I escaped from the thunderstorms at Pindos National Park without seeing Vikos Gorge. The weather and the forecast for the next 5 days really wasn't the best.
Instead of going directly onto the A6, I drove overland towards Grevena. The Aoou Lake itself offers so many facets in a bypass. Dense coniferous forests, gently sloping meadows, steep slopes and a large number of pitches.
The drive along Kranea is balm for the soul. Deep forests, a mountain view and no traffic.
But my time in Greece was coming to an end and so I traveled to Macedonia at Niki. That was the first time I was asked to show the Green Coverage Card <in the meantime there is only the white insurance certificate and it was OK>
The few kilometers to Bitola flew by. The first good thing I saw was that Diesel was only approx. €1.40 compared to €1.85 and more in Greece.
Bitola then hit me like a hammer. The pure life! A real pedestrian street, tons of bars and cafes, 2 mosques and a tower. The hustle and bustle was accompanied by music, noisy children and Macedonians chatting loudly.
I wasn't prepared for that. With a frappe I tried to get used to the new situation. But after 2 hours I had had enough and wanted to have a rest at Lake Prespa. Bitola was full life while the road going west was paralyzing calm. No traffic, almost nobody in the villages and the bad weather was about to catch up with me.
I realized that there were neither bars nor taverns on the 70 km from Bitola to Ohrid via Galicica National Park and hence, I couldn't get WiFi. EU roaming does not work in Macedonia and Google Maps had problems navigating the offline maps.
My 2 options at Lake Prespa for the night would have been OK if the weather was good. Don´t know what drove me to go to the Galicica National Park and into the mountains up to 2´600m
On my way up to pass at approx 1'200m elevation I checked a few information boards, marveled at the snow-capped peaks, but the lightning and thunder spoke their own language.
The storm started around 19:00 but did not come up the mountains and thunder and lightning were further north over Ohrid. But the natural spectacle was better than a James Bond movie.
And if the weather god knew that I was at Koristki Rid he made my day by offering this sun dawn as an excuse for the days of rain.
The next day, the next rain and I decided to leave the National Park and approached Ohrid. During the morning the weather changed to 25 degrees and sunshine.
I didn't get a Börek, but a kind of meat-filled pizza slice was a good substitute for breakfast
Ohrid reminds me a little of Berat, the many windows, the castle, but the lake and the picturesque town are still different. Like Bitola, Ohrid was a lively city. Later that day I visited Sugerat and the town was similar. Especially as they had a football game that night.
What I find impressive is that all cities I visited in Macedonia have a pedestrian zone, some have a bazaar and all are just bursting with life. Finding a restaurant where you can sit in the shade during lunchtime takes some time.
On the way to Skopje I followed the road to the Mavroro National Park and now I understand why there are so few beautiful pictures of Macedonia. Streets are tree-lined, parking lots rarely have a view, and cities are more functional than beautiful. And lake Mavroro was the first time I came across the throwaway culture of the Macedonians.
So those things between the yellow flowers are not different flowers but carelessly discarded garbage at a beautiful vantage point. I took a picture there for the first time that shows that it is easy to collect a bag of rubbish <10 min> and dispose of it in the nearest rubbish bin #BalcanwithoutRubbish
I had my first real bazaar in Tetovo. So many people, so much noise and hustle and bustle. And when I was looking for the Dog.O.Mobil O culdn't find it. I thought I'd parked it next to the bazaar and it took me 30 minutes to find it. The bazaar in Skopje is more geared towards tourists. Significantly more sedate and spacious but still beautiful
On the other side of the Vardar, Skopje has a completely different face. Skyscrapers, posh hotels, boutiques, statues, construction sites, just a city of the 21st century.
And yes, driving in Macedonia is pleasant. 80 km/h out of town and only an occasional kamikaze driver. I saw more cops on the street in the first 3 days than in Greece over 3 weeks. I ended the day at Matka Gorge
Had a nice conversation with 3 guys from Reutlingen and a Macedonian. Getting to know people is quite easy in such places. Balcans like to stroll around in the late afternoon or have a pick-nick in the early evening.
The Matka Canyon itself is more for people who want to be explore the canyon sitting in a boat. Hiking along one path is rather boring and I didn't find any other hiking trails.
And the rain caught up with me again. On the run, I first ended up in Shtip. After 50km of countryside <pretty big fields surrounded by hills> driving on perfect highways I haven't even found the center of Shtip.
I was frustrated and continued my ride to Strumica. While going south the country side changed to fruit-, vegetable- or nut groves
Although I went for a walk in Strumica, drank a good Turkish coffee, the city didn't tear me off my pedestal either. I didn't want to go up into the hills in the north because the rain clouds were hanging in there
So I decided to go for a 1 hour ride and do a wine tasting at Demir Kapija. I explored the highway <thanks to Google> and on the way back found a nice road along the river Vardar.
Different to the huge vineyards in France or the US, the ones in this area are by far not as big as the groves on the other site of the hills
