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Its time for an update. Last time I was on my way to Skopje. The border crossing took 90 minutes of the travel, because passports were checked on both Bulgarian and Macedonian sides, as well as luggage control. I arrived in Skopje at 9 PM and the first bus to Ohrid (my next destination) went at half past six in the morning. Several people told me that Skopje is not very spectacular and it is not worth staying there more than a day. I decided not to search for accommodation but lock up my luggage at the bus station and go on Skopje sightseeing during the night. I strolled around the new and old heart of the city (which is divided by some river I don't remember the name of) until 2 AM and then went back to the bus station. During that stroll I had a beer at a bar, watched some footie, went up to the fortress of Skopje (which was closed) and navigated the narrow streets of the Turkish dominated old town. I had some midnight meal at a place in the old town and was searching for some distraction during the rest of the time, but naturally after midnight on a Tuesday the place was just dead. Some guy whistled and shouted something after me one time, which was scary. But with my superior orientation skills I could easily lose him in the maze of streets that the old town of Skopje is. Finally, at the bus station I slept for two hours before getting on the bus to Ohrid and sleep for another three hours. The bus station was probably the safest place I've been to this evening, because there was constant security patrols. This was my Skopje experience. It really isn't worth staying there more than a few hours.
Completely on the contrary: OHRID. This is one hell of a nice place and definitely worth visiting. I arrived at 9 AM in the morning and searched for the only hostel of the town. I accidently searched in the wrong area and did a whole sightseeing tour with my backpack still with me. In the end I decided to find some Internet cafe because nobody could help me with finding the hostel. Just when I was standing on the main pedestrian mall (and probably looked quite helplessly), the hostel staff found me. That was a nice coincidence. The hostel is situated right in the old town of Ohrid and definitely worth the stay. After having a shower and breakfast, I did the Lonely Planet walking tour and saw the old town (again). Afterwards I rent a bike from the hostel and visited 15km far-away Struga, which is the last town before the Albanian border on this side of Ohrid lake. It was nothing compared to Ohrid, but I had some exercise. In the evening Harry arrived (whom I've met in Sofia), and we decided to climb a mountain in Galicica National Park next to Lake Ohrid. We took the half-past-eight bus on the following morning which dropped us off at the only entrance of the NP. The plan was to catch a lift up to the start of the trail. But there was no car for at least an hour of walking. The first car was full and the second didn't bother stopping. The third (another hour later) was a park ranger who told us that he only went 500m further to some picnic area. So we went the 500m, had some lunch and decided to cut into the woods which really saved us time and walking distance. In the end we climbed the whole mountain ALMOST to the top without having a lift. We could see both lakes from one point, which was the aim of the whole hike. On the way back we again did some shortcuts and were lucky that some Macedonian picked us up to take us back down to the main road. In the evening I hooked up with a nice group of travelers and we had a party in Ohrid. Today I just relaxed, went to the "beach" and did some cliff-jumping with my friends from the night before. I will leave to Montenegro now (10 PM) on a bus, which will directly take me to Montenegro. Therefore, my plan of getting a shave in Albania is dismissed. And I had grown a 7-day beard extra for that reason: So I can say, that some Albanian held a knife to my throat :D.
Cheers. Next update will be from Montenegro!
Stefan
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