Mitrovica

Once we had arrived in Mitrovica we headed for the bridge in the pouring rain to make our crossing into the Albanian majority part of Kosovo. The disputed land of Kosovo is comprised of 90% ethnic Albanians with Serbs making up the majority of the remaining 10%. Of those Serbs, the vast majority live in the Northern half of Mitrovica and are separated from their adversaries by a small river and one road bridge. At either side of the bridge are KFOR guards and apart from the border, this was the first evidence of the UN peacekeeping force we had seen. The town was quiet and the rain was coming down pretty steadily so we wandered over the bridge under the watchful eye of the good old United Nations. At the other side of the bridge was a small hut that looked like some sort of passport control. Nervously, we approached the hut with UN guards at one side and a military figure at the other. A man came to the counter and after muttering something in Serbian, pointed at the menu and asked us if we wanted a burger or hot dog! Confused, amused and keen to get out of the rain we finally crossed the bridge to be greeted by a 14 year old lad and his friends who had made a decrepit bus their playground. He welcomed us to Mitrovica and said that he could arrange for a cab to take us there for €25. We said €20 and he agreed before calling his uncle who arrived after a couple of minutes. Once in the cab we headed for the capital city in the hope that we could find the only guest house in town and that they still had vacancies.