THE MAIN FEATURE – NORTH MACEDONIA – BITOLA (Day 24 covering 152km to 2,933km)

This post sees us leave Albania (Country 3) and enter North Macedonia (Country 4) starting with Bitola in the south. Like Montenegro and Albania, North Macedonia is not a member of the European Community but wants to join.

 

The Republic of North Macedonia (Pop 2.1m) is a landlocked country with two very large freshwater lakes, bordering Kosovo to the northwest, Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, and Albania to the west. North Macedonia was liberated from the former Yugoslavia in 1991 and comprises 58% ethnic Macedonians and 24% Albanians. Macedonians speak Macedonian – a variation of the Russian-Serbian dialect and descended from a Southern Slavic race. The country is 70% Orthodox (under the Serbian Patriarchate) and 29% Muslim as a carry-over from Ottoman occupation. Economically, it is ahead of Albania and closer to Greece. Many speak Greek in the country.

 

Our 152km journey to from Pogradec in Albania to Bitola in North Macedonia was dominated by fertile valleys bursting with local produce, mainly due to the very large freshwater, snow-fed lakes of Ohrid and Prespa. We drove most of the western side of Prespa from Korce Albania in the south, which featured a National Park of the same name and Galicica National Park. The highlight was the strange shaped island of Golem Grad which marks the border of 3 countries: North Macedonia, Albania and Greece. The island itself is in North Macedonia. Small villages dot the lake and finally give way to a pine-covered valley leading to the city of Bitola where we stayed overnight.

 

Bitola (Pop 85,164, Elev 650m) was founded in the 4^th Century as the Greek town of Heraclea Lyncestis built by Greek King Phillip II, the father of Alexander the Great. We visited the archaeological site of Heraclea Lyncestis just next to modern Bitola where the Via Egnatia also passes through that connected ancient Rome with Constantinople. The ruins have very well preserved coloured mosaics again forcing me to ask myself why we have to paint our houses every 10 years when these little coloured tiles have never been painted in hundreds of years.

 

Bitola is not immediately striking on entry. It has many classical buildings of Neo-Renaissance and Neo-classic origins but many are unkept and falling apart. The real appeal of the city can be found in one long street called Sirok Sokak, fall of cafes, restaurants, boutiques and other shops. There are many young, well-dressed people here and there is a good vibe flowing in the streets. Saturday night in this street was like a hundred Easter Shows – people EVERYWHERE and mostly teens in gangs !

 

Our apartment in Bitola was next to the Greek Consulate and my morning run took me halfway to the border with Greece – only 9km more. Bitola is flooded with stray-homeless dogs, some of which chase me on my run in my 96^th Run-UN-Country.

 

Agios Dimitrios (St James) in Bitola had the BIGGEST and most ORNATE Iconostasis (Icon Screen) I have ever seen - North Macedonia Orthodoxy is AUTOCEPHALOUS or Independent which means it does not fall under any Orthodox Patriarchate in the World but the Archbishop of North Macedonia is invited to all the Synods or Pan-Orthodox Councils that make important decision on matters of Faith and Life in the World - this we learned from a local Priest at St James after we visited the Church.

Please enjoy our triumphant Roman entry into North Macedonia (even if it is all Greek anyway! Ha Ha Ha)…

POGRADEC ALBANIA TO BITOLA MACEDONIA:

BITOLA:
 

Heraclea Lyncestis:

Agios Dimitrios:

THE MAIN FEATURE – ALBANIA – ELBASAN & POGRADEC (Day 22-23 covering 158km to 2,781km)

This post sees us drive from Tirana to Elbasan where we overnight and then on to Pogradec on the shores of the largest lake in all the Balkans – Lake Ohrid.

 

The drive from Tirana to Elbasan took us past the iconic Petrela Castle, only 15km from the Capital and 398m above sea level. Built in the 6^th Century AD by Emperor Diocletian at the same time as his palace in Split. Now it has a small hotel and restaurant at the top and you can see the Tirana City Centre from here. Amazing.

 

Elbasan (Pop 266,245, Elev 123m, Founded 1466) is an inland city with an interesting past. The Old Town is constructed on the Via Ignatia that connected Rome with Constantinople – amazing that we stood on a piece of East-West History here in humble Albania !!! Dinner in Elbasan was a real treat – the restaurant ATTIKI was run by a couple that worked in Athens for 8 years and spoke almost perfect Greek !!! They fed us “Xorta” or Dandelions followed by fried eggplant and beef critharaki, just like our collective mums and grandmums made it – amazing !!! We continued to speak Greek in this part of the country – how ironic that we cannot speak a word of the very complex language that is Albanian but we can get long perfectly in Greek – we even ordered coffee the next morning in Greek – no wonder that all the people here speak Greek since the border is only 298km from here.

 

The drive from Elbasan to Pogradec was very scenic with a 65km road snaking through lush valleys fed by melted winter snow from huge mountains in North Macedonia. This place is green green green as you will see in the photos. Pogradec is situated on Lake Ohrid, the iconic lake symbol of the Balkans. It is 358 square kilometres and 693m above sea level. This lake is 6.5 times the size of Sydney Harbour. We went for a swim in the 17C water which was warmer than we expected given it is fed mainly by melted winter snow.

 

Pogradec (Pop 61,530, Elev 735m, Founded 1662) is a very scenic city at the base of Lake Ohrid, complete with a very long shoreline sandy beach, tree covered restaurants and plenty of sunshine. People of all ages stroll along, sitting, chatting, eating. The place has a great vibe with the huge mountain backdrop of Macedonia just opposite. What a terrific dinner we had in our fully equipped apartment. Our host took us to a fish shop with a tank of live swimming trout from Lake Ohrid – we chose three 600g fish which were clubbed in front of us and packed up for only 17AUD for the lot. Paris gutted the fish back at the apartment and we cooked them in the oven with 1kg of oven fries and 1.5kg of boiled veggies – a magnificently healthy and tasty feast for a mind-blowing total of 25AUD for the 3 of us.

 

Tomorrow will see us drive into neighbouring North Macedonia and so we wave farewell to Albania, a place full of surprises. When we think of Albania, we think of the land of double-parked cars, crazy traffic, super-dooper cheap prices, a vibrant capital and a country full of potential.

Enjoy the spoils of Albania…

PETRELA CASTLE:

ELBASAN:

ELBASAN TO POGRADEC:

POGRADEC:

ALBANIAN FOOD:

STOP PRESS: Farewell Albania - Dag Dance from Skanderbeg Square

THE MAIN FEATURE – ALBANIA – TIRANA (Day 21 covering 61km to 2,623km)

This post sees us visit Tirana, the largest and capital city of Albania.

 

Tirana (Pop 557,422, Elevation 110m, Founded 1614) is known for its colourful Ottoman-, Fascist- and Soviet-era architecture. Pastel buildings surround the city's focal point, Skanderbeg Square, which is named for its equestrian statue of a national hero. On the square's north end is the modernist National History Museum, covering prehistoric times through Communist rule and the anti-Communist uprisings of the 1990s.

 

Tirana is only 40km from Duress and quite a boring drive with mainly freeway passing industrial estates. Tirana itself was a very pleasant surprise for us. The city centre is surrounded by a ring road lined with trees and there is a boatload of interesting and colourful buildings to see. The city centre is very vibrant, full of people of all ages and most well dressed. Buskers everywhere, nice restaurants and modern shopping malls. A real surprise. The highlight for us was Skanderbeg Square, which is like Tiananmen Square – huge and open but unlike Tiananmen, covered in marble tiles of all textures and colours. Ironic really in that this square is where several uprisings occurred resulting in the abolition of communism in 1990 and the establishment of the current Parliamentary system of President and Prime Minister. All the buildings of significance surround this huge square so it takes only 2-3 hours to see everything.

 

This left us ample time to drive to “Dajti Ekspres”, a fantastic cable car ride to the near summit of Mt Dajti overlooking the entire city and suburbs. This cable car was built by the Swiss in 2005 and is 4,354m long, travels 560m up to a height above sea level of 1,613m above sea level at a speed of 16.2km/h. It takes a whopping and heart-stopping 15 minutes to reach the top – a marvellous feat of engineering !!! The view from the top is amazing – you can see the entire city in one glance. There is even a hotel up there. The Dajti Ekspres is is a must do and must see.

 

The downside of Tirana is the driving – cars, bicycles, trucks, dogs, prams – all on the road – all vying for space and all doing whatever they want and without indicators. I lost more weight driving than I did running here !!!

Now I can relax and show you the wonders of Tirana…