Ohrid - the breathtaking nature of (North) Macedonia (Stop 16)

The bus takes us first on a short stretch of motorway, then on winding mountain roads to Ohrid. The journey costs around €11, and let me say this upfront: it's definitely worth it!
Ohrid bus station is located slightly outside the city center and even further away from the old town and the lake, so you have to take a taxi from there. But that only cost us 100 Macedonian Denars (less than €2). Already at the bus station, we meet incredibly helpful people who are simply interested in us and our journey.
Our hostel is located just after the Upper Gate. From there, you can look down to the lake and the expanding city. Unfortunately, it starts to rain heavily, so we make ourselves comfortable in the room and use the time to gather information.
With the help of another blog entry (https://worldonabudget.de/ohrid-ohridsee-mazedonien), we go on a little city walk to explore the sights of the old town. Ohrid has almost 40,000 inhabitants and is even among the top 10 largest cities in North Macedonia. XD The first settlers arrived there 5,000 years ago. Then around 800 BC, the city was founded under the name Lychnidos. Even back then, the favorable location on the large, fish-rich lake was remarkable. Lake Ohrid is the second largest lake on the Balkan Peninsula and is considered one of the oldest lakes in the world. Quite impressive. And above all, it's beautiful here.

First, we make our way to the Church of Saint Sophia. It is a very old, beautiful orthodox church in the middle of a square in the old town of Ohrid. Unfortunately, we had to pay admission. By the way, there are said to be 365 churches in Ohrid. Although we pass by many churches, it's hard for us to imagine that there really are 365... but who knows?
We go back up through the cobblestone streets of the old town to the old amphitheater, where events such as concerts, theater performances, ballet shows, and more still take place daily. Just behind it, you can climb further up to Samuil's Fortress. It stands on the highest point of the city, Mount Gorni Saraj. Admission costs only about 50 cents for students, and we think it's definitely worth it! The first traces here date back to the 4th century BC. The complex was further expanded under Philip II. You can walk on the walls and enjoy the view of the lake and the surrounding mountain landscape. A little hiking trail leads down to the Plaosnik excavations. Here, too, we pay the small symbolic entrance fee and visit the archaeological site and the Church of Saint Clement. Both are located again with a beautiful view above the lake. The excavations date back to various eras and tell the history of Ohrid. An even smaller trail leads us almost 90 meters further down towards the lake, where we admire the Church of Saint John at Kaneo, located on a rocky promontory. It is incredibly idyllic here, the water glistens turquoise-blue and you can see almost to the bottom almost everywhere. On the left and right, steep cliffs tower up and people go swimming or paddling in front of them. Oh, now we feel like doing that too! After a stroll through the pedestrian zone and the market, we find a reasonably quiet spot by the water - and we even get lucky - front row! The water is pleasantly refreshing, especially in the hot temperatures. But our luck doesn't last long, after about an hour it starts raining again... great, then let's just sit in a café again and have something sweet. :D
We use the time again to write blog posts until we pick up our rental car for the next day. We want to climb Mount Magaro in Galicica National Park. But once again, there is no other way to get there than by our own car (a taxi would have costed 30€, so the little Citroen C1 was definitely worth it). Renting it is a bit complicated, but it works. We have a car for tomorrow! With the rain and wind, it's getting quite cool, so we prefer to put on something warmer again. Today, we absolutely want to try Tavce Gravce, a national dish of Macedonia, bean stew with tomato sauce and some bread on the side - quite hearty, but also super delicious (and YES, a meatless national dish, cool, right?). We go to a bar by the lake, watch (more or less) the football match, and toast to our announced referee schools with Mojito. It gets even better when a live band starts playing, and we can really celebrate and dance. Wow, what a beautiful feeling! Unfortunately, they stop playing around 12:45 am. We walk a bit with a few graduating students and talk to them. They are happy that we plan to go into the mountains and rave about the beauty of their nature. They tell us that there are still so many hidden treasures there that they themselves have not yet discovered (and often learn about them first from National Geographic World). Well, that sounds promising!

Maybe we didn't get up quite as early as planned. But with our little Citroen, we make our way towards the national park. You drive right along the lake and have beautiful views until you start climbing the mountain on sometimes steep serpentines. The road is not very well maintained, there are relatively large stones in the way from time to time. You have to pay admission to the national park, 100 dinars per person, unless you go to Magaro (then it's double the price). After a total of about an hour's drive, we arrive at the starting point Lipova. It's raining again. Can't believe it...
After a short wait, we set off, feeling confident - and we turn out to be right. This time, the hike has fewer meters of altitude, but you walk on a great circular path along the ridge of Magaro Peak! The rocky path through the high mountain landscape is beautiful and impresses us once again. Especially the view of Lake Ohrid and later also Lake Prespa is stunning. We also hardly meet anyone, which makes the experience even more peaceful and unique. We've heard that Lake Prespa is not very touristy yet and therefore a real insider tip. That's why we take the EVEN worse road down on the other side. The incredibly numerous and deep potholes slow us down. The view of Lake Prespa is truly fantastic. We still have to go through a police control before we reach the lake down below. 'Not very touristy yet'. Yes, we agree with that. On our side, we can't find a single beach or bathing spot for miles around. Everything is overgrown with reeds or other lake grasses. It's still very pristine. The trip was definitely worth it though. We drive back to Ohrid around the national park and return the little car. But before we make our way to the bus station, we fortify ourselves again with pizza and pasta on the lake promenade.
But now we have to go back to Skopje in order to continue our way across the border to Greece. It could get exciting, we'll see...
We really liked North Macedonia, it is a beautiful country with especially dreamy mountain and lake landscapes. The people are very hospitable and make the time even more enjoyable. Definitely worth a visit!