Macedonia is a landlocked country and is centrally located on the Balkan Peninsula. It borders on Serbia, to the east by Bulgaria, Greece to the south, Albania to the west and the northwest of Kosovo. The western mountains of Macedonia are foothills of Dinara, the main mountain range of the Western Balkans. The highest peaks are 2.764 m high Golem Korab on the border with Albania and the 2.747 m high Titov Vrv in the massif of Šar Planina. Other mountains are located in the southwest of the country Jablanica Mountains, which forms partially the border with Albania, the Osogovo Mountains to Bulgaria, the Galičica massif between Ohrid and Prespa and Pelister massif between Prespa and Bitola.
Next to our content articles we publish blogs to certain topics. Please follow the given links to get to our topic relevant blog articles with couple of additional pictures about Macedonia.
Sources of Lake Ohrid - Sveti Naum at Green Oasis
Museum Complex Museum on the Water at Lake Ohrid
Diving paradise next to pile-dwelling Museum on the Water
An afternoon stroll through the old town of Ohrid
The Historical Beauty of Macedonia’s Ancient City of Stobi
After the very disappointing impressions of the modernized inner-city area of Skopje with its numerous, sometimes kitschy sculptures, we were excited to see the part of the city centre that is a real remnant of Ottoman times, the Old Bazaar of Skopje.
Of course, we were excited in looking forward to our first impressions what would convey our first trip to Skopje.
Of course, our first visit to Skopje, the state capital of Macedonia should also serve a little exploring on Roman monuments which were preserved by the yet so varied history.
After our mostly disappointing days at Skopje, we were already on the way back to Lake Ohrid Camping Rino when we were discussing to visit Matka Canyon to report about this famous ravine, as we were able to see the sign board in a bend.
When in 518 an earthquake destroyed the entire city of Skopje, it was a primary concern of ruling Emperor Justinian I to rebuild the city. Not even a hundred years had passed when, in the winter of 594/95, the Slavic tribes of the Balkans, the tribes of the Slavs, destroyed the city again.
We had to postpone the planned day trip from Ohrid to Bitola several times, now finally it happened. With nearly 75,000 inhabitants Bitola is the second largest city in Macedonia today.
Our return journey from the CMT fair in Stuttgart was overshadowed by a very special event, as Greek farmers protested against the austerity policy of the government of Alexis Tsipras.
Coming from Ohrid, we followed the shore road along Lake Ohrid, making a short stop here and there, which also took us to the "Museum on the Water", a prehistorically reconstructed pile-dwelling settlement.
What we really love within Camping, is meeting with people from different countries and learn about their ideas of traveling and outdoor. For sure, sometimes you have to be careful, not to disturb people, but mostly they like exchange too very much.
When we arrived at the campsite in Struga, we admired the mighty walls of the fortress high above the old town centre of Ohrid. Now we were on our way to take a closer look at the fortress complex of Byzantine origin.
We had just received an email from Hans-Jürgen, who informed us that he would be taking a motorcycle tour to Turkey again this year. Just a few days later, a second email from him, this time with a photo, arrived in his inbox, announcing his arrival at Lake Ohrid in Macedonia.
Early in the morning of the following day we had arranged to meet with Perparims father for a trip to the nearby town of Ohrid on the same named lake. We took the advantage of a narrow, winding road along the lakeshore, which led us directly into the city center.
Lake Ohrid is one of the oldest lakes in the world, often referred to be the second oldest lake on the planet. Several times we have already reported about the lake whose water still has the quality of drinkable water and its environment in the Galicica National Park.
It is quite chilly in the morning and the sky is overcastted with clouds. We want to begin our way to Ohrid, because our friends Julia and Davide, on our advice, only have a few days time for the Campsite Rino next to the lake before following their own schedule and time table to Albania.
The fish-rich Lake Ohrid and the strategic location attracted the first settlers in the region of Ohrid more than 5000 years ago. The oldest skeletal remains in the city of Ohrid dating from the 4th millennium BC.
Our main goal for the trip to the village of Vevčani was actually to visit the springs and waterfalls at the foot of the Jablanica Mountains. However, it quickly became apparent that the village itself also had some interesting details; in addition to the ancient houses in the village centre, which have really interesting chimney constructions and, from a structural point of view, also combine a wide variety of construction features.
After visiting the springs and waterfalls, we hadn't gone very far towards the village centre of Vevčani when we first noticed a kiosk on the village street that was cooling its cases of beer in the spring water for sale.
Only around 15 kilometres from the Rino campsite is the mountain village of Vevčani, at around 800 - 950 meters above sea level. The groundskeeper "Pimi" pointed out to us several times that the village structure had been preserved in its original form, and there are also the legendary waterfalls of Vevčani, which are known far beyond the borders of Macedonia.
We set off from Thessaloniki in the morning to drive the 280 kilometres to Lake Ohrid to Struga to the Rino campsite. To avoid a detour on the motorway, we chose our route on the E86 via Edessa.
By bike we had traveled from the Campsite Rino into downtown Struga, had stopped at the bridge crossing the Black Drin to make a first walking tour through the city.