This time, my traveling was rather intense, visiting 7 countries in Balkan regions in 18 days, started in Slovenia, where I spent the longest duration (5 days) with a friend, then solo travel to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and Bulgaria. I skipped Croatia, Serbia and Romania since I had visited them before.
In Slovenia, with my Taiwanese friend, Adrian, who lived in Austria, we rented a car and drove from Ljubljana, the lovely capital, to Kamnik, to see a local festival, then to the gem of Slovania, Lake Bled, hiking Triglav National Park and visiting the solemn Lake Bohinj, driving zig zag the Vrsic Pass to the emerald green Soca Valley. We visited 2 famous caves in the Karst Region, UNESCO World Heritage Skocjan cave and the more touristic Postojna cave. After separating with Adrian, I continued to Piran, to see the pretty city on the coast.
I flied to Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina, an interesting and complex country. After the war, still they seemed struggling with development due to ethnic/religious division and tension between Serb, Bosniak and Croat, all were Slav people, only historically divided by their religion. Serb is Orthodox, Bosniak is Moslem, and Croat is Catholic. More and more tourists are coming to Sarajevo, due to its cultural and historical charm. Mostar, was much more relaxing, with extremely beautiful bridge, where dare people jump diving into the river 20 meters down there. Stayed in a hostel with extremely passionate owner, Stefan.
Took 8 hours bus to the walled city of Kotor in Montenegro. The fortress on the mountain above the city provided magnificent view of the bay of Kotor and the fjord. I joined a tour to the North, visiting places including Durmitor National Park, Tara Valley and the famous Ostrog Monastry. Due to forgot my passport incident, I visited also Ulcinj, a city near the border with Albania, a nice resort city.
Albania was the North Korea of Europe, before. Now they were completely open, but still the heritage from the communist era was the tourist attracting points, like Bunk'Art. There were a lot of new construction in the capital, Tirana. Would like to visit again in the future to check the new things in Tirana and to trek the Accursed Mountain near Skoder.
Kosovo, the newest country in Europe, was pretty Albanian (with the red eagle flags everywhere in the country). The country was torn by war during its movement towards independence between Serb and Albanian. With involvement of NATO and US, it seemed the Albanian won the war, now we could see the abandoned Serb Orthodox churches in Prizren and Prishtina. I loved the relaxing pretty city of Prizren. The people were friendly and the view of the city and the river from the fortress on the mountain was amazing.
One word to describe my first impression of Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, which the formal name was Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, was a "fake." This country seemed struggling finding its identity. The government wanted it so bad to be linked with the ancient Macedonia and Alexandre the Great, that they built a big statue of the Great in its main square. And the Skopje 2014 project, they spent millions of euros to build abundant landmarks around the city. They built new structures and statues that represented the old times. Many people called it Las Vegas of Europe. Nevertheless, the Turkish area was quite nice, with a stretch full of nice bars. Ohrid, the main tourist city of Macedonia, with the beautiful lake near the border with Albania, was pretty and relaxing.
Bulgaria was beyond my expectation. Sofia was a pretty city, one word to describe my impression on the city was "huge". A lot of huge buildings and structures and the main road was huge too. I liked Plovdiv, the old part of the city was nice with some Roman remains. The communist monument of Buzludzha was impressive, unfortunately we couldn't enter inside anymore. Visit to Rila Monastery, Bulgarian most famous tourist attraction, was a nice day trip from Sofia, though it was a so so experience.
Though it was quite tiring, packing my everyday with full of sightseeing plans, I quite enjoyed it. I met some interesting people too during the trip, this was what I liked traveling solo, got new friends.
My best five of this trip, it was quite difficult to choose five since all experiences were unique:
1. Felt and understood the ethnic and religion issues that caused many wars in this region (Orthodox, Catholic and Moslem), and learned the history of this area.
2. Trekked Triglav National Park (Slovenia).
3. Short trip to Prizren and encountered its friendly people (Kosovo).
4. Relaxing in Ohrid (Macedonia).
5. Driving to magnificent communist monument of Buzludzha (Bulgaria).
My best accommodation during this trip:
1. Guest House Old Plovdiv (Bulgaria), stay in a historical mansion.
2. Trip'N Hostel (Tirana, Albania), nice bar and staff.
3. Hostel Mostel (Sofia, Bulgaria), nice lounge area, historical mansion.
4. Golden Bridge Hostel (Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina), passionate Stephan, the owner.
5. Tresor Hostel (Ljubljana, Slovenia), right in the old town.
My best dining during this trip:
1. Destan (Skopje, Macedonia), the best kebab I ate.
2. Tiffany (Prishtina, Kosovo), this establishment was hidden, no name board, no menu.
3. Kaneo Letna Bavcha (Ohrid, Macedonia), you could jump directly into the lake from your dining table.
4. Soup House (Sofia, Bulgaria), very cheap, yummy and open 24 hours.
5. Dzenita (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina), though the service was not good, the melted burger meet was great and the soup warmed my stomach in the cold morning.
In Slovenia, with my Taiwanese friend, Adrian, who lived in Austria, we rented a car and drove from Ljubljana, the lovely capital, to Kamnik, to see a local festival, then to the gem of Slovania, Lake Bled, hiking Triglav National Park and visiting the solemn Lake Bohinj, driving zig zag the Vrsic Pass to the emerald green Soca Valley. We visited 2 famous caves in the Karst Region, UNESCO World Heritage Skocjan cave and the more touristic Postojna cave. After separating with Adrian, I continued to Piran, to see the pretty city on the coast.
I flied to Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina, an interesting and complex country. After the war, still they seemed struggling with development due to ethnic/religious division and tension between Serb, Bosniak and Croat, all were Slav people, only historically divided by their religion. Serb is Orthodox, Bosniak is Moslem, and Croat is Catholic. More and more tourists are coming to Sarajevo, due to its cultural and historical charm. Mostar, was much more relaxing, with extremely beautiful bridge, where dare people jump diving into the river 20 meters down there. Stayed in a hostel with extremely passionate owner, Stefan.
Took 8 hours bus to the walled city of Kotor in Montenegro. The fortress on the mountain above the city provided magnificent view of the bay of Kotor and the fjord. I joined a tour to the North, visiting places including Durmitor National Park, Tara Valley and the famous Ostrog Monastry. Due to forgot my passport incident, I visited also Ulcinj, a city near the border with Albania, a nice resort city.
Albania was the North Korea of Europe, before. Now they were completely open, but still the heritage from the communist era was the tourist attracting points, like Bunk'Art. There were a lot of new construction in the capital, Tirana. Would like to visit again in the future to check the new things in Tirana and to trek the Accursed Mountain near Skoder.
Kosovo, the newest country in Europe, was pretty Albanian (with the red eagle flags everywhere in the country). The country was torn by war during its movement towards independence between Serb and Albanian. With involvement of NATO and US, it seemed the Albanian won the war, now we could see the abandoned Serb Orthodox churches in Prizren and Prishtina. I loved the relaxing pretty city of Prizren. The people were friendly and the view of the city and the river from the fortress on the mountain was amazing.
One word to describe my first impression of Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, which the formal name was Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, was a "fake." This country seemed struggling finding its identity. The government wanted it so bad to be linked with the ancient Macedonia and Alexandre the Great, that they built a big statue of the Great in its main square. And the Skopje 2014 project, they spent millions of euros to build abundant landmarks around the city. They built new structures and statues that represented the old times. Many people called it Las Vegas of Europe. Nevertheless, the Turkish area was quite nice, with a stretch full of nice bars. Ohrid, the main tourist city of Macedonia, with the beautiful lake near the border with Albania, was pretty and relaxing.
Bulgaria was beyond my expectation. Sofia was a pretty city, one word to describe my impression on the city was "huge". A lot of huge buildings and structures and the main road was huge too. I liked Plovdiv, the old part of the city was nice with some Roman remains. The communist monument of Buzludzha was impressive, unfortunately we couldn't enter inside anymore. Visit to Rila Monastery, Bulgarian most famous tourist attraction, was a nice day trip from Sofia, though it was a so so experience.
Though it was quite tiring, packing my everyday with full of sightseeing plans, I quite enjoyed it. I met some interesting people too during the trip, this was what I liked traveling solo, got new friends.
My best five of this trip, it was quite difficult to choose five since all experiences were unique:
1. Felt and understood the ethnic and religion issues that caused many wars in this region (Orthodox, Catholic and Moslem), and learned the history of this area.
2. Trekked Triglav National Park (Slovenia).
3. Short trip to Prizren and encountered its friendly people (Kosovo).
4. Relaxing in Ohrid (Macedonia).
5. Driving to magnificent communist monument of Buzludzha (Bulgaria).
My best accommodation during this trip:
1. Guest House Old Plovdiv (Bulgaria), stay in a historical mansion.
2. Trip'N Hostel (Tirana, Albania), nice bar and staff.
3. Hostel Mostel (Sofia, Bulgaria), nice lounge area, historical mansion.
4. Golden Bridge Hostel (Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina), passionate Stephan, the owner.
5. Tresor Hostel (Ljubljana, Slovenia), right in the old town.
My best dining during this trip:
1. Destan (Skopje, Macedonia), the best kebab I ate.
2. Tiffany (Prishtina, Kosovo), this establishment was hidden, no name board, no menu.
3. Kaneo Letna Bavcha (Ohrid, Macedonia), you could jump directly into the lake from your dining table.
4. Soup House (Sofia, Bulgaria), very cheap, yummy and open 24 hours.
5. Dzenita (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina), though the service was not good, the melted burger meet was great and the soup warmed my stomach in the cold morning.
