My time in Balkans

Europe was visiting me in my dreams and pulling my heartstrings before I had this wild idea to do a 5 weeks Eastern Europe adventure with the break I had after my internship and before my final semester in university. I say "wild", because as "liberal" and "open" as Singaporeans wish to be perceived as, the moment I say I'm going to Albania/Serbia/Macedonia, they automatically throw me "are you crazy" glares. Planning took a really long time as I was checking the possible routes and travelling time from city A to B by bus/train only. Finally after intensive research, I've came up with the route I'm happy with.

Athens (Greece) -> Meteora (Greece) -> Thessaloniki (Greece) -> Skojpe (Macedonia) -> Prishtina (Kosovo) -> Ohrid (Macedonia) -> Tirana (Albania) -> Budva (Montenegro) -> Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina) -> Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina) -> Belgrade (Serbia) -> Novi Sad (Serbia) -> Timisoara (Romania) -> Cluj Napoca (Romania) -> Turda (Romania) -> Budapest (Hungary)

I had my down periods - using my earpiece to block out harassment, having racial slurs thrown at me in Romania, having food poisoning in Romania and having an 8 hours bus ride to Budapest while recovering. However, the moments that I felt blessed and truly happy were overwhelming. I even caught myself looking out at the window on a bus ride thinking how privileged I am to be there, living my life to the fullest and being completely in the present. Solo travelling really boost the level of confidence I have and somehow does magic to my self-love as well.

I met the most wonderful people during my travels. The lady at IndieScent was patient and helpful when picking out a scent for myself. I had a nice chat with a member of my Athens walking tour - an Irish lady that did not understand how my pixie hair was coined "lesbian" in Singapore. However, it was only in Meteora that I met people who I still keep in contact with! A lovely Canadian couple who flew their bike over to Germany, biked down all the way to Greece to visit their family. Alex even introduced me to polarsteps, an app that tracks your travels and even offer to turn these digital memories into a book! We parted ways at Meteora, with them promising to host me whenever I am around Toronto. Had a small chat with Christopher, a guy at my hostel that we happened to go to the same gyros store for lunch. He was in Singapore for a couple months and decided to travel around the Balkans for awhile before heading home to London. We are currently still exchanging messages in Instagram as with Alex!

In Thessloniki, a bunch of us from the walking tour group decided to grab dinner together and catch a live urban Greek music, rebetiko at a local rooftop bar. It was truly an authentic experience - vibing along with the sounds of bouzouki, the baglamas and the guitar; chatting in smokey air and just being around a diverse bunch. There was a young Argentian who just started working for Uber back home, an American-born South Korean, a Finnish lady and a South Italian teacher who works at a school for the less fortunate.

In Macedonia, my more than accomodating host gave me complimentary ticket to catch a modern ballet performance at the Macedonian Opera and Ballet. I did not pack anything fancy and just tried my best to throw on some culottes and a black cami with my new handmade earrings in an attempt to look somewhat fancy. It was evident that Asians are not common at the theater as everyone was staring at me - with curiosity or not, I'm not that sure.

It is really the small actions that counts as well. When the waiter got me a wet napkin when he saw that I was struggling to get a stain off my shirt after spilling some food (what's new though). And I have to mention kayaking by myself in the middle of Lake Matka, Skojpe, was one of my favourite experiences ever. Just imagine the slightly chilly air you get just before it rains and the lapping of water onto the lake banks as you slowly paddle your way further into the valley. It was so peaceful and tranquil, I only wished that I had more than 2 hours to enjoy the activity better.

On the way to Ohrid, I happened to be seat buddies with a really chatty guy from Perth, whose roots are actually from Croatia. I was all ready to go into hibernation mode and sleep through out the 4 hours yet ended up chatting with him the entire time. Completely maxed out my social quota for the day. Though he told me to hit him up on social media so that we could hang out the next day, but plans didn't really materialised. I did bump into him later in the day when I was checking out the fortress.

My elderly host in Ohrid was lovely - she helped me with my transportation to Tirana, changed some cash for me and even got me cookies while checking in. Even though she isn't fantastic in English, she made a point to make me feel at home. I got back early one day and she gave me ice cream because it was hot outside. We watched football for awhile with her husband who was equally excited to have a guest. What a welcoming couple. People are so much friendlier in Ohrid than Skojpe. Shopkeepers are genuinely smiling and happy that you purchased their products - not because they made a sale, but because they truly believe in their items. That really made my heart full and I only hope that this mentality does not change when mass tourism hits.

Decided to take a full day boat trip and was really iffy about it because I was the only one by myself in the group. A couple, Malin from Sweden and the Ardit from Tirana, decided to sit with me during lunch and we struck a conversation. Soon it got easy to immerse myself in a group; chatting about Danish culture with a Copenhagen couple, making plans to meet up again in Serbia with the Serbian cousins and sharing about Singapore with the Dutch. Ardit and Malin gave me recommendations for Tirana - my next stop.

Despite the shit from my transport (was the only one in the bus and driver decided to let me off along the road instead of the bus station, leading to me walking for 45mins to the bus station with all 15-20kg of my backpacks), I met up with another bunch of friendly hosts. Anisa was the one who welcomed me into the house and gave me a crash course on simple Albanian phrases in addition to a mini-travel guide for the city. She even recommended for me to visit the market where both her and Mikel contributed in designing and executing the building. That is pretty cool! She also encouraged me to run around the artificial lake just next to their apartment (best run ever by the way - cooling air and a gorgeous sunset). Mikel even offered to drive me to the bus station when I was leaving Tirana. He made sure I got on the right bus before seeing me off.

And I cannot say this enough, but Albanians are really one of the nicest bunch of people I know. I was stuck outside my yoga studio and was figuring out how to get in. I decided to ask a passing lady for help. I explained my situation and asked if I could borrow her phone to make a call to the studio, she agreed however no one was picking up. She then tried pressing the bell but again, no one was answering. At this point, strangers will usually give up and apologise for not being that helpful. What she did next really surprised me. She took out her credit card and tried to get it behind the door latch to push it open. At this point, her card was really about to snap but she kept trying anyways. Soon a man came over and tapped into the building and she held the door open for me. I was teary at her niceness. This wasn't the only instance of the warmth of Albanians.

It was a museum hopping day for me and was visiting the National Museum of History. I was curious of what some exhibits were as after the first floor, there is a lack of English translation. The museum staff was simply exhilarated that someone was interested in the history and took the liberty to explain and show me around despite not being fluent in English. Again, google translate came to the rescue. She such a helpful lady and did her best in explaining the contributions of Mother Theresa as well as the communist war in Albania. This lady even told me her son works at a restaurant and gave me the business card, asking me to head there for a meal and telling them that she recommended a visit. What a sweet lady.

The House of Leaves was the last on my list and yet again, I made a friend. The inquisitive part of me could not resist asking the staff for some explanation and the teenage staff gave me a mini private tour around the whole war museum. After learning that I was alone and she was eager to meet me the next day to bring me around. And she did! She explained each districts and pointed out the different attractions scattered around town. Alesia was flabbergasted after knowing that there were no Sophie or Mon Cherie chain coffee stores in Singapore. She made me grab a cherry frappe which was really too sweet for me but I could not turn those puppy dog eyes down. We still keep in connect via Instagram. Also, I am still chatting with Kevin, a charming guy I met online.

Albania is definitely a special country to me as I celebrated my 50th country with Mullixhiu, one of the best restaurants in Tirana, offering fine dining, great hospitality and values of Albanian Culture. The 10-course fine dining meal was below 20 euros and despite the affordability, they treated each guest warmly. I was really excited and looking forward to my dinner reservation once I chanced upon this restaurant. One of the best dining experience for sure (it was a 2 hours meal).

In Mostar, I went for a hostel tour and my fellow tour mates were a trio from Australia and an German solo traveller currently working in Norway. We had a great time together and even celebrated Rachel's birthday. Lisa and I realised that we have a similar travel plan and decided to meet again in Sarajevo and Serbia. During a walking tour in Sarajevo, I made more friends! What happened to the self proclaimed introvert I loudly introduce to everyone? Jing Jing, a Chinese working in Israel and Alice, from Portugal agreed to meet for lunch and a jazz concert during Bascarsijske (a summer night program). Lisa and her Australian friend met us for dinner which we started with some good old rakia before the concert. Nermin, Clarissa's colleague's brother, also met up with me in Sarajevo to chill over tea, a sunset and some drinks!

Remember the Serbian cousins I met in Ohrid? We came together again after 1-2 weeks (though I'm sad now because it seems that I have lost their contact details...)! They brought Lisa (yes, her again) and I to the fortress to catch the sunset before a small walk around the city centre and then grabbing some meat platter with of course, rakia. Lisa and I also went on a walking tour together which was a funny story. We both agreed on going for a walking tour that starts at 10am. I was out and about at 8am because hello, morning person and also because I wanted to grab some coffee. As I was sipping on the first ice coffee (yes first, they don't do ice coffee in this region), I spotted Lisa with a group and went "oh shit did I mix up the timing". I decided to just stealth into the group but Lisa spotted me and burst out laughing. Apparently, she decided to joined this group first, then leaving halfway to meet me at the other walking tour and it was pure coincidence that I managed to find her.

The following day, I had planned to spend my afternoon at a tea house because we all know my love for tea. Coincidentally bumping into Lisa and her hostel friend. I decided to stay after the both of them left, soaking in the vibes of the tea house and avoiding the rain. Who knew that I would have started a conversation with the Mexican couple who came in to hide from the rain, and another couple who just visited Singapore. Later in the day, I had some Vietnamese food with Jing Jing (met in Sarajevo) and her couchsurfing friend. Who is this girl and what happened to her social quota?

Nearing the end of my trip, en route Budapest, there was a friendly Hungarian/Serbian who was concerned that I did not grab anything to eat during the lunch break. He kept me company during lunch and even talked to me in between breaks before bidding me good bye when the bus arrived at Budapest's airport.

Phew, that is a whole lot of ramblings and memories. So dear future me - not to be fearful and understand that there are still kind people out there, so be kind to strangers as well. I truly hold these memories and encounters dear to my heart as they somehow shaped the person I was after 37 days of travelling. I would love to meet them in the future again. Fun fact: I did have lunch with Nermin when he came to Singapore to visit his sister. Yay to keeping in touch.