Macedonia is about the same size as Montenegro but not worth the visit if I hard limited holidays. This poses the question, comparing and rating countries?? Experience, people, landscape and cost?? There is no doubt that rating is on a personnel level, for me its important locals are open, honest and is not difficult to travel (5 years ago Egypt wore me out after 3 weeks).
So the big differential with Macedonia is the poverty - the difference between the have and have nots, there are lots of fancy European cars. Heaps of Gypsies, shanty towns, markets, modern shopping centers and the stench of burning rubbish dumps. From my perspective, it is something new, not scary but unknown?!? The bike enables me to get off the beaten track to places I would not have seen on public transport.
I am a relative wealthy westerner and to see people collecting plastic bottles, sifting through garbage, selling junk at 6am markets...its a different world and its part of Europe.
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Hm, where have you been? You make Macedonia sound like Mumbai. Yes, Macedonia is poor, but not that poor and certainly has much more to offer than the couple of gypsy neighbourhoods you have visited.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous, I have not been to Mumbai but will let you know when I get there. I am comparing it with countries visited so far on my trip - see planned trip on my blog. Of course it has more to offer than gypsies but I am commenting on what stood out in 4 days compared to my experiences.
ReplyDeleteBen
I guess you have to consider their exposures as well. If the poor locals exposure to rich westerners is that they exploit them and they've never seen anything other than living on the edge to survive then you have to take it into consideration.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways we are lucky to have the education and environment to teach us the differences between right and wrong, culture, and lifestyle.
Maybe the odd traveller like yourself can prove that wrong and evangelise them.