Skopje to Prizren, 2/X; 14th October
14th October
After a simple but tasty breakfast and a few cups of coffee at the hostel, we made our way to the border.
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Gentle climb to the crossing. Again, the North Macedonian guard didn’t stamp out passports so we had to go back and ask for one.
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A long, gentle climb up to the top after crossing the border. Beautiful views of the valley, and as we are at the start of Autumn, the leaves are changing to a beautiful golden yellow.
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After a fast descent to the village of Doganaj, MayLyn went to ask about a SIM card at a shop. They didn’t sell one, but the guy called his friend who said the post office should. At the post office, the staff helped us install our SIM cards —€7 for 4GB. We said we had some leftover cash from NM — he phoned his friend who directed us to a small convenience shop where we exchanged the remainder.
I waited outside for a bit, and the restaurant owner came out and started chatting. He asked what religion I believed in, and where we were planning on staying that night. I said we were planning on going to Strpce to which he said there were definitely no hotels and strongly suggested we don’t stay there.
I went inside the Free Shop 99, and the owner was showing MayLyn pictures from his hiking trip in Malaysia and showed us pictures, as well as a Japanese cycle tourist he had helped from a few years ago. Soberingly, he also showed us an image of a graves of his friends who had died in the Kosovoan war of 1999. When leaving, he insisted he give us some soft drinks, and when we said just one would do, he gave us one Kosovo keychain as a souvenir, each.
Inside the shop there were several items commemorating the war of 1999 -- above is a display showing the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) flag, Albanian army flag -- many Kosovars identify as Albanian -- the KLA was supported by NATO, led by the US, in a bombing campaign that quickened the end of the war. The justification for the bombing remains controversial.
After taking a picture together, we continued west. Slightly busier road than the mountain pass, which had been very quiet, but not too bad. Passed by one 4x4 with NATO livery.
A few USA flags flying outside buildings. The owner of the shop even had a picture of Bill Clinton on his phone. I had known a little about how the war came to an end in 1999 with the help of the USA and NATO, but it’s interesting to see how this is reflected in people’s lives today.
After an hour or so we got to the village of Strpce, where the BnB is. Beautiful courtyard adorned with items formerly used for farm work. Huge plate of fried potatoes, pork cutlet, chicken soup and salad for dinner. Very good value. I was a bit puzzled as to why the guy earlier insisted we don’t stay in Strpce, as there are definitely a few hotels here signposted from the main road.
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