North Macedonia with a little sidetrack towards Albania

18/08/22 - time for having a little bit of fun again

It has been almost an entire year since me and my best friend planned a trip together and with the months passing by, we both were in for a few days of relaxation, discovering new territories and of course, just having a bit of girl fun.

Since the beginning of the year I decided to work part-time to spend more time with the family and my nieces, but this of course meant that I have to juggle all the time when vacation days are concerned. Till now I managed and with only a few days left, it didn't took us too long to figure out a date and of course a destination as well.

Looking at all the last minute places leaving from The Netherlands, we immediately found something to our liking and it took us just mere minutes to book us a flight and hotel towards Lake Ohrid for the beginning of September.

The only thing left for us to do was simply counting the days and I have to admit that I was really counting down this time. It seemed I was really in need for a break after my last amazing one in April when I visited the lovely country of Croatia.

09/09/22 - how fast can we get into that plane

Last night Tania arrived at my place to spend the night since we were going to leave towards the airport of Eindhoven early in the morning and knowing the traffic in Belgium, it could be an half hour drive or even a 2 to 3 hours drive to reach our communal houses. So just to be on the safe side, we had a sleepover and exactly at 6 AM my brother arrived to bring us to the airport, where we arrived about an hour later!

Since we were more or less allowed to travel to wherever we wanted now that the Covid virus was loosing its strength, the airports in Belgium and The Netherlands were overrun with people wanting to go on holiday, which on its turn meant that there were immense longe waiting queues.

Everyone advised us to go to the airport as early as we could. Some people even advised us to go as early as 3 to 4 hours in advance, but we took our chances and just arrived within the 2 hour limit and hoped for the best and as we entered the building, we were pleasantly surprised to notice not many people walking around.

We had a quick breakfast at the only place available, which was a Starbucks and while having a cup of delicious warm liquid, we noticed things getting busier and busier, so we decided to just go with the flow and went through customs. Looking back at the immense row behind us, it seemed we made the best decision of the day.

Time passed by very quickly and since we noticed a few flights being cancelled, we were more than happy to hear that it was time to board ours and as fast as we could, we walked towards the plane, ready to leave the country.

It felt so nice to be inside a plane again and since it was but a few hours flight, me and Tania chatted the hours away much to the frustration of my neighbor I am afraid, but as they proceeded towards Greece, we were having the time of our lives feeling the heat on our bodies.

We left The Netherlands with low temperatures only to arrive with the sun shining high into the sky and temperatures all the way into the twenties. This was pure bliss to be honest and with a smile as big as can be, we were ready for our few days of exploring the Lake Ohrid area.

Since we booked a last minute deal, we had to wait for others to arrive and go through customs and together with a whole bunch of people we left the airport and had our first glimpses of the country and we liked it very, very much. It seemed lots of construction was going on in the vicinity of the airport, so I guess things are going to change a lot in the next upcoming years.

As we reached the centre of Ohrid, we said goodbye to the first group of people and were glad to notice we were the third group of people to be dropped off just outside the centre. Together with another Dutch couple, who stayed in this hotel before and were as enthusiastic as can be, we arrived at the reception and checked into our room in mere minutes.

Our room was located in the back of the hotel with view on the trees and the room on itself was very basic but clean and to be honest, we didn't care at all. We changed into more suitable cloths for summer weather, had a tour around the hotel and discovered the swimming pools and wellness area and were over the moon when we went outside again and reached the Lake, which was situated across the street.

We arrived at the place we wanted to be and with the sun shining, we had a quick late lunch and went on discovery towards the city of Ohrid.

Tania read somewhere that we just had to follow the lake and the centre of Ohrid would be in a 3 km range, so with our tummies filled, we went on our walk, thinking we would reach it in about half an hour but boy were we wrong.

In the beginning we could follow the lake shore and it was fun watching the people sunbathing and going on with their daily life, but the boulevard which was promised us was nowhere to be found.

Knowing us, we don't give up easily and although we were about half an hour into the walk when we had to abandon the lake itself, had to challenge rocky and hilly surfaces, came across a few small woods no woman would ever dared to go into alone and not even mentioning following abandoned and suspicious roads which seem to go on forever, this alone made us feel like we were on a real adventure and we couldn't but laugh about our situation, thinking we were never going to reach our goal, but for some reason we made it and discovered the "boulevard" where everyone was talking about and it was completely abandoned.

Looking like something coming out of a communist era, which isn't strange of course seeing where we were at at the moment, the boulevard just began next to a building sign where a resort was planned to be set up in the next upcoming years. It was grand on itself with lanterns every meter or so, not even mentioning benches where you could rest and of course there was the amazing view on the lake, which we found again after walking more than an hour. It seemed from were we started with our walk towards the infamous walkway it was more or less 5 kilometers.

Walking alone on this nicely overdecorated piece of art, if you can call it that, it was strange we didn't saw any human life and I guess maybe this had something to do with the fact that people just didn't use it, or maybe the time frame had something to do with that. I don't know exactly what it was, but after more than half an hour, we reached the centre of Ohrid and it was fun seeing this side of the boulevard buzzing with people and all kind of noises coming with it. It seemed we weren't the only ones on this part of the planet after all!

As we reached the Ohrid City Square with the statue of Saint Clement of Ohrid, the patron saint of the city and one of the first medieval Bulgarian saints, we met up with George and booked ourselves a boat trip on the lake. Since we didn't had all that much time on our hands and we read about his tours with just a handful of people instead of the massive boats with the usual tour operators, we went for it. Since we were still not able to handle a boat ourselves and we really wanted to see all the highlights around the lake, this was just the best option for the moment.

That all said, we said our goodbyes to George and walked a little through the tiny centre of the city only to end up at the boardwalk which was amazing and of course had a sunset at the most infamous little church of Saint John the Theologian a.k.a. Kaneo or simply Saint John at Kaneo and what a sight it is when you arrive at the top of that little hill. Now I know why it is the most photographed little church in that part of the world and you can only get it when you are at the place itself.

As it was fully dark, we headed back to the main square and had a look at he main shopping street, had a late but delicious dinner and hit the shops till they closed, what more could a girl asked for on a first day abroad!

10/09/22 - a day of walking, walking and a bit more walking

Another shiny day awaited us as we woke up this morning! Last night instead of taking a cab back to the hotel like normal tourists would do, we walked all the way back in the dark and while telling each other gruesome stories in the process, we were still able to reach to hotel save and sound. So, if we made through it last night, I am sure we were going to get through it today as well.

Today we had planned to go and discover the city of Ohrid again with all the points of interest now that the sun was shining. To be honest, everything looks more "save" when you have a look at it in daylight!

After having a sturdy breakfast, we first had a look at the little church behind the hotel. Churches are to be found on every corner here in this country and it somehow strangely reminds me of home.

In my part of the world, they have the following saying : "waar men gaat langs Vlaamse wegen, komt men overal Maria tegen!" which basically means "wherever you go on Flemish roads, you can find Maria (a statue of course) on every corner!" Yep, I come from a Christian country so to speak, but nowadays not many people are that religious anymore unlike this country and somehow it has it's charm. It is something I like very much.

As we set off to climb the hill behind the hotel, we quickly found the cave church of St. Stefan. I have to admit, it wasn't that hard, you just had the climb the stairs and follow the road and get rewarded with a beautiful view on Sveti Stefan at the same time. It is said that the earliest frescoes are from the 15th century and once we paid our fee to go and have a look inside I was mesmerized how small the cave really was. Just the two of us filled the entire cave, but to be honest, the frescoes were worth the climb!

We wondered around the area for a while and slowly headed back down towards the lake to have our daily exercise walk near the water and the "boulevard" all the way towards the centre of the city.

Our first plan of the morning was to go and visit a supermarket called "DM". I know it is kind of ridiculous, but we saw a sign leaving the airport yesterday and since Tania really wanted to have a look and I have to admit, myself as well, this was our first goal of the day.

We already searched for the address yesterday evening and it seemed not that far away, but as we were walking for almost an hour, it seemed a bit harder to find and a bit further away as we initially thought. Not that we minded one bit, the sun was shining, we had loads of fun looking at the houses and daily life outside the "tourist area" if you may call it that and we also found a super lunch setting in the vicinity of the supermarket. With our newly bought goodies and our tummies filled, we were more than ready to tackle the trip back towards the centre and do a little bit of real sightseeing.

As we arrived at the main square again at the harbor, we walked through the main shopping street to go and have a look at the Chinar tree which is said to be between 600 and 1100 years old. It seems that nobody knows how old the tree is, but they do know it is one of the 4 oldest trees in the world. How they came across that idea, I don't have a clue, but it is one big tree, which sadly enough is split into two, but still once you arrive, it is quite impressive and when you need a rest, the ideal place to do so.

From there we wandered through the many streets of the centre, passing all kinds of interesting things as museums and such, not to mention a few important churches like the one of Saint Sophia where we only had a quick sneak peek before we headed for the churches of St Bogorodica Bolnicki, St Nikola Bolnicki, St Bogorodica Kamenska, St Barbara, St Nikolas Gerakomia and many many more.

Most of them were already closed because of the late hours when we arrived, so while we still had a few hours of daylight left, we headed back towards Kaneo to have one last look before we headed up hill again for a sturdy climb through the woods all the way towards the Tsar Samuel's Fortress.

Unfortunately upon our arrival, the fortress was closed as well. We already knew we arrived into the country at the end of the tourist season, but it is really a pity when everything is closed so early during the day. I have to be honest, it wasn't that early, but still with a little bit of daylight left, it was doable to go and have a quick look, but it seemed we now had to plan something completely different so instead of visiting the fortress, we went down towards the Antique Theater, had a quick look and found ourselves a nice place to rest while having a real authentic Macedonian coffee or is it Balkan coffee or Turkish coffee even?

I must say that I was a bit confused by it all. I am not a big coffee lover when I am traveling abroad, but when it is something special and with something sweet on the side as well, I must admit I give in quickly enough!

After having a bit of a break with a view, it started to get dark really quick and we still had a few things on our list of sights, so we headed down hill again and ended up at the church of St. Demetrios and the church of Mother of God Perivleptos only to go further and further downhill through the lower gate to end up at the main square again.

Since it was pretty dark now, we headed for the main shopping street again, did a bit of window shopping, had a bite to eat and even had an extra stop for a dessert as well, we are on holiday after all and with all the walking we did all day, this last one was well deserved I might ad.

Not really interested in taking a cab once again, we headed to our walking regime towards the hotel and with yet another hour and a half of ghost stories and such during our walk we were quite awake when we arrived at our hotel again. We had a look at all the things we were going to see tomorrow and I couldn't wait for the night to pass.

11/09/22 - a day on the water

Today we were allowed to sleep in and I must admit, I didn't mind one bit. Upon our arrival on Friday, we arranged a boat trip with George and he or someone of his crew was going to pick us up around 10 AM, so a late breakfast was the main event of the morning.

After a whole day of walking, I surprisingly enough was not all that sore like I expected to be. It seemed I was fitter than I thought and I was more than ready to tackle another day.

Sadly enough the weather turned a bit with a few clouds hovering above us and following us as we left the hotel and walked towards our meeting point at the lake where we met up with a crew member of George about half an hour later.

A little later than expected, we found ourselves in a small boat with six other people and a dog. It seemed we were the last ones to be picked up and since there was not that much space left for us to sit, we had to do with a chair and a bit of a seating area in the back end of the boat, which turned out to be the best spot as we left for our first sight of the day, the Bay of Bones.

Lucky for us, as we arrived, a large boat full of tourists just left the place and we had the whole site all to ourselves.

Bay of Bones is an archaeological site of a prehistoric pile-dwelling dating back between 1200 and 700 BC. The original prehistoric settlement is said to occupy 8500 square meters. During that period of time, Lake Ohrid had to be quite shallow allowing a massive wooden structure to be erected above the water and considered by many as one of the largest prehistoric pile-dwellings of that era.

With only half an hour of gazing at the wooden clay cottages, which is more than enough time to be honest, we were able to have a look at the small museum as well where they keep some of the original artifacts found of the original dwellings.

Back on the boat again, we had a little chat with the others and before we knew it, we arrived at our next destination, which was a beautiful pebbled beach at the east shore of the lake with a church next to it. It is so funny when you come to think about it, they literally have churches everywhere! This particular one is called the church of the Holy Mother of God Zahumska or more popularly known as St. Zaum.

It is said that this church is built in the form of a cross and it is dedicated to St. Mary. Built in 1299 it houses a very rare fresco of the Holy Mother breast feeding the Son of God. How interesting this might sound, I and the rest of the group gave it a pass and we just had a bit of relaxing time on the beach. Some of us even went for a dip in the cold water. Since I wasn't that brave enough, I just resorted to having my feet dipped in it, that was more than enough bravery for me at this moment of the day.

When we were all ready to leave again, we had a 20 minute boat ride till we reached our next sight of the day, which was basically also the highlight of the day I guess since we got a few hours of free time.

The monastery of Saint Naum named after the medieval Bulgarian writer and enlightener Saint Naum, who founded it, hence his name of course, is an Orthodox church and monastery. It is said that the holy man is buried inside the church, touching the stone above his tomb makes wishes come true and some even say that if you listen very well above the tomb you can hear the heartbeat of St. Naum.

If this is true or false, me and my friend didn't want to find out to be honest, we just had a quick look outside the monastery, which is beautifully located on a cliff high above the lake and headed for something completely different. We went for a walk near the monastery to find a few of the springs known to supply lake Ohrid and some of them are even said to contain holy healing water!

There are 45 springs that bubble from the bottom of the stream bed, but not all of them are holy and have healing powers, so we just went on the look of the 4 nearest to the monastery which we all found. 2 of them even had a nice little church devoted to them. I have to admit that we weren't brave enough to give it a try, but it sure was a nice walk for an hour or so finding them instead of just taking a rowing boat up to one of them and go back.

Once we reached St. Naum beach again, we still had a bit of free time left to grab a sandwich and a drink to enjoy it on the family beach while the sun was still shining and at the agreed time of 3 PM we were all ready again to go back to Ohrid or in our case Sveti Stefan where we arrive a little more than an hour later.

While we headed back to our hotel, the weather changed on us and dark clouds hovered above our boat. Half an hour into the trip back, we even got rain and needless to say we were glad to be off it when we arrived at our end of the lake.

Feeling cold as hell, we had a wellness moment at the hotel and were glad to notice the sun shining again after a while, which in turn gave us an opportunity to go to the lake again and have one last moment till the sun went down. We even dared a dip into the cold water, I guess the cocktails we were sipping a few moments before made us brave enough to go for it.

There was a moment we were in debate wether or not we went back to the centre of town, but since we liked it so much, we went on our merry way again through the woods in search for a nice dinner. This time around we didn't made it too late since we had another early excursion booked tomorrow and i was really looking forward to that one!

12/09/22 - crossing borders

I don't know what happened last night, and although I was feeling quite energetic as soon as we arrived back into the hotel after our usual walk back, during the night I got stomach cramps, felt miserable as hell and I didn't sleep a wink. I even had to throw up a few times, thinking that I ate something wrong and all would be better in the morning, the only thing I can say is, it didn't!!!

What was I to do? My friend advised me to stay in bed and get well, but I so wanted to go on this trip that I ignored all the signs and crawled out of bed, feeling like a zombie.

I tried to eat a simple toast, but sadly enough it didn't stay into my system. I was still in debate wether or not to go, but to my opinion, as long as I didn't eat a thing, I was good to go.

At 8 AM on the dot, our guide Vik and his minivan with several other Dutch tourists arrived and as good as it gets I crawled into my seat and closed my eyes. My friend Tania explained to the group I wasn't feeling well and they all understood hoping I would get better during the day.

The first hour was pure hell as we drove towards the border of Albania using a bumpy road and although I didn't open one eye, I was glad to get out of the van for just a second so that they could see my face and my passport.

Getting into Albania wasn't hard at all and the fresh air surprisingly enough felt really good. I was able to open my eyes again and I must admit, the first glimpses of the country didn't disappoint at all! The mountains in the background not even mentioning the beautiful landscapes impressed me very much and I was so angry on myself for getting sick and not able to enjoy it to the fullest!

It must have been a little more than half an hour later when we had our first stop of the day in Pogradec. According to Vik, this city was located in the vicinity of Lake Ohrid, but I hadn't a clue where we were at. It looked like a city with of course the typical Eastern Europe architecture and that on itself had its own charmes as well.

We had a quick stop at this city for coffee and in my case tea, which was very welcome together with the full explanation that we females of the group got a stare because the population here wasn't used to women be so out and about. Of course this isn't too big of a surprise seeing the majority of the population in Albania is Muslim, but I do hope that in future times this religion as well see the benefit and the strength of being a woman in society. One can only hope of course.

Nevertheless the stares, people were friendly and as soon as our little break was over, we had a slight sidetrack to a local market where we had our first glimses of daily life here in this country.

Back on the bus again, we had another drive for I guess almost an hour towards Korçë where we were going to spend a few hours and have lunch at the same time. This place, according to Vik, is a major city in Albania with an abundant history. We first had a small walk in the old part of the city with a visit through a few streets and a market as well.

Although we got the impression and after listening to Vik, we now know it was the poorest part of the city, but I somehow liked it. The people smiled, they were friendly and as soon as we crossed a big street, we ended up in the modern part of the city with skyscrapers and all. Not of course the tallest ones in the world, but still, the contracts between rich and poor had never been more clear.

Next Vik took us to the Old Bazaar which is a mixture of cobbled streets and old architectural buildings. It is said that in this neighborhood, the city’s Ottoman past is very visible, but sadly enough for me it looked a bit too much "manmade" so to speak. Later Vik told us, they especially build this for the tourists since the locals couldn't really afford it and this is such a pity.

The closer we got to the centre, the more luxurious it somehow got as well and only the houses with the façade in front of the walking / shopping street were renovated, as soon as you walked further down a street, the real Albania so to speak popped up.

It still baffles me that a country that is so poor manages to put up expensive looking shopping streets to attract tourists while the people living in the country aren't able to buy anything unless the small percentage which is rich. This sounds so unfair. But one has to do what one has to do I suppose.

After been spoiled with the smallest icecream I have ever seen, but a delicious one I might ad, I was just glad I felt a bit better again and as soon as we left the shopping street, we had a quick look inside Korçë Cathedral, the largest Orthodox cathedral in Albania. This imposing structure is said to date back from 1992, which is quite recent and was built on the exact location of another church. Apparently it is known for the many wood carvings, but once inside you can have a look at all the splendour as well. For me however, the stonework outside was the most impressive thing.

We walked a little bit more down several streets, leaving the grandeur behind, but still with a very modern and western feel and I must admit that I liked these streets the most and I was surprised to see we had our lunch in one of the small restaurants. It felt like going for a bit to eat in my own country.

Since I still wasn't feeling all that well, I skipped lunch all together and sticked to just water and a bit of flat bread to get at least somthing into my system and it seemed to work just fine.

After lunch we were picked up by our driver again for the last part of the tour, which was a trip towards a small Albanian village of which I forgot its name already, but where we could see the true authenticity of the country. I must admit that I liked it very much.

The village looked completely abandoned with a handfull of old people still living their life on a daily base and as they only know it and somehow I got a reflection of the same life people had in my country so many decades ago. I come from the countryside as well and people were poor than as well, but that doesn't mean they were unhappy. Life can seem harsh at times, but as long as you have the love of your family and friends, they know they are rich.

The only thing that is sad is the fact that all those old people are a bit left behind because younger people go to the big cities in order to find a job. Something you see more and more in rural areas and poorer countries. Such a shame, but that is progress I suppose?

We had a chance to meet up with one of the older people and as soon as we said our goodbyes, had one last look upon the many old houses, we were on our way again for our last stop through the National Park Galicica where we had amazing views on Lake Prespa and Lake Ohrid. The views were stunning and I must admit, I wanted more and I hope in a not so distant future I will be able to see a little bit more of the country!

It must have been about 5 PM when we were dropped of at our hotel again and although I was feeling a bit better, I wasn't really up for the long walk towards the centre of Ohrid. We first had the idea to have dinner in the hotel, but since it was our last night here in the country, I really wanted to go and spend it in Ohrid, so we just took a cab like all the other tourists do and in no time we reached the main square. Finding something to eat was a bit harder so it seemed but eventually we managed. Not that I ate too much, but I was already more than happy I didn't felt that miserable anymore.

Pretty late we arrived back in the hotel only to pack our bags and go to sleep coz tomorrow we sadly enough had to leave, our short break was definetely over now!

13/09/22 - enjoying the last hours

Sleeping in one last time feels like bliss, but when you are able to eat something again after a miserable day, it feels like heaven and I enjoyed every minute of it!

Today we were going home again and although it was inevitable that this was going to happen, we enjoyed every minute of what we still had here in the country.

We were not going to leave till 2 PM, so we still had a few hours left before the tourbus was going to pick us up, so after breakfast, we went for the swimming pool to soak up the last warm sun rays. The water in the pool was freezing cold just like the water of the lake, but luckily, the hotel had a wellness area as well, so after a dip in the pool, a nice hot sauna did the trick and before we knew it the hours flew by.

The staff of the hotel arranged for us to have our room till noon, so as soon as we checked out, we had a quick lunch at the lake and said our final goodbyes as well!

We booked this short trip with TUI and I must say that the service was fast and good and besides one more stop at another hotel, we were in no-time back at the airport.

Check-in was going smoothly and so was the flight! Upon our arrival in Eindhoven, it was nice to see my brother, who was there to pick us up and bring us back home again. Tania still needed to drive back home, but seeing the late hour it was inevitable that she was going to have a smooth ride as well. Tomorrow work duties were going to call again but that doesn't mean I didn't dreamed that night of travels to come!