Lake Ohrid – Macedonia 17/7/16 – 19/7/16

A 3 hour coach journey from Skopje to Lake Ohrid where we passed through some amazing views of mountainous terrain along with the deepest gorges, an abundance of streams and local villages, all ever so pleasing to the eye. The journey was indeed the most pleasant one yet we’ve travelled along and is totally recommended, as the coach leaves hourly from Skopje bus station. We stopped half way through the journey in what can only be described as a ski village, high up a mountain, where the air was so clear and crisp with views to die for. It appeared to be a local stop off point as the car parks were bursting with cars, coaches and motorcycles. It had an array of cafes to choose from, and if your in the area it’s well worth a stop/visit even if your travelling independently. All around the area were signs to ski slopes, so this will truly be a magical place to be during the winter months.
We were met at Ohrid bus station by Alex, the owner of our apartment, who quickly introduced himself and drove us the 5 minutes or so to our digs where we met his wife Clementine. This young entrepreneur couple has very high hospitality skills, equal to meeting up with your best friends. Not pretentious in any way, (like you get in a 5 star establishment), but very down to earth with great spoken English. We’re staying at the “House apartment and guest rooms”, something described on Booking.com as “Superb” as they score it 9.5 out of 10. They weren’t wrong in any way, the studio apartment is fully equipped with modern furniture, En suite bathroom, kitchenette and balcony, all you could ever ask for. A lovely “home from home” atmosphere. Alex and Clementine asked us to sit in their garden whilst we completed the formalities and they gave us a map of the local area and explained what to see and do in Ohrid. We stayed chatting to them for an hour or so, as they were interested in our travels up to date. They are the coolest hosts/couple that we’ve met so far, very friendly, funny and witty.
Our first venture into Ohrid was an extremely pleasant one, and as neither of us had been here before we were amazed at the locations culture and history. There’s an old town sitting next to a new town both on the lakes edge, which is said to be one of the oldest lake in the world. We ventured along the west side of the lake and came across an verity of hotels, bars and restaurants stopping of at the “Dublin bar”, yes it has an Irish Bar, traditionally Irish in every way, from the lepracorn statues all dressed in green, through to the Irish flag which adorned it’s inner ceiling.
The following day we took a walk recommended by our hosts along the lake along a very old wooden bridge secured to the rock face and up to the fort and through the old town. Wow totally magnificent, from passing a lot of restaurants along the waters edge, then up a steep hill passing many churches, to the top where the fortress is, then down through the cornucopia of the oldest streets, lanes and alley ways which is the old town. From the fortress you get the most amazing view of the town and out across towards Albania over the impressive vast lake. The waters of the lake crystal clear and so turquoise/ blue/green in colour that reflects the blue skies above. From this vantage point you also get a great perspective of the old town, which amazingly most is still within its original stone wall, also easily seen. Beyond this lies the new town.
The lake itself dates back to prehistoric ages and was formed by 2 tectonic plates colliding causing a cavernous area of approximately 35km which filled with water over time. At its greatest depth it is said to be over 5km deep, and in the 1980’s local divers discovered evidence of an underwater early civilisation, still with houses, churches etc intact. The many many churches along this walkway are stunning to say the least, most dating back from the 6th century. Each one ornately decorated with unbelievable architecture. One which we ventured into, (the Church of St Sophia), had the most wonderful frescoes painted on its walls, both inside and out. It is the only church in the world to have painted frescoes on its outside, however the centuries have been cruel to it so in the 18th century, the outside became the inside as builders built an extra area onto it out of wood. The walls of the inside of the church, are adorned with bright coloured biblical scenes covering every inch. Even today as we visited a team of highly talented artists were restoring the artwork to its natural glory. The most spectacular church I have ever been in. We attempted to get into another church along the way, but couldn’t as it had a sign on the door stating there was a rehearsal in progress – no entry. However what we heard from the outside was a full orchestra playing the most wonderful classical music ever, it’s sound echoing through the vaults of the church. What a great place for an orchestra to play, the acoustics sounded fantastic.
Further down the hill we meandered through more quaint lanes, each with many original buildings that had bright terracotta roof tiles and made from red brick, all overhanging the streets below them. Suddenly out of nowhere we turned a corner and stood over a massive outdoor amphitheatre with huge semi circular stone steps cascading down to a huge arena. This was in the middle of the old town, which we had not seen from any other part of our walk, so what a hidden gem this was.
The following day we took the boat from the jetty, (again another recommendation from our hosts), to the Monestary of St. Naum. The boat ride took around 1hr 30 min to get there as it travelled along the banks of the lake. Our captain pointed out several places of interest along the way, including the “water museum”. This was the sight of the underwater early civilisation. What we hadn’t expected was that it had been excavated and rebuilt on stilts above the lake. He explained that there was a bus that takes you there from Ohrid, but alas we were leaving the following day so would miss out on this. We passed the Presidential Holiday home of the President of Macedonia, which was such an impressive dwelling, along with passing Macedonia only 5 star hotel, equally as impressive. When we reached the dock of the Monastery, we couldn’t see it, so once landed we followed the crowd to the smallest cutest place we’ve ever been. Don’t let it’s size put you off as it is as impeccable and ornate as any can be, well worth it. We read that St Naum is an old orthodox monastery named after the medieval Saint Naum. It is situated along Lake Ohrid, 29km south of Ohrid city. The grounds around the monastery are as beautiful as the monastery itself. There’s a beautiful large restaurant, where you can have coffee or lunch sat amongst olive trees and vineyards, sat under the adoring sun, whilst looking out over the lake. Then there are a few gift shops, also for a donation you can be rowed through the mountain spring lake, where the waters again are crystal clear, and are said to remain at 10-12’ year round. We took full advantage of this, and so should you. It’s peace and tranquillity are like nothing else I have discovered. The day trip costs €20 per person, and you have a good 3 ½ hours at the monastery, a very good day out.
Macedonia has been a wonderful, pleasantly unexpected great country. The people are very friendly and speak good English. The climate in mid July has again been very pleasant, staying around the 25’ mark, but even if that’s too hot for you, I imagine the winters here are as stunning, with its winter wonderland theme, not forgetting the many ski fields we mentioned above.

Well that’s at it from Macedonia as we have booked a bus, (leaving at 5am in the morning), as we begin the next Balkan country – Albania. We have 3 nights booked in its capital Tirana.