A failed attempt to enter
This was not our first attempt to get into North Macedonia. Back in February we were hoping to visit North Macedonia, however when we arrived at the border crossing into the country, having left Bulgaria at the time, we were asked to produce a Green Card. This is a (normally green) piece of paper that confirms that insurance will cover you in certain countries, however 90% of Europe have now abolished this process. North Macedonia is one of the countries that has not yet agreed to this.
We spoke to our insurers at the time and explained that we were currently in no mans land between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, and after some back and forth with them (they were adamant we didn't need one) and the border guard they eventually agreed to send us a green card, via post, to our UK address. So in February we tried, and failed, to enter, but this time we came prepared with an electronic copy of the green card, provided by our new insurers.
Krushevo
Our first stop in Macedonia, The Marble Lake, was something that looked impressive on google and was mentioned on a few different blogs we had read, so we were quite excited about heading there. We turned off the main road, leaving the tarmac behind, and ventured up the very steep gravel road. The gravel eventually turned to sand and became extremely hard to drive on, especially for Roxy, who doesn’t have as much experience driving the van.
After a long, sweaty, and uncomfortable drive we arrived at the entrance to lake.
We knew that it was a disused marble quarry and that you could walk around to see the blue lake, however, when we got to the entrance, we quickly realised that the quarry was in fact, back in use. We got out of the van and heard a lot of barking and a very stern looking man appeared and stared at us. We decided to jump back into the van and have another quick google. With some further reading we realized we had missed the updated information explaining that the quarry was open again and the guards (and guard dogs) are not that friendly. We decided not to hang around, so made our way back down the uncomfortable gravel road in search of somewhere to spend the night.
We decided to spend the night on a hill overlooking a lovely town called Krushevo. We found a beautiful spot with 360-degree views of the town and surrounding valleys, and we were quickly greeted by three stray dogs. They were very friendly and, after sharing our dinner, slept outside the van all night. They even ‘protected’ us from the Shepard and his six dogs the next morning.
Krushevo has a fantastic monument called the Makedonium - Ilinden Monument. This is a very futuristic looking building with a small gallery inside (whilst we were there the gallery captained images of star wars characters super imposed over images of the monument). It was officially opened on August 2 of 1974, on the 30th anniversary of the Second Session of the Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia and the 71st anniversary of the 1903 Ilinden uprising. It is dedicated to all the fighters and revolutionaries who participated in the Ilinden uprising, as well as soldiers-partisans of the Macedonia National Liberation Struggle 1941-1944.
The site leading up to the monument also contains a plateau with series of sculptures named "Breaking the Chains", symbolizing freedom won in the liberation wars. There is also a crypt with the carved names and important events related to the period before, during and after the Ilinden uprising.
Lake Ohrid
Our first stop around Lake Ohrid was a campsite on the lake edge. When we arrived, we were greeted by some very friendly receptionists who offered us coffee and a free schnapps (Rakia). A warm welcome at a campsite is always so nice and really boosts our opinion of a place. We found ourselves a spot and ended up parking next to a German couple that we first met in the Theth National Park, Albania. This was a complete coincidence and a massive surprise to see them again (our blogs have got slightly out of order, but it is in fact the same German couple that we bumped into again in Kosovo, and we have since met up with them in Germany!). By the time we had done all our van chores, we decided we would head to the restaurant next door for some traditional Albanian food.
The next day we headed into Struga, the closest town to the campsite, where we wandered around for a while before finding somewhere to eat along the river. There isn’t a huge amount to see here, so we didn’t stay too long before heading to our next stop.
In the afternoon we made our way to the other side of Lake Ohrid to visit the Bay of Bones.
We aren’t entirely sure where the name comes from, but there is an outdoor museum which has replicated the settlement which would have stood here, possibly in prehistoric times. This consisted of a large wooden platform on wooden stilts, about 15 meters off the shore. On the platform were numerous huts for living, eating, cooking, and even some for animals. It was quite an interesting museum and included a small exhibition of some of the archaeological finds from the digs over the previous 10-15 years.
After the museum we made our way to a wild camping spot that we had found on Park4Night. The route took us down a narrow, tree lined track towards the lake edge. We initially pulled up in a clearing which was clearly used for fly tipping. Thankfully, we decided to drive a little further on (after Charlie conducted some reconnaissance work) and found a much nicer spot, in a much bigger clearing, and closer to the lake edge. It was here that we met Mathieu, the Dutch guy who we also bumped into again in Kosovo. We had a lovely evening drinking beers and Roxy even cooked for us all (makes a change!).
The next morning, after a quick dip in the lake and saying our goodbyes to Mathieu, we made our way to St Naum Monastery. The Monastery is found at the very south of Lake Ohrid, just before the Albanian border. This was an interesting monastery, and you can take a short boat tour around the springs (that feed Lake Ohrid). Thankfully, we decided against the boat tour as we have since heard very mixed reviews about the cost and quality of the trips. We took a short walk around the Monastery, which was interesting, but the bad weather and high volume of tourists meant we didn’t spend too long there. There were so many people that we went into three restaurants in search of some lunch, and all were completely full, or all the free tables were already reserved. This meant we ended up eating at a place just outside the monastery walls, which turned out to have some cheap, albeit slightly dodgy looking food. We were both starving and there didn’t seem to be anywhere else nearby, so we went for it! Thankfully, we didn’t get ill following the meal!
We didn’t feel like doing much else for the rest of the day, so we headed towards Mavrovo Lake where our friends (Anni & Tom) had recommended a wild camping spot. It was slightly difficult to get to, and we definitely took a few branches out along the way, but it was worth it! It was a beautiful spot which we had to ourselves for a few hours, before another van turned up.
Matka Canyon
The following morning, we left in search of a sunken church, which turned out wasn’t very sunken! We’re not sure if maybe it is underwater in the winter/spring, but it was bone dry when we visited. It was still pretty, and there was a small amount of construction going on, so maybe they will make it even nicer in the future!
Next, we made our way to Tetovo where we visited an amazingly ornate 15th century mosque, Xhamia e Larme. It’s clearly not a big tourist destination, and we weren’t 100% sure if we were allowed to go inside, but we happened to arrive at the same time as a tourist group. Obviously, we weren’t wearing the correct attire, but the tourist group had been provided with a basket of shawls, which we sneakily donned and headed inside. It was really beautiful, and the fact that you can enter for free made it even better!
After this, we made our way towards Matka Canyon. This had been recommended by a few people and it certainly did not disappoint. The canyon is huge and stretches on beyond the Matka dam for miles. We found ourselves a nice spot in a dead-end road (which we were told can flood if the dam alarm sounds – thankfully, it didn’t while we were there), which is right on the river’s edge. Roxy didn’t fancy a walk, so Charlie decided to go out for a hike by himself.
As per usual, there wasn’t much planning involved with the hike and he crossed the river and headed up the mountain. The route took him up to the very top of the canyon and along the ridge before reaching the grounds of a monastery, where he stopped for a drink and a brief chat with an Australian couple who were backpacking around Europe.
The route then continued through the monastery and started to head down towards the reservoir that has formed behind the dam. This was a very steep downhill climb before reaching the water. At this point he realized that he was on the wrong side of the reservoir/river and there were no paths or bridges to get to the other side. Thankfully after about 10 minutes of hanging around a local that runs a kayak hire shop on the reservoir noticed him and sent over a boat to collect him. It would have been an exceptionally long walk back if the boat had not seen him there!!
The next day we made our way to the reservoir to take a boat ride up the canyon towards Vrelo Cave. The boat tour was around 30 minutes to the cave and had some stunning views of the canyon. The cave itself was reasonably interesting, however there was not much information, and we did not have a guide. So, everyone on the boat went in to look around and take some photos before heading back to the boat after about only 5 minutes. It was still quite a fun boat ride through the canyon, nonetheless.
Skopje
Our final stop in North Macedonia was the capital, Skopje. We had found a place to stay on Park4Night, which, when we arrived, we realised was just a car wash with a large enough car park for a few motorhomes. There was a portaloo, which was unusable, and the options for emptying dirty water was essentially a drain in the middle of the cars being washed. It was probably one of the worst ‘camp spots’ we’d visited (and 25 euro, so crazy expensive for what it was!), so we decided to quickly make our way into the city. The first thing that struck us about Skopje was the sheer number of statues. There were statues around every corner, and not just one, but multiple. We don’t think that having yourself immortalised as a statue in Skopje would be very special, as it seems everyone in Macedonian history has a statue here!
The city itself is nice. There are lots of modern streets with café’s, bars, and restaurants (much like all the other Balkan cities we have visited), and there is a nice Old Town with a large bazaar at one end. The bazaar was quite fun to walk around. You could find anything you would ever need, from wheelbarrows to hairbrushes, and single cucumbers to a 20kg bag of potatoes. It was like being in the most extreme Tesco Extra!
We also visited the museum of Macedonian struggle whilst in Skopje. We hoped that it would give us a better insight into how the country has suffered through the many different empires that have ruled over it. The museum was set over a number of different rooms, on multiple floors and consisted of hundreds of wax works, taxidermy, oil paintings, pictures, and artefacts from history. However, there was little information about the artefacts. It may have been a good museum if you already knew the history of the country, but wanted to find out more about the clothing, livelihoods, and tools of the Macedonian people, but not the best for understanding the history. Ultimately, we left more confused than when we entered. At one point we were reading about the furniture that was used in the buildings in decades gone by, and then suddenly we were faced with a large picture of Winston Churchill and the Macedonian parliament. We never quite found out why though. It was still quite a good museum as clearly a lot of effort has gone into including a lot of artefacts and wax works to depict the life of Macedonians over the years.
We ate a delicious dinner at one of the most hectic restaurants we’d ever visited, Kosmos Kebabchilnica, and decided that we didn’t fancy spending the night at the car wash, so we looked for somewhere else to wild camp for the night.
Unfortunately, we had read that the owner of the car wash was quite strict and even though we were not staying there overnight, he still tried to charge us full price. We were happy to pay something as we had emptied the grey/black waste and we had been parked all day, but not full price. In the end Charlie walked over with only two thirds of the already extortionate price, and he managed to persuade the owner that this was all we could afford. He did reluctantly agree, and we drove off to find a lovely spot next to a church in the middle of nowhere, somewhere near the Kosovan border.
Summary
North Macedonia was an interesting country, and we had some great times whilst we were there. However, the capital, much like a few others we have visited, was quite disappointing, and the country is not necessarily setup for campervans. There are parts, Lake Ohrid for example, that clearly get a lot of campervan tourism, but it was difficult to find nice places to stay elsewhere. Our highlight was Matka Canyon, and if we had more time we would have loved to have stayed here for longer and explored further. We are extremely glad we made it into North Macedonia, particularly as we were previously denied entry, but we wouldn’t necessarily rush back.
If we were to go back, we would plan a much more detailed route and work out where we are going to stay in advance. We would still recommend a visit, but perhaps only to Lake Ohrid (although this can be done from Albania as well), Matka Canyon, and possibly Krushevo. We are sure there are some fascinating areas we missed, so we will hopefully get another chance to see them.
Wow - didn't know about the Green Card thing. I'm not sure we had one when we entered from Albania, although thinking about it, we had to go to a different border crossing because we had to buy border insurance and the insurance office was closed at the crossing we went to! Border insurance would negate the need for a green card.
Matka was a highlight for us, too! Plus the craft beer place in Skopje. Hic! There was allegedly a riot going on while we were in Skopje, but we didn't find out until afterwards, apart from the police with riot shields we saw on our walk back to the truck.