Visiting Skopje

Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009 Ohrid to Skopje

I awoke wishing my bus was earlier. I had a choice of leaving at 7:00 which is too early or 10:45 which is too late. I chose the latter. There were probably buses between those two that were already sold out of tickets. The amount of tourism in Ohrid is unbelievable. A place like Corpus Christi would be in high heaven with that amount of tourism.

Walking to the bus station, I was behind three guys. One wore an interesting t-shirt:

I'm Muslim
Don't Panic

It would be nice if that attitutde were taken and expressed by many others.

The bus station was buzzing. Because it is the weekend, there is a big turnover in tourists. Hundreds are going home while hundreds more are arriving. Bus load after bus load keeps unloading and then loading again and leaving. Most tourists probably come here for a week or maybe for two weeks.

The bus was a tight fit! The space between seats was smaller than any bus I've been on lately. A young guy who is bigger than me sat beside me. We had to adjust our positions regularly and coordinate ourselves to fit. He would sit with his legs in the aisle and I would sit with mine leaning in his direction. Our knees pressed too hard against the seat in front of ourselves otherwise. Another way to sit was with our legs bending back and sideways under the seat.

My hostel room in Skopje is small compared to the room I had in Ohrid. There is not really room to open the suitcase on the floor, since the double bed takes up most of the room. I wish it had only a single bed in it so I had more room to move about. But it is a decent and a clean room. It has no fan which is beginning to be the norm here in eastern Europe from my experience, yet the temperatures are so high!! The room was hot during the daytime.

I didn't go into the center of town. Instead, I explored the neighborhood nearby. I went to two supermarkets, a small park, and just wandered in general. Tomorrow, I will be out seeing museums and exploring the city.

The hostel makes both breakfast and dinner. For dinner last night, we had potato carrot onion soup, a Macedonian dish. It was delicious. I ate 3 bowls of it, I think. I sat in the kitchen with 3 young guys from England and visited and ate with them. They are interesting guys. One is working on a degree in physical therapy, another is studying physical education, and the third is working in an optics shop while hoping to become a professional actor. They are traveling on a budget of about $35 per day each.