Day 9, from Përrenjas (Albania) to Kališta on Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia

Day 9, from Përrenjas to Kališta on Lake Ohrid

This morning I set off at 7:30. The Macedonian border was only a few kilometers away! But first, I had to hike up a pass that reaches 1000 meters - it was very exhausting. When I reached the top, I was so excited to see the great lake in front of me that I accidentally walked one kilometer downhill in the wrong direction. I only realized this when I checked the OSM on my phone, so I turned around, hiked back up the pass, and continued towards the border. About 700 meters before the border, I was on the main road and checked my phone again to double-check my location. As I took two more steps, my right foot twisted on the edge of the asphalt and it immediately burned on my instep! Oh man, that had to happen. But I kept going - I crossed the border, then had to descend another 300 meters in altitude to reach the lake, and walked a few more kilometers along the lake to the small village of Kališta, where I rented a nice room that also had a small campground. There was a friendly young couple from Germany at the campground who offered to drive to the nearest village for me to buy an ointment to reduce the swelling of my injury from the pharmacy. Tomorrow, I will only hike about 17 kilometers to reach Ohrid on the other side of the lake. On the previous day, something else comes to mind: I was walking through a small remote village when a dog (looked like a black and white Rottweiler) came barking towards me from a property. I held out my hiking poles to protect myself. But he didn't stop and continued to approach aggressively. In a quick reaction, I grabbed a fist-sized stone and aimed it at him. This caused him to stop the attack and he moved back a few meters! Shortly after, the farmer came running and prevented him from making another attempt to attack me.