Ohrid!

June 19, 2018

We began the day as we have the last several, anxious about the weather. We’ve been counting down the remaining days we have to ride to reach our destination, and today is the final one. Last night the forecast called for rain through the day today, but this morning it’s a bit improved. Rain isn’t due to arrive until one, giving us hope that we can get most of our ride in before it arrives. I’m sure it sounds silly to worry about it like this, but watching yesterday afternoon’s four hour downpour made believers of us.

The first half of our ride is a fast, straight shot on the main highway west to Lake Ohrid. There’s much more traffic than we’ve been seeing lately, but there’s a generous shoulder. We’re biking across the ultra flat agricultural plain and we’re focused, so we make good time. And, being on a highway, there’s less to distract us and slow us down - it’s a real reminder of how much the car culture destroys.

Still though, this is Albania. Even the highways have more of interest than most places we bike: folks standing on the shoulder minding their leashed cow; a bicycle with a scythe lashed to its top tube; donkeys backed up against the shoulder, wondering if we might get a kick as we bike past; horse drawn carts cluttering up the bike lane; and, as we’ve found everywhere in Albania, children calling out a cheerful, enthusiastic hello as we bike by.

At the end of the plain we climb a small rise, glimpse our first view of Lake Ohrid, then drop steeply down a narrow, winding, poorly surfaced road to the lake. The side of the road is lined with open trenches that remind me of treacherous roads in Japan we’ve ridden anxiously past.

At the bottom we come to a road construction zone; one lane is blocked by heavy equipment, the other is gravel. Workers control the alternating traffic pattern, and I wait while a string of oncoming vehicles comes through: trucks, cars, and two bike tourists, pumping their fists in the air as they see me going the other way.

We come to the edge of the lake and stop for a bit, taking in the impressive views and chasing them down with our delicious yellow cherries we picked up at the fruit stand. We look at the skies too, and take heart - we may not be getting wet today after all. It feels great, sitting on the shore by the water, watching and listening to the waves lapping in - we should have done more lunch breaks like this on the tour.

But then, this isn’t really a lunch break, and all we have is cherries - we didn’t bring lunch, because we were going to bike straight through to Ohrid. With the weather improving, we decide we have time to stop for a meal at an attractive lakeside cafe. Fooled again into thinking the portions will be small by the ridiculously low prices, we overorder and end up with a blowout meal of a Greek salad, a mountain of fries covered with a tasty shredded cheese, and a huge plate of meat skewers.

Bujtina (guesthouse) Leon, our base in Korca. Excellent inn, phenomenal breakfast.

At our guesthouse: drying linden (lime tree) blossoms, which are used for an herbal tea with medicinal properties. Several of the main throughways in Korça are lined with immense lime trees. They’re in bloom now, and quite beautiful.

Given the questionable weather, we took the most direct route to Lake Ohrid, following the main highway across the plain.

Looking north across he plains toward the mountains. From the produce we’ve seen in the roadside stands it looks like a bit of everything is grown here.

We’ve been passing stands like this for miles. Finally we couldn’t resist any longer.

A bit of everything: beans, nuts, peppers, prunes, cherries, herbs.

The peppers were the prettiest, but they don’t pack the best. We opted for cherries and prunes instead.

I want one of these. Not too practical, but it looks so cool.

On Lake Ohrid, we decide to give those cherries a try. Look at hose waves! It feels like we’re at the sea again.

The cherries were good, but insufficient. With the weather improving, we think we can afford time for a quick lunch stop.

Another mile down the road, and we come to the end of Albania. They let us out, and the Macedonia (pronounced Makedonia) foolishly lets us in. New country! And one we’ve made no advance preparations for. We didn’t even know that they use a different alphabet. Fortunately for us, all the signs are in both Macedonian and English.

New country! And a new alphabet that we didn’t prepare ourselves for.

Another mile down the road, and we come to an attractive small church just below us. The sky just keeps improving, so we feel we can afford time for a short visit. We lean our bikes precariously against a hedge at the top of a slope and walk down; admire it from the outside only, because it’s locked; but after circling it we return to find that it has been opened, and an attendant is there to show us around. He describes the church and its history in broken English, says it’s fine to take photos, and suggests a contribution to the church. We’re happy to contribute -we’ve been trying to decide what to do with our last few hundred leks anyway.

Soon after entering Macedonia, tiny Saint Athanasius Church pulled us in off the road for a look. It was locked when we arrived, but an attendant soon came over and unlocked it for us,

The interior of Saint Athanasius church is covered wall to wall with recently restored artwork.

The mountains come down to the lake on this corner, so the remaining miles to Ohrid involve a bit of climbing. Not bad - this has really been a pretty easy ride - and we get some fine views across the lake when we’re not biking through beautiful oak forest. The downhills are a bit tense though - my brakes are pretty well shot, and I’m about at the end of adjustments I can make. Both of our bikes are due for some serious maintenance. The tour is ending at just the right time.

We arrive in Ohrid at just the right time, and under our usual patterns - about three o’clock, and minutes before it starts to rain a bit. Perfect timing! In our hotel, we’re happy to see our suitcases there waiting for us.

Ohrid is large, beautiful, quite touristy. We’ll see, show and tell more of it tomorrow.

a Fritillary of some sort, possibly a Niobe (ref: W. Shaneyfelt)

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Oh, I don’t know. What should we drink a toast to tonight?

Ride stats today: 46 miles, 2,300’; for the tour: 1,837 miles, 156,400’

Today's ride: 46 miles (74 km)
Total: 1,751 miles (2,818 km)

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