Why?

So, the Balkans: not to be confused with the Baltics as Trump did in 2018 when he was meeting with the leaders of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia and chastised them for the war in the 1990s that ended with the breakup of the former Yugoslavia (!!) - in turn confusing the Baltic leaders until they realised he was referring to the Balkans; and a mistake even more surprising given that his wife, Melania, was born in Slovenia, a state that was part of Yugoslavia until 1991...

The Balkans comprise the independent states of the former Yugoslavia: Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro (although we will not travel to Slovenia - we have been there previously). The others are Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania plus parts of Turkey; we travel to Albania also on this trip.

I will need to 'bone up' on my understanding of the history of this region (which is incredibly complicated!).

As to ‘why?’ - complicated back-story involving a planned trip to Egypt and Jordan which we cancelled shortly after hostilities broke out in the Middle East last October. 

We decided to cancel and also switch the Intrepid component of that trip (to Jordan) to - what? I only use tours when the logistics of travel are awkward and time-consuming. The Balkans fitted the bill as there is a scarcity of (for instance) rail transport; much of it closed during Covid and has not re-opened. And there are some potentially demanding border crossings.

Along with ticks, mosquito-borne viral diseases, warnings re food and water, inferior medical facilities, not to speak of landmines (!), we will have our work cut out to stay alert.

Nevertheless, the countries through which we will travel have a fascinating (not withstanding difficult) history and the scenery is meant to be lovely.

So: a choice between present-day war-torn Middle East or past war-torn Balkans.

Hmm …