Back on the road, alone

I decide to head down to Macedonia where i will meet Natasa and Mina for a bit of paragliding! Natasa is in a paragliding club and they are going for a week security course. Also it is Macedonia's most beautiful setting, next to Ohrid lake. sounds real exciting but i first need to get down there! its some 700kms away and i will have to get on the highway i did not manage to ride down with Judith last month. Also i decided to buy that camera and it takes me quite a while before i get to the petrol station i will start from.

It is 11 when i am there and past 12 when i walk up to a long haired man, hippie looks, i figure with those looks he will pick me up for sure!
And he does despite that there is not much space left in their van already packed with 8 people, 2 kids and 2 dogs... All these people except the driver and the big dog are sitting or laying in the back. They are from Check Republic and are heading for a hippie gathering in Serbia.
They have been driving a long way and we soon stop at a petrol station for water, a bit of rest and a watermelon. I get to occasion to have a real look at all this nice company, or family as they say. All roots, long haired, dreadlocks, natural clothes, smiles and sparkling eyes. We drive on and as we get on the highway, the exhaust falls down and starts making an incredible noise. Sandy, the driver gets under the car, between burning asphalt and the hot car, he fixes it in a rudimentary way and follow a men who stopped to help us to his friends auto servis. They will solder it back together. We get there and they want 100 euros for this basic fixing... After it is done, the men (only 2 alongside 6 girls/women) argue with the mechanics and pay only 50. It would have been a huge ripoff to pay that much.

Fixin the exhaust

We are bake on our way south. I was first supposed to follow only until Paracin but as it goes i start to like Sandy, his wife, Orlike and their other son, Helena and all the others... I decide to check out that gathering as i have a proper ride to get there!!! The ride is however long and we arrive on the macadam road leading to the parking after the night... It is not an easy road and we are going slowly, some 40km in this manner will take us over 2 hours. Everybody is exhausted, the hot day and now all this retelling and shaking... We find our way thanks to the stones and hanging cravat at each intersection. Even the other car we met with a GPS could not find it without them... We arrive at almost midnight at the parking where we are welcomed by an Austrian who helps us parking. We then sit by the fire, some have tea, i go to sleep.

Front of the Van :)

Orlike playin us a tune, smert 3 year old musician boy :)

Petrol stop, dog is happy the night is kickin in and it is not sooo hot anymore.

Once again the magic of hitchhiking has kicked in, i was heading for 700 km of road, i make it mere 200 down south and i am probably no closer to my goal considering the tough roads. But i am discovering something completely new. Tonight we sleep at the parking which is separate from the gathering since the later is without cars or electricity and a good hour walk from the parking.