Day 11 - Visiting Asia and celebrating New Year

Our plan for today was to take a ferry to the other side of Bosphorus where starts Asia. We find out that the ferries are the best way of getting around the city and it cost only 1.3 TY to go to Uskudar. Besides few mosques there were not any historical sights. Agnieszka told me that her guide book says that it was a very strategic part of the city and it was all destroyed during numerous wars. We walk toward the big bridge which connects Europe with Asia. There were many nice residential buildings and beautiful views. We sat at the Bosphorus which connects the Black see and the Marmara and watched the big ships to go from one sea to the other. Since it was the last day of 2006 Diana had a nice idea to write down our experiences and habits we did not want to bring it to the new year and through it to the water. It was a nice ritual.
We walked back to the harbor and looked for something to eat. Finally we found restaurant where we had tomato soup. The next boat was leaving in 30 min so we went to explore the local market. There were many strange looking sweets. After we tasted them we bought some. We took the ferry back but find out that it was going only to the other side and so we have decided to walk back. The streets were again very peaceful and clean. Our place was still few kilometers away so we took the very modern tram back. After a small feast in our mobile home we went out to celebrate the New Year. We walk down the main bridge. The streets were quite empty and there were mostly tourists. At midnight we opened our 1/2 l red wine and had our New Year toast. The city was again very peaceful, there were only a few fireworks at the Taxim. We crossed the bridge and went to see what is happening at Taksim. There were more local people walking down the main street. There were mainly young man. It was a very different experience of the New Year, no drunken people, now noisy and scary fireworks. Just peaceful walk. Since I came to Istanbul I felt that the people here are very friendly and peaceful and the whole city is very clean. Something I would not expect in the sixteen million metropolis. On the way home we stopped at the Jazz club which we discovered the night before. Close to our home met our friend Sunay in front of his restaurant. We went to bed at 3:30 am.

Day 10 - Sadam is dead, Taksim and dervish ceremony

It is another nice sunny day and we decided to explore the other side called Taksim. Diana had her shoes polished and the shoe cleaner told us that Sadam Husain was executed in the morning. I felt that it is not too good and it might create some problems on our Middle East journey. We did not have breakfast so our first stop was at the "Burek Salon" where we had a very good cheese and potato burek. We spoke to a man who told us that he has retired from military. He has visited and liked all of our countries. We crossed the Galata bridge and walk up the small hilly street to the Galata tower. After a bit of sight seeing we went to the Sufi museum and met there with our friend. It was the official place used for the Sufi ceremonies and the atmosphere was much better than at the train station. We were again curious what will happen. This time there were 10 dervishes and one master. Some of them were also older. When they started to spin it created again a very mystical atmosphere.
After the show we went to the Taksim square. The atmosphere was quite different than in Sultanahmet, I finally felt that Im in a bigger city and used my Czech expression " tady to zije ". There were many local people walking down the main street. We stopped at Ara cafe named after a famous Turkish photographer Ara Guler. His office is right next door and there were many of his photographs in the cafe. We also looked at his pictures of Istanbul in the book. The Taksim square was quite alive with live music and video and laser show. But it felt again quite peaceful. We took the ride back with an old tram. On our way back we stopped and made some pictures with fisherman at the bridge. We were quite hungry and stopped again at the "Burek salon". The man was happy to see us again and gave us free burek. Stuffed and happy we went to sleep around midnight.

Day 9 - Cleaning oil and dervish show

It was a very nice sunny day, but I was a bit nervous that I could not filter the oil I got in Sofia. Agnieszka and Diana went for sight seeing and I decided to stay and take care of our fuel. I connected again the hoses and find out that the pump was working OK. I was happy and started to filter the oil. It took me almost 6 hours to clean all 140 l. After I finished this messy job I took shower and went for dinner with Agnieszka and Diana. After the dinner we were going to see the turkish mystic music and dance dervish show. It was at the famous orient express train station. It look very touristic and the plastic chairs inside a large waiting room look a bit cheap for a 30 TY ticket. After a few songs the dervish ceremony started. First they laid down several lam skins and than five mostly young men came in covered in black. Despite their youth their faces revieled something mystical. After some time they took out the black covers and started to spin around. There was something very mystical in the whole ceremony. I took several pictures and recorded the music. After the show we met one of the dancers. He told us the he started when he was about 14th and that the dervish ceremony is part of the Sufi religion and he Invited us for the official ceremony at the Sufi museum next day. On the way back I took few night picture of the mosques.

Day 8 - 1st day in Istanbul - mosque and Hamam

We were woken up around 5 am with a very loud sound - it was the morning call of the Muezin for the 1st prayer. Since we were sleeping next to the mosque the speakers were very loud. After the breakfast we went to explore the Sultanahmet. There was a small bazar right next to our parking lot and the Blue mosque. It was just before the prayer, but we were allowed to come in and it was also possible to take pictures. We took off our shoes and the girls covered their head with scarf, they borrowed at the entrance. It was very peaceful. There were about 50 men preparing for the prayer. Agnieszka and Diana sit also in front but before the prayer they were asked to go to the women section. The prayer was quite short about 15 min. I found the whole atmosphere peaceful and the Turks very friendly. Everybody is asking were we are from and when they find out that Diana is from Bulgaria they say - "komshu" (neighbor) and are even more friendly. Turks and Bulgarians like each other.
After the Blue mosque we went to the main street exchanged some money (100 USD - 140 TL). We were getting hungry and started to look for some small burek restaurant. We took some smaller roads with less tourist. It was also not too crowded. Diana was told her fortune by a pigeon. He told her that she will understand more islam. We found a small local restaurant and had a nice "corba" pice soup and bread and cheese. The local man were very friendly. We went back to the main street and after a short time entered the famous "Great Bazzar". The guidebook says that there are 4000 shops. I was hoping to find a 24V battery charger for my oil pump, but it was mainly goods for tourists - gold, rugs, cloths, lamps, perfumes - nothing too exiting for us so we bough only a natural sugar free apple tea.
The next stop was at the Beyazit mosque. There was a nice light and I took few pictures. It was around 6 and we went to find the famous 16 century Cemberlitas Hamam (turkish bath). I was quite curious to experience the ultimate turkish relaxation place. It cost 24 TL and included bath and massage. The men end girls were separated. I was taken upstairs where I got my private dressing room and towels. After entering the bath I was laid down on a big hot marble stone and they poured hot water over me. There were about 30 men. I was observing what was happening there trying to figure out what will be the next. After some time of heating on the stone, I was puled to the edge and man started to scrub my whole body. After the scrubbing which was very pleasant he put on me soap and started to wash and massage my body. After I was all washed I sat up and he washed and massaged my head and poured water over me. It was very nice. After some time of relaxing I went back to the hot stone. I was laying and imagining that it was the same experience for many men for almost 500 years.
I stayed there for almost 3 hours getting hot and cooling down with hot water. When I finished the girls were already relaxing outside in the main room. After this very refreshing experience we went to our "Ducato" hotel and fall a sleep.

Day 7 - Leaving Sofia to Istanbul

It took a bit longer to to pack all things. We left Sofia around 2 PM. It was only 550 km to Istanbul and the roads were very good - mostly freeways. We arrived to the borders at Kapitan Andreevo around 5 PM. It was almost empty. The only visa we need to get to Turkey was for Agnieszka, it cost 10 Euro. Turkish customs were very friendly and did not check the car. I think it will be a bit funny to explain what do I need for the 140 l of old oil. From the borders there was a 200 km of a very good freeway all the way to Istanbul and it cost only 5.50 Euro. We had a short stop at the parking place before Istanbul. I cleaned the toilet and Agniszka made very good soup. We came to Istanbul around 8 pm. I could not imagine how it will be possible to drive in 16 million city (more people than the whole former Czechoslovakia) so I was a bit afraid of the traffic. I was very happy to find out that my new GPS software (Pocket Finder 6) has a detailed map of the city and that there was less traffic than in Prague and very good roads. We stopped at Taksim (the modern city center) and decided to look for some nice place to stay in Sultanahmet. We found a guarded parking lot right next to the Blue mosque - one of the most famous mosques in Istanbul. I managed to get connected to the electricity and felt it will be a safe place to stay. We took a walk in the neighborhood, stopped at a cafe and met there Sunay. Diana and Agnieszka were reading "Snow", a book by Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel price winner and they were very happy that he is coming from Kars where the story of the book takes pace. I felt Istanbul will be a very interesting place to explore. We went to bed around midnight.

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Day 6 - Filtering oil

It is nice and relaxing at Dianas' place. It is exactly what we needed a little rest before we hit the road. I tried to filter the used oil I got from Ann. There were twelve 5l plastic jars with oil which I could not fit to my tanks. There has been some improvements on my mobile filter so I was hoping it will be piece of cake to make the filtering. I managed to plug my van to 220 V at a nearby vegetable store. I turned on the heater and connected the pump. Transferring the oil worked ok but when I switched to filtering the pump could not pull in the oil. It was quite cold and I was afraid that the oil would be frozen. I tried to pump my spare biodiesel and it was working OK, but the filtering still did not worked. The guy who made my filter told me that the pump needs 24 volts to have more pressure. I went to look for a 24 V battery charger but could not find any open store. I took out the filter and brought it to my bathroom and took out the 1 micron filter and cleaned the 1st filter. When I connected everything again it was the same and it was not transferring either. I emptied the last barrel with 30 l of filtered oil to the main tank and purred the dirty oil from the plastic bottles to the empty tank and cleaned all the mess. I hope I can @$ volt battery charger and connect it to the pump. We are planning to leave in the morning to Istanbul and stay there for the New Year. Diana is coming with us and she will come back to Sofia from Istanbul.

Day 5 - Relaxing in Sofia

Diana will travel with us to Turkey so we plan to stay in Sofia 2 more days and relax. In the morning we met with our friend Radmila. She was traveling with us on my last Profits of the Alphabet journey. We discussed our new project and what we could do in Bulgaria next year during the Memories festival in Bela Rechka. We took a short walk and visited 2 churches. We spend the rest of the evening relaxing at Dianas' place.

Day 4 - Christmas in Sofia

In the morning I met with my friend Ann and got from her 140 l of used vegetable oil. She gave me the best used oil. She has been collecting used oil in restaurants in Sofia and making a biodiesel. We loaded my wan and I was very happy to have more oil for my next journey to Turkey.
Diana invited us for christmas dinner at her place with her father and sister. It was very nice to spend the christmas with friends. We had 9 dishes (it is Bulgarian tradition to have odd number). The food was all vegetarian and it was very good. It was a very nice and relaxing christmas.

Day 3 - Beograd / Sofia

We got up after 7 to meet Agnieszkas friend Maria and I arranged meeting with Ceca. It was quite cold and snow. There was a lot of traffic and we got to the main train station around 10. Agnieszka went with Maria and went to meet Ceca. It was very nice to see her again. We have travelled together in June through Macedonia. We were making plans for our new project Prophets of the Alphabet and what we could do in Sofia. We left Sofia around 12 and continued our journey to Sofia. We took again the most expensive freeway in Europe - 200 km cost me 45 euro, but it was much faster than taking the small roads. The road to the Bulgarian boarders through the small tunnels was also good and we managed to pass the 10 km truck line before the boarders. Passing the boarder control one week before Bulgaria joins the EU was without any problems, but we still had to pay 5 Euro for car disinfection and 4 Euro for the one week toll road sticker. On the way to sofia I was caught by police. It was the same place as 2 years ago. There was a 50 km sigh than 60 km after some time I felt it is ok and I wend 70 and I was caught. The police man told us that we have to pay 70 leva (35 euro) at the boarder. I told him that we go all the way to Egypt and than I gave him 20 Euro. I also showed him a book from Bela Rechka with our photos and tried to explain that we come here often and that we like it here. Hi was impressed and let us go. We arrived to Sofia around 9 and met with our friend Diana. She invited us o stay at her place.

Day 2 - Budapest / Beograd

We got uppa around 9 and drove to Budapest. My new GPS easily found Katas place. It was very nice to see her and her 2 years old daughter. We saw her 2.5 years ago when we went to our festival in Bela Rechka. It was almost 6 when we left for to Beograd. It is the 3rd time this year this year when Im traveling to Bulgaria. The road to Beograd is quite good. We just had to wait about half and our in the Serbian borders. There were many people traveling home for the holidays. We made it almost to Beograd and spend our 2nd night on the OMW parking lot.

1st day - Leaving to Budapest

After some delays caused by leaking diesel fuel tank and arranging all things for the trip we finally left my parents place.
The tanks are filed with 250 l of used vegetable oil which should get us to Sofia where we will get 150 l from our friends.
On the way to Hungary we stopped in Prague to do a last check of the alarm a I managed to fix my kite thanks Peter. We finally left Prague around 8PM. Our plan was to stop in Budapest and visit Agnieszkas friend Kata. We stopped around 2 AM 20 km outside of Budapest and spend our 1st night at the gas station.

EGYPT 2007

The new Ecojourney on used vegetable oil to Egypt, through Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, Jordan and back through Libya, Tunis and Italy. This long planned trip through the Middle East and north Africa on vegetable oil is coming to truth. I have visa to Syria, carnet for Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Libya and Tunis. The car has improved filtering system, that can filter used oil directly to the main tank. I can take 250 l of used oil and travel almost 2500 km. This should make it easier to make the whole journey only with vegetable oil. It will be fun to travel on vegetable oil through countries where diesel is cheaper than water.
From Prague to Egypt I will travel with my girlfriend Agnieszka. She will fly back to Poland at the end of January. If I can get the visa to Libya I will travel back through Libya and Tunis. If it is too expensive to pay the guides to cross Libya I will take back the same route through Jordan, Syria and Turkey. Im equipped with a satellite internet and Im planning to publish regular blog from the whole journey. Stay tuned for the stories and experience.

TTA06 festival and 1st snowboarding

TTA06 Gala
Originally uploaded by stanislavmiler.

Last week I went to Austria. I stopped in Salzburg and than went for 2 days to Kaprun for 1st snowboarding experience of this year. On Thursday there was 15 cm of new snow in 3000 m. After this nice experience I went to our annual Top Talent Award festival in Vienna where we present the best multimedia projects and select the winners. I managed this route on 90 l of used oil and 40 l of new oil from Billa and Kaufland. See more photos at www.flickr.com/photos/standa/

Proroci písma

Informace o novem projektu Proroci pisma a blog z další cesty po Balkáně na rostlinný olej najdete zde

The Prophets of Alphabet

In September I went again to Balkan to prepare new project called Prophets of Alphabet. This time we have collected the oil at supermarkets. You can see the whole 10 days journey here
The blog is now only in Czech but it will be translated soon. You can exlore the nice photos

Future plans

My whole journey was almost 4000 km and it lasted 27 days. I went through Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Monte Negro, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria. I used 350 liters of used oil, 20 liters of bio diesel, 10 liters of diesel and 40 liters of new oil. I found out that it is possible to collect the oil in the restaurants, clean it with my filter and than use it. The engine worked very well. I’m now planning to publish more stories and pictures from the journey and lunch the www.ecoauto.info website. I would like to edit some videos and test how it could be presented on TV and Internet. I’m also planning to make an interactive documentary using our DADA software which is almost finished www.dadadoc.com and make more presentation of my journey and use of vegetable oil.
I have logged the whole journey with GPS and I’m planning to publish it on Google Earth.
I do not have any concrete plan for my next journey. I would like to visit Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine and some Nordic countries. I’m open to anything interesting.
I’m looking for people who would like to cooperate on promoting the alternative energy and join me on my next journeys.
I would like to thank to all of you who have supported me and to all people I met for sharing their stories.
Thank you Ceca for being a good company for my journey in Macedonia.
Please add your comments and stayed tuned for my next Eco Journeys and more stories.

Presentation at the Slunovrata festival

I have presented my Eco Journey during the Night of museum on June 17 in front of the museum of Agriculture. On June 19th I had a presentation of the whole Balkan journey as a part of the Slunovrata festival at the Museum of agriculture in Prague.

Going home June 16

I woke up around 9 at the parking lot 100 km from Zagreb. After the breakfast I continued my journey to Zagreb and than to Maribor. There was a freeway almost the whole way. I stopped few times at restaurants and asked for used oil but could not get any. In few places they told me that someone just collected it. Finally I stopped at Mac Donald in Maribor. I told the manager about my journey and asked her if i can get some used oil. She told me that it will be possible but that I have to get it from the barrel. It was almost full and I was training to suck it out using hose but it was too sick to flow. After few attempts I had to give up, but I was very happy to find out that it could be possible to get the oil at Mac Donald. She told me that an Austrian company buys the used oil from them. Next time I need to take with me small pump. There was not much oil left and I so I stopped at few more places but no luck. I took 20 l of diesel hoping that I can get some oil in Austria. After Graz I stopped at the gas station and went to buy some food to the supermarket. There I found a 10 liter oil for only 8 Euro. So I bought 40 litters and pour it to my tank. The car ran very well. I drove home through Linz and I arrived to Prague at 10 PM. The whole journey back was about 14000 km and it took me 2 days to come back. I went directly to see my friends at the Agriculture museum were we showed part of our exhibition from Bela Rechka.

Leaving Monte Negro June 15

I left Ada Bojana at 12. On the way I stopped for some oil in the fish restaurant. The weather was nice and I planned to go along to cost to Zadar and than to Zagreb, Maribor, Gratz and Linz to Prague. I was planning to stop at Krstac where I had some contacts but could not reach anybody. Crossing the borders was OK. The road was beautiful and there were not too many cars. I stopped in Dubrovnik. The city was very nice but with too many tourists. After Dubrovnik I continued my journey home. By midnight I made it almost to Zagreb.

5th day in Monte Negro June 14

In the morning I went to ask in the hotel if they have some oil. I met there a nice Czech lady. She has been working there for more that 10 years and she has been living in Monte Negro for almost 20 years. She told me that this was the first official FKK place already 20 years ago and that everybody was naked here and it was full from April to October. There were no tourist coming during the war and now it is getting better. She was not so happy about the separation of Monte Negro and she did not want to talk about it. The weather was nice and there was a good wind so we went to the beach. I felt a bit sick. I think it was from the sun, but I have managed few times to get on the board and ride. It was very nice feeling. In the evening we came back to the restaurant. After the dinner I sad good by to my new friends and went back to camp. My plan was to leave tonight but the cam was already closed and I could not get my passport so I stayed one more night at the paradise.

4th day in Monte Negro June 13

The weather was windy so we went to the beach and I have learned some safety. How to fold the kite in the water. I was also trying to ride but it was not so easy. The wind got stronger and it look that there will be a big storm. We packed quickly jumped to the boat and rushed back to the restaurant. It was quite exiting but as the waves got bigger it looked also a bit dangerous, but we made it safe back to the restaurant. Everything was wet but we were happy to be in a safe place. I watched a bit of football and than went to sleep.

3rd day in Monte Negro June 12

I was kicked out from my nice place at the beach and I had to go to the nearby camp. There were only a few people – mostly naked. I parked next to a very nice expedition special. They were from Munich I they have been in Africa. The car was very nice but it is too expensive and big. After the lunch I went to ask in the nearby fish restaurants for some oil. I met Marko and he had a full barrel of oil. He gave me 10 liters. I asked in the other restaurants and they just thrown it away so I left there my plastic bottle. There was not much wind so I could not go kiting.

2nd day in Monte Negro June 11

There was not much wind so I went to the beach. It was close to the river and so I could choice to swim in the more worm salty water or colder sweet water. I was playing with my small kite and catching some sun at the FKK beach. There were mainly older people so it was no very interesting. In the afternoon I went with Moljos to their beach to learn more kiting. I learned how to lunch the kite out of the water and it was not as difficult as I expected.

1st day in Monte Negro June 10

I woke up and went to see the beach. It was very empty. I found Miljos from the kiting school. They were based at a small fish restaurant. The name of the kite school is Dragon Project http://www.dragonproject.net/ and they are in Ada Bojana from June to the end of September. I told him that I would like to learn kiting and that I have my equipment. I went with them on a boat to a near by beach were they plan to build a summer camp for kiting. It is 16 km sand beach and it is supposed to be one of the best places for kiting in Croatia and Monte Negro. The beach was quite dirty a lot of garbage from the river. I helped them a little bit with cleaning. There was not much wind so we came back. The wind started in the evening and I had my first lesson. I already new a bit how to control the kite. I had small practice during the winter with my snowboard. After 3 hours I was already in the water trying to ride my board. It was very nice and I was happy that I can learn this exiting sport. I was quite tired and I fall a sleep soon.

2nd day in Albania June 9

The night at the Sjunghen beach was windy and it stayed the whole morning. After swimming in the sea I went to buy some food for breakfast. In the first pub I met Leonard, police man I saw last night and his colleague. They asked if everything is OK. The restaurant owner asked me where I’m from and he told me that he is living in Germany and he has a restaurant there. He just opened this restaurant 4 months ago. I asked him if he has some used vegetable oil but hi sad that he does not use oil. He wrote me in Albanian the right text and told me where I can ask. I went to the fish restaurant he told me and asked the waiter for used oil and showed him the text. He send me the gas station which was next door. There I met a guy and explained him that I’m looking for an old oil and not for oil for my car. He took me back to the kitchen and cook gave me 3 liter of old oil. This was my first oil I have collected myself. He was quite surprised and took me to 2 other restaurants and I got almost 10 liters. He told me that he is the chief custom officer. It was quite funny to have a custom officer helping me to get oil to power my car. In most countries is illegal to use fuel and not to pay fuel tax. After this successful morning I continued my journey to Monte Negro. The road was very good no traffic gas stations and car wash every 5km. It took me about an hour to come to Shroder. I saw nice castle and asked locals for directions and I found a nice cut to the boarders. Outside of the city I stop to take a picture of a castle and found out it is a new restaurant which is being build. I went to a small restaurant and asked for oil. The owner was quite surprised and I showed him my car and explained how easy it is to convert his mercedes. He gave me 5 litters of nice oil. After 10 km I reached the boarders. The customs were friendly and I paid 6 Euro for 3 days car. In Monte Negro I paid only 2 Euro for car disinfection which I did not have to go through. The country side was very nice and I could feel that I’m in a different country. There were more Zastavas’ (Yugoslav cars) than mercedeses. My plan was to go to Petrovac and Krstac where I had some contacts. On the way I took one hitchhiker. He was going to Ultcjin. He told me that it is a nice city on the coast so I took him there. We stopped at the beach and I went to look around. It was a tourist place, but there were not so many tourists yet. I asked in one fast food for oil but they did not have any. I started to talk to the young waiter about my journey and asked him if he knew somebody who can teach me kite surfing. He called his friend and he came in 10 min. He was 17 old and told me that he started kiting last year and he is the first kiter in this town. He also told me that there is a kiting school and very nice place in Ada Buana. I asked him if he wants to come with me to the beach and try my kite. When we arrived there it was still windy but after we pumped the kite the wind stopped. It was a pity but I was happy to find kiter. I took him back to town and went to the Ada Buana which was 20 km. It was a nice place – a small island on the Albanian borders surrounded by river and the sea. I parked at the beach and went to sleep.

1st day in Albania June 8th

It is my birthday today I’m already 41. I guess it should be time to settle and have family, but I’m not sure if I can stay on one place. The last few days have been very interesting and I felt very nice traveling and meeting people and I feel it is something I would like to do for next few years. So I got up around 9 and took my photo camera and went to the park. As I was taking pictures young guy asked me where I’m from. His English was very good so we started to talk. He told me that he just came from Greece, where he has been working illegally. He offered to show me Tirana and tell me hi story. We spent together almost 3 hours. He was telling me that he comes from a small place in north Albania and that he has 3 brothers and 2 sisters. Most of them are working abroad. He told me that to get a working visa for 1 year in Italy cost 3000 Euro. This is why most of Albanians work illegally. I told him that I need more oil for my car and we went to ask in a fish restaurant. They told us that they can give me 10 liters in the morning. I was planning to leave Tirana in the evening, but if I could get more oil I would stay one more night. He asked me if I could give him some money to go back to Greece. I have already invited him for lunch and I have told him that if he can find more oil that I will pay him 20c a litter. He went to ask in some restaurants and I went to internet café to update the website. He came back in one hour and told me that he could not find any oil. I gave him some money and he has left. At 3 I had appointment with my friend. He picked me up in the internet café and we went to the park to make the interview. He is a historian and he told me about the history of this interesting country. Since I could not get more oil I have decided to leave Tirana. I have set up my video camera and was taking pictures of the route. It was not very clear where to go. I tool some side route which was quite bad. There were many nice cars and a lot of gas stations and washing places. I also saw many new houses. I got a bit lost so I asked in some village how to get to the sea. Nobody could speak English but one guy offered to show me the way with his motorcycle. It was about 10 km. He ask me if I want to go for cafe in the gas station. He told me that he is married has 3 kids and that he was working abroad. Now he does not have any work, but he seemed quite happy and he insisted to pay for my juice and birthday desert. I was quite surprised how nice he was. I took a picture of on the motorcycle. He told me about a nice place called at he sea called Sjunghen. It was about 50 km and was quite easy to find. I parked my car close to the beach and went to look around for some nice place to stay over night. I found a nice place right on the beach. As I was leaving a police patrol stopped me and asked me where I’m from. They told me that I can stay at the perking lot at the restaurant on the beach. It was very noisy and I asked them If it is OK to park at the beach. They agreed and left. I parked my van and went for a walk on the beach. There was one restaurant with a loud music and large video projection but no people. I sow the police man in the restaurant and they invited me for a drink. One of them told me that he new Teplice – a Czech border town with Germany. They were very nice.

4th day in Ohrid June 6th

Ceca is going home today. Her bus was leaving at 5:30 in the morning and we did not go sleep. I took her to the bus station and she has find out the direct bus to Beograd is leaving at 5:30 in the evening but there was a bus to Skopje where she could take bus to Beograd so she has deserted me. It was a bit sad to be alone and I did not know where I will go next. There was a very nice sunrise and I went to the beach to make some pictures. I met there 2 young Swiss guys how just came with their mobile home from Albania and they told me that it was very nice and people are very friendly. We went swimming to the lake and than I came back to Kliments apartment. He was also up looking at pictures on my laptop. I wanted to leave to Albania but I was a bit tired and I fall a sleep woke up at 3pm. Kliment played on his guitar and i have recorded his very interesting life story on video.
The day was very nice and we decided to go to the beach. It was windy and I wanted to try my new kite. I taught Kliment how to fly my small kite and than he helped me to set up the kite. By the time I got it ready it was sunset and the wind stopped. But I was glad I could see how to make it. I needed more oil for my car and we went to the city to ask in some restaurants. Kliment asked in 6 restaurant but they did not have any oil. They just trough it away when they change it. I went to Internet cafe and spend the night at the beach.

3rd day in Ohrid June 5

Our plan for today was to update our weblog and I wanted to go back to Trajkov to shoot his metal pictures. I got to his place around 1pm together with Kliment. He took us to his „atelier“very small place in the basement. Here he is welding his metal paintings and sculptures. I shot some video and than we took some of his metal painting outside and made pictures. He started to make his metal artwork 4 years ago and he has made more than 60 paintings. He had few exhibitions in Ohrid and last week he had an opening exhibition in Stipa. But he told that he never sold any of his paintings. Hi things it is because it is something new and that people do not understand it. His friend Pan was also there and i have made few pictures of him and he told me that he was taken to Czechoslovakia when he was 15 years and he lived there for 7 years, but he could not speak much Czech.
On the way back i have asked Kliment that if it is possible to talk to his parents who grow up in Czechoslovakia. Their hose was just around the corner so we came to visit them. They were very open and happy that they can speak in Czech and I could record their story on video. He father told me that he was only 5 years when he was taken to Czechoslovakia. He and his wife grow up in orphanages. He told me that there were only children from Macedonia. There have been more that 12000 kinds taken to Czech Republic and Poland. There are 4 other families who grow up in Czechoslovakia living the his apartment building. He met his wife who is also Macedonian in Czechoslovakia and they married and had 2 kids. They lived in Czechoslovakia for 22 years. Yugoslav government offered them to come back and they gave them apartment and find work so they have returned and lived in Ohrid.
After the meeting with Kilments’ parents we went back to the theatre and met with Ceca. We spent the evening updating the web. We met with Klimet at 9 and went to his apartment and listen to his music. Hi is a very good guitar player but since there are not too many tourist in Ohrid it is difficult for him to find work.

Going to Albania June 7th

I’m finally leaving Ohrid. It was very nice here but last 2 day were a bit slow so I was happy to leave to Albania. The boarders are on the other side of the lake. I got there around 2pm. The customs were very friendly and I did not have to pay for any visa going to Albania. The weather was bit rainy. I saw many bunkers next to the road. I expected very poor country but I was very surprised that everybody are driving new very expensive cars mostly mercedes. The road through the mountains was very nice and good. I was told that 15 years ago there were few road and less than 1000 cars which only party members could drive. I was also told that Albanians are very bad drivers, but I felt it was quite safe. After 15 km I stopped at the market. I must have looked very exotic and was quite surprised when some young girls started to talk me English. They study at the local school. They told me that this market is here once a week. People were using horses to take the good back to the mountains. Two young guys asked me where I’m from and told me that the life there is very difficult and that most of the people leave to work abroad. They have been working in Italy and in Greece. But they told me that working in Greece is not very good and if they do nor have papers they put them to jail. I made few pictures bought some vegetables and continued my way to Tirana. The road was very good and not much traffic. I saw many new houses, cafes and gas stations. It looked like being is some rich country where every body drives very expensive cars. I pass one bug city with steel factories and I took one guy to his village in the mountains. The last 40km were in the mountains. The road was quite narrow and it was raining and fogy, but I did not feel that it was dangerous. People were driving quite slowly. I got to Tirana around 5 and saw many cars in the streets. I stopped and ask one guy for direction to the city center. Hi spoke very good English and he offered to show me the road. His name is Florijan he is 23years old and studies religion. I invited him for drink and he started to explain the life in Albania. It helped me to understand a little bit the current situation. He told me that there was a lot of corruption, but since the new prime minister thinks are getting better. He was very opened and happy to speak in English. He learned by talking to his friend. I have recorded more than 1 hour of his story. At 7 I had a meeting with Artan, historian who I have met last year in Bela Rechka. We met in front of the university and he arranged meeting with one of the most famous Albanian film maker who studied in Czechoslovakia. We visited him in the editing studio where he was just finishing documentary about famous Albanian dancer who lives in Italy. Hi told me that he just finished shooting a film in Czech Republic about Albanian student who fall in love with Czech girl but had to come back to Albania. The movie will have premiere in September 21st in Prague cinema Lucerna. He also told me that he was 4 years ambassador in Czech Republic. He Czech was perfect and I have recorded almost 1 hour interview with him. After this very interesting meeting Artan showed me nice parking place behind the Sheraton hotel and than took me to my wan which was parked on the main boulevard. I was very tired and I fall asleep and woke up at 3 in the morning. The street was more quite so I did not move my car and fall a sleep again.

2nd day in Ohrid May 4th

We met Nikola and Kliment at 12 at the theatre. There was a meeting of the organizers of the Eko film festival and I met the director who was interested to do interview with me about my Eco Auto. Our plan was to try to edit the sound from our stories and make short presentation in flash. The sound quality from my small mp3 recorder was not very good and we needed program for cleaning the noise. We went to the Media Artes office where was a computer with sound program, but we found out the sound card was used in another computer so we got stuck. Outside the appartment building I met Trajkov who started to talk to me in very good Czech. He told me that he and his wife were brought to the Czechoslovakia at the age of 5 during the civil war in 1948. He invited me for visit to his home. They told me very interesting story how they came to Czechoslovakia as small kids, lived in the orphanage and how they met and why they came back to Macedonia. Trajkov told me how he started to make pictures from metal and write poetry and books. He also shered his wish to to come back to and have an art exhibition in Czech Republic. I gave them our book with stories from Bela Rechka and Trajkov gave me his 2 books. We were invited for a picnic to Jasmina and Goran so I have arranged to come back next day and make pictures of his artwork. The picking was at Gorans’ father country cottage outside of Ohrid with a nice view of the lake. We talk about the possibility organizing workshop in Ohrid and we stayed there until 11 pm. We spend the night at the same place close to the lake.

1st day in Ohrid June 3rd

The morning was very windy and I was afraid that waves will hit the car. Around ten the wind settled and the sun came out and I went for my morning swim in the lake. Ceca tried also but she quickly returned to take a hot shower. After breakfast we left to the city. We parked the car right at the beach and went to explore Ohrid and find Jasmina and Goran from Media Artes. We asked few people but nobody knew where is the Media Artes. We saw posters for Eko festival and found the cultural center where was the festival and it turned out that Goran is the director of this center and that Jasmina will be there for the evening performance. In the office we met Kliment who we asked before where is Media Artes, but he did not know. It turned out that Kliment was born in Czech Republic and lived there until the age of six and we started to talk in Czech. He offered to be our city guide and of course we were very interested to hear his story. Hi was born in the Czech Republic and when he was 6 his parents move back to Macedonia. Hi is a guitar player but it is hard for him to make money playing his music. First he took us to see an old roman amphitheater which was discovered only 10 years ago and was build in the fourth century BC. It was reconstructed and it is used for performances. Our next stop was the St. Kliment church and the first Slavic university where Cyril and Metodej taught their students. I was surprised to find out how much connected this place is with our history and how little I know about it. Our next stop was the Samuil fortress from fourth century AC. There was a beautiful view of the city and the lake. I bought a nice painting of Cyril and Metodej. On the way to the St.Jovan Kaneo church we met our fiend Nevzdat who was reconstructing a house there. There was a very nice view. We spend more than 1 hour at the St. Jovan Kaneo church enjoying the beautiful view. Jasmina invited us to the theatre to see their performance. It looked funny but I did not understand much of the local jokes and dialects. After the performance we met Goran and Jasmina and went for a drink. We told them about the festival in Bulgaria, our journey and they were surprised that my car runs on used vegetable oil. We also met Nikola who is an actor. He was very happy when he found out that I’m making the TTA DVD-ROM and I gave him the last year presentation of the best European multimedia projects. He offered us help making presentation of our journey in Ohrid. We spent the night close to the lake in the center.

St. Naum – June 2nd

The weather in the morning was again very beautiful and I went to swim in the lake. The water was a little bit cold – 15 degrees but it was very refreshing and the water was crystal clear. The visibility is almost 20 m. I met a few local men who have small boats for taking tourists for trips on the lake. I helped one old man to bring his boat to the shore and he offered us a ride to the Sv. Naum. His name was a Jordan. He pick us up after the breakfast and we had our first story. We went back to see the monastery and enjoyed the beautiful view on the lake Ohrid. On the way back we met Nikola and his father who were selling souvenirs. Nikolas’ father worked 12 years in Czechoslovakia and he had a lot of nice memories nad could still speak good Czech. They invited us for a boat ride on the spring river next to the lake and Nikola told us everything about this place. It is very beautiful place with many springs and very clear water. We went to see a small church with one of spring of the lake Ohrid. Nikola told us about his dream having a small souvenir shop and his passion of making photographs. On the way back we stop in the restaurant. It was almost six when we left this beautiful place. Our next stop was a nearby village Trepejca, the home of Nikola and his father. The village is on a hill with houses going all the way to the shore. There were a lot of new houses and recosnstructions and no tourist. We sat on the beach and enjoyed this nice place. On the way back we met George and he invited us for a coffee in his new house. He was very joyful and started to tell us his life story. He also told us a very nice story how he saw the Sv. Naum. After watching the sunset from his balcony we left to Ohrid. We stayed over night on beach with a beautiful view of the Ohrid fortress.

Bitola June 1st

The night behind the theatre in Bitola was good. We were woken up by a noise and we realized that we parked next to the school. Bitola is a very old town with a lot of interesting sights. First we visited a small mosque where was an exhibition of drawings from the international children drawing festival. Than we went to the old bazaar, one of the biggest in Macedonia. There were many small shops and no tourists. People were very friendly. We bought nice fresh food at the market and put it back to the car. Our next site was Heraclea, an old roman city. On the way we have stopped in a local pub for lunch and were surprised how many young people are walking on the street and how people are relaxed. On the way to Heraclea we got a bit lost and passed through an old zoo, it looked very aged with only few small animals. Heraclea was a very beautiful and very well preserved old roman settlement with a big amphiteater. It was quite strange to see such a beautiful historical sight and no tourist. Only school excursions with kids who were not too interested about the great history of their country. It was almost 5 and started to rain when we left Bitola. Ohrid was only 80 km but we decided to go first to the Prespanske lake and than cross the mountains to lake Ohrid. The weather was bad so we did not make any stop at the lake. The mountain road was very beautiful and it was a pity that we could not see much. We pasted through the clouds to the other side in 1600 m. Before going to Ohrid city we planned to stop at St. Neum monastery. We have arrived there around 8 pm and were happy to find out that it was still open. There was a nice man who gave us a private tour of the church. He told us about paintings in the church and the history of this place that is very connected with the begging of the Slavic languages and writtings. There is a grave of St. Neum who was a student of Cyril and Metodej. The 2 famous saints who brought the writing to the Slavic nations. Outside of the church we met Nevzdat with his uncle and his lover. They invited us for coffee and we found out that Nevzdat is a border police inspector and lives in Skopie. He is helping here his uncle who has a firm on recuntructing houses. He invited us to see him in Ohrid. We planed to explore more this very nice place and we stayed over night at the parking lot close to the lake Ohrid.

Day in Prilep May 31

We spent the whole day in Prilep. We stayed at Vladimirs' house and his family was very nice. We took a hike to an old hill called Markovi kuli where are ruins of the king Marko castle. Vladimir was telling us stories and we took many pictures. The weather was great windy and worm 25. On the way back we stopped in a small monastery. We also made a lot of frame pictures with local kids and I hope we can uploed them soon. We are leaving Prilep tonight going to Ohrid. After the beautiful sunset we have left Prilep and our next stop was Bitola. It was less than 1 hour drive. Vladimir told us about a good place to stay over night behind the theatre right in the center. It was easy to find. It was after 11 PM when we arrived and we went for a short walk to see the night life of Bitola. We were surprised how alive the center was. There were many young people walking on the main street and sitting in the cafes. It reminded me what Vladimir told me “there is not much to do here and people are is more relaxed”.

going to Prilep May 30

In the morning we continue our journey to Ohrid. Georgi send us a message that he is patrolling on the road to Stip 10 kilometers from Kocani. After few minutes on the road a policemen stopped us, it was Georgi. We had our last drink and we split.Soon Ceca contacted Vladimir, he is living in Prilep. Prilep was on our way to Ohrid. We passed the beautiful countryside with lots of green fields and vineyards. Region Tikvesia with the biggest town Kavadarci is well know of wine industry. We arrived in Prilep. Vladimir was there. We had a nice journey of old town and stayed at his house making the journey website until 4 AM.

Policeman Georgi Kocani May 29

We decided to leave Kocani and continue our tip to Ohrid. We stopped to the gas station to ask a policemen which direction we should take. He was very pleasant and he invited us in for a drink (water) in a small restaurant and started to draw a map for us. When he realized that Ceca is from Serbia and Belgrade the story began….a lot of Tito – objects, souvenirs from the period of Yugoslavia, pictures of Tito-ex-president of Yugoslavia. He invited us to come in the evening to his house. So our plan was changed. We have returned to Kocani, found the lake Gratce…it was very nice at the lake, relaxed. And there was going to be a performance from the amatures performance festival. At 8 clock we met Georgi, our policemen from gas station, in front of his police station in Kocani. We have spent interesting time with him, his wife and children in his home. For him that was an opportunity to show us his personal museum, his personal memories… We returned to lake Gratce to spend a night there-a sleep with beautiful view. Ceca was hopping that maybe there can be Vladimir, her colleague from postgraduate studies of scene design who is an actor. In Kocani this day was an opening of amateur theatre festival. He was not there, we went to sleep in our eco-auto.

Danica in Kocani May 29

After the first encounter with the locals we continued to Kocani, the "famous" music willage expecting some small gypsy town. It was quite big city ( 35000 people) we change money and went to buy some food to a small market. We where getting hungry and we searched for “burek”. After some time we found small bakery. There we met Danica she shared with us very personal story and showed us her point of view of situation in Kocani and east Macedonia. We asked her if there is something interesting in Kocani and she told us that we should go to dam Gratce.

Meeting Stojanco Macedonia May 29

The morning was very nice and I went to swim to the dam and Ceca followed. The car did not want to start on diesel, the diesel tank was almost empty, but since I had a spare 10 liters of bio diesel it was not problem. The car has been running great on the oil we got in Sofia. After about 10 km stopped and went to take some pictures at the dam. As we were photographing some man came from the other side and informed us that it is not allowed to take pictures here. But he was very nice and probably quite bored and so we started to talk with him and we had a first story from Stojanco was alive. Hi did not want to take picture in the frame but he took one with Ceca.

Leaving Sofia May 28

Sunday morning I have started to filter the oil. I have connected the van to the electricity so I did not use my batteries. It was quite slow and messy. Filtering from one 30 l tank to another and pouring it to the main oil tank took more than 1 hour. When I come back I will connect the filter directly to the main tank. This will make it much easier and less messy. It took almost all day to filter 130 liters and clean all the mess and pack the van for the journey. Traveling myself would not be very interesting so I have invited Ceca – Serbian designer to join me going to Macedonia, Albania and Monte Negro. We have finally left around 6 PM. The plan was to go to Ohrid through Kocani (it was suggested by Tomas because there is nice gypsy orchestra from Kocani). The first part of the road from Sofia was closed but having a very good navigator we have arrived to the Macedonian borders at midnight. The custom officers were very nice and we did not need any visa. We planed to sleep somewhere closed to the boarders, but we could not find any interesting place. So we went to Kalimanci dam. And stayed close to the water.

Sofia May 27

On Saturday morning we prepared a small 1 day installation of personal memories created in Bela Rechka. The exhibition was in a courtyard of a small gallery. There was a very nice jazz concert and a lot of people who saw the exhibition and projection from Bela Rechka. After the exhibition my friend Radmila arrange meeting with her friend Anna who is collecting old oil from restaurants in Sofia and makes bio diesel. She brought me 130l of unfiltered very good quality used oil. It cost me only 80 leva (40 Euro). The price of 1 liter diesel is about 1,80 Leva, less than 1 Euro. It was quite interesting to find out their story of making bio diesel. They have started about 1 year ago and they are collecting oil from several restaurants in Sofia and turning it into bio diesel. There is no law for recycling the oil and if they do not pay the restaurants they pour it to the sink. I have shown and explained them that my car can run on straight vegetable oil which I can filter. It was the first time I was going to use my onboard oil filter so I was very exited. The oil was very clean and smelled nicely of fish and chips. We managed to put it all in the van and I have started filtering the 1st 30 liters. It went quite well and I was very happy that my dream of using oil that I can collect on my journeys from restaurants and filter it is coming to true.

Going to Sofia May 26

On Friday morning we left to Sofia for a presentation. The presentation was as a part of the Mobile studio happening on a big square. The whole “mobile studio” was a bit weird and we were quite happy to do our “small” Goat Milk festival without the EU support. We were staying in Czech Center . The house reminded the “good” old communist days. First night I was sleeping in my van in the parking lot.

Sabor May 24

Sabor the annual village celebration took place on May 24. There was an installation of personal memories from participants of the workshop, exhibition of paintings of local artists, local music and dances. Tomas prepared nice activities for the local people. It was very hot – more than 30 degrees so we did not dance too much, but everybody looked happy. At night there was a very nice Jazz concert in the garden of our house.

In Bela Rechka May 19-23

This is already the 4th year when I’m going to Bela Rechka in Bulgaria. In 2002 I organized with Diana and Paul the 1st workshop in Bela Rechka. During 10 days we have colleted more then 100 stories, songs, videos and 500 photographs, reflecting the life of people in this small village 100 km from Sofia. Thanks to Diana it was possible to start organizing an annual Goat milk festival focused on memories. This year we organized 3 days workshop on personal memories. There were about 12 participants, mostly from Bulgaria. The idea of the workshop was to bring an object and tell a personal story and turn it into installation relate to the place. There were very interesting stories and ideas. The results of workshop Installation were presented on May 24th as a part of the annual village celebration called Sabor.
More about Bela Rechka can be found at: www.goatmilk-fest.com
On May 23rd there was a plan to clean the Bela Rechka river. We were surprised how much garbage was thrown to the river. We found a lot of cloths and strange objects. The problem is that the village does not have money to collect the garbage. It was nice to do something for the village.

Going to Bulgaria May 18-19

I left from Prague with Malcolm (my English friend who lives in Prague works with me on editing video and making DVDs) on Thursday May 18th at 1PM with 200 liters of filtered vegetable oil in the tanks. Our plan was to pick up Ceca (Serbian designer) in Beograd. The roads (mostly highways) and the traffic were good and the car was running great. The freeway was all the way to Serbian boarder and not too much police. The road from the boarder to Beograd is quite good but with speed limits 80 km and police with radars everywhere made it quite a long journey. Last years the police always got me. This time I was quite careful and we managed well. We stopped around 1 AM at gas station outside of Beograd and had our 1st night in the van. Malcolm slept in the front bed. In the morning at 9 we picked Ceca and continued our journey to Bela Rechka. The toll roads in Serbia are quite expensive. I had to pay 18, 10 and 41 Euro. I have refused to pay the last 41 Euro toll from Beograd to Nis. After some arguments and measuring the height of my van (it was 2 cm over the 130cm limit for small andcost 30 Euro more) I had to pay. The main road from Nis to Bulgaria was closed and we had to go through a very bad road in the mountains. The main 130 liter tank was empty and we had to pour the oil from the 2 30 liter tanks. It was quite messy – Malcolm got oil in the face and me over my shirt. We finally reached the Bulgarian borders and passed through without any problems. We played 5 Euro for the disinfection (as usually there was not any) and paid 7 Euro for 1 week toll roads sticker (I hope that this will help to improve the very bad quality of roads). We took the shorter, but very bad road thought the maintains and finally arrived to Bela Rechka at 8 PM right for the dinner. After the dinner there was a premiere of my mobile cinema showing Bela Rechka CD and performances from last year festival.

Eco Auto Journeys

Finally after more than 1 year the Eco Auto is ready for the first Eco Journey. Eco Auto is a mobile home and cinema which runs on used vegetable oil. The idea for the Eco Journeys is to travel only by using vegetable oil and collect and publish stories about life of people in different countries. The plan for the first Eco Journey was to go to Goat Milk festival in Bela Rechka Bulgaria than go through Macedonia, Albania, Monte Negro, Croatia Slovenia and Austra back.