Day 7 - Ohrid (MK) to Skopke (MK)

Friday 26th May

------------------------

Fell asleep trying to re-animate my waterproof but waterlogged phone. Luckily I still have my work phone but looks like navigation may now need to be done using my 1985 map of Yugoslavia.

It kept raining all night / morning. None of my gear had dried. The boots were especially bad so I had to put my feet into plastic bags before putting my boots on this morning! My clothes also smell of cigarette smoke which is something I am no longer used to.

Had a very slow start as after checking the weather I decided that I wouldn't bother trying to rush into Kosovo as I'd get soaked and struggle to find accommodation in the wet. Instead I had a decent breakfast, checked-out the lake, looked at my map and drank coffee.

Headed for Mavrovo National park via a back-road that my Sat-Nav didn't know about yet my 1985 map did. It was a great biking road, little traffic, nice bends and decent tarmac. Made really good progress and quickly made it to the lake. It was OK but nothing special in such cloudy weather. There was an area full of tat stalls but no customers. It looked pretty bleak and the 10's of stray dogs barking at me didn't make it any more appealing. Rode down the mountain and joined the main road which was worse than the little one for much of the way.

Eventually hit some decent toll roads, but they were also slow as you have to stop every 5 miles to pay another 70 scoobys..... Decided to head into the centre of Skopje as it was relatively early. The outskirts are a bit of a dump with yet more Romany Gypsies aggressively begging. It got nicer as I neared the centre but it then started raining heavily and got gridlocked with traffic. Couldn't be asked with going through another Tirana experience so did a U-turn and headed up the road where I found a really crappy run-down cigarette smelling 'bungalow'. It's designed for 4 people so wasn't that cheap but eventually got it down to €32. Arrived by 16:30 so a very short day for me. Beer and food here is dirt cheap. €0.50 for a hotel beer and you can have a meal for €1 whilst listening to a Macedonian Brian Ferry sound-a-like.

I also finally dried-out my stuff properly as there is an aircon thing that blows air. The gardens are nice but the place is empty. It could probably accommodate 300 for food but I'm the only one here eating, well apart from the strange ducks. Food is really wholesome and no-nonsense although I may have over done it today.

I'm a bit worried that my clutch-cable is going. It feels grindy as they do just before they snap. Took a quick look and sprayed some chain-lube in but couldn't see any fraying. Think I have a spare somewhere but won't worry about it unless it snaps on me.

I reckon my impression of both Albania and Macedonia would be very different given decent weather. Although Macedonia is OK despite the weather. Would make a bargain holiday destination in the summer.

Tomorrow Kosovo and then hopefully Serbia. Problem is, Serbia views Kosovo as part of Serbia so if I get stamped into Kosovo and then attempt to go straight into Serbia from there then they ask who illegally stamped you into their country and they turn you around.... So I have 3 options. Return to where I am now and then enter Serbia to the East of here (in fact I am probably just a few miles away from the Serbian border now).... Or head West from Pristina back into Montenegro  but on a crap road.... Final option, take a better road that goes to my favourite place Albania again but then also heads into Montenegro and finally Serbia proper. A lot of border crossings and faff but it should be the quickest way to Belgrade... It'll be a long day no matter what, hope the weather is kind but I'm told that Serbia has had unprecedented flooding..... Maybe I'll find a place to sleep along the way if it's bad. Think I have a spare day to play with and can't be asked with Venice on my own.

Mileage: 2077
Country count: 10 (GB, F, D, A, SLO, HR, BiH, MNE, AL, MK)
Beers: 20 + 0.5l of red + Blueberry Schnapps + 3 Raki
Fines: 0
Bribes: 0
Ass pain: 1/10
Mechanical issues: 1 (headlight bulb & fuse)
Accidents: 1 (witnessed) + 1 guy reversing into me
Coldness: 4/10

Comments

  1. Unknown26 May 2017 at 15:58

    Nice views andy, and food looks good. Hope you make the right decision in your next legg of your journey.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 6 - Kotor (MNE) to Ohrid (MK)

Image
Thursday 25th May ------------------------ Watched Manchester United thrash Ajax before turning-in. Some guys were partying nearby but it didn't bother me and I soon dozed-off. Warmest night so far despite a bit more rain falling overnight. Now realise that the ferry next to where I camped just goes across the bay, hence that other campsite way before Kotor was just a short ferry-ride away.... Left early as I knew that today had the potential to be a tough one. I was not wrong. My route should have typically taken me through what was Titograd, now Podgornica, but my phone SatNav contradicted the TomTom. With Phone Nav being pretty handy of late I chose to go where the phone suggested. It was a wild single-track road through the mountains, hugging the coast. No safety barriers and it went on and on. After about 5 miles I thought about turning back as I had no clue where I was going and didn't have much fuel. Checking the map, my concern was will I find fuel and will there act
Read more

Day 4 - Plitvice (HR) to Mostar (BiH)

Image
Tuesday 23rd May ------------------------ Good day today as I finally got some decent biking roads in. The first part of the road down from Plitvice to Split was superb. Lots of twisties, nice views and not too much traffic. Last part was back onto the motorway which at least got me down into Split pretty fast. Split was busy and very hot. The port was a really happening place - lovely azure water. Tons of tourists in the town and on all the beaches up the coast. Would have been nice to spend the night. From Split followed the Dalmation coast which was initially over developed but did get a lot nicer as I continued in the direction of Dubrovnik. Turned towards Bosnia in Baska Voda and took a stunning twisty mountain road right up the the border crossing. After the unbearable heat it was a joy to traverse the mountains and flout the very conservative speed limits and even beat the TomTom estimates. Sat-nav lost the plot at this stage so I follwed the signs for Mostar. Got to a very
Read more

Day 8 - Skopje (MK) to Belgrade (SRB)

Image
Saturday 27th May ------------------------ Turns-out my bungalow was right next to the motorway so didn't sleep brilliantly. After the massive dinner yesterday, I decided to skip breakfast and head for Kosovo and beyond - asap. Got through the border as usual, just had to run back from the border and buy the normal 10€ insurance. All seemed very calm. Kosovo seemed fine, not the lawless mess that I expected. The scenery was nice but it is very much a country under construction. Prishtina was very chilled as capital cities go. There is a fake statue of liberty on top of one of the buildings as you enter the city and there is even a street named after Bill Clinton. The Americans are obviously a big influence on the region. People were very keen to talk when they knew I was from the UK. It was typically, "why are you leaving the EU?" or "do you know Jesse-J, can you introduce me?" All good. Stopped for a coffee in the centre or Prishtina and discussed options
Read more