Pristina

OK, let me first say that Novi Pazar turned out to be not such a bad place after all. It's obvious, in retrospect, that one shouldn't judge a place simply by the people you meet at the bus station and hotel. I got up this morning in time to catch the 9:30 bus that the hotel receptionist said went to Pristina, but when I got to the bus station it was clear that the bus was at 6am not 9. The next one was at 12:40, so I had some time to kill. I took my bag back to the hotel to drop off for a few hours and then went wandering in the daylight. I've got a few pictures of some of the bizarre architecture in the city, which I'll try to post some time in the next few days. It's pretty hilarious.

When I got a bit tired, I decided to stop for a cappucino, so I randomly picked a spot where I could lounge in the sun. The two young guys running the shop had absolutely no other business to attend to at 10am on a Sunday, and one of them spoke basic English so we got to talking. It turned into a pretty funny conversation that went on for about an hour and a half. In the end, we took a few pictures together and they had their friend who worked at the photo place next door print us some 5x7s. They signed and dated my copy. it was pretty funny! Oh, and they wouldn't let me pay for my coffee or fizzy water. Cool eh?

The whole minor experience really helped put me back into a good mood though. I wasn't the least bit concerned about missing the bus, but it did seem like everything about the town was going to be a bit negative. In the end, I had a good time and was glad I stopped there. I also learned another good traveling lesson: if you show up somewhere without prebooked accomodation, try to go to a cafe or restaurant, find someone who speaks basic English, and then make friends with them before finding a hotel or room. They'll probably have a good suggestion that will save you time and money. These guys laughed at the price I paid for my room (not that I was surprised) and said I could've stayed at a place across the street for 15 euro. Hah.

So after excusing myself from the conversation, I wandered back to the bus station and got on the right bus with no difficulties. We stopped at a border control point on the way in to Kosovo that I wasn't expecting, and I now have an official UN-sanctioned entry card with UN stamps and stuff on it. I hope I get to keep it! I'll certainly take a photo of it just in case they take it back when I leave.

The trip to Pristina was pretty neat. Scenery was nice, changing from fairly rugged, forested mountains to a rolling, open plain in a wide valley. The valley itself is quite densely populated: I thought we were entering Pristina about 3 times before we finally got to the city proper. I walked from the bus station into town (about 2 kilometers) and then from town up the hill to the guest house where I'm staying. Again I thank my trusty compass, as my map of this city only shows the major roads, but I knew the bus station was southwest of the center, so I just took turns going north and east until I hit a major road. Of course, figuring out the NAME of any particular street is a chore in itself, as there are no street signs here. You have to hope to find an address plaque embedded in a wall on a building somewhere. They're not always easy to spot.

The major street that I ran across first was, fortunately, the one I was looking for: Bulevard Bil Klinton. Yes, "Bill Clinton". Crazy eh? Passed through some pretty huge Communist-era apartment blocks on the way to town, and then up the hill through a very random collection of brick houses. The guest house is a 3 story building across the street from the owner's house. It looks pretty ramshackle from the outside, but it's perfectly decent inside. There's no common room where people hang out, but there are a couple of communal kitchens. I only saw one guy in the halls who didn't seem much interested in talking to me, but maybe tomorrow morning there'll be more people about. It was, after all, about 4:30 when I was there and I suppose most people were out doing things.

I'm in an internet cafe just down the street from my place right now. This thing is huge: there are 40 stations in a big room with next to no light. Each has a webcam, headphone and mic for internet calling too. If I was here for the hockey draft this would be a perfect place to connect with the boys. Too bad I'll be long gone by then.

I'm on my way back into town after changing and dropping off my stuff. I read in the lonely planet guide about an English pub that does a roast beef dinner on Sunday nights. I thought that sounded pretty damn tasty, so I'm going to go try to find it. It's almost 6:30 now, so maybe I better get going so I can arrive around dinner time. Hopefully this place will attract some of the other English speaking people in this town and I can meet a few people there. There's UN vehicles everywhere here, and the place is across the street from the main UN headquarters (UNMIK: UN Mission in Kosovo), so I would guess that it's pretty likely.

cheers,
bms