Skopje

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I have plans around going to a bear sanctuary and a Serbian monastery but when morning comes around I opt for a lie in then I slowly pack my bags taking a very chilled start to the day. Once I’m ready I head to the bus station and as I’m looking for the bus I trip again. This time my leggings are split and my knee is cut. A woman tries to forcibly pull me to my feet but I have to stop her because I need a minute. She is trying to help but yesterday’s ankle is sore and I take a second to catch my breath before helping myself up. I find the Skopje bus and put my big bag under checking it is the right one and doesn’t leave until half 11. The man confirms this so I head, with my 45 minutes to find a cafe.

In a cafe I order espresso and use the bathroom to dab water on my cut knee. The waitress brings me more tissues and water and I tip her 100 percent as a thank you. It was still just two euros. Drinking my coffee I head back to the bus. The ticket collector has impeccable English and also Albanian, Macedonian, Greek and Italian. I can barely manage thank you in a second language. Two Taiwanese twins want to know where I’m from so we chat tor a bit then the young Albanian girl in the seat in front travelling with her grandmother wants to know how I like Albania. I lend my fan to an old woman who is struggling and let a local guy use my power bar. It is a pretty friendly coach and we get to the Kosovan border within an hour. We file off and queue at a booth where the guard checks my passport but doesn’t stamp it, I’m not sure if this is intentional because of the Serbia issue or not but it seems strange to have an entry but no exit stamp. Luckily this passport needs renewing soon. We get back on the coach and drive 5 minutes to the North Macedonian border where we repeat the same process and I get a Macedonian entry stamp and a chat about my polar bear stamp. I’m going to miss not having that in my passport as a talking point. A car is parked in the way of the bus so we wait about 15 minutes for it to drive to us in which time the local guy who I lent my power bar to befriends me showing me pictures of Skopje. I’m relieved to get back on the bus.

We head into Skopje passing the fortress which looks very similar to the ones at Prizren and Shkoder. My maps has a malfunction and tells me the bus depo is closer to my hostel than the pre stop and by the time it rights itself I am stuck with a 16 minute walk instead if a 6. Luckily a woman wants to get off at the next corner so I get off with her and the driver begrudgingly gets my bag from underneath. My walk is now 7 minutes and is easy enough. I find my hostel exactly where it was meant to be and I check in at the cafe bar underneath. For some reason I hadn’t clicked that it would be a different currency in Macedonia so I only have euros. The hostel accepts them but he warns me a lot of areas in old town won’t. I am shown to my room and it is a strange set up. The hostel is half of a public building and the entranceway to the elevator is really dark. I am on the 5th floor and there is a code access to my area of the hostel. We go past two bathrooms and at the end of the corridor is my room, named strawberry daiquiri.
The bed is on the ground but the room is nice enough there are lots of plugs, a kettle with some coffee sachets and a desk and most importantly a/c because it is muggy. I lie down and put the a/c on enjoying the cold and the chill.

After around an hour I get up and head out for food. My hostel is based in old town and it reminds me most of Gjakova, lots of old style buildings, cafes, restaurants; the Turkish theme is strong on the food side with loads of restaurants having that smoky smell of barbecue and shisha. I really love it. It’s the biggest old town yet and the most authentic I think. On the other side of old town is a new looking square with statues and huge fountain and posh looking hotels. It’s a contrast for sure and so far its fitting it’s vibe of the weirdest city. I find an atm and withdraw some macedonian dinar with no idea how much I’ll need. I head to a craft brewery under the fortress that looks nice and I order a kebab and two beers. I pay the equivalent of 16euro making this the most expensive city yet. The food is great though, the beer is good; I try a pilsner and an IPA both are good. The bar itself is really old wood inside like an old school tavern but empty as everyone is outside. Once I’ve eaten I make a plan for the week. First issue I hit is that there are two tourist attractions outside the city and to do both on public transport in the one day I have off work will be pretty much impossible. I ask at my hostel if either are viable in the evening and am told no so I don’t know what to do. The hostel owner offers a local taxi service that will take me to both for 40 euro which was less than I planned to pay for rugova canyon and as I didn’t get to that one I agree to meet the taxi at 9am and pay 40 euro for rides to Matka canyon and millenium cross. He says if I can find people to come with me I can split the cost and he’ll ask people who check in if they’re interested. With that sorted I head back to the hostel and find the kitchen and common area on the 4th floor. I chat to a Turkish couple and there is a guy there who says he is playing music in the bar at 9. I decide to be sociable and head down.
I order a coke and the musician starts playing some Turkish flutes and he is awful. I can see the hostel owner visibly cringing and we are all very polite in our applause. Then he moves on to an Indian Guitar which is slightly better but still terrible. Next is a Turkish guitar and to be fair the Turkish music isn’t too bad, the couple from Turkey are loving it but I’m struggling to listen to much more. It’s not my cup of tea at all so I head to bed.

Espresso, Water x 2, Coke. Beer x 3
Chicken and cheese sandwich, kebab, apple orange
172 euro

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