Pep's ATA Carnet Adventure

A Bit of History of the Region

After seeing Pep's photo with a statue of GJERGJ KASTRIOTI - SKENDERBEU (1405-1468) I became curious about who Skenderbeu was to Kosovo. I did some research and found him to be a very interesting and accomplished historical figure. In 1443 he raised the flag that still symbolizes Albania. Leslie, Blog Editor

German Customs Uncooperative

Pep's reflections on using the carnet in Germany highlight a sticky situation that some users may encounter occasionally. Future posts will address the solution to awkward moments like the one Pep discusses. Leslie, Blog Editor

"Anyway, everything has gone well so far except for German customs on my way to Macedonia. They allowed me to exit the airport with my items and Carnet but they would not stamp/sign it. They told me it was not neccesary. I explained it to them that I needed it stamped since I was entering the country but the official was not a friendly guy. I asked to see his supervisor but he kept giving me the runaround. So basically, I have no stamps from German customs. It was like I never was in Germany. I did take some nice pictures of us in the city though."

First-time Carnet Use is Great

Pep posted this as a comments but I think it is important enough to Post for new carnet users to easily find. Best, Leslie, Blog Editor

"Thanks for your comments.  I apologize for not responding to questions sooner.  With regard to the question about my past travel experiences, this is the first time I have used a carnet.  In the past, Macedonian customs has always tried to charge me duties and fees for items that I have brought with me.

One time in particular, I brought some stereo equipment with me.  Macedonian customs wanted to charge me nearly $400 in duties and fees.  The items I had with me were valued at only about $300!  This year, clearing customs was very easy because of the carnet.  I was very surprised and relieved!

Mr. Gianapoulos,
I have not yet traveled to Greece from Macedonia.  I will be doing so in the near future, before you travel.  I am not exactly sure where I will be crossing the border, but I will make a write-up about about any issues that might arise."

Tungatjeta From Skopje Int'l Airport

I started at US Customs and ended at Macedonian Customs.

Tungatjeta Everyone,

Well, as you can see, I made it safely to Macdonia.

Everything went really well.  We departed Chicago later than usual, 9:30 pm.  In the past, our flight has been in the early afternoon.  This worked out for the better though because it gave us an 8 hour layover in Frankfurt.  This allowed us to travel to the city and take part in the soccer festivities. 

The day we were in Frankfurt was the big game between Germany and Italy.  Needless to say, the soccer hooligans, young and old, were out in full force.  While walking around the Frankfurt center, we were informed of the Frankfurt Fan Fest.  The city had set up seating along the river and in the middle of the river they had set up two large TVs allowing fans on both sides of the river to watch the game.  We were not there long enough to watch the game but we could see that it was going to be a crazy night in Frankfurt regardless of the result.  After a few hours of sightseeing in Frankfurt, we returned to the airport to await our 9:00 pm flight to Macedonia.

Our plane landed at Skopje International Airport at about 11:30 that night.  At this point I was starting to get worried about Macedonian customs.  As I said in my previous post, Macedonian customs has always been a rather challenging adventure.  This time, however, it was actually event free.  The customs official knew exactly what a Carnet was.  In fact, my Carnet was the 39th that had come through Macedonia just this year.  To me, this was a surprisingly high number considering the size and location of the country.  There was a family of three in front of me awaiting customs and they were forced to pay over $200 in duties and fees.

I got my Carnet stamped and signed in a matter of a few minutes and I was on my way home.  We arrived at my home town at a little past 1:00 am and it was straight to bed.  In the next few days, I plan on going up to the nearby mountains and taking some pictures from there so check back in a few days.  In the meantime, here are a few pics of the trip so far. Check out the Photo Album.

Tung.

Pep