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.