a barricaded church
walking up to a war memorial
sk having meat burek, one of the common pastries served in this region
some left behind barricade
the park which we have to pass daily to get into town
the people in kosovo were mostly helpful and friendly. they do not have many visitors here after what happened in 1999 when Serbian began 'cleansing' Kosovo of its Albanians. Bombarded by air strikes, Serbian forces withdrew and Kosovo became a UN protectorate. we were often asked if we work here because most of the foreigners here were either with the NGOs or helping out in other ways such as working in the power plants to reduce electricity cuts, etc.
our intended stay in kosovo was supposedly 2 or 3 days but we ended up staying there for 7 days because...
our first attempt to cross border into serbia failed on 21st dec. we were refused entry at the kosovo-serbia checkpoint at 1am due to the political tension between the 2. it was not possible to cross border directly into serbia from kosovo. we were advised to enter via Macedonia. it was snowing and freezing cold (-8 degrees celcius) at that time and the officers at the serbian checkpoint told us to walk back to kosovo checkpoint. it was really unpleasant to be refused entry in such a weather. when we arrived back in kosovo checkpoint, the officer in-charge made us hot tea while we stood outside their office (civilians were not allowed to enter). after an hour, they finally got a passing car to agree on giving us a ride back to the city. phew!
we made a second attempt to leave kosovo on christmas day. this time we decided to cross border into Bosnia via Montenegro. crossing into Montenegro was a success but guess what... we were refused entry into Bosnia this time. it was our fault actually. we forgot to check the visa requirements again... in fact singaporeans ought to apply for a visa to enter Bosnia. :p
but thankfully, a kind hearted customs officer drove us to his village in Pljevlja (montenegro) where we had a bizarre encounter with a retired painter. he invited us to his house for coffee and snacks! that really made our day :p
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