Kosovo

Kosovo is a new independent republic in southeastern Europe, which has been under United Nations administration since 1999.

Nowadays, most of cars have new RKS number plates. They look like EU number plates, with 'RKS' on the blue strip on the left side. They are followed by a single number which can tell you about city which the car is from. '1' stands for Prishtina. The later numbers and letters are irrelevant.

Hitch-hiking in Kosovo is very easy as people are very eager to take foreigners. Your appearance and look will most likely play in your success, western people will certainly be more successful on waiting along the road and many people with Kosovo will be glad to meet and help you if possible. People from the US are generally extremely appreciated and should bring more help than for some other nation as locals appreciate the effort given by the US government but also wish to avoid any trouble that might come by causing harm to such foreign citizen. Sometimes the drivers would even stop without you signaling that you need a drive and offer you help. They often want to share with you their personal histories and to tell you about history of Kosovo.

Make sure to keep an eye on the road you are going, if the driver make a sudden turn around, changes his natural path or take another direction, it is likely that he thinks he is doing good by bringing you to the local bus or train station. You therefore will have to be reiterative on stating that you do 'autostop' all the way. (This part is most probably redundant at least as of late-2011.)

In Kosovo, and in Serbia near the border, you may be propositioned by jitney cab drivers - regardless of how typical-hitchhiker you think you look. Some will tell you before you get in, others will wait until you're already in, all will, recognizing you as a foreigner, probably ask for amounts of 10-25 euros which is exponentially above what any local would pay.

Border crossing

 * Merdare border crossing

As of August 2011, several sources in the Prizren and Peja regions told Zenit that the border between Kosovo and Serbia is closed due to protests (street blockades, occasionally riots) by the Serbian minority. He didn't go to enquire as the "illegal entry" issues (see below) would have rendered entry into Serbia via this border unlikely for him, anyway.

At checkpoints your passport will be examined by Serbian officers and again, after a few metres, by Kosovar officials, just like any international border crossing.

Crossing from Kosovo back into Serbia is generally a longer process. Most importantly, if you enter Kosovo directly (i.e. from Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, or by flying) without first entering Serbia you are quite likely to be denied entry to Serbia for having "illegally entered Serbia" (officially Serbia still considers Kosovo to be Serbian territory). The border guards will know because you do not have a Serbian visa stamp in your passport. In this case, the Serbian officers will insist you enter through Montenegro or Macedonia instead.



Cities

 * Prishtina
 * Prizren
 * Podujevo

Flash Lingua

 * Si jeni? (See Yani) = How are you?
 * Mire (Mir) = I'm fine.
 * Me Fal (Mah Fal) = Sorry
 * Ju lutem (You Loo-tam) = Please
 * Faleminderit = Thank you
 * Qifsha nonen (Chifsha nonen) = Fuck your mother

isin: Southern Europe

trash:Kosovo

Kosovo