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Travelling around
Category Archives: Macedonia
Istanbul – Bulgaria – Macedonia
Posted by on 19 July 2006
Zdravo!
Mother Theresa of Skopje
I am currently in Skopje after having travelled across Bulgaria from Istanbul.
On the bus from Istanbul
On my last day in Istanbul, and Turkey for that matter,. I was gonna have a Hammam and a Turkish shave with the really sharp razor. But people say I look better with a beard (5 weeks!) and I decided to keep it. I got a hair cut though, and they used the razor on my neck. WHOAH if I didn’t fear for my life then! After the razor bit, the bleeding bits get a nice dab of buring alcohol!!!
If that’s not enough, they then light this ‘torch’ kind of thing and blow the flame in your (my) ears to remove the unsightly hair in there. Very interesting.
Driving up the Black Sea Coast
The boarder crossing from into Bulgaria took a leisurely 2 hours. It is amazing the differences on either side of the arbitrary line. Sealed Highways became pot-holed roads, cars gave way to carts pulled by horses, the farms became smaller and more ‘rustic.’ I think the average salary halved too.
Absolutely everywhere.
Having said that, Bulgaria is a very green country, where the people shake their heads for yes, and nod for no. Quite funny, and a little confusing! My first stop was the former communist holiday resort of Varna (BAPHA in cyrillic), unfortunately, clouds were prevalent and this beachside city wasn’t at it’s radiant best. I would have left the following day, had I not realised that I would have forgone my only chance on this trip to swim in the black sea.
On the Black Sea
From Varna I went to Veliko Tarnovo, a cute medieval town on a hill, and former Bulgarian capital. Other then an old citadel and the odd large communist statue, Veliko, quoted as “Europe’s next big thing” had little else to offer, but I’ve already had my share of medieval towns, so perhaps I’m being a bit harsh. If you’re in the area, pop by…
Sudden deluge caused slight inundation, preventing ascent.
Plovdiv was next on the list, and it’s Old Town was pretty cool – wonderful cobbles streets and nice cheap food. Cheap beer should get a mention too. 2.5 litres, in large brown plastic bottles cost the equivalent of $1.50. Perhaps this is why Bulgarians were generally quite happy.
From Plovdiv I went on a Hostel arranged tour to Perperikon, an archealogical site that is currently taking form. So far they have uncovered an 8000 year old fortress atop a mountain, and there are wheel barrows off to the side where the diggers are uncovering the much newer Roman remains. If I understoon the guide correctly, Perperikon was where Alexander the Great received a divine directive to conquer the world.
I didn't mention this in the text. Rila Monastery, Bulgaria. Beautiful.
Took my first train (of the trip) from Plovdiv to Sofia and stayed in a cool, appartment-like hostel, that offered a pretty cool walking tour of the city, which covered everything in 4 hours. The highlight of Sofia was studentski Grad, a part of the city with cheap rent, loads of cafes and bars, all reserved for students. And it was cheap, and cheerful. Sofia also had a Mosque a Church and a Synagogue all within a city block.
Checking out the mosque in Sofia.
I am now in Skopje, Macedonia. The border crossing wasn’t without incident, and I held the bus up half an hour because I was without a visa. This cost me 33 euro, and it was lucky I had kept that much from Greece 5 weeks ago. Macedonia is cheap too, and Skopje has very good, greek style coffee – capuccinos that resemble capuccinos, and capuccino freddos! I’ve been hanging out for one since leaving Athens… It’s also 1/5 the price it was in Athens. Ahh… It’s a good thing too, as there doens’t seem to be much else in Skopje.
I took a total of 4 pictures in Skopje. Here's one.
Tomorrow I head to Ohrid, a nice lake on the border with Albania, before heading back to the brilliant blue of the Med.
Lake Ohrid, Macedonia
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