2 – 8 July 2018
In Dürres (in Albania) I took a direct bus to Prizren in the south of Kosovo. It might have been more convenient to go to Kosovo from Skopje and then go to Albania, but then I would have had to miss out on Ohrid. So that’s why I chose this slightly more inconvenient route, but at least I got to see the places I wanted to see. I arrived at the central bus station of Prizren. Here I looked around for a bus company that goes directly from Prizren to Podgorica in Montenegro, but finding one was not as easy as it seems. Finally I had found a company, but they suggested me to go via Albania, since the route through Kosovo to Montenegro is horrible and would take me up to nine hours! I almost started regretting going to Kosovo, only to be going back to Albania the next day. But I wanted to see every country, so I had to visit Kosovo too.
I still had some time to walk around before meeting my host, Arianit. Prizren is a lovely city with a rich history. Many people advised against visiting the capital, Pristina, because there’s basically nothing to see, except their library, which is supposed to be quite an interesting building. In Prizren you can find many mosques and orthodox churches. I visited the Sinan Pasha Mosque and the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. George. This cathedral was once looted and set on fire by Albanian extremists during the March Pogrom of 2004, but over the years the cathedral had slowly been restored. The building is still being protected against acts of vandalism directed to Serbia. This is a good example of the still existing tensions between both countries.
After I had lunch, I met Arianit. He took me to the fortress that is overlooking the city from atop the hill. From the fortress you have an amazing view over both the city and the green mountains surrounding the city. It is a very nice place to walk around and during summer you can also visit the concerts and performances on the stage in the middle of the fortress. When we got back to the old town, we sat down at a terrace and ordered local food and I had some ayran (a salty yoghurt-based beverage, popular in the Balkan and Turkey) to wash it down. After we finished we walked to his place, where he lives with his parents. His parents were very friendly and interested in the trip I was making. The whole family, including Arianit’s sister, is working or studying in healthcare, either as a doctor or in medicine. So in case something happens to me, I should return here! That night we had some drinks and watched the Balkan people party, after what I presume was a successful soccer-match.
The next day I took the bus – via Albania – to Montenegro. The bus stopped at Ulcinj, a coastal town in Montenegro just past the border with Albania. Here I had to transfer on another bus that would take me to the capital: Podgorica. Although it is the capital of Montenegro, there isn’t much to see there. And just like Pristina in Kosovo, people advised me against going there. But quite some time ago I was approached by a guy named Jovan, who invited me to stay at his place: a student dorm near the center of the city. I thought it would be a good idea to use Podgorica as my base and then plan my day-trips from there, so that’s what I did. Jovan and one of his friends picked me up at the station and showed me a bit around the city. We also had some burek, which according to Jovan was the best in the city. That night we had dinner at a place called Pepe, where we had some amazing pizza. Their pizza is absolutely delicious, and that for only two euros! I had just found my favorite place in Podgorica.
Since it was over 30 degrees centigrade, I decided that I would go to the beach today. Jovan suggested that I’d go to Sutomore, the beach closest to Podgorica with a direct train connection. The beach was crowded but I managed to find a spot where I go spread out my towel. The water was very clear and very refreshing. At about 3 p.m. I returned to the train station, only to find out that the next train back to Podgorica would leave at 5 p.m. So I still had some time to kill. I bought some ice cream and sat down at of the many terraces that are overlooking the beach. I asked the waiter for the WiFi-password and he responded with ‘Dubrovnik’. I just repeated it to make sure I got it right, and then the waiter left and I continued reading my book. Suddenly a boy who was sitting at the table next to me, said to me: ‘I can help you!’ Slightly confused I asked him what he meant, and he responded: ‘I can tell you how to get to Dubrovnik!’ I had to laugh and I explained to him that I was only asking for the WiFi-password after which he also had to laugh. We started talking and after a while the boy said to me: ‘My father (who was also sitting at his table, but didn’t speak any English) asks if you’d like something to drink?’ Surprised, I said that a cold beer would be really nice and they got me one. We continued talking and after a while the guy returned to the beach. It didn’t take long for him to come back however, and he had bought me a souvenir from Montenegro! That was so sweet of him. It’s memories like these that make traveling the best thing there is!
The following day I took the bus to Kotor, a beautiful, old city located in a bay surrounded by green hills and mountains. No surprise that there was a large cruise ship laying in the middle of the bay. Kotor is one of the country’s most famous destinations and a real tourist hotspot. The road from Podgorica to Kotor was also amazing, with stunning views over the mountain passes and we even drove through a layer of clouds that was covering the tops of the mountains. When I finally descended into the bay, I was greeted by an ancient city wall that surrounds the old town. The old town is gorgeous, with narrow cobblestone streets and old city walls. I also climbed all the way up the mountain, to the fortress that’s overlooking the whole bay. It’s an exhausting climb and especially in the heat it was killing me (and lots of other hikers). But after a few stops along the way I finally made it and the view was definitely worth it. Even from above the town looks beautiful; all houses are covered with orange roof tiles. On the way back to Podgorica I also had a brief stop in Budva, another beautiful coastal city.
The next day I didn’t want to do too much, partly because of the heat and partly because the previous day had been so exhausting. So I spent some time working on my blog. Later, Jovan invited me to come to another student dorm, where he and some other people were organizing a summer course for international students for a certain organisation. Students from all around Europe would join this event and it was nice to meet some of the people who were there already, since the event would officially start the next day. That night we had dinner at a pancake place that had opened recently. It was a small and cosy place, and the pancakes were really nice, but it wasn’t worth the one hour wait. It took them so extremely long to make just a few pancakes and some salad that we were almost thinking of getting a pizza delivery while we were waiting for our food (especially if that pizza would be from Pepe). Later that night Jovan and the other organizers took the students who were already there to the overgrown ruins of an old castle, where we played some drinking games. It was a great night!
The following day I joined the official opening of the summer course, which actually meant that I joined them in the drinking and get-to-know-each-other part, which was a lot of fun. The day after it was time for me to move on. I wouldn’t go to my next planned destination though. All my plans changed radically after receiving an e-mail that I got a couple of days earlier. In my next post I will write more about this extraordinary e-mail and about the consequences for my trip.
Dawn Under 