Why did I travel alone ?

So recently I've been asked many times ,

Why did I travel alone ? And why was it Macedonia, Serbia, and Kosovo to even start with ? 

Honestly guys, 

I think it's more of my personality and the way I enjoy my travelling. It's never to try to impress anyone or rather just something I wanna tick off my bucketlist. 

I am genuinely a person who likes my own space and loves spontaneous adventures. I definitely enjoy meeting new people in strange new places. I believe the people I meet along the way & their stories makes my life more interesting. I quite like planning where to go a day before or at that moment itself sometimes, which most of the time, can only be done when you're travelling alone :) [Not to say I've never had a planned holiday]

First off, "Why did you go alone? "

I like being with my own thoughts at times. And I believe the way I travel can not be adapted to how most of my friends enjoy their travelling. They say "People who you're friends with aren't necessarily the same type of people you would enjoy to travel with". And as for most girls who like to over plan their travelling, I enjoy pretty much just going with the flow. On the other hand, most guys stereo-typically think that when they travel with girls, there's just too many limitations. Well, it doesn't really apply to every girl does it ? Especially girls who are independent and can take care of themselves. And instead of waiting for everyone else, why not just go by yourself and meet interesting people along the way ? :)

They say, "I mean like, I'm not trying to be a sexist but, you're a girl, is it safe?" 

How often do you guys here girls getting kidnapped or raped just simply by travelling alone ? I'm not saying that it is highly unlikely but girls most likely get sexually abused by going to clubs rather than travelling alone. And there are ways to travel safe in order to prevent the worst case scenario. Beyond my interest in living life at the edge, life can never be too safe, as it won't be considered living at all to even begin with :) Just be street smart and very aware of your surroundings ! Always try to move in groups.

Then, people were like, "Why Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia?"

Frankly, I was just grabbing tickets online back and forth from Malaysia for my brother's wedding and was supposed to just transit a couple of hours at Serbia. Then my parents whom are avidly into travelling, pitched me the idea to transit a couple of days if possible, even if it was gonna cost a bit more. Called up the agency, paid in a couple of pounds extra and next thing you know, I was on my first solo backpacking trip around the Balkans ! My dad told me to just go Serbia but I knew I wanted to see more parts of the Balkans. So, I proposed to him the idea of where I wanted to go and stay with the hostels and he was like 'Yeah, okay. Just be safe. There might be problems with immigration a bit there though'. It was initially supposed to be just Serbia and Kosovo but Macedonia came out spontaneously the morning I was in Prishtina, Kosovo when I met a couple who was going down to Macedonia. Beyond that, I love history and these places have so much knowledge of history for me to learn from ! It's good to travel to such countries anyways. Reminds you a little bit about the reality of the world, that not every country is as fortunate [especially studying in the UK] & you'll pretty much appreciate what your surroundings more. 

Then they go like, "Oh, you're crazy ! They're war torn countries ! And you're a Muslim, wouldn't you get discriminated?"

Heck yeah I was discriminated. I tried wearing my scarf walking around Nis and taxis stopped only to give me rude nods, leaving me to walk around under the rain alone. Took off my scarf and next thing you know, taxis were even honking asking if I wanted a ride. I genuinely am not that strict on my scarf either; as in I just try to wear it as often as I can but I'm at the phase where I wanna do things beyond limitations such as travelling alone in these sorta countries. Beyond that, I am definitely a proud muslim by heart. 

Food was also very difficult for me to find. I took up the challenge of trying to eat vegetarian for a couple of days since Halal food was nearly as impossible to get, and it was not as easy as it seemed. Lost 2kgs throughout the trip ! And there were even days that I only ate a 'Filet O Fish' Burger. 

Yeah, they're a war torn country. So there are certain topics you would have to avoid talking about to the locals. But beyond that, they were very nice and friendly !

"Do you think everyone should have their own experience of solo travelling?"

Well, not necessarily. Never force yourself to do something you wouldn't enjoy, especially if it's gonna cost you a lot. Although getting out of your comfort zone is good once in a while, some people just don't like the idea of being alone or even just travelling alone. So chill guys, you don't really have to :) Only do it if you know you'll enjoy it and if it's an experience you'll know its worth a lifetime ! Even if its just a one time thing

So, "Are you going to travel alone again anytime soon?"

Heck yeah, I might do it again soon ! I gotta love the vibes and adventure of travelling alone. I do wish to try couch surfing and hitch hiking soon though so that I reckon would not be as safe to do it alone. Although, I am very tempted to just go for it. Guess we'll just have to wait and find out don't we ? 

Will be writing a post on my personal tips on 'Backpacking for Dummies like Me' and 'Tips to Travelling alone' !

Skopje, Macedonia

Took the bus from Prishtina to Skopje for about 5 hours for about 5Euros only. Had to change buses halfway before getting into the immigration.

Couldn't resist to take a shot with the mountains from Albania whilst changing buses ! 

Arrived in Skopje and just one word that describes this place,

Monuments ! 

Hahaha. I'm not kidding man. There's pretty much monuments everywhere here and most of them are new, roughly since 2013. You wouldn't even wanna stop for every monument just to take picture of each one of them cause there's just too many !

The city center looks so beautiful riight ? Wait, lemme show you more parts of it 

Don't be fooled guys. Here's when the reality kicks in. Just a step out of the center,

And you'll realise how bad the economy is off the country. Beggars were on every street. Even when I was eating in a restaurant, a kid was knocking from the window outside asking for money. Like whoaa. And when I asked around, most of them would say "It's the Albanian Muslims. They're very poor here in Macedonia" . I even saw a kid pushing his other sick friend on a wheelchair. Hmm. Couldn't take a lot of pictures out of the center since it was advisable not to hold anything in your hand due to pick pockets etc. 

Anyways, came here with a couple I met from the hostel I stayed in Prishtina. 

Agata from Poland

And her soulmate, Kledi from Albania

It was definitely easier to travel with them since Kledi could speak the mother tongue here just with a different dialect. They've been travelling around Europe together meeting random people along the trip that they always invite to tag along especially if they're solo travellers like myself ! They thought I was 17 though. Haha. 

Walk a little bit outside of the center and you will come across alleys selling random stuff from Silver to Turkish rugs ! There's also lots of pubs and cafes for you to chill and try out some Macedonian Coffee. Apparently according to Agata, it tastes pretty much like Turkish & Serbian Coffee.

Agata and Kledi's staying over a night here but I had to take an overnight bus back to Serbia and catch my flight the next morning from Belgrade. Took a bus at about 8.30 PM and arrived in Belgrade at about 4 AM. The 8 hours bus ride was definitely the last thing I was pumped up for throughout this trip. Haha. Was called at the immigration though, between Macedonia and Serbia as they asked, 'What are you doing from Serbia to Kosovo to Macedonia and back to Serbia'. Luckily that was just it. I've heard of really bad cases about people getting stuck at the immigration around this area, and they were held for bout 5-6 hours. Danggg. 

One of the most epic part of the trips I gotta say was when I took a cab to the bus station. The cab driver was quite an elderly man so English was definitely not his niche. I just said 'BUS' in hoping that the most simple way to give him the message that I wanna go to the bus station would be a success. Apparently not. He gave me a pen and paper and I thought, 'Even if I write out BUS he wouldn't still get me'. So, I drew a bus instead and he was like, 'Ooooh ,bush !' HAHA. It didn't matter to me how he pronounced it but all I wanted was just to get to the bus station so never doubt the power of a pen and paper ! And your skills in drawing although I felt like I drew really badly. Hahaha.

Oh ! Btw, they use Macedonian Denar here so you would have to change currency. And before you leave Macedonia, make sure you change back your Macedonian Currency as most parts of the world would not change to their currency, not even Serbia. 

Note that Macedonia is not really a safe country as compared to other European or Balkan countries cause the population of the poor here is relatively higher. So, be aware of the things you have and your surroundings. Make sure cab drivers aren't gonna cheat you by charging you extra ! 

Prishtina, Kosovo

Took a bus from Nis, Serbia to Prishtina, Kosovo for about 4 hours and decided to stay in the night at the 'Han Hostel'. Pretty much one of the best decisions I've made throughout the trip and you'd know why soon :) Anyways, the location of the hostel was pretty much perfect ! Behind it is 'The Boulevard' as most sight seeing is done at both the ends of the Boulevard. 

 

Prishtina, Kosovo can definitely be covered within a day's trip. Met two Irish guys travelling around as well from my hostel and they even said, "The top things to do in Prishtina is even just observing the monuments which is done within seconds". But I made sure I was gonna come here cause I really wanted to see how a new country looks like from being war torn. Not bad eyy ? 

It's a 'NewBorn' Country, Kosovo. They just got their independence from Serbia in 2011 and there are still political conflicts between both countries; especially immigration borders. 

There's not much of a difference, the culture here compared to Serbia. But you could see mosques and church distributed almost everywhere here whereas in Serbia there's only 2 known mosques. So, I guess you could say Kosovo is more diverse and 'accepting' but there's definitely more attractions in Belgrade.  IF you've pretty much covered the whole Prishtina within a couple of hours, just get a frequent bus (every 20 minutes) to Prizren for about an hour and a half. A couple from the UK that I met in the hostel I was staying in suggested me to do so but I decided to go for a spontaneous trip with another nice couple I met the night before to Skopje, Macedonia :)

Anyways, here are some tips whilst travelling between Serbia and Kosovo that you definitely must know ! 

1) You can travel from Serbia to Kosovo but not from Kosovo to Serbia directly without getting a chop from the Serbian immigration so you would have to go through another country; possibly Macedonia or Montenegro. Its nearly impossible to go to Serbia from Kosovo if you've never received the chop

2) Good luck trying to ask Serbs on 'How to get into Kosovo' from Serbia or asking directions for the buses heading to Kosovo. Bus drivers got pretty mad when they found out I was asking them and sort of pushed me (not literally) to the information counter, again in Nis. So, try to be street smart and try to avoid talking about Kosovo to any Serbs whenever unnecessary as they somehow hate Kosovo. Really. 

Nis, Serbia

Nis is apparently the 3rd biggest city in Serbia, with only 300,000 population !

Its quite a nice place to chill at but most historical sites here can be covered over a day's trip.

Took a 3 hours bus from Belgrade to Nis 1250 dirhams ; roughly about 8Euros at 8.30 AM . The buses are quite frequent back and forth but its always a good idea to check out the schedules just to be safe. Oh yeah , btw , I took the Nis Ekspress bus incase you got curious.

Anyhow, I stayed in a hostel, the 'Day N Night' Hostel; which took me about 15 minutes walk to the city but had a really great service. Met a really awesome backpacker from Korea; who's been travelling all the way from Korea to Serbia passing through Northern parts of Europe all without a flight tickets; only through buses, trains, hitch hiking and has been staying through couch surfing as well for a couple of times. He's been travelling for about 7 months already ! Pretty cool eyy ? 

Moving on... Here's a couple of places highly suggested to visit here at Nis ! 

The Nis Fortress was beautiful ! It was definitely a great breeze walking in the park while checking out historical monuments. Some close to my heart; like the abandoned mosque in the last picture. Anyways, I met these 2 school girls earlier when I asked their help to take a picture of me at one of the monuments and they decided to accompany me whilst my trip around the fortress.

The Skull Tower. The cab to the 'Skull Tower' took me about 2 Euros from the City Center so make sure you don't get tricked ! I took the local bus to the City Center with the help of the lady in the picture; she works as a tour guide for most museums here in Nis. The flat rate for the bus rides is 60 dirhams which costs only roughly half an Euro. 

Took some time by walking to the Nazi Concentration Camp Museum from the City Center as well the next day. I gotta admit, was a bit frustrated as half of the exhibitions were closed down due to renovation purposes. Hmmm. 

Took a stroll around the markets near the Nis Fortress as well in the morning just to check out the local scene

Then chilled at the famous street preserved with local culture ; Ulica Kovanlucka if I'm not mistaken. Am really sorry that I've forgotten the English name of the street. But its a whole alley filled with cafes for everyone to chill ! 

Randomly checked out an Orthodox Church I saw by the road side which looked really cool from the inside :) 

So yeah, that was pretty much it from Nis that one can actually check out. The places to visit might not be as many as Belgrade or Novi Sad (2nd biggest city of Serbia), but it was definitely nice to come and chill. The other reason why I came here as well is to discover Prishtina in Kosovo the next day.

Although there's an app strongly recommended when you come to Nis, the 'Nis Talking' which gives you a guide to nearly almost everything in Nis, I decided to walk around without a map since I haven't really been a phone person. Got lost for about an hour with the huge back pack ! Worst part was, I haven't changed my Euro currency to Serbian Dinar so I couldn't hail a cab ! HAHA

Finishing off this post with an epic accidental mustache selfie at the entrance of the Nis Fortress !