The trans-balkan travels

The adventures here in E.E (Eastern Europe) continue and I'm never without a good story. This post will hopefully catch up through my travels to Moldova and the next one will fill in on the day to day experiences of our work in Chisinau (Kishinau), Moldova's capital.

September 9th - a monestary and a walk
The monestary that I attempted to go to my first day into Macedonia was the last thing on my list for my last day at Lake Ohrid...that and a swim in the beautiful water. I woke up, had a run around the lake again (and was met with the wide eyed stares of locals) and then grabbed my stuff to sit by the lake. It must have been only 8:30 or 9:00, so a bit early, but the sun was already warming the air and I was in the mood for a swim. So I threw on my suit and walked down to the beach - don't think white sandy...think dark with pebbles. Nonetheless, it was time for a swim. I walked in about knee deep and giggled at the little fish pecking at my calves. I started to go a bit deeper, but stopped when I saw the water snake creep in front of me. He/she was about 5 or more feet away from me...but it didn't matter. There was still a snake in the water. We both froze for a minute and then he/she squiggled along its merry way and I took a breath (I think I held my breath during that time). I can't say I'm afraid of snakes, but snakes in water are a different story. I surveyed the water for more snakes and then dove in to the clean and refreshing water of Lake Ohrid. What a beautiful place. I swam out past the boats for rent and thought about jumping on a fishing boat, but figured I would just enjoy the solitude of the morning. I knew people would start to crowd the beach and the water, so the early morning swim was perfect. I sat and enjoyed the company of a family who had also come for an early morning outing.
I packed up my things before too long and headed back to the hostel - Sveti Naum was on my list of things to do that day. Back at the hostel, two other travelers decided to join me on the trip to the monestary and after we grabbed lunch at the local fruit market, we walked to the spot where I picked up my cabbie the first day. I had a hunch he'd still be there and what do you know...there he was. He was more than happy to take us to the monestary and back and agreed to swing through a small town along the way for a few photos. Now...I don't speak Macedonian and he certainly wasn't speaking English, but we made do. The monestary sits on the edge of the lake and has a clear view of the surrounding towns. We tried to figure out where the line was, dividing Macedonia and Albania, but decided that it was fruitless. The endangered trout that live in the lake probably can't figure it out either - though illegal to fish for them in Macedonia, the rules are a bit more lax in Albania and so there is still a problem with over-fishing.
We only stayed a short time at the monestary, but it was great to see locals and tourists alike enjoying the sights and serene atmosphere of the monestary. Priests still live there and there was holy water for all to taste. Our personal taxi driver agreed to wait for us and so we took our time walking around and made it back in time for him to take us back. Along the way, he swung into his home-village. He showed us his old school and the cliff where we got a view of the most gorgeous beach I've seen in years. Water so clear we could see the kelp swaying back and forth beneath the surface.
Once back in the city, I took a walk back to this jewelry stand that I'd seen the day before. I had some Macedonian denar to spend and it was burning a hole in my pocket (especially as I was leaving the next morning at 5 am ish). There was something about the look of the display that I knew it would be special. It was...I didn't get the name of the woman and her husband but they had been making jewelry and other forms of art for almost 25 years. She helped me choose a few things and told me before I left that all she asked was that I wear them with a smile and joy in my heart. Done...very do-able.
I was sad to leave Macedonia and the sights of Lake Ohrid - a beautiful place with kind people. The English boys that I met back at the hostel kept me laughing while my clothes dried and then it was off to bed

September 10th - let the adventure begin
Like it or not, 4:30am, I left the most wonderful Sunny Lake hostel to walk to the bus station and luckily hailed a cab that was speeding to the bus station with other passengers (otherwise I wouldn't have made it). The plan for the next 2 days was this....
5 am - 8am : travel from Lake Ohrid to Skopje (capital of Macedonia)
8:30am - 1:30pm : travel from Skopje (Macdonia) to Sofia (Bulgaria)
7:30 pm : hop on a train from Sofia that would take me to Chisinau (Moldova)
plans never really work out:)
The ride to Skopje was perfect...nice roads, beautiful sunrise and I got to see the sights of Macedonia that I was missing out on. It gave me a taste of the rolling hills, quaint towns and villages along the way. Skopje was a big capital city and though it would have been nice to visit, I think I saw enough driving through to the bus station. Another time, I'll come back. We got there early so I had a few extra minutes to go to the bathroom before my 5-ish hour bus ride to Bulgaria.
The ride to Sofia was easy enough. There weren't many people on the bus and we drove along roads that again showed me the sights of Macedonia. It is a country moving closer to ties with the European Union, but I think it will still be some time before they are ready to fully join. The border crossing was easy, but I'm glad that I had been to Sofia before. It made the process of figuring out where to go and what to do a bit easier. But this is...of course...where things get interesting.
As it turns out, the train that I thought would take me straight on through to Chisinau is of course, not running. It only goes to Bucharest (Romania). From there my options were another train to Moldova or a bus. I begrugingly bought the ticket to Bucharest and hoped for the best. After getting some food and sitting in the sun at the bus/train station, I decided to walk to the center of the city and at least get some exercise. I walked to the center (20 min or so) and wandered around and then decided to head back "early". I figured I'd get back to the train station, grab my bag and sit for an hour and read. As I approached the train station (what I thought was 90 min early), I swear I heard my name. I would realize only later (15 min), that as we passed from Macedonia to Bulgaria we had in fact jumped forward a time zone.
AHHHHH. I almost missed my train - unknowingly. I walked to the platform where my train was 10 min before it left. I had NO idea that the time changed and have NO idea what I would have done had I missed this train. My bed was on the Sofia - Moscow train car so I at least could understand 50% of what the conductor was saying. I made my bed, ate my dinner and snuggled into bed. The soviet style trains are my favorite: a bed sheet set waiting for you, hot water for tea, and being rocked to sleep by the lull of the train. I slept perfectly and tried to imagine how on early I was going to get to Chisinau the next day.

September 11th - traveling with my guardian angel in tow
We stopped in Bucharest at 6:30 - 1 hr behind schedule, so the option of flying to Chisinau was out. I asked around, but most people were not helpful and my goal (and i'm stubborn) was to get to Chisinau by the evening. I found an internet cafe (after walking for like 40 min) and contacted the team in Chisinau to tell them that the original plan to take the train was not going to work. The new plan...
Bucharest-->Iasi (pronounced Yash), Romania-->Ungheni (border town)-->Chisinau
Bucharest to Iasi would be by train and the rest was via slow mini-busses. The train was exactly what I needed and made me realize that I want to travel by train more often in the US. Romania is quite beautiful...rolling hills, lots of fields of grain and corn. The towns are fairly small, but not miniscule. I was happy that I chose the train car I did because the rest of them had a fairly pungent smell - I'm not sure exactly what from, but fairly smelly:)
The plan in Iasi was a bit less solidified. By the time I arrived, it would be almost 7pm. My lonely planet book said that there was a parking lot that mini-busses waited for passengers going to Chisinau. It was late in the day and I was taking a chance. Thankfully, Lonely planet seems to do its research fairly well and after asking around a bit, I found a mini-bus (i.e. mini van) that was headed east and surprisingly, there was a young woman who spoke incredible english. Anna was my helper for this part of the journey.
Though I thought we'd leave soon after I arrived, the disgruntal driver finally took off around 9pm because no one else was coming with us (his car wasn't full and so he was angry that he wasn't going to make enough money). He got us to the border...but then decided that he wanted to go home. So there we were - Anna, me and another fellow, standing on the border between Moldova and Romania - looking for a ride at 9:30pm. There was a van-style taxi who was headed to Chisinau but had to make a "quick" stop on the way to drop off some building supplies in a village. hmmm...
So off we went - pitch black roads and a very cold night (okay...cold for me). I had no idea where we were going, but I trusted the driver and my helper Anna. Turns out the village stop took a lot longer. The 2 hour drive turned into 3.5 hours and I finally arrived in Chisinau at 1:00am. Anna helped me get a cab (and money because I had no Moldovan lei) and after waking up the rest of my team members, I arrived at the apartment. I had no idea that my travels to Moldova would be so long - almost 44 hours all together. So next time...I'll either go straight to Moldova or travel through a country a bit closer to the border.

more on my experiences in Chisinau to come!!