Aug 2 2015 Skopje - Macedonia

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With any long trip there's the potential for a cluster and the flight over was one such example. I held concerns initially when I boarded the aircraft and found the nuffy behind me getting on with his head mounted GoPro filming. His holiday videos will obviously be a "must see". Flight with Emirates to Dubai was good as I was again bitten by the tsetse fly and slept for 12 out of the next 17 hrs. I also felt safe as I was sat next to a man of the cloth and not next to the budding film maker so I figured the big guy upstairs would keep an eye on him and therefore on me by proxy.
I met Gus in Dubai without too much of a drama. Then the cluster started. We had to transfer by bus from one terminal to the next. We thought that 3 hours was plenty. We were wrong! Found the bus which was incidentally driven by a mute driver and if he had another brain cell it would be lonely. About 6 passengers jumped on board for the same trip which was meant to be stress free. He drove around to another gate and signalled that we should get off which we did. The bloody ignoramus dropped us at the wrong place. Nobody spoke English. All buses that subsequently arrived were full and only the mute thought it was funny. We were trapped here for the best part of 90 minutes with no airport staff that could speak much English. Tempers were rising with some travellers as the time ticked away. Eventually a bus turned up that then returned us to the terminal where the cluster started. More people climbed on board and we were then driven around to the correct terminal to make the flight with 8 minutes to spare.
We were met at Skopje airport by our pre arranged driver and driven to the Hostel which he described as the best place to stay in town. Staff were great and based on their recommendation we visited a number of establishments and ate like kings for less than $40. Weather was 38c and it felt like 58c.
Previous readers will already know about my fascination with foreign toilets and showers and the fact that they are designed for legless pygmys. Skopje is no different. The toilet is positioned so close to the sink that only one cheek can use the seat and the user looks like the leaning tower of Pisa. It was obviously built by a half assed builder.

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