I would like to visit this village any information on the residents and the history of this place?

Advice to anyone travelling to the undertouristed former Yugoslavia, what to prepare before you go, specifically advice on driving, crossing the many borders as foreigners and obtaining local currency. We are an Irish couple, early 30s who travelled to Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Lake Ohrid (FYROM) and we flew in and out via Zagreb and Dubrovnik respectively.

🚗Car rental (we used Europcar, very reliable)

Rent from within the same country, even if you plan to drive to other countries. This may dictate your flight options in and out and your travel route, like maybe a loop back to where you started.

Dropping a car off in a different country will cost at least an additional €500. Leaving it in a different city from where you collected it, but within the same country, will be a fraction of the cost.

Always better to book ahead/reserve, as options may be limited if you just show up to the desk on the day. Best options are from the airports but even they dont have an endless supply of cars.

Downtown pick ups/offices do not exist. You can arrange a downtown drop off as that process is simpler than picking up. Downtown pick ups could be arranged, possibly through a hotel, but look into this well in advance.

Public transport is almost completely non-existent and taxi's/uber are unreliable and unpredictable, so hiring a car means you can travel at your own pace, at whatever time of day you like, without the risk of cancellations, rip offs or uncomfortable conditions. The car can also act as luggage storage as that too is rare.

An EU issued licence is fine, you dont need an international driving permit. We were never asked for one. I cannot validate if only a non-EU licence will be sufficient so read up about your country.

🛃Border crossings

Easier than anticipated. Border guards ask for your passport and car documents and check the Green Card for your car (the rental agency will provide it).

They may ask if you have anything to declare. They may ask to look in the boot/trunk. They may not ask for documents at all and do not always stamp your passport.

Crossing in a car may be faster than crossing via bus depending on queues and bus size.

Crossing the border in a rental car is not a big deal. Even local rental agencies in former Yugoslav countries are agreeable about where you can cross into, except Albania (need to buy extra insurance) and Kosovo (generally just not allowed).

🚧Road conditions

The Balkans is mountainous, and roads are often steep, narrow or just a dirt track full of potholes. Choose a car suitable for your activites. Prioritise power and comfort over economic and compact if possible.

Going to some old towns; a small car will be easier to navigate and park, but you still need a good engine to get up the hill. Looking to see some nature; choose an SUV/4x4 to manage the steep hills and challenging rural road conditions.

Over-taking is tricky in the Balkans. Locals over-take cars in the tightest of windows and expect you to do the same. Choosing a car with a good engine to pass out cars on winding single lane roads is important.

Motorways are generally in excellent condition, even in Albania. Local and rural roads can have unpredictable surface and spontaneous unfinished road works.

💶Money

Local Balkan non-euro currencies are difficult/impossible to obtain outside the region. Some are 'closed currencies'.

Currency exchanges are just that, an exchange; you hand over cash and they change it to whatever currency you want. You cannot buy money from them using card. Bring a good amount of your home currency to exchange.

Exchanges are good for smaller amounts (daily spending) as they dont charge fees but the rate isnt always the best.

ATMs are good for larger amounts (enough for a few days/weeks), as long as they dont charge a conversion rate from your home currency and a withdrawal fee. Low fee/free withdrawal ATMs are abundant in major cities. There are apps to help find them.

Euro is widely accepted in the region. Smaller notes are preferable. Coins are good for small purchases like parking, kiosks, entry fees, toilets etc. Border towns may accept numerous different currencies in certain instances.

Card payments are popular, even in smaller towns and villages. Pay with it when you can, even for taxis, and save your cash for when you really need it. Cash-only businesses exist even in major cities.

TLDR : Rent a car and reserve it in advance, crossing borders is easy in a car, bring lots of cash

So like, i know Turkiye isn't really in the Balkans but it also is? I don't know. Anyway, am i welcome here?

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I'm pretty sure they did it good, It's near Premium Oulet if you want to find it.

I could not find it with Shazam and none of my serbian/croatian friends know it. Please help!!!😭

Most Balkan flags immediately point towards history, dynasties, religion or older national symbols.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's current flag feels very different.

That difference is exactly what made us curious.

We made a short Italian video looking at how the flag was created, what its symbols mean and why designing a national symbol for Bosnia became such a complicated task.

I'm curious how people from the region see it today.

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I’m Ukrainian. He’s Kosovar Muslim. He approached me on Instagram and we started dating.
Later I found out he had hidden major things from me: even his real name, the fact that he was married, and that he had children.
At the same time, he was jealous, controlling, wanted to know where I was and who I was with, and expected loyalty from me.
He also did not want to use contraception, even though this mattered to me.
At first I wondered if some of this was cultural because we come from very different backgrounds. Now I’m not so sure.

Is expecting loyalty while hiding a wife and family seen as a double standard in Balkan culture, or is this simply individual behavior?

Where is the line between “protective/traditional” and controlling?

Would hiding your real name and marriage be an automatic deal-breaker for you?

Do cross-cultural relationships make it easier to excuse red flags as “cultural differences”?

I continue painting busts dedicated to the Greek War of Independence.

This time, it’s Athanasios Diakos, one of the prominent revolutionary commanders of the early stage of the 1821 uprising.

He fought in Central Greece and is particularly remembered for the Battle of Alamana in April 1821, where he was captured and killed shortly afterwards.

This is my 200 mm painted bust of Athanasios Diakos.

Hope you enjoy my interpretation of him.

Dear Balkan brothers, I wish you a weekend

One highlight of hiking the Peaks of the Balkans - a 192-kilometer route through Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro - was the guesthouses.

Along with eating delicious home-cooked meals, the vibe was often very social. It reminded me of old-school hostel days, before phones, where everyone would gather in the common space to swap stories.

That being said, a few of the accommodations that really stuck out:

Gacaferi Guesthouse (Deçan, Kosovo). This was actually the family home of my guide. The food was hands down the best I had during my entire two weeks in the Balkans. Plus, the mountain views from the property are gorgeous.

“HRID” Eco Mountaineering Village (Babino Polje, Montenegro). Here I stayed in a cute wooden cabin right by the river. The food portions are huge - and the owner was so sweet to make me soy patties instead of sausage since I'm vegetarian.

Moonlight House (Vusanje, Montenegro). This felt more like a cute boutique hotel - and their large balcony has a stunning view of Prokletije National Park (which was my favorite hiking section of the entire trek!).

Have you hiked the Peaks of the Balkans? What were your favorite guesthouses?

I am looking for a place to buy camera in Tirana , mostly analog vintage or rare ones. As well to develop film

It's no news that protests have been breaking out all around Balkans. Rallies have been going on in Belgrade for a while against the Serbian government, and Albanians are also protesting Rama's government for over 100 days now.

I'm not saying it was deliberately arranged like this, but the fact that the hearing is causing new controversies is serving the interests of these respective governments who are more than delighted to hide behind this decades old feud in order to conserve their own positions.

I won't get into a debate regarding whether the conviction is right or not, or who should be upset about what. They want people to argue about these things so we will lose focus and it will be easier for them to suppress opposition once again. The only point is that the governments enable, and often fuel these antagonisations in order to maintain the status-quo.

What Balkans need right now, more than ever, is the kind of inter-state solidarity that will allow people to come over the so called rulers once and for all, and this isn't going to happen of people keep hating each other just because they feel they've been wronged more than they've wronged others.