Everythings changing

The weather here has been awful the last few days. I stayed in Ohrid for one more day hoping the weather would clear, the morning was fine but the clouds looked ominous so i decided not to climb the mountain. Instead i went for a walk along the shore of the lake for an hour or so before sitting in a cafe writing postcards while the heavens opened. There was only so much podcasts i could listen to so i went back to the hostel and watched football again while chatting to the manager. Its funny how history has ended up in the balkans. In albania they claim the founder and leader of the albanians was skanderberg, in macedonia there is exactly the same statue as in Tirana except of Alexander the great. Everyone including the greeks claims him for themselves. But macedonia is also unlikely to gain entry to the EU until it changes its name as the greeks claim that macedonia is a greek name they have the rights to. There are also several other countries including france and bulgaria that recognise the state but not the name. I left ohrid the next morning when it was sunny which was bound to happen due to murphys law as the manager pointed out. I had a coffee with him while i waited for the bus. I havent had a coffee in years and soon remembered why as i spent an awful journey on the bus to skopje dying for the toilet all the way. As i got to skopje the weather closed in which did nothing for the first impressions of the city. Skopje is grey tower blocks with no redeeming features. I found my way to the hostel which was rated 90% on hostelworld. It turned out to be a dump the computer was so slow, the breakfast was stale bread and there was mud in the shower. (as a side note i later found out they have been fudging there score somehow) I went to an irish bar for a drink but got accosted by gypsies so left. Dinner in the old turkish bazaar as the rain turned the streets into rivers. I had been assured there was an indian restaurant in skopje by several people so the evening was spent walking as well as getting a taxi in the rain looking for it. It closed last year gutted.

Left skopje as soon as possible the next day. Got to the bus station in time for the 11am bus got my ticket and stood around waiting. There were loads of people stood around it so i just waited with them as the buses are always late leaving. The bus left with me left standing there. What an idiot the woman at the ticket booth had a right stress over why i had missed it when i had so much time but eventually changed the ticket to 12:30. At 1pm the bus hasnt even arrived which is probably just deserts for missing the earlier bus. It eventually shows and they are not letting me on and several others i have no idea why. It turns out its because the ticket needs to be changed to say 1:30. Run back to kiosks but they are all busy as always happens. Murphys law in action again. Eventually get on the bus and cross the border after much delay to Kosovo. I had no idea what this would be like but it was like any other small mountainous country, a few UN convoys but not as many as you would expect. Got taxi to Guesthouse before going for a walk around Pristina which was really cool place not like i had expected. There was hardly any evidence of bombing or the fighting that took place. It was also really cheap Whatton i found your perfect cafe three large pieces of chocolate pudding for 1 euro. Found an indian restaurant and went there for dinner. It was full of english suprisingly. Halfway through my meal which was really great mainly as a change, some suited and miked up body guards come in and take up positions around the restaurant before what i presume was an ambassador came in. Walked back to guesthouse where i met Brian a canadian that had been put in my room. Turns out he has pretty much the same route so we have been travelling together since. We took a day trip to Prizren in the south of the country then a ten hour bus journey yesterday to Budva in montenegro which is right on the coast. The trip was so long as we had several stops along the way for a few hours. The scenery was amazing as we came along a gorge that covers most of the country but the heavy rain and fog along the way made the going exceptionally slow. Had a few litres of beer from the shop to celebrate my birthday then shattered went to bed.

The weather picked up slightly today so walked along the coast to an island which was pretty nice but in the offseason it is so quiet. Nice to be by the sea again after a few weeks in the mountains. Out tonight to the Irish bar which is open to have a few and see the champions league. Off to Kotor tomorrow.