Macedonia Part 2

Saturday, June 27th Continued

The cave church of Radozda was small, but worth the hike up the many steps. It made the oily cheese & ham crepe I ate for breakfast move a little uncomfortably in my stomach, but that's what I get for being a good sport and eating what I'm served. After walking back into town and returning the key to Dva Biseri, where I wish I had eaten breakfast, I hopped in the little Chevy Spark and drove back towards Struga so I could get back on the main road that would take me around to Albania.

Much how Lake Tahoe straddles California and Nevada, Lake Ohrid is shared by Macedonia and Albania, with Macedonia being in charge of the bigger chunk. In fact, here are a few other statistical comparisons of the two lakes (gleaned from Wikipedia):

Lake Ohrid
Max depth: 940 feet
Area: 138 sq miles
Shoreline: 54 miles
Elevation: 2273 feet
Residence time of water: 70 years

Lake Tahoe
Max depth: 1645 feet
Area: 192 sq miles
Shoreline: 71 miles
Elevation: 6225 feet
Residence time of water: 650 years

I attacked Lake Ohrid in a clockwise manner, starting up at the top and heading west. The border crossing between Macedonia and Albania near the lake took forever. It was the first time I had crossed into Albania with a car with Macedonia plates and it took longer than expected. When you enter Albania in a Kosovo-plated car, the guards practically roll out the red carpet (having a US passport doesn't hurt, either). There was extra paperwork to fill out as well. Additionally, the natural chaos that seems to come with Albania affects the border guards, so the whole process isn't as organized and structured as, say, driving into British Columbia at one of the major crossing points from Washington.

About an hour later I was on my way, heading once again clockwise around Lake Ohrid. My first stop was in Lin, Albania, a tiny town just inside the border and plopped right on the lake. It was a spur-of-the moment decision. Lin has a pre-Byzantine church that's surrounded by a chain link fence and locked up. There is a person with a key who does charge some sort of entrance fee, but I decided to head to a cafe and have a coffee instead.

Per usual, driving in Albania is a rather loose and fast affair. There was a lot of traffic on the road from cars with foreign plates, and I think because national elections were on Sunday, people working abroad were coming back home to vote. The road took me through Pogradec, which was where I was planning to have lunch, but it was so frenetic and crowded and dusty and ugly, I decided to skip my stop. Instead, I stopped just before the border heads back into Macedonia at Tushemisht. Lunch was nothing spectacular, but I was able to spend the leftover lek I had from a previous trip.

I entered back into Macedonia and continued my way around the lake. I stopped at Sveti Naum, a monastery founded in 905 by St. Naum, and I poked around a bit. It's perched right on the lake and there are fantastic views. There are also peacocks running around the grounds making noise and flapping around. One can stay at the monastery for 37 Euros ($52). I considered it, but it was early yet and I decided to continue.

On my way towards the town of Ohrid, I stopped at the Bay of Bones, which is a recreation of a village that had been established on the shores of Lake Ohrid during Roman times. It was good to get out of the car and walk around, but I'm not sure I would recommend it as a tourist stop. I also stopped at the Monastery of St. Stefan, another church built into a cave that required the walking up of several sets of steps. There were other people in the very small church when I arrived, so I waited a bit, poked my head in when I had a moment to do so, and went back down to the car. At that point, I was feeling pretty churched out.

I spent the night in the town of Ohrid in a small apartment in the old town. I didn't have a lake view, but I did have a comfortable bed and the area was pretty quiet.

Sunday, June 28th

After breakfast in my room (I bought some muesli and milk and a fantastically ripe melon the night before), I took a walk down to the church of St. Jovan of Kaneo. I love this place. I could not go to Ohrid without going here. Once I walked down to the church, I was pleasantly surprised that it was open, which it's never been when I've gone. The caretaker explained that many of the frescoes and icons had been damaged or stolen, and that it was a popular wedding spot. I walked around the grounds a bit, admiring the flowers and enjoying the lake view. As I walked back up towards town, I took one last look at the church and started to think about where I wanted to go next.

My circle around the lake was complete, and I had another day left with the car. As I walked back to where I had parked, the idea came: Macedonian wine country. I consulted my guide book and settled on going to the Popova Kula winery in the town of Demir Kapije. It took a few hours to get from Ohrid to Demir Kapije, but the roads in Macedonia are very good. Plus, drivers aren't crazy like Albanian drivers, so it was an easy drive. I arrived to the winery in the early afternoon and decided to spend the night. I splurged on a room with a bathtub. The first thing I did was to go to my room, take a bath, have a nap, and suddenly it was time for dinner.

In fact, I almost chose to sleep through dinner, but I did think better of it (sometimes when I take naps in the afternoon it's difficult for me to motivate for evening activities). The winery has a terraced restaurant, which was where I chose to sit. Macedonia has a rich agricultural region, and Popova Kula is smack in the middle of it. Driving in I saw roadside sellers with peaches and melons and zuchini and eggplants and greens and honey and other goodies, which is why I was so highly disappointed with my dinner. I ordered chicken in a peach sauce and was served a dry piece of chicken with a 1/2 of a canned peach on top. For breakfast the next morning, I was given toasted bread, a few packets of non-local jam and honey, and a coffee without milk (because they didn't have any). In an area so rich with agriculture, it was disappointing. The wines were fine, and the bathtub was nice, and it was quiet, but the food was blah.

Monday, June 29

The drive back to Skopje was easy. It took less than an hour. Because I had a few hours left with the car, once I returned to Skopje I drove up to the huge cross that towers over the town and enjoyed the view over the city. I then took the car back to Avis, had lunch, and went back to the bus station for the 3.5 hour ride back to Prizren.

This was a fantastic was to end my two year stay in Kosovo.