Recovering and watching the shitiest movie ever.

Is all we manage to do today. Beside blogging, listening to last nights hard experience, the description of the morning scene where Hihi's mother was convinced (or tried to be??) her daughter and her friend had to many drinks.
The movie was The first man or the first child or something like that. if you see this, burn it or throw it away but don't watch it! It might do some damage on your brain.

I will use this very short post to quickly evoke the American embassy in Skopje. Their were given one of the best spots in the city, overlooking everything, to build a huge complex that nobody here believes is a simple embassy. The construction site is hidden, under very restricted access and i would guess the builders are not Macedonians. The site is huge, the foundations of the building are very very deep and the fence around it reminds of that in Sarajevo. What is it? no idea, i don't want to know and i hope we never have to find out what it might be used for (what Mr Country Fries, “you did it again”, could use it for)

Ok now my blog has one more interested reader :) Welcome NSA!

Skopje drug city...

Tonight i will once again have the confirmation about who afflicted Skopje is by drugs but i warn you it is a long read and no pictures. After a very quiet day and a good filling dinner, we meet at Hihi's house to drink a couple glasses of vine and get ready for tonights big party at the club right next to her home. For a change, it is a trance night but there is a live drum performance going with it. Sounds great. If for me getting ready means sip the vine, talk and joke around comfortably seated in the couch, for the 3 of the girls around it means quite something else. A friend comes over with some amphetamine and i can feel the mood changing as they are preparing shots. They sniff it so they have prepared a couple lines on a CD cover and rolled a banknote... With some of them i can feel the apprehension, and that before they even take their shot, they already feel a lot better. The atmosphere is happier, the talk is more relaxed but despite the attitude trying to play it cool and as if everything was normal, the eyes are always sticking to the cd. This is especially true for the blond colored girl sitting on my left hand side. She is now smiling a little and lost the contracted expression she had on her face.
It is amazing how in a couple minutes her expression changes, as she walked in she was as is said a little reserved and contracted, when the dealer arrived, she relaxed, when the lines were on the table she was getting delighted, when she had the cd in her hand she was feeling comfortable, snifffff in... haaa slight breath out ... sniffff other naustral. Now, nothing would possibly stop her doing her thing and feeling full of energy and like a queen of the night... And she passes it to right hand side, to me, i put on a discreet, polite smile and say no thanks. “Why !?!” Slightly offended... Well i don't put anything in my nose i reply politely, not wanting to tell the brutal truth: that i have no idea what they are handing me, that it looks like some brown powdered dirt, that i don't do any chemicals, that i don't need it to have a nice night, that i am already feeling very good etc... Once again her expression changes, i can see doubt in her eyes, the smile faded away but only for a matter of seconds, I pass it to the right. Snifff in, breath out, sniff in the other side. snif snif my nose itches... houuuuuu this is strong shit she says .... and i keep my smile and fake attitude while i think houuu that just annihilated some of you smelling abilities and is corroding quite some tissues... already the two girls to my left who had their shot before are changing expressions once again. They look turns to that of a heavy drunk, movement are clumsy, speech is comparable to that of an Englishman at midnight.
Already the first girl stands up, unsure steps, the unity in the group and discussions is n longer existing, the second girl walks away to the toilets and comfortably seated in the couch next to me, the third says “Fuck i feel so good!” and a bit later as she balanced her head back a couple times and here look is vague and seems to be lost somewhere distant, she sight again “fuck... what is this??” My guess is that you just tried heroin darling... And probably not the best version of it. I mean i don't know much about amphetamine since i never had any but i would not have expected it as a brown powder and i know the effects are supposed to be energizing. And now, a couple minutes after her shot, my neighbor is incapable of doing anything, she wants to rest a couple minutes, take a nap before going out. Hihi does not agree, her mom is home and she will wonder what she does home and what happened and while find out about the drugs... Yes, i forgot to mention, as we are “preparing to go out” in the living room, Momy is sleeping next door.
So we all leave after one last blast of a trance tune on the home stereo. All this happened real fast, maybe 10 minutes between the time they unpacked the shit and th time we left. The two girls are fucked, the dealer friend tells me thats why he never does chemicals (but he still will drop a couple pills later on...). I for myself enjoy the party, have a couple more drinks while the girls are struggling to keep up, completely softened out by what they agre to be bad heroin... The blond girl that was sitting next to me is like a zombie, she does not know how to behave anymore and finally vomits on the dance floor... The music is blasting, i am still having a good time, however slightly worried about the third girl still in the apartment. I give a call, she answers and says she will come in a couple... She was alright, sounded real tired but she never came. Nothing else special to say about this night, i meet more of the trance crowd of Skopje, all nice people but with a bit of a drug problem. Some are aware of it in control but others are clearly overrun...

Meditation

there you go!!! slide showmode!

Today after hanging around in the city, we decide to join Hihi and go to an “ashram” in an apartment and meditate a little :) A man picks us up and brings us to the flat where the meditation will take place.
We enter a room that has been specially arranged for our little journey into our minds. 6 little cushions where placed in a circle in the middle of an almost empty room. The wall are painted white, the only things on the floor are the cushions, nicely arranged on the soft carpet. The room is very minimalistic and provides a very calm but comfortable and warm feeling. Past this first impression me and Aurelie start to notice the details. On the wall there is a poster showing a mix of any religious and spiritual symbols... a bit of a Davids cross mixed with a heart, the trinity symbol in Arabic and something Catholic. This mix, painted in blue red and gold on a pure white background, seems a little to universal to me. Everyone may find content in this mix of symbols and that is precisely the aim of it i guess. A small table holds a couple candles and a glass sculpture i don't remember the exact shape of, underneath it, books about or by the guru are found in a couple languages. All sorts of titles can be found here: peace of mind, escape your life, everything you never dared asking or talking about, how to live your life, follow my path, i will bring the universal answer, the quest for tantrum, etc... Like you i couldn't hold back a small smile :) In the corner, a small tv on a miniature book shelve is hidden behind an orange light tissue. The shelve holds a couple videos about the guru and some more books bringing all possible answers. From the top of the tv, a portrait of the smiling guru is watching us. so far so good, i knew what to expect and i am nor surprised nor feeling uncomfortable. Rather i feel quite good, this is a good opportunity to calm down a little after long days and nights of party and never stopping discussions and joking around with Aurelie. As we are listening to the introduction from tonights spiritual leader (he is not confirmed yet but will lead our meditation tonight) about the guru we are told how young he looks on the portrait despite his 50 years. This community is based on friendliness between each other, relaxation, a meat and drug free life (no cigarettes, coffee or alcohol) and uses a lot of yoga bases and i do feel warmly welcome as we exchange basic polite questions and answers about our lives.
As we talk and introduce ourselves, i notice a second poster, it is in my back and i didn't see it before. The guru is painted in an old fashion way next to a portrait of Leonardo da Vinci! The painting is drawn a little like those sketches of Da Vinci we all have in memory and the juxtaposition of the two faces suggest a linkage, parallel between the two men. I almost laugh out aloud and make a joke about it. That man really thinks he is a new Jesus and apparently there are people ready to believe it and who pay to attend his summer school programs.
Tonights believers are a bit of a mix but mainly occupied in computer science. Tonights leader is one, so is a man who should come soon but is too busy with work (does not seem to free them completely from their job and preoccupation these meditations), so is the girl with coca cola red lipstick and so am i... A couple more words about the girl with the red lipstick, she also wears glasses and has her dark hair attached in two ponytails, one on each side of her head... reminds me very much about the girl in one of those old French tv series. One of those with adolescents who have lots of complicated and naive love sorries. I can not remember the name of the series (there were s many of them) but anyone who grew up in France knows this girl, she had the stupidest voice, childish lipstick, big glasses and dark hair attached just like the girl tonight. Every time she says one of those naive things she thinks, i automatically translate them into French and add that stupid high tone. This gives me one more good reason to be happy and enjoy my night. So here i am sitting in circle with Aurelie, The lipstick girl, Hihi, the guru and his girlfriend talking about our issues and lives. Hihi once again speaks about her none existing nose problem and how she needs to get it fixed. We also talk about the beauties of life as we get into a relaxed sitting position for meditating.
We close our eyes and listen to the spiritual leader (hehe) telling us to relax. Your face is relaxed, your feet are relaxed, your back is relaxed, your anus is relaxed (yesyes...). Very slow and soft voice but i cannot help myself thinking that it would be easier to relax and think about nothing without him giving me good reasons to laugh all the time!
After a while of silence, his voice always calls us back on track. I don't now if this is the right way to put it, but everything he says meant something to us. For example He told us about the child in us and as we talked about it later with Aurelie, we were both thinking about this right before he said them!
As we open our eyes, we have an other chat about this experience and childhood, the things we enjoyed dong and did with passion. I remember playing with the river in the back our garden at the times where the water was brown and its level rising. Wintertimes were the cold weather did not hold me back from building dams in the mud with my feet in the water. We speak about lost innocence and natural behavior. Things we did without thinking, before we became aware of what those things might mean to others. Times where the others look upon us had no importance at all...
This nice little chat is followed by a cup of tea and as we sit in the kitchen and I watch our leader being very touchy with Hihi and his girlfriend, the lipstick girl with her boyfriend (our host), i realize and think about the affective and sexual dimension of this sect. It is tme for us to leave :) we walk out and go straight for a beer to counter all the good we have done to our shakras :) The Aya bar is a real nice one, one of the nicest i have seen in Skopje. Nice oriental decoration, delicious juices and small tweeting birds.

Welcome to Turkey!!!!

As you may know i am in Turkey (Istanbul) and have some little troubles posting since the whole blogspot/blogger domain is blocked/under censureship...

But i found a parade, it is called... ha wont tell, don't want it to disapear :)

Crazy Tatoo artist.

So after one more night in drug scene Skopje, today we play it cool once more, i am definitely getting back into the 1pm waking up rhythm again. The first days i was in Skopje i always got up around 9-11 and woke the others up for a breakfast. These days are over, i am in that party rhythm again...
At night we have a couple beers with Aurelie, Tonin, Hihi, her friend, a club owner and his two mates. These people are fully into the Trance scene of Skopje and therefore all take drugs. Is it necessarily that way i don't know, so far, all the people from Skopje that i met take ecstasy, lsd or something similar. Good it is not Heroin. We walk around a bit and the plan of going to a dudes birthday party in the other side of town is dropped, the taxi is too expensive. (the drugs are never too expensive...) This ends with a little bit of tension between Hihi and her friend.
Tonin is dead tired, he goes home, me and Aurelie join a couple of youngsters . One of them has his birthday today as well, he is 19. And he is a total maniac. I don't mean it in a bad way, he is a good guy but should quite taking ecstasy for a couple days. Mom, Dad and dar friends and family, i realize i am talking a lot about drugs here. I am just relating what i have seen and experienced, don't worry i did not touch any :) So we follow them to a house and take an other cab for this. I have never taken so many cabs. All the time cabs. That is probably why there are cheap, because everyone uses them all the time. Or is it the other way around??
So we get to the friends house. There we find out he is a tattoo artist, he tattoos people in his home. He seems to be a pretty good artist but the hygiene of the place is not at its optimum. He probably sterilizes his needles and there is no worry to be made for his clients but so far it looks a little dodgy: the small, young, crazy dog is running all over the place and chewing on everything. The name of that crazy hyperactive one is Joker. What a joker he is. His owner has a joker tattooed on his arm and also shows us pictures on his mobile of his tattooed dick. He tattooed himself, both sides, upper and lower... Crazy cat this man. He want to tattoo his day also a bit later. I figured it out before he told us about it, he has a dog with real short hair, like it was shaved. And I myself figured a tattoo would look good on the dog. He really loves the dog though. Probably will tranquilize him while he does the tattoos...
We are exhausted and head home, with a cab, once again.

Birthday in a Hostel.

After yesterday nothing at all day, we decide to take action and get out of the flat a little while Aurelie's is sorting out her work stuff. We first go into the Big Bazaar, a huge market place where you can by fresh (i mean real fresh) fruit and vegetables every day. Alongside these you also get Olives, Spices, rice, ajvar, olive oil, cheeses and all sort of bottled (not canned) food. Next to food you ca also find pretty much anything you need, from mobile phones to chainsaws, plastic cups to small fruit knives by packs of 10 (made in china of cours) etc... It is a pretty lively place and it is good to walk through her though the merchants look at us really strange when we by 4 or 5 apples. People are used to by huge bags of them. Just like Aurelie said about the peppers, she once took 3 and the man just laughed and offered them. It seems only foreigner do this, I suppose we got used to buying so small amounts because of the so high prices in markets...
We then stop buy in an old cafe on the Albanian side of town, the older nd more beautiful side of Skopje is mainly inhabited by Albanians and has all the nice shops selling jewelry and watches. Regarding this separation of the city and some peoples reactions, i could write one more thing about the stupidity of human beings when it comes to hatred between two “races”but i don't really feel like it tonight and would rather just say that we where served admirably and had a good time on this terrace, sippin our Turkish coffee even if the day was not the most sunny and warm one.
We then walk a bit more, the night is falling as we get to the old bridge. This old stone bridge is restricted to pedestrians and leads to the main square of Skopje. An huge square with many fancy bars and cafes terraces which is always crowded at night. We walk alonf the river a little and shoot a couple pictures. Tonin is one of those guy really enjoying to have a digitl slr to play with and he shoots a couple good shots.
We later meet back with Aurelie and here friend Histina, also called Hihi :) We take a cab to a small bar one of her friends has opened in what once was a flat. It is nicely decorated with a mix of oriental decorations and modern pictures or paintings. The ambiance is orange and th music is well picked. Add to that a couple a fun loving, nice bartenders qho are also friends and you get a perfect bar :) After a couple beers and Rakias, a nice song of La rue ketanou, we get an other cab back into the center to an other friends place. This time it is a hostel, 10 euro a night, it is a really good place to stay in Skopje and a friend of the owner is celebrating his birthday there. We go underground, into the living room, or common area and share al ittel food a lot of beer and most people also take a trip. Lsd on papier buvar :) Not my thing. But i m told later, while i am telling more stupid stories then usual that i took some. I certifiy that no but Tonin explains me that Lsd is passed very easily trough skin contact or by sharing the same fork, even maybe breathing the same air. I don't feel any different however, i am just quite happily drunk as i often am (not really drunk but a bit more than tipsy :)
There is one special girl here tonight, she is playing with her hat and a stick and making a show, you can see she feeds on people attention. She later does a couple fire tricks, lighting long metal finger and playing with the fire until she puts it out with her mouth. I try to get a couple good pictures but you will see i didn't get much. She is a surprising one, she speaks a little French since she lived in Lausanne for about 6 month. Right next to a street i lived on, close to the Coop Caroline. She ha a bit of charm and me and Tonin get into more discussions when she starts here performance of French slightly old school swearing. It is lovely and sensual, we are both captivated by her “Naon! Ca chuffit!” and other ¨Ta geule” said with such a sweet accent. This is what i felt that night but Thinking back about it, since i have seen her again a couple days later, i think i might well have been on a little Lsd because what i heard then, was nothing like what i thought i had heard... or it was just the nice moment in the nice hotel!

Heavy Chillin´

Today we do even less then yesterday, probably we went to the internet cafe and that was about it until the evening where e played Stadt land Fluss... yes we did. That game where one dude tell a letter and then everyone has to find words. We did it with a capital to play it classic, a hip hop artist, a plate and a movie. Damn i feel a like kid writing this.
Was nice to sit back and relax in Aurelie's couches anyway.

Saturday in Skopje.

We are pretty tired after last night long long party and wont be up to much today. Plus the little we did happened about a month before the day i am writing this and not everything stayed in my memory. I can remember however that we went out in the park next doors with Tonin and Aurelie. A nice park where we come across a dog that looked very much like a wolf. Probably half wolf or one quarter wolf. H was held on a damn big chain but seemed to be pretty well dresser. Otherwise the park seemed pretty much deserted and we understood later why. When we tell a friend of Aurelie who also lives in Avtokomanda thet we went there, he says “ah the forest with Albanians...” What? i knew only of forest with trees :) It seems that it is not a safe place, at least so do the locals believe. Albanian go there to shoot around with their weapons and steal from people walking around with computer and cameras... What do you think is the part of truth in this? I had my camera along, and still have it and we didn't hear any gunfire...
At night we go out for the beer fest, it is a major event in Skopje. We walk a bit in town and are a bit disappointed, the streets are pretty empty. Well we soon find out that it is not because this Saturday, everyone decided to stay home but because the whole youth of Skopje is at the beer fest! The kitschy rock on the live stage is not so convincing, we drink a Chimay... mmm long time no good beer! And then move to the Dj scene, to our surprise, they are playing Seeed , Raggasonic and Spook and the Guay amongst other European reggae artists.
We are t tired to take it late into the night but still appreciate a bit of the live Gypsy music on the live stage before taking a cab home. Taxis are really cheap in Skopje, especially at night when there is no traffic and we get home for less than a euro.

Infected Mushroom.

Today is the day of that live concert that has kept me in the area and (i dont know it yet) will keep me around for some time. I leave Nis in the morning, this time i m hitchhiking back and it should not be a problem to get over the 200 kilometers to Skopje. I get out of the city after a minimal breakfast and a long struggle at the post office to get a package sent to Switzerland, a freaking long customs paper to fill which is fortunately in Serbian and French unlike the other paper for the post office which is only in Serbian, written in Cyrillic. The women at the desk is just as nice as in most French post offices, she is disgusting. Anyway, the guard is nice, we chat and laugh.
The first men who picks me up in the outskirts of Nis is young, he works for the family business and he takes me a couple kilometers, a good spot to get south, not by the highway but the normal local road. Soon an truck comes up, and i get the best ride of the day. A man in his 50s, he is driving his truck all over the place and has been to most European countries. he is keen to talk and with such people my Serbian is good enough to talk about almost anything. Of course we speak about the usual topic, the beautiful Serbian country. Its food, it girls, its music, culture and beautiful natural landscape. Serbia, he says, is a country with such great land that it was never hungry, always had plenty to eat and plenty of the best since it all comes from the neighboring fields and farms. It is true, you can see food growing everywhere and what you buy at the market (unless you are in Belgrade or buying bananas) rarely was driven around for hundreds of kilometers. You get fresh, local, seasonal and delicious fruits and vegetables. For proof of that he points at his belly, big and round like always in the Balkan, shows a great smile and drives on. We then also talk about his job, he tells me he has driven this Mercedes i am sitting in for 800 000 kilometers without maintenance, just the normal oil change. And it keeps going! he has driven over 3.5 millions kilometers in his lifetime!
H drops me in a tow some 40 kilometers south, Leskovac. A short but pleasant ride. As I walk to the right spot to continue my journey, a men on a tractor passes slowly, turns around on his seat and gives m the finger with a bad grin on his face. I realize how fast I can change moods, not that he scared me but he switched my thoughts from very positive ones inspired by my ride to darker ones about human nature. I then have to wait quite long before i get a ride with Vladimir to Bujanovac, he drives to visit his girlfriend or the weekend. We talk about rock, watch a live concert on the small screen sitting next to the driving wheel. He drops me in a familiar place, i have waited her on my less successful ride north a couple days ago...He started his journey this morning in Trieste, he is in a bit of a hurry and quite tired. Understandable, he has been driving for over 10 hours straight...
We pull up at the Macedonian side boarder, big queue 15 minutes of waiting, far to much for my stressed driver. He sakes little, we converse in a mix of languages, Italian, English and Macedonian. While we wait we watch the dogs begging for food at each car and make jokes. We pull over at the cafe just across the boarder, it seems my driver needs one more awaking drink to make it the last 70 kilometers. After the boarder i get to see the industrial zone bordering Skopje, on my way out, i was sitting on a bus reading the small book by Suskind i was offered by a German on the ferry in Albania. At first it is a real nice sight, some of the hilly fields have just been worked on and are brown other are yellow, between them rare trees and houses stand to complete the landscape. There is something about this view that made me think it is beautiful and i think it is the round shape of the fields laying on a hill side. Nothing is straight or flat. The dark brown color adding to the impression of relief.
We arrive in Skopje, i get of in Autokomanda, the area Aurelie lives in. she is not home so i take a little time and sit at the internet cafe where i wait for her and Totor. As they arrive, we head for her home and drink the bottle of beer that was waiting for us in the fridge. impossible to buy more, the stores stop selling alcohol in Macedonia at 7 pm. So we start the bottle of Raki i was offered on my first ride into Skopje. It is strong. I show em how to prepare a cafe bucheron. Make coffee, add a lot of sugar, dont stir, drink the coffee, leave the sugar, add the raki. Then comes the funny part, us a metal spoon to stir and as you stir put the raki on fire and mix until all the sugar is melted in. Nazdravie.
A friend of Aurelie who will get her in for free joins us and we head for the Skopje fair where the concert takes place. We catch a cab and i discover once again how cheap they are. About a euro, maximum two fro a ride trough the city. The crowd is pretty young and excited, so are we. guy at the wardrobe is a fucking asshole, i give him 100 and as i don't see my 50 change, i understand that he has no change and i need to wait, i give him an other 50 but never get my 100 back. Motherfucker. oups sorry did i just write that?? The The next lesson about Skopje is that it is a drug city. It is a trance night so of course there are drugs but I did not expect this many. Almost everybody takes something: mdma, ecstasy, amphetamine, speed, lsd... but it seems cocaine is to expensive. Tonight I am a little drunk and very excited to see Infected mushroom, the only trance band i really like, so i don't need any of this and off course you all know that it is not my type of drug. A bit later, i find Nicolas and Alberik who came from Pristina for the night. Nice to see them again!
Soon the show starts, distorted guitars, electric keyboard, crazy light show and the singers modified voice singing the classics of infected mushroom. Remembers me of the times i was biking over the hills of Sydney listening to my ipod. “I m the supervisor”. The crowd goes crazy, people dancing everywhere, jumping, turning, running... It is all over much to fast, but a good dj takes over and makes us dance for a couple more hours. As the show ends, we are all still up for more and try to find an after party. Impossible, so we head for a place Enes knows. We all expect an apartment and are surprised as we get into a strange internet cafe after a long taxi drive. The place smells like cigarettes and is pretty crowded (remember it is about 5 am) with people sitting in front of their screens. There are also a couple girls, young, maybe 19 sitting in the chairs, laid back. Unreal moment. What are we doing here?? Enes tells us there are rooms and we can go sit there... Hu?? we can rent a private room and site there... this just gets stranger. We don't real want this so we head to Aurelie's place. There i am confirmed what i know about Skopje. As Aurelie is sleeping next door, her young Macedonian friends (about 20) take an acid trip at 7 in the morning... Me and Nicola watch this unreal scene laughing and not really believing it. Soon i to go to sleep.

Meeting MiNatasa in Nis

We wake up, slightly hang over, hungry for some solid food after all last nights strictly liquid food. Since Mina and Natasa are not in Belgrade but in Nis and that i also came here to visit them, i decide to use the last day before the concert in Skopje to visit them and take a look at this town i have only passed by. But before i need to write more stuff on my blog. I spent some time in the Internet cafe and head for the bus station. This time i try to sleep all the way, still tired from last night, i spend the whole 3 and a half hour drive half asleep half hypnotized by the shitty movie playing on th buses tv.
Arriving in Nis, i have the whole day to walk around and check out the city. I drop my bag in the shop where i get some pictures printed. A couple for Mina Natasa and Ivana, a couple for me, more postcards to send out! So i walk around this nice city, its castle and fortifications. Along its river and trough its parks. The weather is not so bad anymore Even though the temperature remains to low... Since the weather changed about a week ago, it kept raining, being gray and the temperature did not raise again, it remains under 20... Belgrade was quite different in this weather, cold and wet. People got out their coats and winter clothes, i am still running around in slippers and shorts... dont want to admit it :)
After walking around i sit down to write a couple postcard and letters, to drink a hot chocolate (what a huge one, rich and full of cream) and check my mail once again. Latter i meet Mina and Natasa in a restaurant, they were starving and sick of all the meat so they went for an Italian restaurant but did not realize the place they were recommended was so posh. I walk in, shorts and slippers, not shaved huge backpack, slightly dirty... what a sight this must have been for the waiter. I drop the bag at the entrance, get of my jacket which is taken care of by the waiter... I sit down get a handkerchief, a menu and a very respectful treatment. I feel it is a bit overdone as always in those places. But funny. I order a pizza. After eating for a very surprisingly reasonable price, we hurry out, the waiter helps me to put on my heavy back pack. I weighted it this morning, 18 kilogram altogether, 3 of them being technical stuff (computer, phone, cameras, chargers and cables). We go for the hotel, no problem at the reception, i can share the room nobody cares. Natasa is dead tired, me an Mina go out for a drink and a dance. Nis was the city with the best nightlife not so long ago. Mina knows, she has been going all around Serbia promoting drinks and cigarettes in the bars and clubs. For my part i think of Nicola who has lived here for some month before going to Pristina.

Belgrade again!

Again and again i come to this city! Even though i love it and come regularly, this time it also because i have to. I have to pick up a letter (a new swiss sim card replacing the one i lost in the madness of exit festival and some sweet words) and also bring my camera to maintenance so that they can clean the captor, full of dust and dirt making some dark spots on the pictures. Besides my blog which needs feeding, this gives me a lot to do today.
This time i am staying at Jeremie's place once again but it is not the same place. Since Stephanie moved back home, he had to leave the flat and he is now living in novi Beograd with the father of a Serbian friend from Switzerland. I will have the pleasure to meet him tonight. We leave the flat, Jeremie goes to work, i get busy. After finding a wifi cafe, updating a bit of my blog and writing numerous mails, i meet Jeremie for lunch. We go for a nearby small kafana and eat one more rich Serbian portioned meal. I have goulash and red peppers if i remember correctly. It is red peppers season, they are everywhere, sold in big huge bags on the road side to bottle them or make ajvar for the winter. O and a beer of course! Delicious and cheap as always. Lots of things to talk about with Jeremie as usual :)
In the afternoon i just run all around the streets of Belgrade, go for the camera shop but they send me to the Nikon maintenance center. Then head back on the other side of the bridge to delta city mall where i meet Mina's brother to pick up the letters. The mall is packed, people are getting from shop to shop or simply walking around checking out each other while they get their nails done or have coffee. I hate this temples of consumerism, all these well presented shop with their “marketing concepts”, the sterile environment: white neon light, ultra clean windows, shinny floors... The bad music and the security service forbidding me to take pictures for security reasons on top of that... It is still fun and i do manage to take a couple pictures.
As i get back to the flat, Milan, Vlad's father, is sleeping resting from a long day of work. He works in a clinic as a radiologist, taking early or late shifts. His living room is full of a huge collection of records, mostly rock. When he wakes up, he shows me his video about Vienna, so funny to see my city on tape, so many places i recognize! We then go down to the local restaurant and have out evening meal, a supper of beer please! Even thought Milan is from a different generation then us, he seems so young. Both his face and his word make me think he is in his early 30s. We joke around, laugh a lot and cheer all the time. Giveli! Soon it is midnights, the restaurant closes, we get a couple more bottles and head back up to the flat. We start to be quite drunk and start a skype conference call with Judith and Vlad. More fun and laughter. Even though they might not understand everything that is going on on this side... Milan takes out his accordion and starts to play... Mythique! We shoot a couple pictures before going to bed, drunk as ... Milan wakes up tomorrow to be at work at 7... i am happy i don't have to and that I can sleep a little longer.

hitchin’ Serbian history again.

I leave Aurelie's home in the morning, last nights laziness made me change my schedule from 7 to 9 am... big mistake... I got used to the Albanian/Kosovan easy hitching around and figured it wouldn't take me more than 8 hours to get to Belgrade. Even though there are only about 500kms, i was very wrong, i am writing this on the bus, listening to Ty’s “Do you want more” and quite happy to be in a warm place after spending almost 10 hours on the roads to get only 200 kms further, to Nis.
I resign hitchhiking and to be at the right place at the right moment on Friday i will probably do so on the way back, get a train, cheaper, longer but who cares.... i actually tried this route for th 3rd time today and once again it was no good. Not that the second attempt was unpleasant, that was the time i ended up at the hippie festival. But i really would like to be in place and time for Infected mushrooms in Skopje on Friday.
I am on a bus for the second time today, i had to take one to get out of Skopje after 3 hours of unsuccessful thumb action on the roadsides and the gas stations. On this bus, a bunch of school kids tried to get me a free ride. One told the driver he had forgotten his card and gave it to me... Off course the driver was not so easy to fool and he kept the card. The kid then had to explain i have low money (i didn't ask anything, cool crazy kids!) and after failing to negotiate a free ride, pay to get his card back (with my money of course).
So i got some 20 km further and there i had to wait in the rain an hour for a rid across the boarder. Funny dudes, seem to be in some sort of fraud. Picking up some (fake?) papers from an Albanian dude across the boarder. So I got 70 km from Skopje... almost 400 to go. Again i wait over an hour to get 15 km further, to Vranje. There i wait again, on top of a hill, exposed to wind and not really protected from the rain by the bridge running over my head.
I am now standing there for over hours when finally an old men from Gnjilane stops. And what a ride this will be. Again, i love hitchhiking and immediately forget this morning. I meet local knowledge, a local front man in science, developing paint for ceramics and metals. And also a life full of incredible events. I will hear an other Serbian version of Kosovo history. but first the science talk, i am all interested in his metal paints, they are mineral based and very heat resistant. Something ideal for solar application and something that was researched in the lab i worked at in Lausanne. we exchange contacts and I question him about all sorts of details regarding his different paints. He also gives me the phone number of the boss of a Serbian group building solar collectors and heaters.
Now the history part, it did not begin after some question of mine, rather it was very surprising and sudden as i was answering his question about why French have a little hostility towards Serbians. As i was trying to explain the impact of the news on peoples opinions and mentioned Kosovo... he started and was unstoppable for the rest of the drive to Nis. He first explains that the division of Serbians and Albanians in Kosovo started well before the bombing of 99, under the regime of Tito. He gives the example of the factory which he was working for as a chemical engineer when it decided to expand. It had to hire 6 more employees. The places where put on competition and despite more than 400 (!!!) Serbs applying, 5 Albanians and a gypsy where chosen. When he asked the director which he was close to because of his engineer position why that was, he was first asked to shut up and as he was insisting, he was told that was an order from the regime. Since in Kosovo there are 90% Albanians, the jobs should be distributed in a similar way. Problem was that in his town, Gniilane, there were only one third Albanians... This sort of political decisions, along with the influence of radical Albanian political groups create tensions and made Serbs flee Kosovo.
An other thing he mention a couple times and that quite surprised me, is that many Albanians, he said about 50 % of Kosovo Albanians. well they were Serbs a couple generation before and just considered Albanian because they converted to Islam. This sorta make sense to me, i cant really tell an Albanian from a Serb but i sure do know the first are Muslim and the later Orthodox.
He then told me how since 1910, him and his family had to exile from Gnijlane 3 times. The first time, the region was under turk control. His grand mother had died after giving birth to his father and his grand father had been single for many years when he remarried to a widow. The widow of a turk man with whom she had had a daughter, now 15 years old. The Turks at that time wanted to take their young daughter away. The grand father reacted to this very violently, took back the daughter and kicked some turks ass, The turks then surrounded the Serbian house, the Serbian community reacted and helped the whole family, including the daughter to flee to the next Serbian village. The all lived there until 1912, year where Serbia liberated Kosovo from the turks and where they could go back. The step grand mother and her daughter however stayed since the later had found a husband. The grand father, father and wife moved back into Gnijlane.
They had to flee again, during the second world war when Italian fascists where occupying the place alongside the extremist Albanian faction (i unfortunately forgot the name of). They could come back after the war but again, only to stay a couple years since soon, the situation will progressively become unlivable because of the political pressure i mentioned before, influence of extremist Albanian groups and eventually the bombings by NATO. His parents are now dead, the father is buried in Gnijlane, the mother in the region of Vranje.

Damn this local histories are always so moving and every time what i think i had understood the pictures, i realize didn't completely and that there is probably no big picture. What i notice again and again however, is that Serbs are always willing to make their losers position clear and still generally tolerate foreigners very much (you might think that as a European you are not responsible but if you dig little and that is what Serbians do, you find out the European governments played a big part in all the conflicts since world war one(. But also that it is important to be careful about what you hear from people... for example, I clarified (i think i did) recently what i heard about Srebrenica. Someone told me the number of casualties in the massacre were blown up and that is impossible that thousands were killed since it is an 800 souls village... If this number might be accurate it is however not the count of people present at that time since there were many refugees. This of course does not mean numbers have not been blown up...

I arrive in Belgrade where Jeremie welcomes me at the bus station and takes me to the ? kafana. How nice it is to be so warmly welcomed once again in Belgrade! I start to become a local here :) We eat, drink and talk. Three things i love.

Getting down to Skopje

I decide to check out a bit of tiny Kosovo today. basically there is a sort of circling road going around the main interesting cities. From Skopje west to Peja, then south to Prizren then back east a little to get back on the north to south road leading to Skopje (and Mitrovica in the north). Mmm not very clear all this. Anyhow, instead of going ridiculous 100kms directly to Skopje, i decide to go visit some big monasteries next to Peja and then the nicest town of Kosovo, Prizren. Making it almost 300 kms around the city.
But soon, the rain and unsuccessful hitchhiking makes it happen otherwise, i return to Skopje and decide to make it straight south, wherever the rides will take me. The first one takes me to Garanicica, the Serbian town composed of “refuges” from Pristine, they left under pressure of living conditions amongst Albanians remembering times of occupation and still hating the Serbs they come across. The driver works for an NGO taking care of kids and helping them with homework. He was in Skopje to get paper for his new driving license. He had one for 3 years but since Kosovo police don't always recognize Serbian papers... he had to do it again, all over, from the beginning. An other concrete example of human stupidity. Funny town, as is spend my last euro on Burek and yogurt, i realize that here, people pay with dinners, the Serbian currency. Also everyone speaks Serb and Albanian is not recommended, so said my driver. I visit rapidly the monastery with is under KFOR protection... As i walk pass the Swedish guards, i discover the monastery and what seems to be an older hospital
This stop was short but i realize that as i though, UN is very probably not going to move out of here at the end of 2008 as they plan.

I then get a short ride with Serbs who work for the UN and will bring back to the main road. One of them tells me how he spent 1000 euro on fake papers to apply for a visa to Sweden (or Norway maybe...). And got refused... They are happy sad people. You who reads this in your comfy office chair, please realize once again how lucky you are to be born on the right side and allowed travel the world freely. Why would someone need to be allowed to do so??! jut because he lives in a country on a given list.

The next ride is with an Albanian who lived in Canada for 8 years now and tells me about his business there. First the official one, air conditioning and heating, then the other one. He brings up the subject asking about weed prices in France and Switzerland. He used to sell 50 kilos every 8 weeks in the US for about 5000 dollars... no wonder he is renting a big car and taking 2 month of... He is however very nice and funny. Tells about how Macedonians hate Albanians (very true from my little experience, i was also told Serbian police is nicer than the Macedonian)
As we get into Skopje, the behavior of the copilot who did not say anything until now changes. He yells out the window, makes weird sounds. Actually i realize he is saying hey my man... but in a fast and strange intonation. He also talks to he chicks, the drivers stops looking at the roads to star at asses etc... pretty normal Balkan thing actually. I don't get to leave them without taking with me a liter and a half of a home made raki... And head of the Aurelie’s place with that extra kilo and a half on my back.
Aurelie is a friend of Timis from Pristina. Very nice French girl on a voluntary mission with an NGO. An other Frenchman on the same program is still around but about to leave. We go for coffee and internet. At about 9 pm we are done with our respective stuff and treat ourselves a fresh beer. The discussion kicks of on reporting, my new dream :) she is writing for a small local paper and i ask for advice, it is however her first attempt. As i mention what i would like to write about, more positive things, we get onto the Balkan subject. And since she has written her memoir on this subject, we have quite some material to discuss. We then talk about me. :) I realized, a couple days ago already, that my lonely travel often bring me to some extra need for attention and to be at the center of something. Basically we analyze me :) very interesting, well i guess since time flys and it is suddenly midnight as we go for a bit of pasta (damn i didn't eat anything since my morning Burek...). And off to sleep after more and more incoherent chatting.

A couple days with UN and ESCE

What would be a stay in Pristine without spending some days with people from the organizations that you can see all over the place. UN cars, KFOR, ESCE, Police and others..,, authority and organizations are present in all forms and everywhere. Mostly seen as huge white 4 wheel drives. I have my foot in the door since Nicola with who i partied at EXIT 2 month ago is now working here as an intern with ESCE.
He will host me for the next nights and introduce me to his friends from ESCE, NGOs, UNMIK etc... It will be a funny time and starts on a Friday night. I really feel like mentioning my Friday afternoon frenzy before however. I get to pick up my stuff at Timis/Kreshniks and feal really excited about being in a new city again. everything is great, the sky (though it is not blue and sunny), the buildings, the cars (as i said many official 4x4 along the oldest ladas), the atmosphere and people. A comparable feeling to that of my crazy ride in south Albina or as i arrived in Pristina not so loog ago. But this time, it has nothing to do with hitchhiking it is one of those moment where i feel a burst of joy without knowing why.
So we first hit Nicolas friend, Alberik's house party. And what a party, kicking of with 2 bottles of some real nice French vine and a couple cheeses he brought back from his last holidays home. Mmmm i had forgotten those tastes! The vine and cheese is running out as the party gets busier and crazier. But remaining reasonable :) no trashing, no yelling, no crazy phone calls on the balcony (remember PichPich??), no loud music. But very good mood, relaxed and interesting people around, and good drinks of course. Cafe bucheron is best with rum but also works fine with Skanderbeu Cognac. I get into an interesting discussion with Mark fro Switzerland, about politics of course, again :) What a mess there was in the Balkans these last centuries and what a job it is to try solving some problems without adding new ones and still respecting peoples independence and culture. As we leave and head for a taxi to the club we relax and start talking about India and great trekking in Nepal (damn cant wait to get there! but no hurry everything in its time :))
The club is a long taxi ride out of city, filled with half foreigners from various organizations half well off locals. Like for example this girlfriend of Krshniks who recognizes me and gets little upset since i don't immediately. She surprises me as she tells me i was in HER restaurant. I give her more reasons to be upset replying i do remember now meeting her but not that she owns no restaurant, it is your fathers dear. She did a pretty good make up job since last time i have seen her and is hiding her youth (probably around 19) but surprisingly good looking. I have been here two days and already meet people in clubs... That is how small Pristine is, especially at nighttime. We party hard and long, when every one catches cabs back to the city, we hit the next door grizzly club with Nicola and a newly met volunteer, Greg. In the end, as we are leaving, he gets pick pocketed. Nothing to bad about it, he didn't loose much but gets a little upset for a while. And god did Nicola make me laugh tonight! especially as he wanted tto get of with Greg And then to his former apartment!

Next days are again all coffee, short walks out, a birthday super, birthday toast, birthday around the bars, bowling, blogging, talking, playing play station, looking for a ping pong place, laughing at last nights events, eating burek, Sujuk, pleskavica, chicken burgers and Salad of course ;) O and of course some nice local beer, Peja. Sundays very early bedtime is very welcome to end this weekend and start off fresh.

USA Pristine (United States of Albania hehe)

After sitting in cab, listening to some reconstitution of the now 7 years old tragedy I am now in the American University in Kosovo. I don't know if it is the dramatic voice, music and sound effects of the reconstitution or rather the sterile atmosphere of the cafeteria i am sitting in but i feel a slight uneasiness. Soapy folk music on the tv, new tables and plastic chairs, young rich students (immigrants or children of the elite i guess), all working on identical laptops, with identical bags, slight bitchy looks for th girls, polo or chemise for the boys... The toilets are just as sterile, white neons and antiseptic smell. I guess I d still have to prefer this to the usual Turkish toilets... Oh a big FAT FAT Cartman cat just walked by.
Since i arrived i have been in this sterile milieu all the time, it would probably have seemed normal coming straight from Switzerland but now, i got used to the Balkan way, especially after Albania. to places like the toilet/shower/washing room in the ¨camping¨ two days ago. But the clean, new, modern apartment somehow doesn't have such a positive effect as the guest house/hotel at Tuto’s in Gjirokaster where curtains separate rooms and where the family sleeps under a simple but comfortable shelter. More than 10 beds on mere 60 square meters...
Anyhow I feel all pumped up again, probably the electro music on the tv, the expresso and the frenzy of writing down 10 days of my life and some short articles staring at my mini screen and keyboard during 4 hours. But i lay back as Kreshnick comes back and we walk trough parks back into the center. Tonight is football time. Albania vs Malte. 3-0.

After some rest we go out to visit the city once more, photo exhibition, Maria Teresa street, Bill Clinton boulevard, an other Skanderberg statue, more friends, some strange omelet, internet session in the cooking sun on the balcony, washing clothes, drinking coffee, drinking beer, walking a lot, UN buildings, official buildings, many many official white 4 wheel drive cars on the streets etc... A couple normal days out in a city. Tonight ends with a long talk into the night with an other CS member.

The next day we were supposed to get to some waterfalls after Timi and his friend got their visa to Belgium for a year of exchange. but administration is giving them a hard time, it wont be anything today. This ain't to bad, i will have more time for those waterfall later, but the day ends and Timi did not get his visa. His flight is on Sunday, no visa, he will have to postpone it... An other very concrete example of the difficulty faced when wanting to get out of your country. Belgium granted rights, procedure got stuck on the Kosovo side... I hope he will get there soon! I go and meet Nicola for the next days and nights.

Frantic journey Hitchin’ boarders again.

Today started in my ¨Camping” waking up to a hard stone bench. It was Outsides to begin with but non stop winds were driving me crazy this night. The noise, the movement and the hair tickling my face were too much and did not allow me a correct rest. I found shelter from the wind on a stone bench, in a small cabin normally serving as a fresh lunch spot during the hot days. I spent my last Albanian money on last nights dinner, the night, a comestible neck less of dried figs and a coffee, leaving me with 400 leke for the ferry.
I meet a couple of Germans slowly heading home from a nice trip in Greece on a rented scooter, They are kind enough to complete my collection of lowest banknotes with a 100 lek note :) thanks! We have coffee and we then go to find a ride up the ferry port. Located a little higher, on the top of the hydroelectric barrage it offers a view into the beginning of what is going to be a beautiful ride through a narrow canyon.
The first car ride, who already brought me up the ferry pays for my ticket and explains to the locals who are asking why he does this that i will come back with 10 or 20 people next time :) Who is up for a tour in Albania?? b my guest i guide you around. My driver is a lawer who went to Germany for 4-5 years, worked and came back with some money and opened business. A very common life path in this area. In western Albania many speak Italian because they worked there (or are still do but are home for a couple month holidays), in the south they speak Greek and here closer to Kosovo and in Kosovo, they mostly know German. He now takes me to Bajram Curri, there i get delicious very needed midday breakfast break with the money i fortunately still have (thanks to my driver who payed the ferry ride) and pays for a spicy salty “boudin”, the Shujuk, some salad and bread, some fruits, fresh water and sweets.
Back on the road as i just walked 50 meters from the last shop and have my finger up to the first 5 cars, a seat iziya with a big fat albanian flag painted on the hood breaks hard, leaving two big black break marks on the asphalts, pulls back and a smiling dude invites me in. One more mad drive, no seatbelt allowed, he is a cop, knows the rules and drives fast and furiously through the curves to the next village where he invites me for a big cold beer. He is some sort of special agent and does transfers of convicts if i got it right...
Back again, after 5 min, only one cars past and this time a huge nissan patrol loudly breaks some 30 meters after the curve, pulls back and smilingly invites me to jump in. An other German speaking dude who made some money in Germany and open a business, he has a building company, 60 trucks and other heavy machinery under his hand. He will drive me past the boarder, driving good 120 as soon as its possible. The boarder is not passed without a good long red eagle, pit bull or coffee break and offering the boss of the place a cold beer. He is all frantic and talks to all the cops around. I, who cross boarders regularly at home, am amazed by the relationship between locals and customs officers. At the Kosovan boarder, we stay an other quarter of an hour talking to the agent whom i saluted by his name in Albanian :) I don't get a stamp but a separat piece of paper so i dont have trouble getting beck into serbia... As soon as we are over the boarder, he keeps speeding but askes me to put on my seatbelt, different country different police :) After the crasiest boarder passing so far, he tells me how little they earn and that they deserve a little extra (he give i supose when he needs to take something over the boarder).
Dropped in the first bigger town where he has business to do, he wants to get me on a bus :) again they don't understand hitchhiking around here... As i walk my what out of town, a gypsy picks me up with his machine. It is not commercial serial car rather hand crafted, but still i will see 2 or 3 very similar looking engines. blue soldered metal, a smoking engine fixed on the front, no hood, no shell at all actually, small amortizes from a scooter or something similar, a 2 seater bench and in the back a big ass saw which can be connected to the engine by swapping belts. Thats is his job, he drives around to the costumer and cuts wood!
The new spot is good enough to be squatted by 2 wondering young kosovan asking what the fuck i m doing around here sticking my thumb up ... hehe
Yet an other German speaking dude picks me up for a couple kilometers. For the first time today, i actually waited, maybe short 30 min :)... The ride is unfortunately to short for him to tell me his whole life story which sounded dramatic and very interesting. Married to a German woman, he ended up in jail for 18 month, the type of none deserved and heavy impacting jail experience from what i can read in his eyes. He was betrayed and got 18 month of shit for it. God helps he tells me, now i have a good wife and just got a son 3 weeks ago! All the man wants is a simple family life. I am glad he found it and wish him more luck, kids and a happy life, sincerely.
After a bit into my apple, a Porsche cayenne drives up, the driver is the man from Koman i chated with a little while waiting for the ferry and on the ferry. An other heavy breaking, silent this on, must be the ABS :) and i m off to Pristine... He also speaks German, was actually born in Germany, as he says you got all sorts of Albanian stories in Germany! He has a successful business he wont speak much about. As a matter of fact thy don't speak much at all. The driving is little more cautious when overtaking, but this is only considering the power of his car, roaring up to 130 in a matter of a couple meters. The acceleration can really be felt. I know have a little more understanding of th people driving this fat ass car. Not that it is justified but it it fucking comfortable, fast, well acclimatized and sonorized (bose speakers). As i think this and give the driver a little credit, he justifies my original opinion about fat ass luxury 4 wheel drivers, he is a big pig throwing his garbage out the window.
He leaves me at the crossroads to the airport where i hop on a bus. Sitting just behind the driver who again asks me if i speak German... He worked 5 years to buy his bus (in France) and now drives people around Kosovo. Simple life with German investment. He is as most people well surprised by my trip and offers me the ride. His friend sitting next to him and entertaining his drive, asks if she can join me to hitchhike to France to visit her brother :) i a couple month, sure :)

Arriving in Pristine at sunset, after passing the white UN blocks, the city center reddish blocks reflect the evening light. Asking directions on the street i get into a conversation with Fatos who wants to take care of me and show me around, but tomorrow, he has loads to do today. Nice people around here! I Head for an internet cafe and speak to my future hosts. I m feeling excellent once again. Waiting for Kreshnik and his cousin Koka under Bill Clinton's portrait, I realize i am all pumped up a sped up... is it the reading of Neal's rides trough the states or mine trough the Albanian-Kosovo boarder???
Good feeling anyhow. I think I love the road.

Ferry ride

More Castles.

This morning, despite getting up at 8 i wont be at the ¨bus station¨ before 11. One more nice breakfast with Stavri, getting of the city bus at the wrong stop, wondering around the market and looking for the post office will delay me. As i get to the big roundabout where buses are supposedly leaving, i get sent from one corner to the other only finding buses to Durmir, the coast resort. Finally in a nice shaded parking spot, i find my Furgon to Kruje . It is the former capital and there stands the big castle fiercely defended by the Albanian hero Skanderberg against multiple Turkish attacks. This charismatic figure is considered a huge hero in Albania and is sculpted and depicted on many occasions, namely on the 5000 lek bank note ;) The castle is nice, the museum refreshing but i don't learn much since most the stuff here is in Albanian... The setting is nice but i preferred Gjirokaster.
I head back on the road have a couple fruits (i realize i never ate so much fruit than during this trip, a couple peaches, apples or plums are just the ideal lunch in the blazing heat). And get back down to the valley with a private building worker. Then a road construciton boss pikes me up and drives me up closer to Skoder in his air conditioned 4 wheel drive. We pass a huge wood fire that just keeps burning... They have no way to stop it, no planes, little fire vehicles. And once more i get dropped at a bus station, People always seem to thin it raly is the best way and i should top hitchhiking... Furgons what to take me to Skoder, i dont :) walk away a bit, stick out my thumb and just as locals are trying to help me out and ask why i dont get a sign with my destination, a van stops. Old man, silently driving his wreck towards destination, smiles and looks out the windows with his big clear blue eyes. We pass a dramatic frontal crash, probably a couple dead in that one. This remembers me of the main danger in Hitchhiking those countries, it is not the driver itself as most people would think and argue but rather his driving and the bad roads...
I safely get to a village, closer to my goal, Koman, from where my ferry leaves the next morning, up a beautiful canyon, closer to the Kosovan boarder. As walk the road here, i am invited to relax and have a beer with some local men. Ani, a young men who has been to england for a couple years but did not like it much except for work, along with older fellows are chilling around a glass water. They tell me the story of Francois who passed here last year walking his way to Israel and whom they never heard of again, despite phone number...
Back on the road i get a short ride, then a longer one with other garbage trowing Albanians, a shorter again with Italian emigrants and finally a local youngster does a 30 km detour to bring me to Koman. And what a slow detour, the bad and curvy roads take ages to get over into the valley.
Finaly in Koman for sunset, i have a fresh beer and then a good super with my last lek at the only local restaurant whom offers me to sleep over, in his garden for an euro. I accept, mainly because of the shower and the nice trees by the river where i put up my hamac. The bathroom is worth a couple words, it holds a washing machine, a shower hose, a small mirror and a Turkish toilet trough which the water from all this flows away. All this despite its simplicity (or maybe thanks to) is however very clean and there is no sign of moisture or bad smell.
The moon is shining, the river flowing and the wind blowing, i get into my hamac for what wont be the best night of sleep.

Kluja Castels

hitch to the ferry

Tirane again.

Monday in Tirane, i got some rest, slept in. Stavris flexible work allows him to sleep a little more when he feels like it. Today i go up the hills, on the national park. The view is unfortunately obstructed by the smog. The weather is really heavy and the air is far from being clear. This heavy heat also somehow discourage me from getting any higher and as i get of the carrier, i simply have a small walk and lay down in the grass, in a shady spot. Next to me, a family is having a big day out, a picnic on big napkins, loads of roasted lamb, salads and drinks. The whole family is there, maybe 30 people. The kids play around. The boys play football, drive dads cars, running after each other and sometimes after some girls :) The remaining girls dance to the music. The family is quietly seated, eating and chatting under the shade of a big tree.
As i get back down, it has gotten even hotter and i decide to escape the heat and sit in a wireless cafe, drink a cold Mociato, write mails, tell my host in Pristina when i will arrive and hopefully write some blog post. In 3 or 4 hours, i only get to write mails, forget about the CS host and dont blog anything... But i did get two contacts for the new project running on my brain for the past days, to get something published weekly in a paper...
As i hurry back to Stavris for my cold shower (the water stopped running for about 2 weeks in this part of city and only works somewhere between 7 and 8...) i find the apartment empty and locked so i get back into city center, the blok, the place where young people walk around, hit the bars and where the very young go for a tour on the carousel. I meet Stavris brother and soon as we are talking about meeting Nora, we bump into her on the street! Coincidence? Sure... 10 steps further we bump into the brothers freind who were just talking about him :)
We agree that this might mean something and cant decide what. I am starving and get some Qofte at Tumi’s the most delicious around. A nice bun, two pieces of meat and some sour cream are a delight! We go for Iliria’s (the nae of Albanians ancestors) where we share a couple beers and talk about tourists, garbage along Albania’s streets and roads. Nora and her friend advice me into the right way to get to Kosovo, getting to Koman and taking the ferry boat from there. I will follow their advice.
Stavris musical friend is there again, his presence being much more pleasant without ipod in his ears :) We head for an other bar and have an other very interesting but never ending and not concluding discussion. thanks you for that girls! It did help however.
the bed time discussion with Stavri who cant get any sleep tonight turns around tourist activity in Albania. He justifies his position of elite/luxury tourist trips for Japanese groups. This tourism bringing more money for less effort than that of Noras friend who targets outdoors, sports and green tourism. Smaller groups, cheaper hotels, more personalized itineraries. More effort less money. I can just say that i am glad this sort of tourism exists and that people break their ass for it as it is the one i would choose if i d go for an organized tour. :)

Tirane 2

Day two in Tirane

Late waking, Sunday, lazy day :) we go for a fresh waking coffee. Meet a dutch girl starting an internship in the embassy. We go for a rest after we think we figured out the national museum opens at 5pm. I will meet a friend there at this time. After a short nap i head there only to find close doors and an other disappointed tourist. She probably got the same wrong info. It is also closed tomorrow so to bad i wont see it... I walk around looking for some nice pictures to take.
At night i meet with Nora for a tour in the children's amusement park with her friend and her young son. A couple rides later, the kid still didn't have enough and probably will want more eternally. We head for a beer next doors and there we have a long interesting discussion about society, citing the brave new world i argue that the middle class masses in western civilization are just like the betas (or gammas i cant remember), brainwashed and manipulated trough their fears. The Soma of our modern civilization being consumption. Huxley pictured our society very well in his metaphor some 30 years ago.
The very interesting discussion goes on into societies happiness. I tell them that people here, in the Balkan, seem happier, especially in villages (of course not always but they are not starving, which i never saw). They have less stuff, if you look around a house here, they don't have piles useless stuff like we do store all around our houses (in nice different Ikea storages). Also they care less about what happens in the world. They don't get bothered so much about wars, suicide attacks and other climate catastrophe outside their world. They are bothered enough with they own small problems and neighborhood problems. Once these are solved (sometimes before) they go for coffee. This two things might be the explanation for more smiles and happy life. I don't say that everybody is satisfied and has his dreams fulfilled. Speaking about dreams, people have more dreams, objectives and are happy with simpler things. For example they are happy and laughing talking to a foreigner like me, helping him out. Talking around a coffee for hours (we do this on some Sundays, around here it is non stop, all along the week and at all times of the day). Not bothering so much about next month or next year. Not saving up for years with no precise goal. Not living on credit. Having time when they cross boarders to chat with the policemen...
This discussions stop as we go and meet Stavri and some of his friends in the Presidential park. Again, laughter, simple talks and chats. Then we get to be spectators of imaginary fights in the kids playground. Hitting the climbing ropes, fighting the structure of the swinging chair, the bushes branches. Doing push ups on the bars... All this to our entertainment and distracting us from some serious conversations...

Tirane 1

Back north, direction Belgrade.

Today i leave Djirokaster with the objective of reaching Tirane. 200 kms of roads. This means some good 4 if not 6 hours in Albania. Morning picture session is not convincing i am sorry i lost last nights pictures... i get a taxi out of town, and get of when i realize he is a taxi, charging 1000 lek to Fier, only halfway... :) A truck driver then picks me up and gets me into Tepelene, some 20kms further. He is all wonders “what the hell i a you doing here?? Why? Who are you??”. The conversation is simple since i speak no word of Albanian besides good, yes, no, no problem, hello, goodbye and thank you :) We somehow understand basics about each other using international words and a lot of gestures. In Tepelene i get picked up by a football fan heading for Tirane for the football game against Sweden. He owns a cafe in Saranda, he is a nice man with simple life and a very good and open minded when we exchange our philosophy about life and religion. Respect, helping each other etc... But when it comes to god, he exists and there is only one! We stop in Fier for a refreshment, to drop his friend and meet a bunch of others. Since he cannot drink during the Ramadan, he washes with cold water to cool of. Who hard that must be on days like this driving a car with no cooling r ventilation...
In Tirane i meet a german-italian couple cycling trough the Balkans who loved Bosnia and are now a little disappointed. I recommend them the southern part of the coast and since they have little time, they go catch a bus down there right now. I myself then get to the Sky tower and meet with Eleonora, Nora for friends. Frappe, cold water and a long chat in thee parks about professional life and choices.
I find the same discussions but in different voices, words and emotions everywhere. Questions, fears, dreams, ideals... Nobody knows and anyway it would be boring to know. Nora goes of for dinner and me to meet Stavri, my host. She recommends me a delicious Qofte, at Tumi’s. Delicious in deed this little sticks of grilled meat. But also friendly, real fast and refreshing thanks to a nice tap beer. Simple, Fresh, Cheep, Fast and Friendly you certainly rarely find this in Switzerland. Waiting for Stavri i watch the boring game on Tv... I finally
meet with him and his friends At Iliria’s for a couple beers. Soon we start excited chats about music, exchange band names, addresses, tastes and then a bit later opinions... I love these first moment when you have a beer with strangers, laugh a lot , exchange information with excitement and discover all those new things about new people! By the way the pub is named after Ilirians, the ancecters of all Albanians.
As Stavri will later say in the park, they bring me local knowledge which i spread in my travels and thereby contribute to the ongoing, unstoppable globalisation :) The chats go on in the park where we meet Marie and listen to music. One friend goes into a private session of ipod listening, tripping on Roni Size dirty beats :) It is late, we grab food and go get some deserved sleep. Getting into the family’s apartment late and waking the parents is a problem for nobody. Every body falls back asleep.

Girokaster to Tirane

Beautiful coast.

Yesterdays hitchhiking successfully brought me all the way down south to Saranda. There i meet some friendly Albanians again, besides almost everyone who friendly salutes me, kids are particularly nice, first those two playing football then this whole bunch amongst which two speak fluent English. They ask me, like all kids. naive questions but also where i sleep. I tell then i have a hamac, they point to some trees and warn me about dogs :) The want to touch my muscles (hehe), know my name, my life... they are a curious, funny and happy living bunch. The Marines on their base right next to here are just the same. Except for their boss who shouts i should get out of here. I don´t get what they do here, they are just 3 4 old frigates, half of which are rusting, the other half is already half sunken.

I go for a nice plate of fish in a nearby restaurant in whichs backyard i then set up my hamac. Except for a couple barking dogs, the night is quiet here in the cities outskirts. I wake up go for a coffee in that same restaurant and head off to i don't know where. «j n’sais pas ou je vais ca j’n’l’ai jamais bien su, mais si jamais je le savais je crois bien que je n’irai plus» as la Rue Ketanou sings. As i pass a stopped bus, the gypsy kids sitting there advertise the ride! it is only 100 leke to Butrint, an archaeological site, I should really see it. They are quiet funny and friendly, a bit sticky but cool. So I get on to Butrint.

On the ride I meet an multilingual Albanian from Kosovo, he has worked in Geneva and speaks perfect French. Once arrived, I realize it is 700 Leke entry. 500 for me :) I would have paid 700 if i had known what was waiting for me. Maybe the best archaeological site i have seen in my life and all for me alone in those early morning hours. It has a very complicated history from the 4^th century BC to nowadays. Healing sanctuary, roman Mediterranean trade an culture city, religious center, Venetian military outpost...

From there i hitchhike my way to the beautiful fresh, sweet waters of the Blue eye, but before getting a ride i speak to my gypsy friends again :) At the spring i relax, swim in the cold water (about 10 degrees they say). Later an Albanian photograph shows up and take nice pics :) Then the man from this morning bus ride comes along. He worked in Geneva for Albanian education and integration.

I then rapidly manage to get to th beautiful Gijorkaster for sunset. And meet a serious Albanian entrepreneur who started solar and green energy here. He has a contract for street lights using leds. We talk a bit technical and of course exchange emails.

I find a nice room with a dude who is a bit in a hurry. Tonights shots of the nice sunset panorama of the surrounding mountains along with the snapshots of the massive impressive insides of the castle and the view of the old authentic stone roofs of the old city are unfortunately lost in a wrong manipulation during transfer from my memory cards... This castle, its old town and the surrounding mountains are and will remain my favorite in Albania.

butrint

Blue Eye

What is it about hitchhiking i dig so much??

I am sitting on the third different beach today, and something comes through my mind, i get out my eee friend and decide to put that down. Sort of. i was just realizing how much i enjoyed the first half of this day, and might even enjoy the rest of it more. What is it in people that make me feel so good? Maybe those simple conversation witch are all the same but all different. I always get asked the same questions, you could think that would get boring real fast. But no, the way they are asked, expressions, reactions to my answers are never the same. And the story told on the other side might be very similar but there is always something more about it. Be it the smiles, the silences, a couple’s argument, a joke, a lifetime story... Or sometimes like today after the second beach stop, the ride itself. I got piked up by a towing truck, and something that didn't happen to me since an other fabulous ride in south of Australia happened. I got to sit on the back, on the platform. It was empty since they were towing not a car but a Mobil home, hooked to the back. So i made myself comfortable, secured my bag, out of the greasy spots all over the platform and i pulled out my camera.

One would think the ride was uncomfortable, too hot from the engine i could see right bellow me and from which I could feel the heat, no good air, almost constantly smelling the exhausts fumes, very shaky and under the midday sun. But i loved it! I was digging it completely. The wind refreshing me and bringing me fresh air when i would lean of the side, the panoramic view on the sea and mountains around. Which by the way are the best i have sen so far in Albania with far less rubbish by the roads. I cannot tell if it is more because of the influence of that passage of J.Kerouac’s on the road where he sits with 4 or 5 other hitchhikers on the back of a raging truck or the feeling of freedom, the view and the sensation of progressing. Maybe it is also because after 7 days in Albania i used the buses 3 times and finally get back to hitchhiking

In the end i could say that hitchhiking is more or less the same in every country and every place I have been so far. People will tell you it does not work, it is dangerous, there are many psychos out there. But once you overcome the laziness and the bit of fear people put into you, everywhere it is the same story again. Surprises, nice people, adventures, unplanned stops, coffees, sometimes food or a beer, a lot of landscapes and many lessons to learn.

Long live hitchhiking!

Albanian south coast

Pictures!!

The pictures are back!!!

Here are even an unpublished extra taken from the future... meaning the last days :) Yep not very clear humm???
I write the post in advance so there can be one every day. Because i can not foresee the future (yet) the stories that you read are one month old...
So today a couple pictures taken in Macedonia in the last days :) Some are by a professional photographer (same camera, can you tell witch ?? hehe) who was showing me some of the most beautiful hidden places around.

extra

Where we went, how we met and what will happen at this weekend marriage, you will know in a month :)

A day with Wilson and Toni

Despite his test today, Wilson continues to show the greatest hospitality and kindness. No stress, it seems that as he told me, he is ready. He has worked all year and it is not a couple more hours that will change his performance at todays test. I do agree and wish i could have been hanging out at the beach on a sunny day just before going to my final exam... Because that is what we did today. He showed me Cold Beach, the beach which is half sea, on the bottom, and half spring water, the 2 cold centimeters on the top. Here the springs of Vlora flow out of the rocks, into the sea. The waters are crystal clear and the spring water is cold and delicious.

After Wilson leaves me for his exam, i hang around the beach a bit longer and then head for an intenret cafe. After too much sun, the 4 hours i spend there are at least a little fresh.

I then meet Wilson and Toni for a coffee and some food. As Wilson goes to sleep, I have an excited chat with Toni where i tell him my anger about some of my friends... (wont tell any names but moahahah you might be reading this now) Those friends who were so revolted, talking about how shitty capitalism is and that they will never work in a bank, in an insurance company or any place their conscience has a problem with. Well some of them forgot all the smart talk. Some other friends dare telling me i am soooo lucky to do what i do. Damn, the people i meet around here have to trespass law to come visit me or go through a shitload of paperwork and corrupt administration... Not talking about the fact that to raise the money for the cheapest train ticket from Geneva to Paris they need to work a week if they spend spending nothing at all... ohh and even if they had paper and money, they still have to keep their family fed and cared for... THEY can tell me i m lucky, NOT YOU who has freedom to move any place and the opportunity to save up for a month trip in one or two month of work... Makes me sick to hear this, and i hope i don’t hear it again. If you want to do this, do it, you probably can. Ouuups sorry I said this :)

Ok that was for a bit of smart talk of mine... Sorry for those whom it does not concern, i will calm down now and enjoy my luck, listen to the waves, check out the crystal waters and be silent :)

VLORA

Ramadan.

Today is the second day of Ramadan, I was not aware of this until i saw the big sign above the main street of Berat and talked to the women from the info office. What i don't know either is that i will make a very interesting and helpfull (relativ to last nights state of mind) experience about this today.

I get up at 7, visit the cities castle and old town, you have to climb up a steep road and even in the early morning it is tough. But it is worth it, in the early hours it is free :) and no one is in the small streets up here. Berat is definitely the city of thousand windows. I get a private tour into the building holding the phonographic museum witch opens at 9 only. The guard lets me in for a couple pictures and some very interested questions. Where are you from, what do you do, how long etc... the usual stuff :)

Back down i pay for my room, get a nice smile from the owner and head for the Internet cafe and then the bus station. I meet a young helpful men at the bus stop. I would have waited to more hour if it wasn't for him. I was already ion the 2 o'clock bus, the twelve o´clock bus only passes trough, does not stop in the station. I say this because i did not know it yet, but i will meet him again very soon!

As i get of in Vlore, i am full of doubts, it is 2pm, the heat along with some 18kilo on my back is barely stand able and i have no idea where to go or what to do. I head for what seems to be the old center. A couple statues with the date 1912... no idea what happened that year. An other on for a dude named Ismel who was born and died the same day... no idea who he is and no one around to tell me. At this time of the day in Albania, everyone sleeps somewhere. The shops close for a couple hours, the streets are deserted. I sit in a park quite close to some elders playing dominoes or cards. I sit a while and then walk through fresh water blown away by the wind from a big fountain...

And i decide to head for the beach. Get harassed by a first Taxi driver. The mood is not at its highest. What the fuck do i do here?? i am tired, i am sick of moving all the time. where are my friends? what the fuck do i do alone here, in this heat, with all the rare people i come across staring at me as if i was from mars... Big moment of questioning again, i should definitely head back to Belgrade soon and go rest in Istanbul. But still i want to see the sea and the beautiful beaches i was told about. So i walk...

At the next taxi station, i get harassed again, this time they want to convince me to go for a 20 euro room... And Destiny kicks in once more... Two young Albanians walk by and ask if i need translation. We start talking. They are students of the peace Corps i contacted a bit late and did not get an answer from! they speak very good English and speak with great admiration about their teachers. We dump the taxi guy and go for coffee. They will totally help me out of this situation, coffee with a lot of sugar gives me the initial boost and when Wilson tells me he knows a 10 euro room and the he could even host me, i am delighted and heve no more problems.

We move at Wilsons where i drop my stuff before going round town. He shows me the place he worked at, introduces me to his boss, to his friends. Explains that 1912 is the year of declaration of independence ad that Ismel is the dude who declared it and raised the flag! he bring me to the place it was raised where an old man shouts stuff and point at what i should take a picture of, it is the nicest picture i have from vlore i think...

We then head for what has to do with my introduction. Sorry i get carried away again and you have lots of shit to read :) We go to his mosque where after watching the evening prayer, i get to share the food with his community. Delicious lamb with slightly spicy potatoes, rice, salde and yogurt. Delicious! the best mean i had in a long time. And every one around is friendly, a little curious and welcoming. And right opposite to me sits the men who helped me out with the bus... A great experience which made me think a bit.

Although these are special times, because of the Ramadan, the hospitality of Muslim make me realize that it is very easy to be convinced into this religion. Unlike what is believed, they are not all extremist and leave you the freedom to practice the religion as you feel. I for my part think will never be a Muslim (or practice any other religion) because i am not desperately looking for answers, impossible explanation, spirituality or a community to belong to. I am a rational, got scientific education and am lucky enough to have all the friends to support me and all i need to live comfortably. None the less, i was very impressed and will try to make my point without further justification or side explanations. i believe the reason Islam is a raising religion in great cities like London, Paris or others is not the great job imams do to convince people into it. Rather it is the very warm, supportive, opened, not demanding, helping, respecting, tolerating community that it offers. This is all the capitalist society, specially in the anonymity of cities, does not give. It sometimes, if you are willing and lucky enough, gives enough money to survive or even to buy stuff (which might not be what you need). But it does not care for you, especially if you are an illegal immigrant, a homeless person or some sort of marginal. Maybe i understood this that way because i was myself desperate and lonely at the time i met Wilson and because he offered me, just like his friends offered him before, a home, food and someone to talk to (not about my problems but about life, religion, gay couples, tolerance, America and much more debatable subjects...)

I was long once again, got carried away in socio religious theories :) And don't get me wrong about it, I don't advocate religion. simply point out it fills a lack of communal sens in our society. Reactions are welcome!

Berat 2

Off I head again.

After taking what seemed to me like enough rest and time to accommodate with Albania at Tauschias place, i head of fro Berat, a beautiful conserved city. It was conserved this way back in the days of communism, as a natural size museum.

The bus journey is long and tiering, as always. but cheap. The roads are real bad and shaky again (they shook of a side mirror from the bus...) the roadsides are full of garbage, once again...

I arrive in Berat where i soon smell the strong flavors of freshly fround coffee! I stop in a small shop where i can not resist buying some Turkish coffee. It is still warm and smells through the hot sealed package. I buy a small pack for personal use but this immediately makes me think of the good old days working with Benz at LESO in Lausanne. When he prepared this delicious coffee on hard mornings. And as i was passing the post office, i send it of to him, no doubts this was meant to happen. I hope it got there!

I then taste a local burek, delicious, simple, cheap. And find a room in a private house for a very reasonable price. I talk to the chick at the info center about Albania, she shows me pictures from Albania from the sky. It seems to be a beautiful country with many hidden surprising places. As i then walk through the city, i meet a hotel owner who invites me over to taste his wifes coffee and his home made vine. Surprisingly good and not too strong. The first vine i taste in Albania is a very good surprise! He then shows me around his garden and his 30 pigeons from different origins. I have to say goodbye and go around to make pictures in the evening light. Not so concluding sooting session. I eat, meet a bunch of Check who wonder what i do alone and then an Albanian kid who grew up in England and has been away for 8 years. He is 12 and speaks very wisely for his age, he is very surprised by Albania, did not expect it that way. All the houses under construction, all the garbage... He prefers England.

I walk around the local giro a bit, young Albanians want to be taken in picture, i don't manage to do a reasonably good shot. still have to work on the flash use.

I go home, feeling a bit dizzy from all those people on the streets. I feel very tiered and a little lonely in my dark room...

Berat