Ultimate Balkans and Transylvania Travel Talk Tour: Skopje, Day 15

Day 15: Saturday 22nd October 2022

Start: Ohrid, North Macedonia (Currency: Macedonian Denar MKD)

Finish: Skopje, North Macedonia

Temperature: 7 degrees, top of 24 in Ohrid.

This morning we woke to a beautiful sunrise on the Ohrid lake. Those of us who opted in, attended the monastery, departing at 8am for an hour-long bus ride out of town toward the Albanian border at the south end of Lake Ohrid. The monastery was beautiful, in a simple way. The highlight of the visit had to be the crystal lake. Water so clear it was like looking through cleanly poured acrylic. Our row boat was masterfully steered by a guide, who showed us around the lake, pointing out items of significance. Try to be in the first boat to go out, it was the best way to see the lake undisturbed! We opted for a quick cup of coffee with a shot of Bailee’s in each and a slice of cake shared amongst us. It was one of the best coffees we’ve had on tour! We also couldn’t believe just how many coaches were there as we were departing, having arrived to an empty car park. Getting in early was the best possible outcome for the day, thanks Bojan! Then it was back to Ohrid to pick up the others and commence our walking tour for the morning. As always, our local guide was fantastic, walking us up and down the steep hills and explaining the history and passion of North Macedonia. Weirdly enough, on this walking tour, we ran into Kaan (from the first leg) with a Spanish speaking group!

We ended up taking Bojan’s advice and settling at NOA Restaurant for lunch, enjoying a sneaky cocktail and ordering chicken dishes and pizzas before departing for Skopje. Most people slept until arriving at Skopje a few hours later, checking into Hotel Panoramika. Tonight we were lucky enough to arrange a private drive across to Kosovo to check out what lies ‘across the border’. It didn’t come cheap (30Euro) but with a return drive in a private mini-bus, we made it across the border and drove around inside the city for an hour, including a quick 15 minute break to walk around, before returning to the hotel in Skopje. I’ll be honest, we were a little disappointed in how little time we had inside the border, but it was enough of a ‘taster’ to know if we’d like to come back again to visit for a full day trip. We stopped for a quick photo with Bill Clinton before our fifteen minute break at a monument/art installation.

After returning home at midnight, a few of us decided we needed to celebrate our last night together, so we went up to the Sky Bar, only to be told they were closing early! We picked up a few roadies and returned down to the reception bar to celebrate the end of the ‘Balkans’ leg of the tour, and prepare to farewell those not coming to Greece tomorrow (which is almost everyone). Only five of the original Romanian tour are continuing on, with the full Greece contingent consisting of about 14 people.

Accommodation: Hotel Panoramika, Skopje