Lake Ohrid

Heading southwards from Skopje towards Ohrid the road headed into the mountains. Gradually, it dawned on me that I was only seeing mosques in the villages and towns and that no Macedonian flags were flying, only the Albanian flag with its double-headed black eagle on a bright-red background. This continued for many miles as my guide and I headed through the thickly forested Mavrovo National Park.

After stopping for the blackest of black coffees at a transport cafe, where there appeared to be little understanding of what constituted safe parking, the road started to head down towards Ohrid. Soon, a large cross appeared on the right-hand side of the road, as though delineating a religious border, and villages with churches started to appear along with a few Macedonian flags. Ohrid’s airport appeared quiet. The town has a special affinity with the Dutch, who love the climate here, and there are many direct flights from Holland to Ohrid during the summer. The climate of Lake Ohrid is almost Mediterranean, which is why the weather in Ohrid town was sunny and warm whereas Skopje, on the other side of the mountains, was cloudy and cool.