So Lake Ohrid.... well the journey to get there was beautiful. Many valleys, mountains and gorges along the road. Safety barriers were seen that had had cars go through them (and obviously plummeted hundreds of metres down). We also had a thunder storm!
Eventually Eric (from last blog) and I arrive in Ohrid. Next step, find the famous sunny Lake hostel amongst the old town with no directions, just a street name. So we trek up a large hill and wander around trying to find a local to help us. Eventually, after taking thirty minutes to scale a five minute walk - success.
This place is quite different to the last few places. Tourism is much more obvious here. People everywhere! But the backdrop is amazing!!!! A large fresh water lake (the deepest in Europe) surrounded by mountains. And the town here is in good condition too.
Dinner was a unique experience. I was sitting in the courtyard of the restaurant, looking out onto the main square, when a large group of people turned up carrying flags and wearing traditional dress. They then did a number of folk dancing performances. A unique experience.
The nightlife seemed awful add everywhere we went out was quiet. I think we were at the wrong places.
The first full day consisted of a wander around some hills looking at monestrys. One of these is very important to the history of the Balkin people as it is where St Cyril developed the cyrillic alphabet. Was nothing special to see, having seen many churches over the last four years, in terms of appearance, but interesting due to its importance. And the most interesting of the approximately 360 churches and monestries of the local area.
Then Eric, Ryan and i found a nice quiet beach where nobody was. The Lake is full of little fish that eat the dead skin of the feet, like the fish bath salons found throughout the fancier parts of cities. I found this a little uncomfortable and kept moving so they wouldn't attach to me.
The evening was a success this night. To start with, eight of is went on a boat trip to watch the sunset over the lake. Was a beautiful thing to see. The driver also played 80s love songs to really set the mood. Definitely a worthwhile experience. With pre drinking and then to a place called liquid. It was packed with locals and it was karaoke night. So lots of singing and dancing into the small hours of the morning.
The next day I went toTrpejca. A tiny village on the lake 20km South of Ohrid. This was a beautiful spot and a lovely few hours of doing nothing but swim and sunbathe. Was very clean due to the lack of tourists. Afterwards Ryan and I hitch hiked back to town with a local who have is a lot of information about the area. Continued with my belief that the Macedonian people are the friendliest people I have come across on this trip. Due to how much I enjoyed the town, I even went for a run before dinner. Talk about extreme! But actually a nice way to see the lake.
The evening involved a foam party. But I went home before the foam as it was taking so long and wasn't a good club. Plus I had to travel the next day. I did swim on the way home. Swimming at 3am was a little exciting.
So today I left Macedonia after an unexpected seven days in the country and headed for Albania, and already it is a massive contrast from the rest of Europe. Transport links are sporadic, roads are in poor shape. Thousands of pot holes, and extremely country. People selling water melon on the sides of the road under thatched roofs. It kind of reminds me of images of the rice fields in Asia. Should be an interesting experience. ...
Joshua
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