Safety for single girl in Macedonia and tracing Macedonian relatives.
Sep 25th, 2008, 01:20 AM
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Safety for single girl in Macedonia and tracing Macedonian relatives.
Hi Everyone,
I have a young friend travelling to Macedonia in November of this year. She is visiting Greece to see relatives and will be taking a side trip to Macedonia. Her father in particular is very concerned about her travelling alone to this area so can anyone tell me if there are any safety concerns she should know about?
I don't know if anyone can help me or if this is the right place to ask so my apologies if this enquiry fall beyond Fodor's domain but she also desperately wants to find her Macedonian Grandfather whom she has never met and whom no one in the family has heard of for over thirty years. I wonder if anyone has any advice as she has tried everything - writing to local newspapers and placing adverts, contacting the Macedonian Embassy here in Australia who have advised her that Macedonian Births, Deaths and Marriages have privacy laws that prevent her accessing information, writing to the mayor of the town who again cited privacy laws preventing him from giving any information, trying to hire a private detective (too expensive)and even writing to Oprah! In many cases, she has received no reply.
It may be impossible to locate him as the man apparently has a common name, Aleksander(or Aleksandar) Velkovski,(He may have been known by another family name to further cause problems!) so the Macedonian phone book has been of little help and he may even be deceased by now as he would be 78 if still living. He worked for the local council installing playground equipment among other things and travelled to Germany regularly for work. He remarried after divorcing her grandmother and she thinks he had four more children, one dying young , but she doesn't know any of their names. All she has is his first marriage certificate, not even a photo as the only one the family had has been lost. The only other thing she knows that he was very handsome and fond of women! The town her grandfather came from is Prilep and she also will to go to her mother's village of Bitola plus the capital Skopje in the hope that she may find out more when she is actually there. I wonder if there are any Fodorites living in the local area or who have visited recently who know of any methods of getting information plus whether it is advisable for a young woman to travel there alone. A Macedonian cousin hopes to travel to Greece and escort her back but there are some concerns whether he will get a visa allowing him to go to Greece. This makes me think there may be some tensions on the border.
Any travel help would be much appreciated.
Thanks so much-Kerry.
I have a young friend travelling to Macedonia in November of this year. She is visiting Greece to see relatives and will be taking a side trip to Macedonia. Her father in particular is very concerned about her travelling alone to this area so can anyone tell me if there are any safety concerns she should know about?
I don't know if anyone can help me or if this is the right place to ask so my apologies if this enquiry fall beyond Fodor's domain but she also desperately wants to find her Macedonian Grandfather whom she has never met and whom no one in the family has heard of for over thirty years. I wonder if anyone has any advice as she has tried everything - writing to local newspapers and placing adverts, contacting the Macedonian Embassy here in Australia who have advised her that Macedonian Births, Deaths and Marriages have privacy laws that prevent her accessing information, writing to the mayor of the town who again cited privacy laws preventing him from giving any information, trying to hire a private detective (too expensive)and even writing to Oprah! In many cases, she has received no reply.
It may be impossible to locate him as the man apparently has a common name, Aleksander(or Aleksandar) Velkovski,(He may have been known by another family name to further cause problems!) so the Macedonian phone book has been of little help and he may even be deceased by now as he would be 78 if still living. He worked for the local council installing playground equipment among other things and travelled to Germany regularly for work. He remarried after divorcing her grandmother and she thinks he had four more children, one dying young , but she doesn't know any of their names. All she has is his first marriage certificate, not even a photo as the only one the family had has been lost. The only other thing she knows that he was very handsome and fond of women! The town her grandfather came from is Prilep and she also will to go to her mother's village of Bitola plus the capital Skopje in the hope that she may find out more when she is actually there. I wonder if there are any Fodorites living in the local area or who have visited recently who know of any methods of getting information plus whether it is advisable for a young woman to travel there alone. A Macedonian cousin hopes to travel to Greece and escort her back but there are some concerns whether he will get a visa allowing him to go to Greece. This makes me think there may be some tensions on the border.
Any travel help would be much appreciated.
Thanks so much-Kerry.
Oct 18th, 2008, 02:58 PM
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May 14th, 2009, 10:01 AM
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Hi Kerry
it may be too late answering now, but I've been looking for my relatives in Australia and found your older post here.
I wanted to share my view. First of all, to know if it is safe to visit Greece (the Macedonian part i.e.), whether or not it will be safe depends on where you come from. If you are Macedonian, traveling there alone I dont think its safe. Greece DOES not allow Macedonians visiting their homes there... Traveling there alone.. I have done it once and totally alone, but I spoke fluently English, and introduced myself as German student, but I am Macedonian. So when I needed directions for the way, people were helpful and first asked me where I come from... Sadly I could have been speaking to Macedonians in English..
Trains and infrastructure in greek Macedonia is rural, it seemed the train was gonna fall off the tracks (on low speed train). Then it suddenly stopped somewhere and nothing was running, so I had to take a taxi to cross the border to Macedonia.. The taxi took me to another taxi as cars crossing the border need insurance and stuff.. Dont be alone there please...
In Macedonia (Republic fo Macedonia) it is very safe.
Bitola is a city (2. or 3. largest city after Skopje) and I do have relatives in both Bitola and Prilep (my mom is from Prilep)
ANd LASTLY: I studied with a friend in primary school whos name is Aleksandar Velkovski and I do have a contact with him now.Shall I contact him?
I hope this was still helpful...
Kind regards and God bless!!!
it may be too late answering now, but I've been looking for my relatives in Australia and found your older post here.
I wanted to share my view. First of all, to know if it is safe to visit Greece (the Macedonian part i.e.), whether or not it will be safe depends on where you come from. If you are Macedonian, traveling there alone I dont think its safe. Greece DOES not allow Macedonians visiting their homes there... Traveling there alone.. I have done it once and totally alone, but I spoke fluently English, and introduced myself as German student, but I am Macedonian. So when I needed directions for the way, people were helpful and first asked me where I come from... Sadly I could have been speaking to Macedonians in English..
Trains and infrastructure in greek Macedonia is rural, it seemed the train was gonna fall off the tracks (on low speed train). Then it suddenly stopped somewhere and nothing was running, so I had to take a taxi to cross the border to Macedonia.. The taxi took me to another taxi as cars crossing the border need insurance and stuff.. Dont be alone there please...
In Macedonia (Republic fo Macedonia) it is very safe.
Bitola is a city (2. or 3. largest city after Skopje) and I do have relatives in both Bitola and Prilep (my mom is from Prilep)
ANd LASTLY: I studied with a friend in primary school whos name is Aleksandar Velkovski and I do have a contact with him now.Shall I contact him?
I hope this was still helpful...
Kind regards and God bless!!!
May 23rd, 2009, 05:17 AM
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Hi Cutie997,thanks so much for your reply. Can you email me at [email protected] with your email address me as my friend is very keen to find her grandfather or any info about him.I can pass her email on to you.thanks so much-it would be much appreciated.Kerry
May 23rd, 2009, 06:07 AM
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"If you are Macedonian, traveling there alone I don't think its safe. Greece DOES not allow Macedonians visiting their homes there." I find this surprising - evidence, please (I am aware that Macedonia is a sensitive issue in Greece, but have not heard of this problem). In any case, the traveler in question is Australian.
"Trains and infrastructure in greek Macedonia is rural," I found the KTEL buses in this area to be excellent. The standard method of crossing the Greek/Macedonian border, according to Lonely Planet, is to take two taxis, so your surprise sounds like the result of insufficient research.
"Trains and infrastructure in greek Macedonia is rural," I found the KTEL buses in this area to be excellent. The standard method of crossing the Greek/Macedonian border, according to Lonely Planet, is to take two taxis, so your surprise sounds like the result of insufficient research.
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