The Ham Nomads

29 Apr 2015. <RS> Niš; <RS-KOS> Prishtinë, & Graçanicë —

Today, a lot of driving. The road back from our overnight stop has been virtually unused since the nearby hotel closed, so it's not exactly in the best condition — but it's navigable, and saves paying any toll! We drove south from Niš to a town beyond Prishtinë in Kosovo. We mentioned roadwork yesterday — well today was more of the same. They have a habit here of digging out the old tarmac, but not coming back to fill the hole for some days — and they don't believe in warning signs! Our journey involved a border crossing, and we were informed that our vehicle insurance was not valid in Kosovo, so we had to buy a 15-day policy for our stay — €20, cash only (fortunately we still had a stock of Euros!). But for that, a simple border crossing.

A patchwork road!

Traffic in Prokupije — as bad as the rest of Kosovo!

... but the police are there to tidy up the mess!

Road ditches — unmarked!

We saw a few pairs or trios of cows with cowherd in attendance

and then we reached the Serbija-Kosovo border

Kosovo's houses often have interesting brickwork

Kosovo and Macedonia constitute the Islamic parts
of old Yugoslavia — so a lot of mosques!

Another vote against the Serbian language!

Kosovo looks a lot more prosperous than Serbia!

We went down beyond Prishtinë to Graçanicë, where there is an old monastery. We looked around the monastery, which was a quiet haven, but we found more interest perhaps in the shops in little tin sheds outside. For a minute, we thought we had found an unexpected McDonald's — until we read the sign a little more closely!

Trademark protection means little here!

We continued on southwards, towards Makedonia. The road as we got closer to Makedonia got more and more like the worst of the roads through light industrial areas in Oz!

We pulled off the road into a wide flat area opposite farmland on one side and a restaurant — flying the flags of Kosovo and Albania — on the other. We thought it might be a little noisy, particularly as the condition of the road meant that the tyres of the cars and trucks were not exactly silent — but the traffic died off dramatically as the night went on, and we slept well.

Distance driven — today, 130 miles ( 210 km ); to date, 19,126 miles ( 30,781 km )