Travelling in Serbia is fun, beautiful and incredibly frustrating. It’s a country that has yet to embrace mass tourism. That makes for a interesting travel experience, but not an easy one.
Did you know Albanians put teddy bears outside their houses to ward off bad spirits? And that some kids in Serbia only go to school in the afternoon? Enjoy some of the things I’ve learnt after spending two months in the Balkans.
Dissing popular attractions in favour or lesser-known destinations apparently makes me a travel snob. But visiting Kotor in Montenegro was a reminder of the experiences I enjoy and value when I travel. If that makes me a travel snob, so be it.
Poor public transport means hitchhiking is popular in the Balkans. For weeks I ignored the encouragement to do it. And then I got stranded at the Macedonian border.
The small community of Theth is nestled in the Albanian Alps. It’s only 70km from Shkodra, but the drive there can take up for four hours. At least there’s plenty of entertainment along the way…
The last month feels like one big highlight of all my travels, but that would make a very long post. So instead I’ve picked some moments that I think capture the experiences I’ve had.
Three weeks ago I shared my first impressions of Belgrade. It was full of rash, uninformed opinions, but then, that’s what first impressions are. Now that I’ve left I thought I’d return to my first impressions and see what I think now.
Before I landed in Belgrade, I knew nothing about Serbia that would be useful to a tourist, so my time here has been eye-opening, educational and a lot of fun. Here’s a snapshot of my first two weeks of my Balkans adventure.
This week I packed up my “home” and set off travelling for the third time in just over two years. But this trip is different to what I’ve done previously. After travelling so much in the last two years I wanted to shake things up.
I flew out of Manchester last week with just hours left on my UK working visa, using the flight to Dublin to remind myself that although it didn’t feel like it, my arrival into England last year was actually a while ago. Looking back, there have been so many, many highs, and thankfully, just a handful of lows.