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Balkan Road Trip - Across the Western Balkans

Macedonia --> Albania --> Montenegro --> Bosnia Herzegovina --> Croatia - 09/2014

By Beyond All Maps - Portraits of our Planet by Thorsten Mehret

June 3^rd, 2015

Macedonia

I did not know a lot about Macedonia, but when I saw a picture of the monastery below and figured out that it´s named John at Kaneo and located at lake Ohrid in Macedonia, I immideatly knew that I had to visit the place and a couple of years later I finally did.

Balkan Road Trip - Across the Western Balkans

Skopje

After a long drive from Germany, passing Slovenia, Croatia and a boring highway in Serbia, the arrival in the capital of Macedonia was not very promising. A thunderstorm just passed over the city and it rained cats and dogs. Some roads where impassable and at others I expected to get stuck every moment seeing the water sometimes covering the exhaust of the cars in front. Luckily I made it to the hotel in the city center. Within 2 hours the worst was over and the sun came out.

Scope is a fascinating city. The river Varda runs through the city separating Scope in two parts not to say two worlds. On one site the very old and atmospheric bazaar area majorly inhabited by the muslim population, on the other site the posh and a bit Las Vegas like modern area, full of status, water fountains and pomp buildings inhabited by the christian-orthodox population. Both areas offer great photo opportunities but the new area feels way to artificial for my taste. So in the evenings we preferred the more charming bazaar area.

On the way from Scopje to Lake Ohrid the Monastery Trescavec is a scenic stop over.

Lake Ohrid

The Monastery of John at Kaneo was the main reason why I wanted to visit Macedonia. But man was I impressed from the whole area. The lake is beautiful, the city very charming, the accommodations and restaurants are great value considering the scenic location and the surrounding invites for some interesting day tours, e.g. to the peacefull village of Vevchani.

Located close to the Albanian border at Lake Ohrid, The Monastery of Sveti Naum is a relaxing place and worth a visit. Close by it´s possible to visit some springs in a crystal clear lake. A tour with a rowboat is offered for some Euro, an worth it.

Albania

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The Beauty and the Beast

My feelings about Albania are a little bit mixed. On one sites it has beautiful scenery and welcoming people on the other side it feels a bit run down compared to its neighboring countries. We´ve seen some city improvements going on, often financed by the European Union and also a lot of road work. So the overall situation is improving and Albania will make its way into the European Union sometime in the future.

the Bunker Story

It´s impossible to miss them, more than 750.000 were planned in the cold ware period 1972 to 1984, 650.000 finally build and although thousands teared down since then, they are still highly present. Political isolated the Albanian government had a massive paranoia to get overrun by foreign troops and planned to react with a guerrilla tactic. All the bunkers were manned but finally none ever have seen a battle.

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The Mercedes Story

If you ever wanted to know where all those old Mercedes spent their retirement, now you have the answer. It feels like at least 70% of all cars in Albania are Mercedes and they all seem to have their own gasoline station as these are in such high numbers that we wonder how they can survive.

GJirokaster

Gjirokaster is one of the oldest Albanian cities and a World Heritage Site since 2005. It has a nice atmosphere with its steep cobblestone streets and building from the ottoman times although it status seems to be in danger due to some modern building activities disturbing the old town picture. Nevertheless we had a nice stay and as an extra goody could visit a local dance festival.

The Riviera Coast

Saranda in the very southern part of Albania, close to Greeks Korfu is a popular place for Albanian holiday makers. It has suffered a lot from illegal building actives in the last years. A short stop over and a walk around the promenade was all the time we were willing to spent here. The coastal road between Saranda and the Llogara Pass offers some nice scenery and more sun bathing opportunities.

Skhoder

Skhoder in the north of Albania is nothing special but a good jumping point to the Albanian Alps. It´s said to be one of the most beautiful and remote areas in Albania and we had planned to do some hiking there. Unfortunately the weather was not promising at all and with a heavy heart we skipped that part for the better weather at the Montenegrin coast.

Beautifully restored with EU money.......

Montenegro

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Sveti Stefan

If you are rich and Russian this obviously is the place to go. The beautiful little island close to Budva is owned by a hotel of the Aman Resorts Group and only accessible for guests. If min. 700€ is to much for a night, you can still rent an chair and parasol to enjoy the beach for only 50€. What a bargain ;-) Tip: the beach to the left is for free.

Bay of Kotor

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Around Rijeka Crnojevića

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Along the Moraca River to Biogradska Gora NP

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Durmitor National Park

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Montenegro Backcountry

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The Rubbish Story

On our way to back to the coast, we made a short stop over at lake Pivsko. Shortly after we entered a small town at the lake we saw a green rubbish bin, 10 meters further the next and so on. We already started to make jokes about the town that seemed to have more public rubbish bins than inhabitants when we passed a tiny park with an increased green rubbish bin density of around 5 meters and between some additional old fashioned grey rubbish bins. We asked ourselves who is so dammed stupid to waste money for such useless thinks. Fortunately a small label on the green bins gave the answer: Sponsored by the European Union. Aha, that explains it all.

Bosnia Herzegovina

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On the way to Mostar this charming little town is definetly worth a stop over. Climb to the top of the tower to enjoy a beautiful view of the town and the surroundings.

Mostar

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Blagaj

10km away from Mostar, this is a pleasant side trip, especially on a hot day. The source of the buna which originates from the bottom of a sheer 200m karst cliff, is said to be one of the biggest in Europe. The 16th century monastery adds to the atmosphere. We arrived early and it´s was very peaceful. But there are some restaurants arounds with many tables, so the place can get very busy obviously.

War is Not over...

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Croatia

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Dubrovnik

Probably one of the most beautiful but also touristic places in Croatia. From our accommodation, 10 Minutes by bus outside the old town we had a nice view to the harbor. To see 3 to 4 big cruise ships in the harbor is not a uncommon sight. Accordingly the old town is bustling with people. A must do in Dubrovnik is the walk around the city on the old town wall. It´s easy to spend 2 hours for this and with the late afternoon light there are manny stunning views from the wall. A part of the town was not accessible due to a movie shooting. We were curious for which movie, so we asked on of the guards and were told it´s for the famous series Games of Thrones. We could even follow some shootings scenes on a monitor.

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Mljet

During my overnight stay in Zagreb, my friendly landlord gave me the tip to visit the island of Mljet

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Split and trogir

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Plitvice Lakes National Park

Unfortunately the weather was not very favorable when we arrived at this Unesco World Heritage Site. Nevertheless the fog gave a very special atmosphere and the area was not overrun by tourists. Some parts of the park were closed due to flooding, giving the opportunity to take pictures of the lakes and boardwalks without anybody on them.

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