"It's way easier than taking the bus, this Balkan hitchhiking", said my new friend Emma after our little trip to Mitrovica in Kosovo. It really is easy: I always got a new ride immediately, never had to wait more than five minutes, when I continued my trip from Prishtina towards Macedonia and Albania. The only thing that made traveling slow was that every driver wanted to invite me for a cup of coffee at a petrol station. :-)
One man even wanted to show me his house. Don't let your imagination fly, his wife was at home and he was honestly just proud of the house he had built himself. This man, Rahman, had moved to Kosovo from Bern, Switzerland. "Here I have freedom", he repeated many times. In Switzerland he had been very stressed; you need a permission for everything, but in Kosovo you can do anything. In Switzerland you pay all kinds of taxes, also for your dog - in Kosovo he has four big dogs. He owns a factory and 10 hectares of land and earns more than he did in Switzerland. We also talked about local salaries. His workers earn 300 EUR/month, a lawyer from Kosovo earns max. 5,000 EUR/month whereas a EULEX lawyer may earn as much as 25,000 EUR/month. I had talked about the salaries with other people, too. According to my CS host Johann a EULEX employee gets 7,000 - 12,000 EUR/month. A boy on the hike told me that her mother, a doctor, earns only 300 EUR/month. Of course I was also curious about the war. Rahman had seen people getting killed and after that he had cried almost every day for 4-5 years.
A Macedonian man who gave me a ride from the border to Skopje, the capital, was extremely helpful: he suggested to meet me after a couple of hours when I would have done my sightseeing and then take me outside of the centre to a good hitchhiking spot. There was a lot of construction going on in the centre of Skopje. Erecting a triumphal arc or Roman columns seemed a bit strange to me, though - we live in the 21st century after all, shouldn't they come up with some more modern ideas?! Anyways, a city that has mountains around is always pleasant and I liked the art galleries in an old mosque and hammam as well as the pedestrian streets in the old town.
The last driver of the day was Asmir, a 21-year-old (that day was his birthday!) Muslim boy with a trendy hairstyle. He was the first person here who has asked me to fasten my seatbelt! Asmir was delivering some sales articles to his father's 99-shop, where everything costs 99 MKD (~1.5 EUR). He works 7 days a week, from 7 am to 9 pm; in wintertime he can finish earlier. Sometimes he can take a day off, but usually he meets his friends after work; they go for a coffee for an hour. His friends drink on weekends, but Asmir's parents don't let him join them, because he must work. The friends are unemployed, living on their parents' money. Young people don't have much interest in studies, because anyways they won't get a job. The unemployment rate is about 40 %, like in Kosovo. Asmir had studied economy, but dropped out after the first year, because it was too expensive (2,000 EUR/year). The average salary in Macedonia is 200 EUR/month, a police earns 250 EUR; factory workers, sellers at markets and petrol station workers earn 150 EUR. All of Asmir's cousins are working in Switzerland and in the summer they come back with their fancy cars.
When Asmir was 16 he was dreaming of a career as a football player, but then he had to start working at his father's shop. He seemed to have a respectful attitude towards his father. He has a girlfriend and they might get married after three years. Now it was too early to talk about it. I told about the high divorce rate in Finland and he said that a divorce is accepted in his culture, too, but "if you start something you should take it to the end". You shouldn't only look at the bad things, but notice also the good things. When I asked about the general attitude towards gay people he replied: "Gays here are losers!" At the Gay Parade in Skopje all the participants had gotten beaten up. "How can you love a man if there is woman, who is more beautiful?" Asmir asked.
Asmir prays once a week, on Fridays, which is an important day for Muslims. His uncle says he should pray more often (5 times per day is the rule), but Asmir thinks it takes so much time and he's still young. I was very thankful for Asmir for the ride and also the local food, burek, he bought me on the way. He refused to take any money from me, he just said I could offer him food when he comes to Finland. Obviously, he's not coming to Finland, and even if he did, he wouldn't find me, as we didn't change contact information. I told him he's a good person and probably gets to heaven even if he doesn't pray often enough. Then we laughed that even if we wouldn't meet in Finland we might meet in heaven. If heaven does exist, I suppose it's the same heaven for Muslims and Christians.
I stayed the night in Ohrid and for the first time on this trip payed for my accommodation. The next day I did some sightseeing and swam in the lake, which had so clear and refreshing water. In the afternoon I started hitchhiking to Tirana, Albania. From the border I got a ride to Elbasan in a truck. The driver, Slagjan, was from Macedonia and had been driving the truck for 21 years from Macedonia all the way to Italy, Spain and Germany. He spoke some Italian, which I could understand a bit based on my Spanish skills. "This is getting interesting", I thought when he asked me how much a woman costs in Finland. How on earth would I know?! I've never bought a woman in Finland, neither worked as a prostitute. The price, he told me, is 10 EUR in Macedonia, 5 EUR in Albania and 20 EUR in Italy. I took the conversation as small talk and didn't feel myself threatened, neither was afraid. I was "bene donna", as he told me, and was dropped off in Elbasan where I hitched another ride to Tirana, where I met my Couchsurfing host Enkel.
keskiviikko 27. heinäkuuta 2011
keskiviikko 20. heinäkuuta 2011
Visiting the newborn Kosovo
From Belgrade I took a bus to Pristina in Kosovo, one of the newest countries in the world. There I went straight to the Irish Bar where I met my CouchSurfing host Johann from South Africa. Over a few beers (After a hot day in the bus I really needed a beer!) I met many interesting people, like Johann's friend, a down-to-earth helicopter pilot and another pilot, this one more of a "let's kill 'em all" type, waiting to get to Afghanistan. There was also a EULEX employee and an Irish barman at our table.
After my second night at the expat bars of Pristina I started to think that many of the foreigners live in their own bubble, way out of this world, without mixing with the locals. "They work here for three-four years and if you ask them how many locals they know, they say 'none'", commented Johann. He has lots to say about the situation of Kosovo and I've been all ears, trying to absorb all the information and trying to understand what is going on here. "So many mistakes have been made", he says.
According to my Lonely Planet guidebook "Pristina looks like a torn-apart town crudely reassembled by differences of opinion". Well, what can you expect of the capital of such a new country? A country that is not universally recognised and that is governed by three different authorities; EULEX, KFOR and the local government, without anyone knowing who's really in charge or carries the responsibility in the end. There's also a lot of corruption.
Above: The University Library in Pristina, which must be seen to be believed (think gelatinous eggs wearing armour). -Lonely Planet: Eastern Europe-
There is a bit of a chaotic feel to this place, although not in the same way as to some gigantic Asian cities full of people and traffic. There is construction going on everywhere and the sidewalk pavements are waiting to be finished. There is trash here and shiny brand stores there; old Communist era Grand Hotel Prishtina at one end of the central pedestrian street, a posh new hotel being built at the other end.
Above: The juxtaposition of old and new buildings in Pristina.
It's peaceful and calm here; at least for a traveller this is not a dangerous place - unless you fall into a manhole without a lid. The conflict in the area had long roots and such bad things happened, and they happened so recently, that the situation is complex and difficult. Generally people are trying to forget what happened and just move on with their lives. "But it all gets back to you", said my host Johann, who's been injured at war in Africa. According to him there was no psychological crisis management service after the Kosovo conflict and now the domestic violence rate is high. Yesterday I met a Serb woman who had come to her hometown Mitrovica for holidays from Sweden. She told me she suffered from post traumatic stress for two years after the war. Mitrovica, a town in Northern Kosovo, is divided by a river to Albanian and Serb areas. The woman said she can't go to the other side, because it's too dangerous. (Johann says it's not, but there's just so much fear.) I also saw cars without number plates, because people take them off in order to hide their nationality/ethnicity before crossing the bridge over the river.
Above: Photos of the missing locals on the gates of the government buildings in Pristina - a stark reminder of how recently Pristina was in turmoil.
Now I know why I can't , neither should, plan too much in advance: you never know who you meet and what kind of opportunities you find on the way. I wanted to do some hiking on this trip, but didn't think it could happen in Kosovo. But there I was, sitting in a bus going to the Sharr mountains in Southern Kosovo with Jonathan (a friend of Johann, a Canadian who's lived in the Balkans for 17 years), Emma (a really cool Scottish flowerchild who makes films) and a local hiking club of Kosovan Albanians.
We set our camp in a valley between two mountains near the village of Brod. There was a creek flowing right in front of my tent. In the darkness of the night we gathered around a fire. I learnt some traditional Balkan dancing in a line and even danced one waltz in that magical place under the million stars and the full moon.
I was so happy to have the chance to do all those things I love so much: dancing, camping and hiking. On Sunday we did the hike. It was eleven hours of walking on steep hillsides, easier paths, through mountain meadows full of flowers, stopping for short snack breaks and a dip into a muddy lake. And the highlight: reaching the highest peak in Kosovo: Maja e Njerit, 2658 m, at the Macedonian border.
After my second night at the expat bars of Pristina I started to think that many of the foreigners live in their own bubble, way out of this world, without mixing with the locals. "They work here for three-four years and if you ask them how many locals they know, they say 'none'", commented Johann. He has lots to say about the situation of Kosovo and I've been all ears, trying to absorb all the information and trying to understand what is going on here. "So many mistakes have been made", he says.
According to my Lonely Planet guidebook "Pristina looks like a torn-apart town crudely reassembled by differences of opinion". Well, what can you expect of the capital of such a new country? A country that is not universally recognised and that is governed by three different authorities; EULEX, KFOR and the local government, without anyone knowing who's really in charge or carries the responsibility in the end. There's also a lot of corruption.
Above: The University Library in Pristina, which must be seen to be believed (think gelatinous eggs wearing armour). -Lonely Planet: Eastern Europe-
There is a bit of a chaotic feel to this place, although not in the same way as to some gigantic Asian cities full of people and traffic. There is construction going on everywhere and the sidewalk pavements are waiting to be finished. There is trash here and shiny brand stores there; old Communist era Grand Hotel Prishtina at one end of the central pedestrian street, a posh new hotel being built at the other end.
Above: The juxtaposition of old and new buildings in Pristina.
It's peaceful and calm here; at least for a traveller this is not a dangerous place - unless you fall into a manhole without a lid. The conflict in the area had long roots and such bad things happened, and they happened so recently, that the situation is complex and difficult. Generally people are trying to forget what happened and just move on with their lives. "But it all gets back to you", said my host Johann, who's been injured at war in Africa. According to him there was no psychological crisis management service after the Kosovo conflict and now the domestic violence rate is high. Yesterday I met a Serb woman who had come to her hometown Mitrovica for holidays from Sweden. She told me she suffered from post traumatic stress for two years after the war. Mitrovica, a town in Northern Kosovo, is divided by a river to Albanian and Serb areas. The woman said she can't go to the other side, because it's too dangerous. (Johann says it's not, but there's just so much fear.) I also saw cars without number plates, because people take them off in order to hide their nationality/ethnicity before crossing the bridge over the river.
Above: Photos of the missing locals on the gates of the government buildings in Pristina - a stark reminder of how recently Pristina was in turmoil.
Now I know why I can't , neither should, plan too much in advance: you never know who you meet and what kind of opportunities you find on the way. I wanted to do some hiking on this trip, but didn't think it could happen in Kosovo. But there I was, sitting in a bus going to the Sharr mountains in Southern Kosovo with Jonathan (a friend of Johann, a Canadian who's lived in the Balkans for 17 years), Emma (a really cool Scottish flowerchild who makes films) and a local hiking club of Kosovan Albanians.
We set our camp in a valley between two mountains near the village of Brod. There was a creek flowing right in front of my tent. In the darkness of the night we gathered around a fire. I learnt some traditional Balkan dancing in a line and even danced one waltz in that magical place under the million stars and the full moon.
I was so happy to have the chance to do all those things I love so much: dancing, camping and hiking. On Sunday we did the hike. It was eleven hours of walking on steep hillsides, easier paths, through mountain meadows full of flowers, stopping for short snack breaks and a dip into a muddy lake. And the highlight: reaching the highest peak in Kosovo: Maja e Njerit, 2658 m, at the Macedonian border.
keskiviikko 13. heinäkuuta 2011
Trying to Get to Know Serbia in a Few Days
After the crazy CouchSurfing Boat Party and making one more friend it was time to leave Istanbul. I will never forget the hospitality and friendliness of the people and I really hope to meet my CS host Ipek again. When I was leaving, her father asked if I needed money. Of course I didn't, neither couldn't have taken any. In my opinion I should have paid them for all the food I ate. But this example shows how amazing the Turkish hospitality and caring for other people is.
The 22-hour train trip to Belgrade started at 10 pm. It wasn't the Orient Express, but Balkan Express, I understood. I had a bed in a 6-bed compartment. And guess what: there was a Canadian girl, Sophie, in the same compartment and she had the same CouchSurfing host in Belgrade. What a coincidence! As you can see, even though I travel alone, I'm seldom alone or feel lonely.
The wake-up at 3:30 am at the Turkish border and the heat in the daytime were the uncomfortable sides of the train ride. But otherwise I enjoyed it. The sunflower fields in Bulgaria, a gorge, cornfields and green countryside landscapes in Serbia, chatting with Sophie...
The train arrived three hours late, at 11 pm. Even after working for the whole weekend and going to the famous EXIT festival in Novi Sad, our host Chris was happy to welcome us in his beautiful and tidy home. He was nice and easy-going, providing us with everything: sheets, washing machine, computer with internet connection, guidebooks & maps etc.
Walking in the streets of Belgrade in the heat of July was exhausting. After visiting Kalemegdan Citadel, Sophie and I decided to rent bicycles and head for the beach for a refreshing swim in the lake. This morning we visited a local market, which is always interesting. The variety of items ranged from fruit and vegetables to second-hand clothes and mobile phones. Then we went on our own ways; not that we wouldn't have gotten along, but sometimes it's just nicer to wander around at your own pace. As Paul Theroux puts it "Travel is at its best a solitary enterprise: to see, to examine, to assess, you have to be alone and unencumbered."
Our host, Chris from the UK, is a Political Officer and an Election Observer. It's been interesting to talk with him and one of his friends doing her PhD here as well as read a book called 'How to Understand Serbs'. I've been told that a decent life here is all about having a job and the right connections and that there is a lot of corruption. A quote from the book: "People look nostalgically back on this time [Communism] as a golden era, a period of unity and security, when people had enough money and the free time to enjoy it. Standards were high and life was simple. You had a job for life and adequate holidays, and all that was asked of you in return was unquestioning loyalty to those in power - be they your boss, or comrade Tito himself. --- Serbs hoped that capitalism would heal the old wounds and fulfill their aspirations for the future, but the system has left many disappointed."
Photo 1: So happy to finally have some refreshing drinks in the heat of the train. (Sophie ran to buy them at a station, nothing was sold in the train.)
Photo 2: Kalemegdan Citadel with the Sava River and the Danube in the background.
Photo 3: A view to the pedestrian street Knez Mihailova.
Photo 4: Ready to sell me some watermelon - or kill me?
Photo 5: Sveti Sava, the world's biggest Orthodox church.
Photo 6: The Ministry of Defence after the NATO bombings.
The 22-hour train trip to Belgrade started at 10 pm. It wasn't the Orient Express, but Balkan Express, I understood. I had a bed in a 6-bed compartment. And guess what: there was a Canadian girl, Sophie, in the same compartment and she had the same CouchSurfing host in Belgrade. What a coincidence! As you can see, even though I travel alone, I'm seldom alone or feel lonely.
The wake-up at 3:30 am at the Turkish border and the heat in the daytime were the uncomfortable sides of the train ride. But otherwise I enjoyed it. The sunflower fields in Bulgaria, a gorge, cornfields and green countryside landscapes in Serbia, chatting with Sophie...
The train arrived three hours late, at 11 pm. Even after working for the whole weekend and going to the famous EXIT festival in Novi Sad, our host Chris was happy to welcome us in his beautiful and tidy home. He was nice and easy-going, providing us with everything: sheets, washing machine, computer with internet connection, guidebooks & maps etc.
Walking in the streets of Belgrade in the heat of July was exhausting. After visiting Kalemegdan Citadel, Sophie and I decided to rent bicycles and head for the beach for a refreshing swim in the lake. This morning we visited a local market, which is always interesting. The variety of items ranged from fruit and vegetables to second-hand clothes and mobile phones. Then we went on our own ways; not that we wouldn't have gotten along, but sometimes it's just nicer to wander around at your own pace. As Paul Theroux puts it "Travel is at its best a solitary enterprise: to see, to examine, to assess, you have to be alone and unencumbered."
Our host, Chris from the UK, is a Political Officer and an Election Observer. It's been interesting to talk with him and one of his friends doing her PhD here as well as read a book called 'How to Understand Serbs'. I've been told that a decent life here is all about having a job and the right connections and that there is a lot of corruption. A quote from the book: "People look nostalgically back on this time [Communism] as a golden era, a period of unity and security, when people had enough money and the free time to enjoy it. Standards were high and life was simple. You had a job for life and adequate holidays, and all that was asked of you in return was unquestioning loyalty to those in power - be they your boss, or comrade Tito himself. --- Serbs hoped that capitalism would heal the old wounds and fulfill their aspirations for the future, but the system has left many disappointed."
Photo 1: So happy to finally have some refreshing drinks in the heat of the train. (Sophie ran to buy them at a station, nothing was sold in the train.)
Photo 2: Kalemegdan Citadel with the Sava River and the Danube in the background.
Photo 3: A view to the pedestrian street Knez Mihailova.
Photo 4: Ready to sell me some watermelon - or kill me?
Photo 5: Sveti Sava, the world's biggest Orthodox church.
Photo 6: The Ministry of Defence after the NATO bombings.
lauantai 9. heinäkuuta 2011
Traveling Again, Starting in Istanbul
It's time to bring my blog back to life, as I'm traveling again. This time only for a month, though. My main destination are the ex-Yugoslavian countries, but I decided to fly to Istanbul first and then continue by train.
The Turkish hospitality is something amazing! They feed you, they take care of you, they really make you enjoy your stay. I'm couchsurfing with Ipek, who gave me her room to sleep in, while she sleeps in the living room. Her mother makes me breakfast every morning and now, while I'm writing this, she just brought me some pieces of water melon. Ipek, a 31-year-old woman, is not married, so she's still living with her parents. In this culture it's normal, but in Finland it would be considered weard.
Ipek's parents don't speak any English, but they've lived in Germany 30 years ago. So when Ipek is not around, we can communicate with smiles, gestures and "sehr gut"-type of German. Sometimes there are funny situations, like one morning when Ipek's mother told me about her children. "öğretmen, öğretmen" she repeated several times and I could only spread my hands as a gesture of not understanding. The word "schule" and some acting made me guess "teacher", and finally her grandson Umut confirmed "yes, teacher".
Istanbul is a huge city spreading over the hills on both sides of Bosphorus. The population is over three times the whole population of Finland! This is the first time I ever visit a muslim country. Well, Turkey and especially Istanbul are actually quite western, but it's still exotic for me to hear the calls to prayer and see some of the women covered with veils. My host family is also muslim, but not of a strict religious type. Every night I stay up talking with Ipek until 1 am, and our outlook on life seems quite similar. One night we went out for a tea in this neighbourhood, and her mother followed us and sat on our table. We are over 30, so it felt a bit baffling. As the saying goes "When in Rome, do as the Romans do", so I try to be respectful, but sometimes I don't know how to behave in this culture. It's also hard to understand that some coffeehouses are only for men.
I've visited bazaars, admired the splendor of Hagia Sofia, Topkapi palace and the Blue Mosque and refreshed myself at a hamam, a Turkish bath. Being washed by another woman was actually quite relaxing and didn't feel as weird as it may sound. Tonight I'm going to a Couchsurfing cruise on Bosphorus. It's going to be a big party with 400 people. I'm excited to meet a Dutch guy I met at a CS party in Warsaw some years ago, a Turkish guy who's learning Finnish (!), another Finnish girl... Through the Couchsurfing website I've received several messages from guys who want to meet me and practise their English, but I haven't met any of them yet.
I'm very bad with advance planning and making decisions. At the moment I have a train ticket to Belgrade for tomorrow night and a host waiting for me there. I've also found a host in Pristina, Kosovo. It's almost too easy to find CS hosts, as the first and only people I write to accept my request. People are even ready to leave their keys for me if they are not home when I arrive.
sunnuntai 3. heinäkuuta 2011
So courageous?
"You have a lot of courage." Many people have said that to me. Back home and also during my trip in South America when they heard I was traveling alone. "Aren't you afraid?" No. Why? I was only afraid when traveling in a bus on some small mountain roads or when I saw a snake on a hiking trail. And before I started the whole trip. That was the hardest part. Could I really do it? Leave everything in Finland for four months?
"You are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be. --- The most difficult part of any endeavor is taking the first step. Making the first decision." -Robyn Davidson: 'Tracks'-
Once I talked about my travels with one of our top lawyers, actually nowadays the CEO (I work as an assistant at a law firm), and he said he would never have the courage to do a trip like that. Well, I would never have the courage to go to the court to defend a case, neither the ability to do it convincingly. In South America I reacted to some minor disappointments or problems by starting to cry. But maybe courage and strength is not always about keeping a pokerface. Maybe it is about exposing oneself to new situations, knowing that you might act emotionally. Knowing that you might even look and feel silly reacting that way. But also knowing that it won't break you. You can accept the feeling, let it out and continue knowing that you will survive, knowing that deep down you are as strong as you've always been.
“Courage does not mean the absence of fear, but the ability not to let yourself be paralyzed by that fear.” -Paulo Coelho-
Really, if I have been able to live alone, why would I not be able to travel alone?
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." -Franklin D. Roosevelt-
"You are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be. --- The most difficult part of any endeavor is taking the first step. Making the first decision." -Robyn Davidson: 'Tracks'-
Once I talked about my travels with one of our top lawyers, actually nowadays the CEO (I work as an assistant at a law firm), and he said he would never have the courage to do a trip like that. Well, I would never have the courage to go to the court to defend a case, neither the ability to do it convincingly. In South America I reacted to some minor disappointments or problems by starting to cry. But maybe courage and strength is not always about keeping a pokerface. Maybe it is about exposing oneself to new situations, knowing that you might act emotionally. Knowing that you might even look and feel silly reacting that way. But also knowing that it won't break you. You can accept the feeling, let it out and continue knowing that you will survive, knowing that deep down you are as strong as you've always been.
“Courage does not mean the absence of fear, but the ability not to let yourself be paralyzed by that fear.” -Paulo Coelho-
Really, if I have been able to live alone, why would I not be able to travel alone?
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." -Franklin D. Roosevelt-
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