One more day in Skopje and I guarantee that I would have stopped liking it. The buzz of the city got a bit too much for me. The purpose of this trip is to reconnect with nature, so going to Ohrid was a logical decision.

The town is famous for it’s breathtakingly glittery lake, with crystal clear water. It’s surrounded by some natural parks, but October is a better time to visit those. I’m going to see one tomorrow, for a special event. I’ll keep it a secret till further in my blog entry.

This was my dining room for lunch. There’s worse 🙂

A boat trip seemed a good way to get a first impression of the water and its surroundings, and the breeze created by the speed is a nice way to keep you cool on a hot day like this. Every day is hot in Macedonia at this time of year.

The crew was already taking in the passenger bridge, but luckily they saw me running and waving, shouting that i wanted to get on board too. It worked. Lucky me.

The trip took about an hour and gave a good impression of things to see and do in Ohrid. I spent the first 15 minutes upstairs, where it was crowded with elderly people, some of them busy trying to capture good images through a selfie stick. I admit, i had one too. Two actually. The first one I lost and the second one got broken on day one. Not sure if I still want one.

After a while I got bored with the crowd, all in their chairs as if they were at the theatre, so I walked around a bit. At the front of the boat there were seven good looking, young Turkish people having a great time, joking, taking pictures, doing the Titanic thing young folks like to do on a boat. Six women, all superb, and one lucky guy. How does he do it…

Oh yes, big, what do I say, HUGE sunglasses are totally the thing. 

  

After an hour hanging out with these hip thirty-somethings, I needed the quietness of a monastery or an orthodox church. Plenty of choice here, Macedonia boasts officially 1726 churches and monasteries, with over a 150.000 square metres of frescoes. Spending the night in a monastery is on this trip’s wish list, of course.

  

This is the orthodox church of Sveti Naum, a monastery complex about 30km by car from the lake. It can also be reached by boat, but that means about a hundred other tourists on the grounds, which for me spoils the experience.
On the grounds there are a couple of peacocks showing off and being loud, it adds a lot to the magic of the place.

Well aware that it is not allowed to take photos in the church, its beauty just begged to be captured on screen. Enjoy some of its grandeur with me.

  

  

  
  

Just outside, the view over the lake:

Magical.

And everyone finds a reason to visit, different strokes for different folks. 

  
On the way back to the bus stop, you pass by the source of the Black Drim. Unfortunately I had no more time for a boat trip, but here are a few pictures taken from the restaurant:

That’s yours truly. Well, at least her shade in the water.

Further down the road, restaurants, bars, and beaches. Yes, truly worth a full day’s visit.

On the way back to Ohrid, I asked the driver to stop at Plocha Michov Grad, also known as “The Bay of Bones”
Looks like somewhere in Asia.

Tomorrow will take me to a national park, for paragliding. Try something new from time to time, it keeps life interesting.