Eastern Europe
We’ve been here about six weeks now, from Turkey, then Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia Herzegovina and now Croatia.
A lot of countries, but not a lot of kilometers. There’s a mountain pass in Kosovo, on your way to Montenegro and along that pass you can pull over and see virtually all of Montenegro!
I’ve always wanted to come to this “old” Yugoslavia. One of my first bosses came from here (now Croatia I think – I’ll check with Troy). One of my best high school friends married a guy whose descendants are settled in a mountain village in Montenegro.
Driving along at 60km/h and camping amongst the villages, so many people have come over, big smile, no English, but welcomed us to their area. Often they will point out a local vegetable or fruit. They’re very respectful of your space, at the same time are happy to share a bottle of their olives, a bucket of their wine (I kid you not), or a handful of onions or whatever comes out of the ground.
We’re pretty low impact campers; it’d take Hercule Poirot to know we’ve been there. We’ll often seek out a farmer in the afternoon to discuss a camp, always approved with a smile and due to the natural grapevine of the village, there are many smiles and waves on our departure.
Following on from the food angle, Lynn is regularly supplementing our diet with weeds from the area around the campsite. Dill, fennel, onions and parsley are common accessories. Today’s camp features wild strawberries, they are everywhere, tiny and exquisite. She had half dozen last night and woke up ok, so they must be pretty good.
Croatia is the cleanest country, with large waste bins at the villages and they are used. They are really little villages and the roads nearby are cleaner than in Australia! Bulgaria is a close second for cleanliness. Bosnia was a surprise package and third place-getter.
The others, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo have a long way to go. Many have the large waste bins, but more than one had no bottom, as if someone had tipped acid in the base! Also (the Council?) pick up staff haven’t been told to pick up rubbish beside the overflowing bins. So, the overflow just grows and becomes ever more putrid. I put a bag of rubbish in a bin and it fell through and rolled beside my foot!
The whole area is mostly limestone and the runoff water is clear as glass. Along the road, mainly in the mountains, there are hundreds of smallish concrete structures, with a 20mm pipe sticking out and spring water gushing out. We had no trouble keeping our tank filled and the water tastes good, but it is ‘hard’ and difficult to lather.
We’re both so glad we came here!