Leaving Resort Ballkan

When I left the resort Balkan thankfully, it was one of those overhyped overpriced places where half of the stuff was broken. Nice spot but ready to MoveOn.

Cycled through the morning until a noonish stop for a quick lunch at one of the towns along the way at the Reasaurant Botanika. Are usually try to eat very little late lunch because cycling on a full stomach is not so pleasant. So I ordered some grilled chicken, assuming it would come with something else but no, it was just a chopped up chicken half that was grilled. It was really good but not so much in the carb world, but still nice and salty. Had my standard Coca-Cola as well.

Back on the bike about 1 PM and not quite realizing ahead of me was a giant mountain pass. So I started cycling up the hill to the border of Macedonia, as it turns out it was about 3969 feet climb in about 12 km, but I felt like 1 million bucks and super healthy by the time I got to the top! About 72 km or 45 miles in total today. One of the biggest days and certainly the biggest climb of the trip. But damn, everything worked, the bike is great, all the body parts are doing OK except for a few unmentionable chafings, and all is good!

I crossed the border into North Macedonia once I got to the top. My FIFTH country on this trip! From there, about 20k mostly downhill into Struga arriving about 4 PM and I was ready to clean up and get a bite to eat. Haven’t had pizza since the first couple days of this trip so I had to Shopska salad and a really good pizza. Filled me up after the long day!

Like many of these Balkan cities, Struga had a beautiful pedestrian only walkway pretty much down the main street of the oldest part of the town, with shops and restaurants and amazingly a couple of casinos. While that part of the glitz was unpleasant to see, the canal/river that ran right through much of it was just very beautiful. I guess some American cities have done the same thing, San Antonio comes to mind; but haven’t been there since I was about 13 years old; as I recall I was there with my mom to visit my aunt Hazel and uncle Tex.

Waking in Struga

Had a decent sleep at the hotel Montenegro in Struga. €18 or about $21 for the room including breakfast. Got up and ate the included omelette breakfast and get packed up. My intent was to proceed towards Skopje. But speaking to the guy there said I should definitely spend the day in Ohrid, considered the gem of Macedonia, as he put it. My original idea of this trip was to spend the day here anyway as the photos and the history informed me to stay there a day.

So I cycled the beautiful road around lake Ohrid about 15 km to the town of Ohrid, got into town and was looking at my phone for lodging options and a woman walked up and said are you looking for accommodations? This has happened to me several times. So I followed her and her daughter back to her place, very funky and kind of musty but that will work just fine for me at €15 or about $18!!!

My intention was to get a place quickly and then see the sights of the area. So I quick changed out of my biking stuff, walked down to the pier and got right on the 11 AM boat to Saint Naum, a scenic very old monastery about a 90 minute boat ride from here.

For you Carol… Even on the boat, there is background music. The second song that came on was Meatloaf “I will do anything for love but I want to do that”. Funny! I’ve always been curious to ask what people think it is that he won’t do for love? Remember this is the same artist who did the song, paradise by the dashboard light. The refrain in that song is “I’m going to love you to the end of time.” But then by the end of the song, he’s singing “Now I’m praying for the end of time so I can end my time with you.” I think both of those songs have different but somewhat hidden messages that most people don’t think about… Anyway an obvious major mental sidetrack to the travel commentary!

Lake Ohrid straddles the mountainous border between southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe’s deepest and oldest lakes, with a unique aquatic ecosystem of worldwide importance, with more than 200 endemic species. It’s about 10 miles x 22 miles.

The town of Ohrid at the northeastern end of the lake, is a city in North Macedonia, the seat of Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with over 42,000 inhabitants as of 2002. Ohrid once had 365 churches, one for each day of the year, and has been referred to as a “Jerusalem of the Balkans”. The city is rich in picturesque houses and monuments, and tourism is predominant. It is located southwest of Skopje, west of Resen and Bitola. In 1979 and in 1980 respectively, Ohrid and Lake Ohrid were accepted as Cultural and Natural World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Ohrid is one of only 28 sites that are part of UNESCO’s World Heritage that are Cultural as well as Natural sites.

I did not cycle around the entire perimeter of the lake, but on the boat right now I can see that pretty much all the way around the lake, with not great density, are resorts and hotels spread out everywhere, what a lovely place this would be to spend a week or two! Swimming in the lake is common, and the water is very clean.

Off the boat now and to the area around St Naum monastery. There are a couple small restaurants around, I had a nice mixed salad of cucumbers, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, and shredded beets. Yes, beets! A rare thing for me to eat since I usually think they taste like dirt. It was delicious and in these warmer days, nothing better than a great salad!

Well I don’t often say this about places I visit but wow, the St Naum Monastery is just a little bit oversold! The monastery is 80% hotel and restaurant, 20% monastery and church. And while the site of the monastery here may be from the 6th century, the church itself is an obvious rebuild of much more recent vintage. So while the boat ride out on the lake was just so comfortable in the breeze and cooler air on the lake so great, the monastery was worth about a 10 minute walk through.

As the afternoon warms up, thunderstorms are brewing over the lake, so won’t be surprised if I get rain on the way back.

Just a few drops on the way back. After getting back on shore, I wandered around the town a little bit and then figured it was about time for dinner. Had a long leisurely shopska good salad and plate of pasta. Surprise! But it does seem to be the breakfast of this champion.

As I was wandering around the pedestrian area after dinner, there was a stage set up with mostly teenager and younger dancers from various balkan countries who were demonstrating their traditional dance and costume. Was kind a nice to watch them dance for a while, reminded me of folk dance classes at Saint Elizabeth when I was a kid. Exact same kind of music!

Got back to the room, working on the blog, will hit the rack before too long.

Random photos:

I came across a pack of about a dozen dogs just wondering around in one of the towns, thankful that I was on the road above them. I’ve had a few dogs chase me but in the heat, it seems like they don’t have much vigor.

The same town with the dogs, there was a beautiful natural turf soccer field right in the middle of the town.

You’ll notice I don’t have many photos of people. I guess it is just not my style to interact in a way that ultimately I must ask to take a photo of a person. I know many people cherish the photos they get of people while traveling, but I somehow consider it to be invasive. However I did try to get a photo today of a guy I saw at the fort dance, I’m pretty certain he was the brother of the guy on the Alaska Airlines tail.

I’ve run across quite a bit of roadkill, probably the most common is snakes. But as I was climbing up the hill yesterday, I saw, what I believe, is a hedgehog. It was not alive, but it was in great shape! I mean how often do you see a roadkill hedgehog in great condition? Anybody? Bueller? Exactly! That’s why I thought I’d snap a photo…

The statue of St. Naum. Saint Naum (Bulgarian and Macedonian: Свети Наум, Sveti Naum), also known as Naum of Ohrid or Naum of Preslav (c. 830 – December 23, 910) was a medieval Bulgarian writer, enlightener, one of the seven Apostles of the First Bulgarian Empire and missionary among the Slavs. He was among the disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius and is associated with the creation of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic script. Naum was among the founders of the Pliska Literary School. Afterwards Naum worked at the Ohrid Literary School. He was among the first saints declared by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church after its foundation in the 9th century.

So yes, I’ve taken to copying text out of Wikipedia and posting it in my blog. Is that so wrong?