THE MAIN FEATURE – NORTH MACEDONIA – OHRID (Day 25-26 covering 166km to 3,099km)

This post sees us drive from the cities of Bitola to Ohrid in North Macedonia over the Galicica National Park mountain pass that connects Lake Prespa with Lake Ohrid.

 

The mountain pass road connecting Lake Prespa with Lake Ohrid is easily the most breathtaking and scenic drive to date. You cannot see both lakes at the same time but the view of each one is spectacular. Lake Ohrid view in particular looks like the famous Lauterbrunnen view in Switzerland. Refer the map photo to see the geography of the two lakes. The people of North Macedonia are fortunate to have these lakes given they are land-locked.

 

The city of Ohrid is the “Goldilocks” of cities to date. The right size, a great look, tidy, colourful, a bit of glamour, not crowded, not overrun with tourists, on the crystal clear freshwater Ohrid Lake, elevated Old Town with ancient sites, restaurants and cafes to suit all tastes and budgets.

 

Believe it or not, Paris and I woke up at 5:45am to travel 26km to a little village called Radozda (only 2km above the Albanian border on Lake Ohrid) and proceeded to go STAND UP PADDLE BOARDING until 10:30am. Amazing. I took to it like a duck to water and only fell off once in all that time because I had to drag Paris back who only sat on his knees and butt because he could bot stand up even if his life depended on it !!! I also swam 2.1km in the refreshing 19C water and lucky for me I did not swim over the Albanian border to the rattle of gun fire on the water !!!

 

The town of Radozda is also famous for the CAVE CHURCH of Archangel Michael built into the side of the mountain that overlooks Radozda. This cave church is apparently one of the oldest in Europe dating back at least to the 13^th Century.

Enjoy the spectacle of the pass and the calming waters of Lake Ohrid – a real inland gem…

BITOLA TO OHRID:

OHRID:

 PADDLING AT RADOZDA:

STOP PRESS: Ohrid is OBSESSED with BBQ Chicken - every restaurant has a rotiserrie out front with many chickens rotating - nice plumb little chickens. A whole plumb, juicy (slightly undercooked) chicken with cabbage ad chips is only 10AUD!!! Paris had the chorizo-lie sausages. We also enjoyed traditional bean stew (like the Greek fasolatha) and covered our chicken in the Macedonian verison of Dukka with hundreds of spices in it - delicious...