MACEDONIA. Travel Documents, Health Care, Vaccinations, Electricity, Telephones and Internet, Money and Banks, Shopping, Typical Products

USEFUL INFORMATION FOR A TRAVEL TO MACEDONIA

MACEDONIA

Travel Documents: Passport with at least three to six months validity. For entrance in Macedonia, a passport is necessary so that a border pass permit can be issued (valid three months).

Health: In all bigger towns there are hospitals, infirmatories and pharmacies. Prescribed medicines must be paid for. Health insurance with emergency repatriation is strongly recommended.

Telephones: Country Dialing Code 00389.

Pre-paid cards for cheaper international calls could be found in all shops of Macedonian Telecommunications. Cards can be used with public phones as well as all fixed phones.

Mobile Telephones: GSM 900 network. The GSM network (operated by T-Mobile, COSMOFON and VIP) covers almost all the territory and most of the city.

Internet: There are a few Internet cafes in the main towns.

Money and Banks: National currency of Macedonia is Macedonian denar (MKD), with one Denar equalling 100 Deni. Notes come in denominations of Den5,000, 1,000, 500, 100, 50 and 10, with coins coming in denominations of Den5, 2 and 1, and 50 Deni.

All major currencies may be exchanged, but Euros are easiest to exchange. ATMs are not widespread and Credit & debit cards have very limited acceptance. To avoid additional exchange rate charges, travellers are advised to take cheques in US Dollars or Euros.

Banking hours: Monday to Friday 07.00-19.00; Saturday 07.00-13.00.

Electricity: Electricity in Macedonia is 230 Volts, alternating at 50 cycles per second.

Shopping hours: Monday-Friday 08,00-20,00 and Saturday 08,00-15,00.

Cuisine: Macedonia cuisine is representative of the cuisine of the Balkans, reflecting Turkish, Bulgarian, Greek and Middle Eastern influences, it's similar to that of Turkey and Greece. Famous for its rich "Shopska" salad (flavored hard eggs with cheese, capsicum and onions); for the sutlijash (a soup of rice cooked in milk, lemon, sugar, butter and eggs); the sarma (gravy prepared with rice, capsicum red and greens, salt, oil, spices and onions in involtini of meat in the same gravy); the lamb with cabbage and potatoes, capsicum, carrots, onions and lard. Different varieties of kebab can be found almost everywhere, as can dishes such as moussaka (aubergines and potatoes baked in layers with minced meat). National specialties are gravce tavce (beans in a skillet) and the delicious Ohrid trout. It due to the Turkish infuence the wide use of spices and the Turkish coffee. MACEDONIAN CUISINE RECIPES.

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