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Blogs from Macedonia, Europe
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May 22nd 2013
More Mercedes Benz or Porches than you'll ever see in your lifetime. Welcome to Albania! I knew so little about this region before cycling through this amazing country just 5 days ago, where loyalty and integrity amongst the men rules above all else. I have cycled on the motorway, handled a loaded gun given to me by a student in an internet cafe and witnessed unscrupulous amounts of money being flaunted as the latest luxury cars drive through the streets of the capital Tirana. But before I carry on let me wind back just a couple of weeks to when I left the beautiful city of Sarajevo.... Just 20 km south of the Bosnian Capital, whilst stopping to take a photograph, I was asked to join Rafik and his Muslim family for a coffee. I had ... read more
October 2nd 2012
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is now fortunately known simply as Macedonia. After achieving independence from Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Macedonia was forced to adopt the lengthy moniker in order to avoid tensions with Greece. I only visited Lake Ohrid which many say is the highlight of Macedonia. Hard to disagree as it is beautiful. I am currently in Shkodra, Albania and heading to Budva, Montenegro via Ulcinj tomorrow morning. Albania has been a pleasant surprise. $US ≈ 48MKD (Macedonian dinars) but accommodation and much transport can be paid for with euros Accommodation and food After arriving from Istanbul on a 16 hour bus ride I was not up for a long search for a place to crash. By chance I met a very nice Albanian political organizer who took me around to an ATM ... read more
Macedonia .. "A vida é a soma de todas as suas escolhas" II
Published: September 17th 2012Europe » Macedonia » Ohrid » Ohrid
September 17th 2012
Resumo: Opção b. Tive um dia maravilhoso. Estou bem. Hora de ir embora. Sair da Albania para a Macedonia. Opção a) taxi 5euros + ônibus 2euros OU b) caminhar+van 0.4euros+caminhar+cruzar fronteira a pé+caronas? A vida é a soma de nossas escolhas e as minhas são, na maioria das vezes, as menos óbvias. Opção b. Segue abaixo o que para muitos pode parecer banal, mas para mim foi um dia maravilhoso. Caminhei quase 10 minutos ate conseguir encontrar uma van que fosse até Tushemist (última cidade antes da fronteira). A viagem em si foi curta, mas prazerosa ao longo lago Ohrid. Como ninguém aparentemente falava inglês eu disse: “Me, Tushemist, border, Macedonia, walk”. Me senti uma debiloide falando. Rs. A moça do lado parecia ter entendido, falou com o motorista e depois desceu da Van: “mirupafshim” (bye). ... read more
August 31st 2012
We decided to catch a flight from Belgrade to Ohrid to both save time and border problems between Serbia and Kosovo. What I didn’t realise was that the plane was so small it had propellers, this may sound ridiculous but I am terrified of flying and the smaller the plane is, the more it moves around in the air and the more my irrational fear shows its pretty face. The flight ended up ok…I only left Mikaela with minor bruising on her legs. Lake Ohrid it turns out has an airport so small it does not have an ATM so our first problem was that we couldn’t get any money out for a taxi. The second problem was that in our laziness of travel lately we decided not to write any directions down in the local ... read more
July 22nd 2012
Macedonia - 1 Week Macedonia is a small but very mountainous country with pleasant people and nice scenery. Macedonia is famous for Alexander the Great and poppies apparently but I saw no poppies and Alex has some statues and an airport named after him....wicked (as Ali G would say). Personally I would say that Macedonia is like a massive farm and should be famous for vegetables or farming, farming and tractors as there were tractors everywhere. There were churches and mosques with more mosques closer to the border with Albania, it was nice to see two religions co-existing. Orhid was a nice touristy destination located on a scenic lake and I decided to get a hotel room partly due to my desire to shower, have a beer and also because I couldn't resist a room ... read more
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![fiets albanie [1024x768]](http://photos.travelblog.org/Photos/173312/727981/t/7019697-fiets-albanie-1024x768-0.jpg "fiets albanie [1024x768]")
July 4th 2012
Macedonië 1 juni t/m 8 juni 2012. vrijdag 1 juni 2012. Vandaag nog de dagelijkse zaken gedaan en om 15.08 uur nemen we de trein naar Schiphol vanaf Geldermalsen. Na een traditionele cappuccino bij Starbuck (nu is onze vakantie begonnen ) vliegen we een kwartier te laat weg maar komen op de geplande tijd aan in Ohrid. We worden opgewacht door Corendon en om een uurtje of 22.00 uur zijn we in ons hotel. Hotel Makpetrol compleet met mooi zwembad, voetbalveld annex tennisbaan en aan een groot meer ( meer van Ohrid ). Het is donker dus veel zien we er niet van. Na een biertje en een verse jus zoeken we ons bed op. Morgenochtend is er een excursie uitleg. Zonde van de tijd en wij spreken met de reisleider af dat wij de 4 ... read more
![kikker [1024x768]](http://photos.travelblog.org/Photos/173312/727981/s/7019698-kikker-1024x768-0.jpg "kikker [1024x768]")
![libellea [1024x768]](http://photos.travelblog.org/Photos/173312/727981/s/7019699-libellea-1024x768-0.jpg "libellea [1024x768]")
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December 31st 2011
Skopje I arrived in Skopje at around 11pm. I had written down where I was supposed to go, but had managed to loose the piece of paper. This turned out to be a big problem as the bus station didn't have any internet cafes. Eventually I managed to find a tourist agency with internet and managed to convince the reluctant and wary worker to let me use her internet, after our attempt at oral communication had failed. So I scribbled down the address again and then after failing in my attempt to find the hostel on foot, I hailed down a taxi driver who accepted the one or two remaining euros I had, even though it is not the currency in Macedonia. This only got me a skip, hop and a jump from the hostel however ... read more
August 20th 2011
Hey folks, I just spend the last month in Macedonia and Greece trying to understand what should be the name of what certain people call FYROM and others Macedonia. The Greek does not like that region a lot and could not stop debating as soon as you say the name Macedonia. In the country itself, must people have better things to talk of and some are making everything in their power to upset the Greek the most they can. Building an enormous statue of Alexander the Greet was a great way to do so... If you take out the politics (which is the main subject in that part of the world), you will discover an amazing country, full of stunning landscape, charming mix of culture. In Macedonia there is something for everyone. If you enjoy hiking ... read more
August 6th 2011
After the capital in Skopje I headed out towards the Macedonia/Albanian border and arguably the delight in Macdeonia's crown - Ohrid. The town of Ohrid lies beside the beautiful lake that also bears its name and in the summer it is awash with tourists. I couldn't find anywhere to stay in advance as all the hostels were booked up, however, I had heard that on arrival at the bus station you get mobbed by residents offering you home-stays so I chanced my luck and hoped there were some waiting for me when I got there. As it happens there was a reception party waiting and one of the most vocal was a huge bear of a man offering me a room but I wasn't that comfortable with the prospect of sleeping under the same roof as ... read more
August 5th 2011
Having visited the northern Balkan countries in June I decided to wrap up the remaining southern countries during my trip in August which is why I found myself in a hostel in Skopje. I bumped into 3 friendly Brits in my hostel and our paths would cross several times over the next few days. We teamed up with 2 Aussie girls and the six of us headed off to the old town for the first night of boozing for the trip. We ended up in a microbrewery drinking out of his huge container and listening to a local band singing eighties pop songs - Rick Astley is still not giving you up:-). The next day I had a walk round the town centre and like many other Balkan cities is it undergoing a huge rebuilding phase, ... read more
