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!

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.

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

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 :)

Back in Ohrid, on the way to Albania!

Long reading today...

I wake up early, heading for Ohrid, as i walk up the road, always sticking my thumb out, i discover the bushes are full with blackberries, never seen so much of ’em. Delicious, i eat what must have been half a kilo blackberries!

I then get a ride with a restaurant owner driving his car maniacally through the curves dominating the clear waters of the Ohrid lake... :) but he controls it and surprisingly wears a seatbelt. In Ohrid i hit my already favored wireless cafe, start my skype account, load some money and send a general mail. Also get in touch with Tauschia in Gramsh, a place in Albania, close enough to get there today. I text her, telling i will be there tonight. But who cares what i do in front of a computer in a wifi cafe?? it is actually what you will read that matters no?
By the time i am done, the sky is gray and it is already past 4. So off i go, still decided to make it to Gramsh. Takes me almost an hour to get out of the city and be picked up in the most unlikely spot on the side of road. My first driver takes my, out of his way, right up to the boarder. He is Macedonian, lives in Perth where he studied and now works there in demolition. More money than what he studied and most important those 2 month holidays he is getting in the Aussie winter and that he now enjoys with his family here. Sweet dude, “awesome!” Pizza guys, Beaches, Maroubra bay, Uni-Games and more, it brings back some old memories!
At the boarder i chat to the first car in front of me, Austrian plates, they refuse at first but a minute of reflexion later they take me with em. Fortunately, because it is now pouring down and getting fresh. As soon as we cross the border i get to see about 20 of those famous Albanian bunkers. They are all over the place. 700.000 of them were build by the paranoid communist dictator Hodja. Those indestructible concrete mushrooms head are scattered around and some progressively show their stem as the red ground is eroding around them. The boarder zone is a succession of falling apart factories, huge abandoned brick, metal and concrete constructions. Some of them destroyed, some falling apart, some resisting to time, some reused and turned into storage or a garage. We stop at one of those garages in the middle of this sad landscape. The people gathering around the brand new Mercedes and talking about what might be the cause for the engine’s overheating are, happy, energetic, strongly contrasting with the surroundings. On the drive, as i ask about the Albanian economical resources, they laugh and say ¨Weisses pulver”. The landscape is now changing from industrial to natural. We drive through green and red mountainous areas, water spurting out of them and flowing together in a red river.
My drivers drop me in Elbasan, historical city of Albania, sad not to be able to take me to my destination. They would if they had time but really have to make it to Tirane for business. As usual in a new country, I get some cash and a SIM card. The later is not active immediately and for the first time it takes me more than a minute to be connected. I am required to register, provide a copy of my passport, an address etc... This takes much longer than expected and as i get back on the road side to hitch to Gramsh, some 50 kilometers south, it is already 6pm. The cars drive by without giving a damn, some even give me th finger. I find a nicer spot to wait at. There i am soon surrounded by a cop, a couple youngsters speaking Italian, some kids and a taxi driver. They are all wondering what i am doing and it seem like my case is desperate, i will never get to Gramsh they all agree. The kids try to negotiate the taxi, it will get me from 25 euro to 20. At that price i can sleep in a hotel and take the bus tomorrow morning. I refuse categorically to take the taxi but he insists on staying around. He seems convinced i will give up soon and take his cab for that hours long drive. He waits, looks and regularly tells me ¨20 euro...” I hate cab drivers! Him and the kids squatting around and staring at me start to make me feel uncomfortable. I find myself thinking the cop, he is still there also buying leader shoes from a friend, is a damn corrupt piece of shit, the cab driver just wants to milk my money, the kids are not staring at my different face and my backpack but rather at my wallet... Paranoia kicks in and i don't feel well at all, I attempt to speak with passing drivers but they all head no further than a neighboring village.
It is getting dark and i give up on getting out of here, rather i want to find a cheap hotel, not the one the taxi wants to drive me to... Once again, in a very desperate voice probably, i ask a passing car with open window for a ride. the car has French number plate and i therefor make my demand in French. The car pulls over, a tall man steps out of the car and tells me he is sorry but he is afraid i wont get anywhere tonight, to late, the roads are dangerous (because of their bad condition and falling night) and Albanians don't drive that far that late. I ask him if he knows a cheap hotel. Him and his wife propose to drive me someplace, but after a drink. The soon propose to host me in their house. It is in construction and they are arguing about how to make me feel the most comfortable there :) No worries i am used t sleeping in worst conditions, no matter what.
Jean Luc arrived in Albania over 10 years ago after numerous missions around the world and fell in love with the country, their people and all the villages. When he arrived, Albania was a big village even more than it is now and that was what he loved. Around a beer in a nice palace like sport center (i will learn its construction was financed by drug money later, but that i an other story) he tells me anecdotes about the times when he was driving around in a 2CV with friends, Nicola Bouvier like, and about later times when him and his wife Albana where going around the country on Horse backs. They now both run an architect bureau in Elbasan but still escape into Albanian rural areas when they get a chance.
After apero we drive to a nice fish restaurant out of town, they know the chef and guaranty fresh Fish. The dinner is delicious in deed and we talk about further travels, Albanian politics, corruption and mafias. Thinking back about this i cant realize i was desperate on the side of the road less than an hour ago and am now sitting in a nice restaurant, sipping white vine and eating grilled fish. After the light “3 milks” house desert, we head of for sleep.

Only one pictures of today but here are some of tomorrows visit of Elbasan:

The monastire.

The inside of the forteresse, big bar.

Lombardi beach and Dalmatian concert

Despite being up and ready pretty early, we don't manage to get away soon, the check out is closed until 10 am... aah Zlatko i don't think i will be coming back in your backpacker or recommend it any one... We sort out a couple things, post, food, money and finally leave the place after paying for the night. It was as expensive as our nice apartment with space, kitchen and balcony...

Morning coffee...

Hitchhiking out of this tourisms mecca is not easy and when a car stops after 2 hours of patience, it so hot we accept to take it even though it does not take us the right direction at all. We find ourselves in a nice quiet village with a rocky beach and not many people around. Judith plays with crabs while i swim across the bay, a bit of exercise is more than welcome. After sitting in the sun for a while, reading and writing we have to deserve our dinner by walking an hour by the road in the sun to the next market...

On our way to Vela Luka, on the other side of the island, we meet an other couple of hitchhikers, they also want to get there to see tonights concert, a famous singer is performing. We decide to join in. I will be brief, there is nothing unusual here, nice ride with a French/Italian/English speaking Serb woman from Croatia, nice ice cream and quiet seated concert. There was an other concert and i think we did not go the the same as the Croatian couple. But we got to hear some very nice chorus and traditional music.



Writing all this i m afraid nobody except my parents and Judith will read this. It all seems so boring. Especially now with all the shit happening around me in Macedonia, it seems like only futile details of a privileged traveler...

Welcom to Sarajevo!

Warning, long post today, but plenty of pictures too...

We head off after no breakfast, last nights dinner is still being digested... Saying goodbye to our nice cute little guest‘s couple is as always not easy... We walk a bit through the nice nature, fortunately it is not raining but only mystically cloudy. the nature is beautiful around here, too bad the weather is not better, i would have been happy to walk a bit around those fields and mountains. Getting back down to the main road is much easier, the owner of the first home which could not host us last night drives us a couple kilometers to the hotel. From there a Bosnian couple drives us from there down to the main road. Sweet rides :)

Nice rides, but still bad weather :(

mm what a poser

Down on the main road it is once again a great success, a mixed couple, Serbian and Polish, with their young child take us along in their tiny car. After rearranging stuff inside it turns out like often small cars offer a lot of space, some times more practical than big cars. They are both English teachers in Poland and the ride is one of the most pleasant, easy going. They are going for lunch in Mokra Gora, the rainy mountains (quite adequate name...), just the place we are going to to visit Kusturica‘s Village. Mokra Gora is a real sweet little village with its old mini train station. The rails are narrow, the locomotives and carriages are real old school and i walk around the old Steam Locos fascinated by all the machinery.

ai ai captain!

We then walk up to the village which is a big disappointment. Entrance fee, into a fenced village, we expected a typical film setting somewhat like in a Kusturica‘s movie but we found a Souvenir shop, Jacuzzis, restaurants, a small cinema we could not visit because we just missed the start of a projection, an art gallery displaying very tasteless paintings and numerous houses which are actually hotel rooms... in the end we felt like paying for access to visit a Hilton like hotel...

The greenes green in Serbia...

My car?? fast an furious.

Bruce Lee street.

View on the Village.

Back on the road after delicious Prebranac we hope to get to Sarajevo today, it is some 200kms away and it is already pat 4pm... Luckily we get ride after ride. One past the boarder with a agriculture mechanics salesman to Visegrad, one with a crazy driving Bosnian a bit further and one with an Italian speaking couple coming back from their holiday house. 6 easy rides today, finally Judith experiences a nice hitchhiking day and gets to speak with the driver (in Italian). After 2-3 days of failure, endless waiting, and rain we smoothly get to Sarajevo.

Visegrad bridge, read the bridge over the Drina, good book about this regions history.

The entry into the Sarajevo from the north is very impressive, coming out of a tunnel in the middle of some hills we suddenly are facing the old library which is not restaurant yet and still carries the scars of war, it is full of bullet holes and shell impacts. After checking the center out quickly, we head for the hotel recommended by our last driver. 65 Euro scares us out of this place and we finally find a comfy, not to expensive private dorm 10 min walk from the center. We have one of those Balkans best Bureks and tea and we go to sleep.

Ludilo Cacak

This translates into crazy Cacak, the town were we land after a long, slow day of hitchhiking. After getting up late, as usual thees days, we struggle to get a ride for some 20 kilometers with an other mixed origin (Serbian/Bosnian) emigrated visiting his family and relatives in his now divided home country. He speaks German with a strong almost incomprehensible schwab accent. The real back country type of accent which i struggle to understand. After visiting a monastery, he drops us at a crossing, fortunately shaded as we will sit there for 3-4 hours, holding up our Cacak sign in turns...

The Monastir and my camera going on an acid trip, purple Hendrix style...

Waiting, patiently...

Not so patient ???

Still here, same spot, same sign..

Finally, as Judith is getting desperate and loosing hope, an Autoslep stops. After seeing their phone number all over the rocks on the side of steep roads in the whole Balkan, i finally get a ride in one of those car pulling trucks. Actually it is a sorta improvised one, a big jeep pulling a tow with a white Peugeot 306 police car on it. The dude is sorta boring, not much to say but he takes us to Cacak and drops us in a surprising, exciting spot were we will quickly meet the most interesting people!

The crazy bunch

Ziiiveli Braaaateeee!

Across the road a bunch of men are having a couple beers, you can see in their eys it is not the first one and this is their daily hang out :) It is about 5 in the afternoon, we sweated on the side of the road in todays heat and a refreshment is very welcome so we don't hesitate when they invite us over, smiling, yelling something and franticly waving their hands. The cold BG beer is delightful. So is the second one and the smiles on everybody face. This encounter is one more proof of the Balkan hospitality and their curiosity when it comes to strangers.
After a couple beers everybody is friends and brothers. Brate or tebra as they say here, i thus learn that Serbians also us Verlan, this form of speaking so common amongst young French people consisting in inverting syllables. This is the beginning of a long evening of drinking Rakija as we are soon invited to come to Belco‘s home, meet his wife and taste her delicious coffee and more of his home made Rakija. We are welcomed like kings in Belco‘s garden, under a fruit tree sitting around a low table on low chairs, surrounded by tomato, cucumber, onion and paprika plants. The coffee is delicious like everything we get. A berry jam, sopska salad out of fresh garden vegetables, lots of Rakija and coffee. Communication is not easy but the mood is excellent and we challenge each other for who is to eat the hotter pepper. Hot Hot Hot!
Soon, as i play more stupid games and talk nonsense with my new mates, Judith gets a little upset by something i did not notice or rather did not feel so strongly, the men are sitting outside, laughing and drinking while the wife is inside, preparing us food, coffee and washiing up. I guess this is still more anchored in Serbian society and Judith's west European feminist side jumps up to this.
After enjoying more Food and Rakija, and i have to say there that is most probably the best Rakija i drank and will drink in Serbia. Easy, delicious, strong, and shared with my brate! Well after that we head of, carrying the 4-5 kilos of vegetables we get offered. Tomatoes, Cucumbers, onions, plums and of course some real hot peppers of all kinds. Purple, green, red, small and big they are all different tons of HOT :) O and also a huge jar of wild cherry jam.

Fresh Organic Fooooood

We head for the cheapest hotel in town and i slowly come down from my little clouds, this time around my brothers was honest, warm, fully lived, a little crazy and very welcome after today ride, mearly half of our way to Tara.

Spa sessions??

Waking up is not easy once again... The day kicks of with some coffee and some intense, long blog writing. After that we head off to Nenad‘s summer house in Vrnjaska Banja, small thermal city with a well known heeling spring. The setting is beautiful but the town a little touristic and crowded with people. Nicola, a friend of Nenad joins us for tonights carnival closing party. The town is full of people running around and we make our way through this semi chaos. The house is beautifully set on the top of a hill with view on the pool and the surrounding hills. We get in for sunset, have a nice pizza, a couple beers and check out the carnival. Kids are franticly running and screaming around the dancers. Music is switching from folk to pop through modern adaptations such as folky kill bill versions.

Nikola, Nenad and Jelen Pivo!

carnival curiosity...

We head back to the chalet were we drink a beer with the neighbors and I let everyone taste some of Milan‘s grand fathers Rakija. Its strong and good but would be even better a little fresher. Tonight there is a concert in the old towns amphitheater. We don't know it yet but we will get an incredible setting, a very well adapted laser light show and the blasting sounds of Roberto Rodriguez. But first we go to a somewhat fancy cafe bar were most men of our group and around us will spend most of their time hypnotized by on girls ass... Yes it was quite unique, even the girls around were staring at it and god knows what they were thinking about...
I wasn't to keen on more electronic music tonight despite of the delicious cocktails from the bar. But i still go along and hit the main party, after negotiating a group price, the surprise entering this arena was great. I m not sure if they could find a better place for such an event. As you get in, from the bottom of the half circle, you immediately feel the music through your body and the general atmosphere takes over any worries, you get into it right away.

Let the party begin! And it went on until late in the night... and so long for the healthy spring water, leave that to the old people :)

Back on the road, with great company

We leave a little late after giving back the keys to Miroslav. We don't know it yet but the first day hitchhiking with Judith is going to be a big failure. After getting to a not so good spot, waiting quarter of an hour, we move on the highway, between the main tracks and an access strip. This would be unthinkable in western Europe but is something completely normal in Serbia. We stand there with our beautiful and clear Nis sign for almost two hours... some thousands of cars zoom by laughing, making a quick sign or not paying attention. We even see a convoy of swiss cars from all possible cantons passing, maybe hundred of them. Mass exportation? group holiday? We will never know none picked us up.
We then decide to try it by the national road. No more luck here after a good hour or two. Too much heat and exhaust fumes, we chill a bit and have a nap in the nearby park. This makes me think how different opinions are about Belgrade, some say it is just smog noise and stress, i see green everywhere, churches, nice buildings, history and some main crowded chaotic roads passing through.


We finally hit the bus station to get our ticket to Krusevac where two couchsurfers are proposing to host us, Stevan i all ready know from Belgrade and Nenad. It is Nenad who kindly picks us up at the train station. he takes us to his house, his parents are out in their week end house. this is my first contact with a wealthy Serbian family. The place is full of nice furniture on which are sitting statues of all kinds, photos, ceramics etc... like Nenad says, everything has its place and it is not the place to organize a party :)
This place contradicts fully with Stevan‘s which we will visit later to share his evening meal. His mother prepared us some delicious chicken with paprika, plates of kajmak and salads. Everything come at the center of the table and we help ourselves, glowing eyes from appetite. We then go for a visit around town, pass this strange inhabited huge house with a exaggerated big garden. The Grizzly bar, only alternative place in town is our next and lass stop tonight. Here young people meet to listen to their favorite music, drink cheep beer (specially cheap compared to Belgrade). The music is nice, grudge, punk, rock and roll and more! Stevan explains us that this place where young gather until the early morning to drink beers and where they stay even after closing ours is a nightmare of the town. And they do everything to close it down. For example they rehabilitated the road passing in front (i forgot to say everybody gathers outside, in front of the bar not inside.). This road witch was once a walking only road now has occasional cars trying to drive their way through the crowd... Pretty tired we go to sleep soon to the disappointment of Stevan.

Ohhh my nice little toes which are not in so good condition but are beeing taken care of, dont worry.

The real storry about my birthday...

Once again i was out in th middle of nowhere and could not update my blog. Sorry. But it does not seem to bother anyone, except Judith.

So after showing Judith around town, we joined Mina and Natasa for a beautiful fish dinner at Reka, a well known konaba to celebrate events. Judith, Jeremie, Mina, Natasha, Stephanie, Milan and Ana are in the place. So is the band preforming tonight. As usual in Serbia, we will start eating around 9-10 after a little Rakija aperitif. What to say more than it is real nice to have a proper dinner surrounded by friend thousands of kms from home :) I even got presents, a bottle of homemade Rakija from Milan's grandfather and a nice Belgrade t-shirt.

Mina Natasa and Jeremie

The atmosphere in the place.

Midnight walk after dnner, at the gates of a cemtary. Again the picture i a bit dark, expect beter picturs as i just acquird a new camera.

I could also mention quickly why i am late again... Happy hitchhiking surprise again! On my way to civilized south of Macedonia where i would have written some more updates, i was picked up by a bus full of hippies and alternative people :) They were heading to meet their big worldwide family, the rainbow family! and it was such a nice, fun living, loving ride with the family that i spent 3 days with them in the middle of nowhere. But more on this in a while!

Also, i am writing this on the newly acquired ultra portable laptop, eee pc :) waiting for the bus to meet Mina and Natasa, i realize how contradicting this is with the place i come from, were i lived with practically nothing. D‘amour et d‘eau fraiche comme on dis en France. I guess buying this was a professional deformation, i cannot live without a computer :)

First day in the Exit madness

I happily and easily arrived in Novi Sad were the streets are allready full of live and activity, people playing guitar and drums on the streets and in the parks and drunk englishmen all over. Mmm i will hear lots of Serbs complaining about them to a very drunk me but have to admidt englishmen are loudder, dirtier than me and a bit a little regardless about were they are, its just like home with cheeper beers.
I am supposed to meet Mina, Natasa, Jeremie and Nicolas here but none of them is there today, they will arrive on Friday. So after resting a bit in a park, recovering from the sleepless train journey, i meet some crazy people. Most crazy of all, probably Dr. Rock. We have quite a few drinks with his gang on the park lawn before getting into the festival.

Dr Rock on his way to the festival, crossing this crazy bridge were massive loudspeakers blast music. We are also half way down the Rakija bottle and full of beers...

Dr Rock and ???

Reloaad, a bit of energy. It is about 10pm, i am way to drunk for the time of the night. Got caught up by events once more. Around midnight exausted from the trip and Dr Rocks crazyness, i fall asleep on a lawn of the festival, to wake up a couple hours later for....

a beautiful early sunrise and DJ Hype!!

Around 8 am i go to sleep in a remote place i found, in the middle of a bambous field, nice and fresh and shaded. Far from the afterparties along the danube, the crazy camping and all the englishmen ;) Tonight was very rocky.

Back online after Guca

Before resuming the story were i left it, at Exit festival, here is a small paranthesis at guca (about a month after Exit...). In Guca i had the extreme pleasure to meet some of my friends from Lausanne again! Lorin, Marcel, Niko and Pj came out far in the East to live the wilderness, excitment Guca festival. It was all about trompets all day, grilled pigs and lambs on the stick, drinking Rakija and Beer and dancing aroung like crazy. 3 days of madness realy...

Retrouvailles :)

Living the intense music...

Sorry for leaving you without news for a couple days (didnt bother many it seems...). I m back and will try to keep up with the daily posting. Now back to Exit and more on Guca in a month :)

Visiting Bucarest

After the rain finaly stoped, Andrei takes me and Criss around town. With loads of explanations and comments he makes it a great journey trough town.

River Side
mmm Comunist architecture!!!
Mad max like old factories in the sunset.
La Ruine, Some buildings here have a big red dot on them, this means that in case of an earth quake, they WILL colapse.
Inside la Ruine.
Chicha and tea with Andrei and Criss in that beautiful hall.
Yellow ligh through the glass roof.
A Bucarest street....

End of the Ridge

Finaly, the end of that other very long day, loads of pictures...

Still walking the ridge, sun is setting slowly, luckily for us... and we can see the end of that ridge


Something like the blue mountains next to sydney....

The path up, sometimes steep, rarely shaded like here

Looking down, evening wind blowing up.

Looking all the way back... the right is not even were we started.

Taking a break on the ridge, behind us, it goes down down down.

Finaly it is fresh and we know that after about 10 h walking, we are getting realy close!

5 minuits to the bivuak!!! sitting down, checking out the view!

Group picture!

The sun is setting now...

and i can hold it in my hand :)

One final view down on the valley before we get down to the hut on the other side for a rich dinner, lots of laughter and a good (so we hoped) night of sleep!