North Macedonia surprises us with its beautiful nature, the people we meet are very hospitable and accessible. We stay here for a week in January, not exactly the best period in terms of weather, but we still get a nice impression of nature and the road infrastructure. Everywhere we go people are happy to have a chat that often goes a little deeper than the usual small talk.
From Greece, our route through North Macedonia leads us through beautiful nature on roads in a reasonable state of repair that are easily accessible. We find some unpaved tracks that are a bit more challenging, sometimes very narrow and rough.
The lakes in the west
Prespa lake
We almost never have a fixed route in mind. We determine the roads we take day by day based on the tips we get along the way or the recommendations on the internet. With our offline GPS map from OSMand, we determine a route in the morning before we leave. Along the way we further determine whether we follow the indicated route or whether we deviate from it.
From the Greek-N-Macedonian border we drive to Bitola. When we arrive in that city there is hardly any parking space. The city actually looks less attractive than it was previously advertised. We do buy a phone card. It takes a while to find out and carefully follow the instructions for the settings, but then we have plenty of 4G.
So we drive further west, towards Lake Prespa. It is cold and on the way in the Pelister National Park we have to dress warmly when we go outside. There is plenty of skiing here when there is snow, now it is only cold.
We find a place to stay in the parking lot of restaurant Proper and More at Lake Prespa.
It is nice and warm in the restaurant and we treat ourselves to a good meal, served by the friendly waiter Christian who also speaks excellent English.
The next morning we are kindly greeted by the dogs who watched over us last night.
At Pomochani we leave the main road for a while to view the gigantic cross that stands here on a hilltop.
Lake Ohrid
The road to Lake Ohrid leads us over the high mountain pass (1,400 meters) that lies between the two lakes. Down below we had already seen that there is a thin layer of snow on the mountains, but whether we would get there was not entirely clear to us. The road is narrow and winding, almost completely paved, but snowy here and there. Beautiful to drive, but also a bit exciting.
At the bottom of the mountain pass we turn left, to the Sveti Naum monastery, near the Albanian border. The monastery is not very special (we are a bit spoiled in Greece) and will be quite busy in summer, judging by the shops on the access path. We take a walk around the springs at the monastery.
We stop in Ohrid and walk through the narrow streets of the city. There is a lot of new construction here and much of the architectural style still bears witness to the communist period under President Tito. At a small shop with woodcarvings we get talking to Ivo Nelovski, 32 years old. He makes traditional wood carvings as his father teaches him, including for the church of Ohrid. We learn a lot from him about life in Macedonia, the costs, the benefits and the role of the state and the European Union. In addition to his woodcarving work, he also works online as a graphics designer.
Finding a camping spot in winter is not easy. Fortunately we find camping Rino on Lake Ohrid. Rino who receives us is a second generation manager. He tells us about his life as a Muslim with his young family and about his experiences with Europe.
To Skopje
The road to Skopje
From Kalista, where camping Rino is located, we go inland. But first a detour to the nearby springs and waterfalls of Vevcani. We are surprised how quickly the small springs swell into a fast-flowing river.
Then we head inland. We route a road to Skopje, including the town of Krushevo. Aromanian is still spoken in this town, as the only place in the world. Furthermore, the town does not offer much. There is a museum for a locally famous singer, a ski lift and a number of hotels doing a lot of promotion along the way. We prefer to drive a bit further to spend the night at the reservoir of Prilep.
The road we take from Prilep to Skopje again takes us over high mountain passes and unpaved roads. We enjoy the views and the landscapes and I love steering through the hairpin bends and the narrow roads.
The city of Skopje
In Skopje we booked a room in Bushi Resort & Spa, a wonderful luxury hotel in the middle of the city, with safe parking for our car. The room is fine and the spa is wonderful for once.
From the hotel we can walk straight into the old city and we walk a bit through the old bazaar. We book a city walk online and are taken through the city by Dejan the next day. The gaudyness of the Skopje 2014 project dominates the city, huge neoclassical statues and buildings dominate squares and streets. In addition, a lot of brutalist architecture can still be seen, the architectural style at the time of Tito. Both construction projects were mainly intended to give the city a new look after the devastating earthquake of 1963.
The memorial house for Mother Teresa, who was born in this city, on the other hand, is kept quite sober.
The city is not on our list of beautiful cities, but it has something memorable because of its history and the way it is handled.
From Skopje to Bulgaria
We leave the city of Skopje behind and first head west to the Matka Gorge, this is a beautiful nature reserve, so we read.
We can drive all the way to the beginning of the hiking trail and park Milady there. After a short walk we get the opportunity to sail further into the gorge with a boat to a cave that is located further on.
The cave is less beautiful than the Diros caves in Mani, but definitely worth the trip.
After our boat trip and walk in the gorge, we quickly grab a sandwich. Then continue to the border with Bulgaria, a large road with few distractions.