LAKE OHRID, MACEDONIA

July 2015

We picked a spot on the map and said “Lets go”.

And that brought us to Macedonia.

One evening while cozied up on the couch at Backpackers Plus in Oban, Scotland, we were madly trying to make plans for the next month before our return to the hostel. I opened up skyscanner on my laptop, chose London as our departure destination and ticked “Everywhere” as our arrival. I surveyed our options. We couldn’t pick anywhere in the Schengen zone due to visas (ruling out Spain and Greece), we didn’t want to travel back to Croatia just yet, so we started looking at the Balkans. A tiny little spot on the map called Lake Ohrid was showing very cheap flights for our dates. How about a fresh water lake getaway? We knew absolutely nothing about Macedonia. I didn’t know what the currency was, the language, what kind of people lived there. But a few google images of the magnificent lake had me convinced, and every year long trip should have at least one very spontaneous adventure. Where would we go from there? Who knows.

We booked the tickets and organised an overnight bus from Glasgow to London (which turned out to be the bus from hell… never leave it to the last minute to board a Megabus… you’ll end up on the last two available seats in the middle of the very back row in-between kids!). The journey to get there was one of our worst nightmares… damp, cramped, rocky but we made it. We disembarked the plane into a tiny little open-air airport in the countryside of Macedonia.

 

I’m embarrassed to admit I was a little bit scared that evening when we were boarding the shuttle into town. Scared of the unknown mostly. I’d never seen Macedonia in the news in Australia, never in our tourism advertisements. We knew nothing and I was starting to question what had convinced me to bring us here. The overzealous taxi touts outside the airport didn’t help settle my nerves, especially when one almost followed us all the way back inside again.

We rode the bus as the sun began to dip in the sky, arriving in the centre of town right beside the lake. It was more breath-taking than I could have imagined, especially in that milky dusk-lit light. My worries slipped away as we made our way through the darkening streets, met by warm smiles, helpful directions and signs written in unfamiliar characters. We were back on our feet again, on the move through somewhere unknown.

The best decision we made was booking our five nights at a locally run guesthouse called Viola Apartments. On our second day there we met the owners son, Martin and we all clicked instantly. He took us for a walking tour of the village and that evening we drank champaign at a bar with his friends before dancing the night away at a jazz bar venue until the early hours of the morning. It gave us a whole new experience having a friend to show us this new culture, tell us about the old ruins, the rocky history with Greece, introduce us to his friends and spend nights drinking by the lake sharing jokes. We met people from places we’d never even heard of, and felt like we were welcomed from the very first introduction. He made our time in Ohrid so awesome and we feel lucky to call him our friend. He really is one of those selfless, giving people who deserves everything good in the world. Oh and we loved the kindness of his parents and drinking homemade liquor in the garden after picking delicious cherries from the tree! Memories we’ll never forget.

 

Afternoon walks exploring ancient ruins hidden within the town centre, strolling by the lake along the wooden bridge and climbing the hill to see one of Ohrids most famous churches. Ohrid actually once had 365 churches! One for everyday of the year.

A few hours walking in the 30 degree heat calls for afternoon cocktails. We could never afford cocktails back in Australia but while we’ve been travelling they have been so cheap and we can’t say no.

There is a well known proverb in Macedonia that you’re not Macedonian unless you have a cousin in Australia. And just about every person we met had family in Australia. And just about every person we met were confused as to why we were in Macedonia!

One thing I’ve learnt from travelling the Mediterranean, if theres room to plant a tree, why not make it a fruit tree? The idea is genius. I love that we saw plums, apples, pears, cherries, grapes and even figs on our daily walks. The trees often have so many they are overflowing onto the road and we can save a few for our bellies later on. Theres nothing quite as delicious as overripe fruit.

Oh and the lake, the beautiful, beautiful lake. So vast when you stand on the edge it’s as if you’re looking out at the ocean. Fresh water, crystal clear and filled with tiny fish. This town is a hidden gem, I can’t believe the Europeans have been keeping it to themselves for a holiday destination all this time.

If you’re travelling Europe, or looking for a get-away that is out of the Schengen area, Lake Ohrid is the answer. This town is full of beauty, it’s both vibrant and relaxing. I’ll never forget our time here and I hope I can visit again one day. If you’re coming to Lake Ohrid my suggestions are to pick a locally run guesthouse, swim in the fresh crystal waters, dance the night away at one of the local jazz clubs, spend a sunny afternoon exploring the city market and just get lost in the winding ancient streets.

When it came time to decide where to go next, I had some ideas of possibly walking the edge of the lake and crossing the Albanian boarder by foot (now that would be a crazy story!), or venturing further north into Serbia, but it was Martin our new Macedonia friend who decided for us. The way he spoke of the chaotic markets, the colours, the people, the smells and tastes, convinced us there was no other decision to be made. We were going to Istanbul.

To get there we had the option of a 16 hour bus ride from Ohrid or to catch a shuttle to Skopje (the capital) and a flight to Istanbul from there. The horrors of our most recent bus journey still fresh in our minds meant there really wasn’t much choice. Flights were only $90 per person and it was worth it for my sanity. When the day came we said our “See you again’s” to Martin and his family and jumped on the little shuttle bus to Macedonia’s capital. It felt incredible to think yesterday we were considering walking to Albania but today we were on our way to Istanbul.