[cont.]

Got 'em
This morning we collected our Macedonian visas! They are valid for 25 days beginning September 21.
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We climbed the additional flight of stairs to photocopy the visas at a small store next to the Bulgarian embassy which offers visa-related services: photos, payments to the embassy, etc. We had met young Bleron there on Monday when he processed our visa fee (€80 each). He had told us his job was poorly paid and that the Kosovo politicians thought only of themselves.
Today his colleague Berat copied our Macedonian visas free of charge. Charl asked if either had Serbian friends. Neither do, but Berat said he was not opposed to the idea.
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We then persuaded the guard at the Bulgarian embassy to allow us to chat again to the woman who interviewed us Monday. We wanted her to understand clearly our date constraints so that the Bulgarian visa, assuming it is granted, does not include a gap leaving us visa-less either before entry or before departure.
We need six weeks in Bulgaria between Macedonia and Turkey. At one point on Monday they were talking of a three-day visa to match the only accommodation we had formally reserved.
They have told us to return with our passports on September 25 (four days after we could be entering Macedonia), which sounds positive, but not guaranteed.
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Progress!

[cont.]