Off to Skopje
Early start as we had an 8:10 bus.
Bloody oath these Nis buses are cramped. There's basically no leg-room at all. I don't know how I'd cope without an aisle seat.
It was already bad enough with the bus being full but at some stop half-way to Macedonia about thirty people got on the already full bus - so they all had to stand in the aisle. Unpleasant for them and also unpleasant for me.
The border was fun. I was asked by the border guard whether I had a visa. I thought I didn't need one. So off the bus it was for me. I had to go 200 metres to pay for my visa - it cost me 35 Euros plus a very bad swap. He made me swap his pen for mine. I wonder whether he'll be able to swap up to a car someday? (cf. www.oneredpaperclip.com)
Then back to pick up my passport with visa in it, then off to yet another window to have it stamped. Typical (ex)socialist efficiancy - no wonder they always claimed to have no unemployment.
I was expecting Macedonia to be all steep and hilly but it turns out to be all flat. How wrong can you be! Podgorica didn't look like a capital city and Skopje is just as un-capital-like. But it does have a nice big central square which is full of people in the evening.
A Macedonian girl whom we'd met at the IJK met up with us at the bus station and she showed us round town. It made a huge difference to the ease of getting around and knowing what to see. Another great advertisement for Esperanto.
Skopje has a castle of which only the walls and a bit of a turret remain.
This is the view from inside.
Well, there's almost nothing old left in Skopje. The whole city was destroyed in an earthquake in the early 60's. From the few pictures I've seen it was a beautiful city before. Slav quarter, Albanian quarter, Jewish quarter... it obviously makes for an interesting city, but alas it is no more. Now the main interest are the outside cafes everywhere. Architecturally there's almost nothing of interest at all.
Well, the Albanian quarter is full of small alley-ways that have the potential to be a tourist draw-card, just as they are in Sarajevo. This is not one of them!
But this is!
I suppose it's just a matter of time before the tourist hordes make it to Skopje too. As other cities get clogged with tourists people are always looking for somewhere new, fresh.
An old Turkish bath-house that's been converted into an artgallery. Also in the Albanian quarter which wasn't damaged so much by the earthquake.
Bloody oath these Nis buses are cramped. There's basically no leg-room at all. I don't know how I'd cope without an aisle seat.
It was already bad enough with the bus being full but at some stop half-way to Macedonia about thirty people got on the already full bus - so they all had to stand in the aisle. Unpleasant for them and also unpleasant for me.
The border was fun. I was asked by the border guard whether I had a visa. I thought I didn't need one. So off the bus it was for me. I had to go 200 metres to pay for my visa - it cost me 35 Euros plus a very bad swap. He made me swap his pen for mine. I wonder whether he'll be able to swap up to a car someday? (cf. www.oneredpaperclip.com)
Then back to pick up my passport with visa in it, then off to yet another window to have it stamped. Typical (ex)socialist efficiancy - no wonder they always claimed to have no unemployment.
I was expecting Macedonia to be all steep and hilly but it turns out to be all flat. How wrong can you be! Podgorica didn't look like a capital city and Skopje is just as un-capital-like. But it does have a nice big central square which is full of people in the evening.
A Macedonian girl whom we'd met at the IJK met up with us at the bus station and she showed us round town. It made a huge difference to the ease of getting around and knowing what to see. Another great advertisement for Esperanto.
Skopje has a castle of which only the walls and a bit of a turret remain.
This is the view from inside.
Well, there's almost nothing old left in Skopje. The whole city was destroyed in an earthquake in the early 60's. From the few pictures I've seen it was a beautiful city before. Slav quarter, Albanian quarter, Jewish quarter... it obviously makes for an interesting city, but alas it is no more. Now the main interest are the outside cafes everywhere. Architecturally there's almost nothing of interest at all.
Well, the Albanian quarter is full of small alley-ways that have the potential to be a tourist draw-card, just as they are in Sarajevo. This is not one of them!
But this is!
I suppose it's just a matter of time before the tourist hordes make it to Skopje too. As other cities get clogged with tourists people are always looking for somewhere new, fresh.
An old Turkish bath-house that's been converted into an artgallery. Also in the Albanian quarter which wasn't damaged so much by the earthquake.
posted by Budz at 5:43 AM
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