When I was going through customs on my way from Sofia back to Bangkok, the customs official asked where I had been last. I mentioned Greece, completely forgetting that I had a one-day trip to Skopje, North Macedonia from Sofia, Bulgaria. He reminded me of the North Macedonian stamp in my passport and told me to move on.
I suppose I forgot we went to the neighboring country because it was such a short drive from Sofia to Skopje! I am used to 60-hour drives from one major city to another within the same country of Canada... not 3 hours between two capitals of two countries.
All the same, it was great to see what Skopje was all about before heading back to Thailand.
North Macedonia has so many similarities as Bulgaria such as the language and culture, but there were subtle reminders that we were in another country on the day of our tour.
Besides the obvious in having to go through customs, our group had to adjust to a time change and different currency. I found out all too soon that North Macedonians don't accept the Lev currency of Bulgaria or even the Euro used all over Europe!? It's the Denari or nothing.
There are two main pedestrian walkways in Skopje that make it easy for visitors to navigate the old city center. One walkway is the path along the Vardar River. The other walkway takes pedestrians over an original stone bridge -- built during the Ottoman Empire around 500 AD -- connecting the Christian and Muslim sectors of the city.
On the SW side of the bridge is the most noticeably Christian European sector with its statues (made in Italy), fountains, classical buildings and paved town squares for people to congregate.
Walking across the stone bridge to the NE sector gives pedestrians the immediate sense of entering an old section of a Muslim city like Istanbul. Gone are the statues and proportioned building facades, replaced by a maze of meandering stone passageways that support typical ma-and-pa shops selling everything from lunch to clothing. I'm sure it's a visual reminder of Skopje when the Ottoman Empire ruled this region.
It seems evident to me this region (now country) has been 'pushed around' geopolitically with a result of its citizens trying to stand firm to keep an identity. I could be wrong -- after all, I was here for a whole day -- but these are my first impressions.
I learned this region was subject to the Balkan War in the early 20th century and then was under Yugoslavian rule before gaining independence in 1991. As a result, this region needed to redraw its boundaries with neighboring Balkan states of Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria and Montenegro. Through all of this, its people strived to live and develop as a free, unified and independent nation even into the early 2000s when it wanted to become part of the European Union.
This country was originally identified as Macedonia but was forced to change its name to North Macedonia to appease the Greeks who wanted to make sure the country to their north was not confused with its own Macedonian history and identity. In the end, Macedonia changed its name so it could be voted into the EU.
Like our local guide from Skopje told us, "Others can force us to change our name, but inside (as he pointed to himself) they can't take away who we are." It was interesting to see this Serbian struggle firsthand.
