Middle-aged flash packers

Set off around 9.30. Felt much more relaxed today as even though we are only insured for third party, Macedonia is a laid back, civilised sort of place.

Once we got out of Ohrid, we hardly saw anyone else on the road. Quite a few pot holes as the roads are not in a good state of repair. Luckily as there is hardly any traffic you can swing round the potholes without causing problems to other cars.

We drove through the centre of Macedonia and were shocked by the poverty. Properties were very modest indeed and the people seemed to be extremely  poor, more so than Bosnia. I felt very sorry for them.

Once we got near the border, things changed and the border town was definitely flourishing.

And in to Greece! It’s been around 15 years since we last visited and I was interested to see how much had changed, especially considering how much EU money they’ve managed to spend.

Well, the roads are quite good. We passed several huge power stations which I’m guessing were a big investment. Otherwise – everything’s much the same. 

Steve chatted to a guy working in a petrol station who is worried that the current government will run away and leave them in a terrible mess. There’s a lot of fear here that Greece will collapse if some sort of deal is not struck. 

The interesting thing is, both the people we’ve spoken to so far see themselves as victims and can’t see why the EU won’t carry on giving. They don’t seem to get it that borrowed money is meant to be repaid. I can’t believe petrol is still £1 per litre and their vat is 6.5percent. These could easily be put up to raise revenue to help repay their debt. Why do we in the UK have to pay such high taxes on everything yet the Greeks don’t? 

Now the banks are closing because people are panicking and want to get their money out. Interesting times. 

Anyway, back to us. We arrived at Meteora and checked in to a very sweet hotel. Meteora is famous for its monasteries built on top of unusual rock formations. Unfortunately so far it’s quite disappointing. I expected buildings teetering on the top of jagged peaks. In reality, the peaks aren’t that high. Also compared to Cappadocia which is really spectacular, with hundreds of houses and churches built in to the rocks, this doesn’t seem that special. 

We’re doing a long hike tomorrow round all of them and hopefully we’ll feel differently. It would help if the weather was a bit better too!

I did take some pics but they look so uninspiring I’ve decided to put some up of Montenegro in the sunshine instead!