“The Balkans ~10-Country Visit Just In Case You Missed It”

• October 5, 2020
• By Pen n Daryl
• 0 Comment

Albania 🇦🇱, Macedonia 🇲🇰, Kosovo 🇽🇰, Montenegro 🇲🇪, Serbia 🇷🇸, Macedonia 🇲🇰 (again), Bulgaria 🇧🇬, Romania 🇷🇴, Bulgaria 🇧🇬 (again), Turkey 🇹🇷 (again) 

Year-To-Date; Completed Travel Stats:

Currently for this post: June 27th, 2020 thru October 4, 2020

On-Going Travel Miles to date: 107,533

9,813 Miles just through the Balkans on this recent vehicle rental trip posting!

Since November of 2018, when I began this record  keeping, we have traveled through 39 country visits. BUT, in total, I have visited 81 different countries thus far, and Daryl around 59. We have many more country adventures ahead!

NOTE: I track each country visit, even if this means the same country, more than one time, because miles are miles, and we do a lot of piggybacking, between rental car returns, and luggage storage. It’s just the way we do things, and in short distances, it’s affordable and doable.

For Our 30th Stop: ~Albania 🇦🇱

We rode a bus from Ionnina, Greece 🇬🇷 to the Southernmost Albanian 🇦🇱 Border border crossing of Kakavia: 35 Miles

Albania 🇦🇱 ✅ To and thru: 1597 Miles 

We traveled by way of: Bus 🚎 Taxi 🚕 Rental Car 🚙, and walking

List of Traveling Points: From border to Sarandë; Vlore Beach, Radhime, Durres and Tirana, (did not care for these places, so did not stop over, Schoder; Castle of Rozafa, Lake Koman. We ended up in Kosovo 🇽🇰, instead oops. We went on to Krujë and loved it there! Next up, we were successful finding Koman Lake. Boge. The highlight of our whole visit in Albania, Theth National Park, Leaving the Albanian Alps, we headed for Cape Rodon and it’s Castle ruins. Berat; 1000 windowed town and “living” Castle, Gjirokastër; exquisite castle and villages. Back in Sarandë, Lake Ohrid area 

For Our 31st Stop: ~Macedonia 🇲🇰 

We rode a van from Sarande, Albania to Kjafasan Border Crossing into Macedonia: 165 Miles

Macedonia 🇲🇰 ✅ To and thru: 357 Miles 

We traveled by way of: Taxi 🚕, Van, Rental Car 🚙, and walking

List of Traveling Points: Kjafasan Border to Struga, Struga to Skopje and around Skopje, Skopje to Kosovo Border 

For Our 32nd Stop:
~Kosovo 🇽🇰 

We drove from Skopje, Macedonia to the Border crossing of Blace, into Kosovo: 48 Miles

Kosovo 🇽🇰 ✅: To and thru 455 Miles 

We traveled by way of: Rental Car 🚙, and walking

List of Traveling Points: Kosovo border to Pizren, Peje, Rugova Canyon and Mountains, Boge. Boge to Peja, Peja to Montenegro Border, back to Peja, Peja to Pristina, Pristina to Montenegro Border (again)

For Our 33rd Stop: ~Montenegro 🇲🇪 

We drove from Pristina, Kosovo to the Montenegro border crossing of Cakor: 132 Miles

Montenegro 🇲🇪 ✅ To and thru: 1119 Miles 

We traveled by way of: Taxi 🚕, Boat, Rental Car 🚙, and walking

List of Traveling Points: Mojkovac, village of Karaula, Durmitor National Park, Tara River Canyon, Black Forst, Black Lake, Monastery of Saint George in Dobrilovina, village of Gornja Dobrilovina, The Tara River Bridge – Djurdjevica Tara bridge, Platije Canyon, Zeta, Podgorica, Moracica Bridge, Ostrog Monastery, River/Village of Rijeka Crnojevica, Skadar Lake, Lovcen Mountains, The Adriatic Sea, Sveti Stefan, Budva, Kotor Fortress, Kotor Bay, Besar Castle, Resna, Kucista, Jegusi, Risan, Perast, St. George island, Our Lady of the Rock, Stoliv, Prcanj, Lastva gabaljska, Herceg Novi, Kanli Küla Castle, Nicsic, Zabijak, and Pljevlja. We traveled on Panoramic Roads: 1, 1E, 4, 3, 3D, 3B, 1F, and 2

For Our 34th Stop: ~Serbia 🇷🇸 

We drove from Herceg Novi Montenegro to Serbia border crossing at Jabuka: 362 Miles

Serbia 🇷🇸 To and thru: 1629 Miles 

We traveled by way of: Taxi 🚕 Rental Car 🚙, hiking and walking

List of Traveling Points: Jabuka, Ulica Gornja Bistrica, Vrnjacka Banja, Cave of Hadzi Prodan and Kadjenica Church, Jobaha Church, Nis Skull Tower and Nis Fortress, Davolija Varos; (Devil’s Town), Kursumlija, Despotovac and Manasija Monastery, Krupaja Springs, Dvorište, Golubac and Fortress, Vilkahe Village and Listine Falls, Novi Sad and Fortress, Belgrade, Mokra Gora Village, Kustendorf; Wood Town and Mokra Gora National Park

For Our 35th Stop: ~Macedonia 🇲🇰 (again)

We drove from Mokra Gora to Border Crossing of Llojan Miratovac: 267 Miles

Macedonia 🇲🇰 ✅ To and thru: 1,102 Miles 

We traveled by way of: Rental Car 🚙, and walking

List of Traveling Points: Bitola, Kavadarci, Strumica, Ohrid, Kratovo, Kumanovo, Skopje (again) 

For Our 36th Stop: ~Bulgaria 🇧🇬 

We drove from Skopje to The Deve Bair border crossing: 79 Miles

Bulgaria 🇧🇬 ✅ To and thru: 355 Miles 

We traveled by way of: Rental Car 🚙, and walking

List of Traveling Points: Sofia, Veliko Tărnovo; Ascension Cathedral, Tsarevets Fortress, Ivanovo; Rock Church

For Our 37th Stop:  ~Romania 🇷🇴 

We drove from Ruse, Bulgaria over the Giurgiu–Ruse Bridge border crossing to Bucharest, Romania: 57 Miles

Romania 🇷🇴 ✅ To and thru: 458 Miles We traveled by way of: Rental SUV, Gondola, and walking

List of Traveling Points: Bucharest; “Dimitrie Gusti” National Village Museum, Bran; Bran Castle Count Dracula, Rasnov, Rasnov Square and Fortress, Braşov; Black Church and old town, Sibiu; Old Squares; Greater and Smaller, Biertan/Media Fortified Church of Biertan + Fabulous old town and Din Medias Church, Sighişoara; Citadel of same name, Medias, Hunedoara; Corvin’s Castle, Dubova; Along the Danube, Rock Sculpture of Decebalus, Iron Gate, Back to Bucharest; Old Town, Cismigiu Hotel

For Our 38th Stop:  ~Bulgaria 🇧🇬 (again) 

We drove from Bucharest over the Giurgiu–Ruse Bridge border crossing to Ruse, Bulgaria: 57 Miles

Bulgaria 🇧🇬 ✅ To and thru: 714 Miles 

We traveled by way of: Rental SUV, and walking

List of Traveling Points: Pyce/Ruse; Old Towns, Madara; Madara Horseman Relief, Stanchavo; The Stone Forest, Nessebar; Stay at the Black Sea, Burgas; Lake Atanasovsko, Shipka; Shipka Memorial Church, Beli Plast; Mushroom Rocks, Plovdiv; oldest continually inhabited city in Europe, Alyosha; Soldier Statue Dyatovtsi; Devil’s Bridge

For Our 39th Stop:  ~Turkey 🇹🇷 (again)

We flew from Sofia Airport in Bulgaria to Istanbul Airport in Turkey: 292 Miles

Turkey 🇹🇷 ✅ To and thru 3,624 Miles 

We traveled by way of: Plane ✈️ Taxi 🚖, Rental Car 🚙, Van, Horseback Ballooning, Horse and Buggy, and hiking  

List of Traveling Points: Istanbul, Izmir; Ephesus Ancient City, Pamukkale; Travertine Pools and Hierapolis Ancient City, Fethiye; Ancient City of Telmessos, Antalya, Alanya, Anamur-Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa ~Göbeklitepi; oldest temple in the world Mount Nemrut, Goreme, Cappadocia; Goreme National Park; Ballooning and Horseback Riding,  Yukon Valley, Love Valkey, Rose Valley, Ihlara Valley and Ihlara Canyon, Derinkuyu, Kaymakli and Saratli Kirkgoz Underground Cities, Soğanlı Valley Rock Churches, Ankara; Capital city, with Castle and old town, Bolu

Backstory

We began traveling full time (again) from LAX, California, USA 🇺🇸 

November 2, 2018.  We were gone for another full-time year of travel, prior, but did not have an official travel blog, yet. We made mistake and relied to heavily on Facebook. As a result we lost a years worth of travel writing, when Facebook closed our original travel blog page. Now, we have a new Travel Blog Website, unrelated to Facebook to post on, to prevent any further loss of our travel stories by Facebook. We are writing a book, so this was a painful loss of work. We wont make that mistake again!

This Travel Blog Website: 2 Gypsies In The Wind: https://2gypsiesinthewind.com

Pen’s Facebook Travel Page: Bunny Chronicles https://m.facebook.com/Bunny-Chronicles-100562418040250/

Daryl’s Facebook Travel Page: World Traveler https://m.facebook.com/worldtraveleronthego/

In addition, I have photos available for viewing, which goes further back in our world travel, than our website blog does, currently, till we have time to load up the archives in our website. Photo Website Pics By Pen;  http://picsbypen.smugmug.com

Since November of 2018, here is a list of each country visit: 

   1. Vietnam 🇻🇳✅   12,906 Miles

   2. Cambodia 🇰🇭✅ 1,860 Miles

   3. Vietnam 🇻🇳✅  870 Miles

   4. Malaysia (Borneo) 🇲🇾✅ 3,155 Miles

   5. Brunei 🇧🇳 ✅ 672 Miles

   6. Philippines 🇵🇭✅ (see total, below)

   7.  Papua New Guinea🇵🇬✅ 7,478 Miles

   8. Philippines 🇵🇭✅ 4,112 Miles

   9. Taiwan 🇹🇼✅ 1,817 Miles

10. South Korea 🇰🇷 ✅ 3,516 Miles

11. Japan 🇯🇵✅ 1,866 Miles

12. Kazakhstan 🇰🇿✅

13. Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬✅

14. Uzbekistan 🇺🇿✅

15. Tajikistan 🇹🇯✅

16. Turkmenistan 🇹🇲✅ In Total of all Five Stars on Tour: 6,355 Miles

17. Mongolia 🇲🇳✅ 4,854 Miles

18. Kazakhstan 🇰🇿✅ Additional Self-Touring: 3,851 Miles

19. UAE 🇦🇪✅. 2,147 Miles

20. India 🇮🇳✅ 9,742 Miles

 21. Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 ✅ 1,803 Miles

 22. Thailand 🇹🇭 ✅                  1,630 Miles

 23. Indonesia 🇮🇩 ✅                1,750 Miles 

 24. Singapore 🇸🇬 ✅ 1,231 Miles

 25.  Uganda 🇺🇬 ✅ 6,574 Miles 

 26. Ethiopia 🇪🇹 ✅ 4,054 Miles 

 27.  Egypt 🇪🇬 ✅ 1,699 Miles

 28. Turkey 🇹🇷 ✅ 2,010 Miles

 29.  Greece 🇬🇷 ✅  1,632 Miles

 30.  Albania 🇦🇱 ✅ 1,597 Miles

  31.  Macedonia 🇲🇰 ✅ 357 Miles

  32.  Kosovo 🇽🇰 ✅  455 Miles 

  33.  Montenegro 🇲🇪 ✅ 1,119 Miles

  34.  Serbia 🇷🇸 ✅  1,629 Miles

  35.  Macedonia 🇲🇰 ✅  1,102 Miles

  36.  Bulgaria 🇧🇬 ✅ 355 Miles

  37.  Romania 🇷🇴 ✅ 458 Miles

  38.  Bulgaria 🇧🇬 ✅ 714 Miles

  39.  Turkey 🇹🇷 ✅  3,624 Miles