Travel, 50+, Kosovo

The ancient and eternal powder keg of Balkan is a gift that never stops giving. One of the latest drips falling down the side of said keg is Kosovo. A place that stirs emotions strong enough to make keyboard warriors pull a full goatse merely for witnessing a glimpse of the name of the place, whether independence is implied or denied.

There are not many international arrivals and exits where the stamps are both available and not automatically inked in your passport. Kosovo is one of those places. They even refused to stamp my passport at the airport. Instead, the stamp was slapped on the boarding pass. At arrival, crossing on land, however, there was some love. Hint, hint.

The place is quite precarious, of course, and under the seeming peace, there is plenty. So much so that the locals seemed to actively avoid talking about any real or imaginary edgy subject matters. Most of them kept obsessing over their food. A safe choice. Unless you are going head to head with someone anorexic, I guess.

While the core of the capital appears to be pumped full of life with a variety of construction projects, the scars of war and poverty are everywhere to be seen. A lot of the streets look like you're in Belgium (pothole country represent!) and people are wary with plenty of side-eye. It is, however, undeniable that there's plenty of potential bubbling under. Whether it will properly realize one day or not, we shall see. In theory, the Kosovar abroad have a decent opportunity to make anything out of the place. Were they so inclined. So far, in my experience, they are more into holidaying "in homeland" while living elsewhere.

Most tourists arrive to the capital and, at this time, most of them seem to leave gravely disappointed. At least whom with I have gotten to exchange a few words. Many of them have even listed Kosovo as the worst place they have visited. And, okay, the capital is not an action packed party place with a beach and slow motion Pamelas and Hoffs running around. It's not a shopping place, either. It is, however, a gateway to the mountains. While a lot of the Earth's teeth are named something like "Accursed mountains", in my view, it's Kosovo's blessing. As long as they keep the nature clean, at least.

Circulating back to the passport topic, it is not only the border where you need to carry one with you. It is also the UNESCO site in Peja/Pejë/Peć (and who knows where else). A stern, while bored to tears, looking guard stood up as he saw myself and the travel buddy approaching. Hand up in a time honored traffic cop fashion, he demanded to see our little red booklets. Inspecting and finding out it was a nationality he liked, he turned all smiles. We were more than welcome to enter the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć. Which, despite the name, came with a warning: "Beware of the nuns". While it is free of charge to visit, were the nuns to see you, there's a threat they will chase you down for a donation.

So, I did all the sports warm up moves (even the neck), expecting I had to outrun plenty of nuns akin to what you see in that horror movie "The Nun". Got myself psyched up and prepared my camera guru whipper-snapper technique like I was the star of "Love Exposure". And then... Nothing. I saw a full total of zero nuns. What a drag, eh?

The Judgment:
Unless you are a nature enthusiast or a war freak, Kosovo is, at this time, none but potential. It will be interesting to see whether they end up tapping into it or not. The practical bar for a visit is fairly low. Low-cost airlines take you to Kosovo regularly and on the cheap, the country itself is very inexpensive and you can go around unbothered. The locals speak multiple languages. The currency is euro... On a side note: you can get numismatic rarities and the locals do not really know or care about these things. I got Sammarinese euro coins, for instance, that you will have to purchase for big penny in San Marino. Anyway... Most people will choose to holiday in any of the neighbors instead.

While being under threat of "potential militant problems with Serbia" at the time of visit, I felt safe where I went. The most aggressive thing that happened to me was a guy demanding to know whether us two travelers were Muslims or not (which turned out to be a beard related incident). The visit was overall rather uneventful. The food was meaty and the drinks were full of bees right after opening the can and pouring half-a-glass.

Would I go again? Maybe. It might be interesting to see what changed in a decade.