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Published: January 17th 2010
First of all, must say... not a big fan of Skopje. Leaving tomorrow via night train to Belgrade, Serbia and hoping for more to do. And I apologize as this seems to be a lengthy entry... But starting from the beginning-- left London Gatwick on the 10th, fearing the weather from "Britain's worst storm in years!" would postpone this very anticipated trip; Step and I slept at the airport and I slept the entire flight so I assume nothing eventful happened. Over Bulgaria we got a glimpse of the ample farmland and the extreme contrast of poor communities to more modernized cities, where neighborhoods were essentially set in mud and made pretty basic out of random materials. Landed in Sofia, Bulgaria. Big city, very nice, pretty typical busy/bustling city life.
Bulgaria
Took the bus (which we were told to buy extra tickets for big bags to avoid a fine) but since driver didn't charge us we had to sit very uncomfortably and crowded to allow room for some chatty older Bulgarian women, who were chatty to us despite us obviously not understanding a word they were saying! In Sofia, most of the housing complexes were towering apartment buildings, all
with a back-patio encased in glass walls where many people were hanging their clothes to dry. Lots of stray cats and dogs scampering around but most of them looked in good health and spirits.
The roads had tracks built into them accompanying the electric trams that shared the main roads with the car traffic. It was unusual for me to see and I always jumped when the trams switched lines and made a buzz sound and bright zapping shock, almost like lightning. The lights would countdown how much time on the red or green light the cars had to wait (or the time pedestrians had to scamper across the road). Drivers did not particularly give way to pedestrians or other motorists, except the huge trams!
From the town centre we walked to Hostel Mostel (clever name...) where a delicious Bulgarian breakfast (granola, toast, tomato, salami, cheese, juice) and a pasta and beer dinner were included. The first night was hopeless finding food so regrettably we had to have McDonald's 99lev menu (about 75 cents per item). I was pretty relieved that many of the younger generation spoke English so when we needed help we could ask. Walking around
was a bit annoying as there was a surplus of dog poo on the sidewalks and we had to detour around plenty of homeless people scavenging the dumpsters for food, competing with the cats and dogs. There are squat shops, which are basement windows that are ground level, where merchants sell items (food, drinks, or shoe repairs) out the window to passer-byers bending down to pay.
The first night I managed to sleep an additional 15 hours! But the following morning I was ready for action and we walked all over Sofia. There was the "Lady's Market" which is an area set up with stalls selling souvenirs, fruit and vegs. Following a walking tour, we saw the Banya Bashi Mosque with it's massive golden rounded roof, very near to the Sofia synagogue and other cathedrals. We went inside the Aleksander Nevski Church which had a putrid green outside with large bubble domes for roof, huge chandeliers hanging inside, completely painted up with a tiled floor and marble throne chairs and lion statues. The outside market sold old postcards (some postmarked) and "Nazi memorabilia", one even selling framed sketches of Bruce Willis. Lunch was more original- overly mashed seasoned potatoes
Ornate
Lots of decorative churches and synagogues aroundand a wine-flavored kebabs and drinking the local lager since beer is much cheaper than any other beverage. Sofia has lots of statues of people scattered around and dozens of lion statues as well.
Macedonia
We took an "overnight" bus from Sofia, Bulgaria, at 5pm to Ohrid, Macedonia, which was supposed to drop us at the bus station just before dawn. Instead we were left at an exposed bus-bench stop at 2 am!! Ohrid is a pretty lively city even at night. We were harassed by taxi drivers but had no accommodation to stay. The road was lined with several hostels but far too expensive for our budget. So after meeting Bakim, a drunk Albanian ex-traveller with a house nearby, we decided to take him on his offer and stay the night in his "empty house" which turned out his wife and 3 kids were soundly sleeping until we showed up! Bakim kept us and his family up an additional 2.5 hours before we could get a few hours of rest in a freezing, dilapidated house on a damp bed and uncomfortable sofa. In the morning we couldn't get rid of the chatty man who insisted on buying
us a tiny coffee from a gas station.
Afterward we wandered Ohrid to find "Sobi" or rooms for nightly rent (cheaper than hostels). The people were overly helpful; walking us to places we asked the directions for or recommending us to stay at a "friend's" place. Eventually we found a room in the old-town on our own overlooking the lake and were able to appreciate the beauty of Ohrid. Ohrid is a spectacular beautiful place full of friendly people, most speaking English and want to help you even if you don't need it. The village is surrounded by mountains with a lake at the Albanian border with surprisingly crystal-clear water. The streets are cobbled and the houses range from basic to extravagantly large and rich-looking. Even the wandering dogs want to help- one tried to lead us around the lake but got bored when we would stop for photos. There is an obnoxiously large amount of hostels/hotels in the area and tons of rooms in the old-town.
A nearby village called Vevcani was having a yearly festival, but i was more interested in the town itself as they make their own (invalid) currency and passports and have it's
own flag from establishing itself it's own republic when Macedonia left Yugoslavia. In an attempt to see this interesting little village, we tried to catch a bus to nearest town, Struga, to change bus to get to Vevcani, 30 km away. Waiting for the first bus, some friendly locals chatted with us, gave us apples, and talked to the persistent taxi drivers until one had a decent offer. We took a taxi to Struga bus stop, but while waiting for the hourly bus to Vevcani, Step got impatient and without consulting me or getting all the details straight, accepted a ride from a taxi driver. We got in and i asked Step if he settled we were going to Vevcani- he insisted he did. Twenty minutes later, we were back in Ohrid's town centre!! I wanted to punch him! It was too late to try the journey again so we spent the day wandering, seeing a fairly new castle on top a hill, visiting the market and getting food. The past nights we ate at the same place with Macedonian food and cheap beer. The first night was a chicken and a sausage covering a kavhakal white cheese with bits
of meat and wrapped in bacon, with fries, raw onions, veg and bread. The second night was a beef patty with the same cheese, raw onions, fries and bread. ... They have a thing with raw onions...
We took a bus to Skopje, Macedonia where our next train leaves from. We've seen the whole city in a few hours- just a big, very polluted, very impoverished city in some areas and bustling shopping centres in others. Big graffitied buildings, masses of cars, the people are more friendly in Macedonia for pedestrians and will actually stop to let you pass on a busy road! And a huge majority of cars in Macedonia are old James Bond-villain type cars. There are occasional stray cats and dogs and a handful of beggars that will even follow you around the bus station with their hand out mumbling. There are huge shopping centres away from the crumbling buildings like a western shopping mall, and cinemas showing a few Hollywood movies. There is a relatively new castle here as well; they appear to be building on top of some other building's ruins, which I don't know why they would build a castle...
So the
Detailed Lion Statue
Bumblebee tuna, your balls are showing. plan had been to spend the next few days bus/train to Kosovo/Montenegro/Serbia but, of course, some problems arose... (1) you can't enter Serbia from Kosovo, thus the Montenegro trip (2) Montenegro is REALLY expensive accommodation, intended for business and governmental persons (3) to travel to Kosovo, you need Kosovo-coverage on your travel insurance! (4) Kosovo and Serbia are anti-American and anti-Westerners. So, we have yet to determine what to do next. But we have the night in a colorful-artsy hostel dorm at Hostel Hostel (they don't try to be creative with names...) where they serve a toast and egg breakfast and Macedonian soup for dinner, with hot wine on Saturdays. Serbia is the next intended destination, will see how that goes...
^Út Í Óvissuna^
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Logan
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Longing to go back to the Balkans
Thanks for posting this, very interesting indeed. I am an American and my wife is from Macedonia so I have gone there with her the past two summers. We spent 11 weeks there in the summer of 2010. There are 3 things I would like to add to your piece. First, it is really a shame that you were not able to see Vevchani. The village is a model of what could be. The difference between Stuga and Vevchani is astronomical. If every Macedonian village looked like Vevchani, then the country would be paradise. The people are proud of their town and they take excellent care to preserve the traditional homes as well as to keep the village clean and litter free. As you know, Macedonia, like much of the Balkans, has a serious litter problem. Not so in Vevchani. The springs there are beautiful. Following the advice of my guidebook, I took a drink from the Vevchani springs in one of the many spots where the water comes out of the ground. The water was pristine so I filled up several water bottles. As nobody has written a blog on Vevchani (or for that matter, anywhere in Macedonia besides Ohrid and Skope) maybe I will post something here soon. Secondly (except for the capital of Podgorica), Montenegro is actually a bargain. My wife and I got a room in Budva, the country's tourist Mecca, for about $15...and that was at the beginning of the high season of summer. Compared to anywhere in Western Europe, Montenegro is a budget travelers dream. Also the beaches, dramatic canyons and wild Mountains of Montengro are some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. My advice for anyone in the region is to go see Montenegro before it gets too developed. And last, you said that Serbia/Kosovo are anti-American/Western. While that might be true in Serbia, it couldn't be further from the truth in Kosovo. I have never seen more American flags proudly flying anywhere in my life like in Kosovo. Kosovars love America so much that they even have a four story billboard in Pristina of Bill Clinton, as well as a Clinton Statue and a major Boulevard named after him. The brief time that I was in Kosovo I felt very safe to be an American. Its the only place I have ever been to where America flags outnumber the flag of the native country. Thanks for posting this blog, it really brings back alot of memories. Great pictures too!