“Macedonia 🇲🇰 ~In Skopje; Covid19 Testing for Bulgaria”

• August 24, 2020
• By Pen
• 0 Comment

And We Are Excited!

We came back in to Skopje, by early afternoon, where we will end our self-tour Macedonia adventures. We kicked off our Macedonia touring in Struga, and then on to Skopje, last month, after leaving Albania. From Skopje, we left Macedonia and made a gigantic loop into Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and back to Macedonia a few weeks ago to finish seeing this country.

It’s been quite a road-trip already, but we are not done yet, in the European Balkans. 

If you missed our self-tour around Skopje, when we were here last month, here is the link for that: https://2gypsiesinthewind.com/europe/macedonia/macedonia-self-tour-in-skopje/

Also, for our first stop in Macedonia, last month, we also saw Struga near Ohrid Lake, after crossing the border from Albania. Here is the link for that post ,as well: https://2gypsiesinthewind.com/europe/macedonia/macedonia-struga-and-skopje/

After arriving back in Skopje, today, we went straight to Acibadem Sistina Hospital to see if we could get walk-in COVID19 tests done. I had my translated request in hand. It was all very organized and easy.

There was a tent and mobile office and exam room set up in the hospital parking lot. They got us right in to register after a five minute wait in the tent (with a cooling fan). There were no huge crowds, either. 

We went to the mobile office, with a small window, and provided our passports, and credit card. We were given computer coded ID’s after we we were entered into their system. The COVID19 tests cost us $75 pp. We waited back in the tent for another five minutes, then were taken inside the exam room. 

This second COVID19 testing experience proved the first nurse taking our COVID19 tests in Kosovo was a masochist, since he drilled that swab so deep into our sinuses, We though he scratched our brains! We had tears running down our face! Today, with this second testing, the nurse lightly swabbed our sinuses with one swab, and then the back of our tongued throat with another. It still wasn’t pleasant, but it did not cause tears, and was much easier to take. We now only wait less than 24 hours to get our results.

Tomorrow we have a few errands to take care of, after we collect our results at the hospital. It will be our last day with the rental car, so we have to unload it of our belongings, and get it cleaned up. We still need haircuts, a market stop for road-trip items, and a ATM stop to get Dinar to pay a transfer driver (CASH only).

Once we get our test, we have 72 hours to get to the Bulgarian border, with negative tests in hand, or they become void. So, we are spending two nights in Skopje, in a nice hotel, where the reception has arranged a driver to take us to the border, (150 euros) and that driver has a friend on the Bulgaria side who will meet us over the border in Bulgaria, to take us to Sofia; the capital in Bulgaria 🇧🇬 

In Sofia, we will rent another car, and get permission to enter Turkey with it, as well. We have some fascinating places to see in Bulgaria, and we are super excited to go there, and get started! After Bulgaria, we need to collect a suitcase we left in Istanbul way back in March, (in great care) plus we want to go ballooning in Cappadocia!

Once we are done in Turkey, our Balkan Road-Trip will be complete