Ohrid, Macedonia

To get to Macedonia, except for a private car, the only option is bus coaches. I don’t know why they stopped all the international trains in Macedonia. The fare is around 15 euro and it takes 4 hours excluding the time for passing the boarder, which takes another 30-60 mins. This little bump we encountered is when Yan couldn’t pass the boarder. So we left the bus and stayed at the police station at the boarder. I hold a Hong Kong passport while Yan holds a People’s Republic of China passport. There was no problem for me to pass since it is visa-free for Hong Kong passport holders, but not for Mainland Chinese. Yan checked online before and since she has a residence permit for Austria, she should be able to enter. She made it through Serbia, but apparently, Macedonia requires a residence permit for more than 3 years, and that’s not the one that Yan has, so she couldn’t cross the boarder. We both were shocked and disappointed, because we wanted to go to the event in Ohrid together. Sadly, I had to leave her at the boarder crossing and continue the journey alone. So my next task was to find a ride to Skopje since the bus left us. Luckily, there was another coach bus going through the boarder and was just about to leave, so I went to the driver and the police helped me to translate and they just let me hitch hiked! I really appreciate the kindness even though the ride was a bit hectic since I have to held on to all my luggage and there weren’t so much space. At some stops in small cities in Macedonia before Skopje, you can see the little kids just waiting for the bus to stop and took out their hands to ask for money from the passengers getting off. It is quite a sad scene, somehow reminds me of mainland China when it was 15 years ago.

So I made it to Skopje at last, and I got a car ride with with others who were going to the Ohrid event as well! One of the highlights of this trip was that I made 2 new good friends, Dena and Mishel. They are both from Skopje and they are super kind and funny. They showed me around the city of Ohrid since it is a very popular destination for people from Skopje to come here during summer. Almost everyone has a second apartment over there (Maybe I exaggerated a bit here). So what exactly is famous in Ohrid? Well, definitely the Lake Ohrid that is part of the UNESCO. It is located between Macedonia and Albania. It is also one of the deepest and oldest lake in Europe. There are swans and many little fishes around the shore. You can also see how the waves and ripples effect of the lake works when there is a boat passing by and it’s super cool.

We live in a hotel that is far away from the city center, but it is so peaceful and quiet. It has the best sunset view with the backdrop of the Albanian mountains and the calmness of the lake. At night, you can just lie down and look up to the sky and you will see millions of stars. The temperate rang is big different through between day and night. It can go up to 25C during the day and drop till 8 degrees at night. So wearing layers are the best way to dress over here.

Fun fact: McDonald's are not popular over there, why? Because it is considered as expensive and people can get way bigger and cheaper burger than going to McDonalds's. In Central Europe or Scandinavia, we always go to McDonald's after party to grab a bit since it opens for 24 hours. In Macedonia, it is the bakeries that operate 24 hours, so people always go there to grab some bread after partying.

We also went on a boat tour around the lake from the city centre to the hotel. The captain was super kind and let me roam through his room. It was very calming as you sit in the front of the boat, with the sun shining on your skin and the mild wind to cool you down at the same time. You also get to see a nice view over the city and the view of the St. John's Church at Kaneo. This church is built on a cliff and it also has a very nice sunset view looking to the lake and the amazing sun rays that symbolise the flag of Macedonia. Things in Macedonia are very cheap comparing to the price in Sweden. 2 big scoops of ice-cream in Sweden will cost probably around 5-6 euros and it costed only 1 euro in Ohrid.

One thing I observed about Macedonia and Serbia is that there are stray dogs and cats everywhere. I saw the cats nearby the beach where they waited patiently for the fisherman to catch fishes and feed to them. They dogs were friendly and they followed you around hoping that you might give them some food. It was quite heart breaking for me to see them just sleeping on the street with no roofs. There was this one particular white stray dog with an injured limb that lived around the beach and hotel area that I stayed in. I saw him playing with strangers and he just have so much love to give. I decided to name him Dobby because he has pointy and droopy ears that kind of reminds me of Dobby in Harry Potter. I started saving some bread that I got from breakfast and dinner and feed it to him. He looked very happy and joyful. There is just such a big difference between Sweden and Macedonia. In Sweden, I have never ever seen any stray dogs roaming around the streets. But here, they are like literally everywhere. I wish I could smuggle Dobby back to Gothenburg but I know I couldn’t give him a loving home. Or maybe he prefers here in Ohrid, living right next to the beach, looking at the stars at night, socialising with tourists and other stray dogs, having the freedom to go anywhere he wanted and don’t have to be afraid to get caught by animal control. It is hard to say goodbye but nothing lasts forever. I only hope you continue to enjoy your life and share all your love to the people you meet, Dobby. To the people who's reading this post, please adopt, don't shop. I truly understand the importance of this message after seeing all the stray dogs living on the streets. They all have so much love to give, and all they need is a chance. You can make a difference by giving them one.

#adoptdontshop #ohrid #macedonia #straydogs #straycats #travel #shemusttravel