Macedonia

Tuesday, July 28, 2009--Tirana (Albania) to Struga (Macedonia)

I trimmed my hair this morning while I still had a private bathroom. In Macedonia, I will be staying in rooms in private homes much of the time, and I will have to share the bath with the family. It was too soon to get a haircut before arriving in Copenhagen, because it would be grown out too much to look good while still being too short to justify another cut. So I trimmed around the ears and made it look quite acceptable. I'll get a real haircut about two weeks before I fly to Denmark.

I bought a spinach pastry in filo dough for breakfast. That still left me with about $3 worth of Albanian currency to spend. It can not be converted outside of the country, so I will hope to spend it at a stop the bus makes before getting to the border.

I was at the station an hour early, and the sun was already feeling hot. How I wish the bus would leave earlier than 9:00. No other tourists arrived. It was just me and local people taking the bus. As usual for all the buses I have taken since arriving in Albania, the air conditioning did not work properly, so it was warm on board for the 5 1/2 hour trip.

There was a restaurant and a snack stand where we stopped. I wasn't sure of prices at the restaurant, so I spent my money at the snack stand. The young man operating it spoke English and is used to people trying to figure out what they can buy with the rest of their money. I got LOTS of calories for the bang--two bags of chips, a bag of cookies with creamy chocolate filling, and a Coca Cola!!

When we arrived at the border, there were many insurance booths. And many of the people got off the bus and entered them and came out with paperwork. At first, it worried me. I was thinking maybe Macedonia would require proof of insurance for travelers to enter. But my guidebook had said nothing about that. My insurance covers me all over the world at 80% for emergencies and 50% for regular treatments, but I have no proof that it does without asking them to read the coverage online. Anyway, all the worry was for nothing. No one said anything.

Crossing the border was still slow, but it was much faster than it had been when I came into Albania from Greece. And we were at a pass high in the mountains which meant that we had nice, fresh air to enjoy while waiting. The couple next to me noticed the stamps and visas in my passport and asked if they could look at it. They were fascinated by all the places where I have traveled.

I decided to stay in Struga for one night rather than continue to my destination of Ohrid another half hour away. The main reason for this decision was my fear of being able to find a room in Ohrid due to its popularity in July and August and the late time of my arrival. I knew it should be easier to find a vacated room by arriving in the middle of the morning instead of late in the afternoon.

I stopped to ask at a jewelry store if they knew of anyone renting a room. The young man working there, Leonard, immediately took me under his wing. He said he would find me a room and went walking with me. The first two places we checked were full, but the third had a vacancy. It wasn't an ideal place, but I knew I could not be choosy at that time of the day. (It could have been cleaner, and the bed could have been better. The price of about $16 was okay, though.)

Struga is an interseting city. Like Ohrid, it is on Lake Orhid, a beautiful fresh-water lake on the border between Albania and Macedonia. It is a small town with LOTS of tourists. The lake feeds a rapid stream lined with stones and walkways that cuts through the city from the lake and gives a place for local swimmers somewhat like Barton Springs in Austin. Young people jump off the bridges into the rushing water, then swim to the sids to climb out again. There are also beaches all along the downtown area that are filled with sunbathers and swimmers and provide a great place for people watching. The city also has a pedestrian shopping street where many people stroll in the evening.

I heard American English being spoken by many people, especially young men while wandering along the beachfront. Unfortunately, these were not college student tourists; their language was rather rough with "f**k" being every thrid or fourth word. I asked later, and it was confirmed, that there is a military base not far away. I'm not sure if it is American or NATO.

I make currency charts to carry with me when I travel to help convert the costs I encounter into dollars. That way I can consider whether sometime seems expensive or reasonable to me. However, the dollar has dropped so much in value (about 8%) since I made my charts in May that I have been having to refigure them along the way. And that drop has been against "soft" currencies which are not convertible outside the countries which makes the situation even worse.

For dinner, I found a nice local restaurant with tablecloths and waiters. It was quite busy and far away from the beaches. I ate goulash, a beef soup with chunks of meat in a thick, dark sauce. It was served with bread and tasted so good as a change from the diet I have had recently.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009--Struga to Ohrid

I walked to the bus station on the edge of town only to find no buses. After asking, I was told that the buses to Ohrid which run every 15 minutes leave from town rather han the station. So I had to walk halfway back to where my room was to catch the bus.

As I expected, there were people waiting at the bus stop with rooms to rent when I arrived. They had a "leader" who spoke English. He sent me with a man to see the room at his house. It was nice enough and even had a small balcony and a TV. But it was with a shared bath and his asking price was 20 Euros. That just seemed too expensive to me. I decided to look further. I wandered and wandered. Occasinally I would ask someone about rooms nearby. When they did refer me to someone, it was always a false attempt, since the rooms were full everywhere or they only had rooms for 3-4 people or for a stay of at least a week. I was about to give up. In fact, I was walking toward the bus station thinking I would just go to my next stop on my itinerary. But I kept asking along the way. One lady led me to another place that was full. Then a woman took me to a home on an alley of a street. They had a room. It was large, clean, and nice enough. And the bath (shared) looked clean and nice. Best of all was the price--40% of what the man had wanted for the other room. So I now have a room here for only $12 per night. The owners speak English and are nice. And so far, the other rooms that would share the bath are not occupied!

Ohrid is a wonderful town. It's a World Heritage Site due to its fortress and its old town area. It has many old churches that are known for their frescoes. The buildings are nicer here than in Struga, and the shopping area is fancier. Its setting on the lake is dramatic and beautiful. Unfortunately, the beaches are not as satisfying as those in Struga. They are far out on the edge of town, and it is not as nice to walk and watch people. Also, I am afraid it will be more difficult to find good food here without paying a much higher price. I think if I had known in advance that I would have tried to stay in Struga and just come here on a day trip. But now that I have an inexpensive room here, I may just make a day trip back to Struga to enjoy watching people again on the rushing waterway and at the beach.

For lunch today, I had two pastries. One was filled with a tomato sauce and ham mixture and the other was filled with chocolate and ground nuts. The latter was so delicious. But it was messy. And I felt too full afterwards. Unlike Albania and Greece, the pastries here are made with yeast dough rather than filo.

The weather is interesting here. It is hot in the daytime and rather cool at night. In fact, I was cold in bed last night. That caused me to awaken around 6:00 and not be able to sleep again. When I came back from the beach today, I was so tired that I fell asleep and took a deep nap for about two hours.

Now that it is evening, the air is getting cool again. There are also a few clouds, but it isn't possible to tell yet whether there will be rain. I'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see. I may make a day-long outing to Bitola if it isn't raining. If it is, I will stay here in town and read.