North Macedonia
Mountains, Lakes and a Journey into the Past
On our short journey through North Macedonia
we cycle around the beautiful Lake Ohrid, set a new altitude record in the Galičica National Park, have a terrible camping experience and make both positive and negative acquaintances with the locals. All in all, we often feel transported back in time.
Have fun reading!
Lake Ohrid - A Green Oasis
As soon as we cross the border pass, the landscape changes: Instead of large bolder and fragments of rock, we are surrounded by lush green meadows and forests. From now on, it goes downhill: The ultramarine blue Lake Ohrid awaits us in the valley at an altitude of 700 metres. On the rapid descent into the valley, it gets so cold that our fingers stiffen.
We are all the more delighted when we are welcomed at Rino’s Camping with a free shot of brandy and an espresso! The incredibly friendly owners, two brothers, are Albanians. For those who have read our blog entry about the exuberant hospitality of the Albanians, this will come as no surprise! When we arrive, it is already late and also quite cold, so we quickly pitch our tent among the twenty or so campervans (almost all of them from Germany). Then we treat ourselves to a steak in Rino’s restaurant next door.
Euphoria First, Weakness Later
We allow ourselves a well-deserved day off from cycling, during which Joel even has a job interview by the lake. How come? Well, for a while we had considered working on a cruise ship in the winter. As we ride on, I still feel weakened by the arduous journey over the pass at the Albanian border. Our route first takes us north around the lake. In the touristy town of Ohrid we once again meet the odd bikepacker.
Then unfortunately we reach the end of the flat ground: Lake Ohrid lies in a basin, which we must leave again via a pass. Theoretically. But we hardly make any progress and have to stop all the time. I simply lack the energy. We look for an alternate place to spend the night. There are a few campsites nearby, but all the ones we pass are already closed for the season.
Back to Zero
The route branches off into the Galicica National Park, which will guide us over the next mountain pass. A ranger sits in a small booth next to the road. We enquire about a place to camp in the park. Yes, he says, there is a small camping site after about 9 km into the park. Nine kilometres uphill? We discuss our options quietly. No, we decide, that’s too far. Instead, we go straight on for a few more kilometres to a campsite by the lake. We would come back the next day. Unfortunately this also means that we have to climb the tedious 200 metres in altitude we covered this morning again. What a joy.
Camping Nightmare and a Silver Lining
A little while later we arrive at Camp Ljubonista between a steep cliff and the beach. The reception area looks nice and modern and the young employee is also very friendly. Therefore, we gladly pay the equivalent of 18€ for an overnight stay.
The campsite itself? Well. It is a huge site with different areas separated by small paths. The section we are assigned is overgrown with tall grass. An area of about 100 metres separates us from the lake. Here, one permanent camper vehicle is parked next to the another. Apart from a few workers who seem to be winter-proofing the site, there is not a soul to be seen. All in all, the whole campsite looks as if it hasn’t been used for years.
We would really like to go swimming in the lake, but because of the chilly temperatures I decide to take a shower. When I enter the sanitary building, I almost faint: Of the five available toilets, four are just holes in the floor. That alone wouldn’t be a problem, we already know this type of toilet from other countries. But everything is dirty and full of cobwebs. In every cubicle there are open rubbish bins, half-filled with used toilet paper. In contrast, there is no “fresh” toilet paper.
The showers on the opposite side of the building do not look any better: Some of the doors to the cubicles are missing or cannot be locked. Inside, everything is full of dust, dirt and cobwebs. On top of that, the water is cold. Disappointed, I forget about the shower. Joel is a bit luckier in the men’s sanitary building: at least there is hot water.
However, we do not want to leave a small silver lining unmentioned: On the sandy beach of Lake Ohrid we can prepare our dinner undisturbed by a beautiful sunset. At an altitude of almost 700 metres, it gets quite cold after sundown and we disappear into the tent. We just want to sleep and then quickly move on tomorrow, getting away from this desolate place. Not even our Netflix series can be watched, because Wi-Fi is only available at the reception. At least we can get a good night’s sleep at this guarded campsite, or so we think…
An Outstray geous Night
There are several good reasons why we might camp at a campsite instead of in the wild sometimes: We get fresh drinking water, electricity, a hot shower, but also protection from wildlife. At the Ljubonista campsite, however, there is a complete lack of all of these.
Just after we go to bed, there is a rustling noise at the entrance to our tent. A stray dog has laid down on our awning so that it collapses under its weight. Loud shouting and clapping do not chase the dog away. We have to push the animal off our tent from the inside, only for it to lie down on it again shortly after. Worryingly, the feral dog scratches itself incessantly. Terrific, it probably has fleas too!
At some point we give up trying to shoo the dog away and let it sleep on our awning. Until shortly past midnight, we are startled out of our sleep by repeated growling and barking. Every few minutes.
Eventually I am so annoyed that I grab my water bottle, get out of the tent, scold the dog and splash it with water. “Get lost,” I shout, “no one likes you!!!” I know, in retrospect it was maybe a bit extreme. But how would you react in a similar situation? Sure enough, the dog trots off and curls up on the ground about 10 metres away. I do feel a little sorry for him. But not for long, as it continues to growl and bark all night long.
Escape from the Camping Nightmare
The next morning we leave as early as possible and do something we never normally do: We complain to the lady at the reception. Who is, by the way, having a coffee with the cleaning lady. Yes, you wouldn’t believe it, but there really is a cleaning lady! Less coffee, more cleaning, I would suggest. Joel brings the receptionist close to tears, still, we don’t get our money back.
In the small village of Ljubonista above the campsite we stop at the only shop and buy essentials for lunch. The nice old lady from the shop even makes coffee, especially for us. Strengthened, we head back uphill to the Galičica National Park. The friendly park ranger, with whom we had spoken to briefly the day before, even waives the entrance fee of the equivalent of €3 per person. With so many warm-hearted people, the camping nightmare is almost forgotten. Our trust in humanity is restored. And now: Pedal for all its worth!
A New Record
After countless serpentines, we get a picturesque view over Lake Ohrid all the way back to Albania. And after almost exactly 9 kilometres, we indeed pass the aforementioned camping site. We really regret not having made it here the day before: There is a fresh water spring, a fireplace and a plateau for tents, plus trees with wild apples and mirabelles. It’s really chilly though and we only stay for a short lunch break. After another 10 kilometres uphill we reach the ridge of the Galičica Mountains at 1590 metres, our highest point on the trip so far.
Lost Places at Lake Prespa
A rapid descent follows, taking us through a dense forest down to Lake Prespa, the “little brother” of Ohrid Lake. The shore of the water is densely overgrown with reeds and hedges. For quite a while there are no houses, no people, no cars. Although it is only mid-September, it already looks totally autumnal around us! In the midst of nature, we keep seeing abandoned ruins of restaurants and hotels on both sides of the road. One of them is the Hotel Europa, with its majestic gate reminiscent of the times of the Soviet Union. After some research, we find out that there was a devastating fire in 2004 and that the hotel has been abandoned since then.
The landscape changes again and suddenly we are surrounded by huge apple orchards on both sides! In a small village we stop for a short coffee break, we need energy because we still have a long way to go today!
A Chat with the Locals
The owner of the small mini-market is incredibly nice and serves us a packaged cake bar with our coffee. We quickly strike up a conversation with the older gentlemen at the neighbouring table. Since one of the men has lived in Australia for many years and speaks broken English, we can communicate quite well.
We learn that most people in this area make their living from growing fruit. The price per kilo for apples is currently only 6 cents! Considering how much a kilogram of apples costs in our home countries, we are bewildered! This just goes to show how much of what we spend actually arrives back at the original source. In the past, so the men tell us, tourism used to be a big source of income at Lake Prespa. Before the disintegration of Yugoslavia, so to say.
In general, he says, many things used to be better. Gradually, the man’s simplified narrow world view reveals itself: On the one hand, he rages against the Muslims in the village and makes racist remarks against Albanians: “You can’t trust them! You give them your little finger and they want your whole hand!” On the other hand, he expresses bizarre thoughts about Russia’s attack on the Ukraine: “Couldn’t Putin have attacked India or China? There are too many people living there anyway and so that wouldn’t do us any harm!”
In such situations, I am often grateful that we can only communicate with most people on a basic level. Then conversations like this don't even happen.
Like the man next to the English Speaker, an apple farmer, who just downs one beer after the other. His Russian and mine are about the same level, so we can exchange a few pleasantries and laugh. But that’s it.The drunk insists that Joel joins him for a beer. Obviously he doesn’t have any objections. The man even hands us each a bar of chocolate for the onward journey!
A Slightly Different Campsite
At dusk, after this long day, we arrive at our campsite near Bitola. The air is musky and the thermometer shows a bone chilling 10 degrees Celsius. It has been raining almost continuously for the last few hours and we are freezing. We are then all the more relieved to discover that Ambasador Camping is not a normal campsite…
Tony is a welcoming man around 60 who has converted his garden and former restaurant into a campsite. There is room for about 5-6 campervans and a few tents in the garden. The restaurant building has been transformed into a common room and several hotel-like bedrooms. It’s a dream: We are looking at a modern kitchen-living room with a large kitchenette, several leather sofas and a large dining table. The best bit though,it’s warm! Tony currently has some friends over for dinner, so we begin by setting up our tent shivering. When the guests leave, Tony has a surprise for us.
Our amazing host makes us a hot tea with camomile flowers he picked himself and leaves us the leftovers from dinner! He can’t use them any more anyway, he says. So we have hot chicken soup, bread and a delicious salad, while Tony even builds a fire in the fireplace. We can hardly believe our luck.
Nevertheless, we are incredibly tired and soon retire to the tent. The other campers (but no bikepackers!) remain, still sitting together in front of the fireplace. The next day we stay until noon because Tony “forces” us to try his home-brewed booze.
Coffee Party at the Border
Bitola is the last town before we cross the border into Greece. Since we couldn’t spend all our northern Macedonian money, we arrive at the border with a few Marks left. To our disappointment, there are neither street vendors nor a shop where we can spend the money. But there is an almost ancient coffee machine, which to our amazement even works. We buy coffee for the truck drivers waiting for customs and cross the border into Greece.
A sign greets us: Hellas! And below it is a sticker from Cycle_4_change, whom we follow on Instagram. It’s such a small world. We are back in the EU!
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