Day 59 Skopje, Macedonia

Skopje Airport

Nick worked on a client contract while I sought ways to get us out of Montenegro. I learned quickly that leaving this little country was not going to be easy. The political tension and hostility within and across the former Yougoslavian countries as well as with the neighboring countries; Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, Rumania, and Hungary, has created havoc with the transportation system. No matter which direction, or which country you choose, the transportation is either non-existent or extremely restricted. To go by bus or train, if either actually exists, just a couple hundred kilometers, can take twelve or more hours, which is what it took us to get into the country from Belgrade. Going south to Albania would have been nice, but to get there, you have to take a taxi to the boarder, walk across the boarder, and take another taxi to the nearest town; hopefully there you can catch a train or bus, but not too far because the same problem you had in Montenegro, you'll have in Albania. Unwilling to spend another twelve hours on a train, I decided we needed to fly out of the country. But similar to ground transportation, the options were very limited. There were no flights to Albania, Bosnia Hercegovina, Kosovo, or even to the capitals of the other major countries in the area: Sofia, Budapest, Athens, or Bucharest. One can fly to Belgrade, Serbia, or Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. Since Skopje was the only destination in the direction of Varna, I opted to get tickets on that flight. After four hours, I announced to Nick our next move. Fortunately, I didn't have to do much convincing.