long when a car stopped that was actually going to the town where she worked. The driver was a nice looking man probably in his 40s or even 50s. My host got in the front seat and I hopped in the back. Off we go!!!!!!!!!!!!

While in the car, my host and I tried to figure out how I would get from the town where she worked to Skopje in Macedonia. The man who had picked us up offered to take me all the way to the Macedonian border and then I would just hitch a ride to Skopje. "No way," I thought. "I can't do this all by myself. This is the very first time I have even done this sort of thing. I am NOT ready to try it completely alone!!!"
I asked my host to help me find a driver going to Skopje. At least she spoke the local language and could help me to secure a vehicle going to my destination. My host would also have a chance to get a feel of the driver, and if I felt comfortable I would just get in! The driver who picked us up from Pristina mentioned it would be very difficult to find a driver going to Skopje, but I was willing to take that chance. After weighing several options, my host agreed to help me search for a car going to Skopje. If we were not successful, I would then accept any car going to the border of Macedonia, walk across the border and try to hustle a ride to Skopje. My heart was pounding, but I had to do it. I'm gonna do it! Yes I can!

After we got out of the first car we proceed to walk a few hundred yards and once again my host went to work, thumb out and all! It wasn't long until a nice black BMW stopped. I convinced my host to speak with the driver to see if by chance he was going to Skopje. Turns out he was! GREAT!! Before getting in the car, I said goodbye to my host and thanked her a million times and promised to be in touch. I got into the back seat of the car. The driver actually spoke a bit of English. There was another man in the passenger's side who spoke no English, but was nice enough. All in all, no red flags went up and I felt ok riding with these men. The driver, an Albanian, was telling me how he has a wife and 5 children all living in Sweden, I believe. Apparently he lives alone in Kosovo as a businessman or something like that. We made small talk from time to time. He was quite nice actually.

Once we approached the border, the driver collected my passport to show to customs. The border guards had me roll down the backseat window to confirm I was indeed the person on the passport photo. That was too funny, but not surprising. How many young Black women do you know riding the backseat of a car with two Albanian men heading to Macedonia?

Shortly after the border, we stopped at some gas station/restaurant. Apparently we were just outside of Skopje. Once we entered the restaurant, we were met with curious looks from the other customers. I guess this is an interesting site with my two Albanian bodyguards, lol! We then had a drink (my drink of choice in this cold weather being Black tea). Shortly after, a taxi came to the restaurant. The driver who gave me a lift explained that the taxi man would take me directly to the bus station in Skopje. He escorted me to the taxi, paid the driver, and we said our goodbyes! What a success, even if it was a bit risky! I did it!

OHRID here I come!

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