This morning we started our journey to Skopje. First we took the Havataş bus from near Taksim Square to Sabiha Gökcen Airport (on the Asian side of Istanbul). The bus is really cheap (compared to a taxi) and with little traffic first thing in the morning only took 30 mins, instead of the 90mins we had allowed for. After checking in very early to our Pegasus flight, we sat in one of the restaurants and ate a breakfast of baked eggs with sucuk/sujuck (beef sausage).

In the taxi from the airport in Skopje to our hotel, I felt very excited about the trip. The taxi driver was playing a radio station with traditional music; the view from the window of the plane had been stunning, and this was a total new country for me. The only slightly concerning thing was the weather. We expected Macedonia to be hot. Highs of 28-30 degrees C. But we arrived in a heatwave. The day before had been over 40, and temperatures in the high 30’s were forecast for the rest of the week. Eeeck.

Our hotel, Kapistec, was a family run concern in a small residential street, with quiet roads and a little park (and corner shop) across the road. We put our bikes together in the park, watched by dogs and some folks walking about. All very friendly.

Later in the afternoon we walked around the area a little, visited the supermarket, and found a restaurant, Dva Elena (two deer) where we ate a meal of a mixed plate of meats, cheeses and deep fried cheeses, and some smoked pork ribs. The plan of going into town proper fell out of favour when it was still 35 degrees at 8pm! Knackering.

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Back at the hotel we explored the satellite TV channels (not having a TV at home, TVs in hotels are very exciting!!). Most memorable was RT (Russian TV in English) and an interview with Putin about the US primaries and the lack of democracy in the USA…. Every time we watched a bit of RT it would wind me up. I know we all have our cultural and political biases and there is ideology in all news broadcasts – but this was so over the top. Pro-Russian (anti-US and EU) propaganda spread liberally and with a straight face over every news story.