Macedonia

Lake Matka

We took a morning trip to Lake Matka, another scenic artificial lake. The dam and hydroelectric power plant were built in this deep canyon in 1938. The sides on the canyon are lined with several caves, and a few medieval monasteries.

We took a boat ride to the Vrelo cave. You walk up to the entrance, then down once inside, to see one of the deepest underwater lakes in the world.

After exploring the cave a bit we got back on the boat to cross the lake, then scrambled up to a path along the cliffs leading us back to our starting place.

Once back at the start, a few of us had the “controversial” Russian flag shot cocktail to celebrate our adventure. Not sure exactly why the drink is controversial, but Russia opposes Macedonia’s entry to NATO.

Skopje

Back in Skopje, I went to a museum about events during the holocaust in this country. Jews here were captured and kept in a tobacco factory with no facilities, until being shipped to Treblinka concentration camp. The original train cars used for this purpose are in the museum. Over 7000 jews in Macedonia died, up to 98% of the jewish population.

I elected to go to the spa near our hotel for a massage. A bunch of us went for dinner at a fancy place along the river, then a stroll back to our hotel to see the monuments at night and have a gelato. This gelato wasn’t as good as what you can find in Italy – you can tell by the bright colours. High quality gelato is made of natural ingredients, extra flavour and colour are not added.

The next morning our ride was two hours late, so time for more pics of the massive monuments.

Finally we set out to Lake Ohrid, holiday spot for locals due to its beauty.