Not that I’m inherently a thrill seeker; but, having gone this far (and missing the opportunity when I was in Skopje) with a couple days time to spare, I resolved to visit Pristina, Kosovo. My initial inquiry in Belgrade said it would take roughly 8+ hours to traverse the relative short distance to Pristina. Thus, I decided to layover a night in Nis en route to Pristina. Although Nis is the third largest city by population size, there isn’t much to do or see. Within two hours after arriving in the late afternoon, I had toured around the city center and visited the Nis Fortress park. Aside from some ancient ruins scattered throughout, the city is largely drab.
The summer travel season is long over, leaving me the consistently as the odd man out in the streets — a stranger in a strange land mute to their tongue and unaccustomed to their ways. As there isn’t much to do, I pantomimed my way to some food and went back to the posh hostel — I’m the only guest — for some early rest. By morning, I’ll be up early to catch the only to Pristina at 9:30am.
Since the end of the conflict, Kosovo has been a semi-recognized state with de facto independence. The Serbian government’s resort to military force in an attempt to prevent Kosovo’s independence. To prevent another ethnic cleansing, NATO essentially bombed Belgrade into submission (the destruction still evident in the capitol). Serbia still does not recognize Kosovo as independent, but an uneasy peace has held over the last decade; albeit, there is a palpable undercurrent of wounded pride and resentment bubbling from the Serbs at the defeat. Serbia still does not recognize Kosovo as independent. I’m told that anyone transiting Kosovo to Serbia from other countries are often turned around because, as Serbia does not recognize Kosov, the government considers one as having illegally entered Serbia without an passport entry stamp.
To my surprise, the morning bus is empty. Although the bus seats 50, there is only one passenger, namely, me. The driver chain-smokes before departing. The only other person is the attendant, who promptly asked for my passport as soon as the bus departs the station — perhaps there is a borderr control? The bus is actually bound for Gracanica, a small town 10km outside from Pristina where the minority Serbs have congregated following the end of the conflict.