The Old Bazaar, Skopje

We entered the old bazaar a collection of cobbled streets with small wooden shops, and minarets rising above. A lot of furriers with strings of carcases hanging outside. A lot of people wear fur hats here. Somehow it doesn't seem politically incorrect, as they really use them for warmth not fashion, although perhaps it shows there lack of knowledge of opinions in the rest of the world on the subject. We went into a small wooden restaurant and had a pickle, tomato and cheese salad with a sausage and roll on the side. All for $6. We ended it off with a small thick Turkish coffee, and then continued exploring the bazaar. The fruit and fish market we came to was just closing and people were lighting fires in large barrels, while people gathered around to keep warm. There are stands that sell hamburgers in a pita bread for $1, so I don't think a traveller can starve in Skopje. We went into a few of the fur shops for fun to try on the Russian hats they were $35 for sheepskin, $45 for rabbit and $100 for fox fur.

We headed back to the hostel and decided to do a lot of hibernating over the weekend as our room and beds were very warm and comfortable. The toilets are just a hole in the floor that you have to squat over. The Serbo-Croatian language is so different from anything we have encountered before, although similar to Greek and Russian. Between us we have a travellers understanding of French, German, Dutch, Spanish and English of course, but in Yugoslavia it is all down to sign language.