ohrid

                     

I heard the name of Ohrid Lake  regarding  the  Struga Poem Fest many years ago. There were   remarkable Turkish poets in the 70's and   they used to mention  Struga Town  in their articles. These poets painted colorful landscapes  with their words which  shone  reflections  on the Ohrid Lake. How could I have imagined  to go to Ohrid Town after many years. Moreover Struga and Ohrid Towns are really close to  each other, around 15 km , both of  them are on the coast of Ohrid Lake.

As another reason of travelling I should also mention  this land's wonderful photographic beauties.. I had seen a photo  of a small church which is on the coast of the lake,  like a diamond stone as if it come from  legendary stories.

Also it would be a convenient preference to go to a Balkan country due  to  the currency rates . One  Euro  was 6 Turkish Liras. Accommodation and transport expenses in the west European  countries  were the greatest  parts in the travel budget.  Besides, the closeness of Macedonia to Turkey provided possibility for using highway to transport there,  at least  for me.

At the end of my evaluations i decided to book an apartment by the coast of Ohrid Lake. I found an apartment in the booking.com  application that had a wonderful  view above the lake. Moreover its daily fee was only fifteen euros.  Even if the cheap price made  me suspected, i ignored to read all the specific  conditions of the flat. I thought this opportunity would be for a  too short time,like  flashing light..

I decided the date of  departure from İstanbul as 30 July 2018 although my date of  return was uncertain. So,  it was to  be my first travel not  to experience  the stress of returning

I departured very early from my house because I didn't want to wait at the Greek  border .  I didn't see any car queue when I arrived to the passport control point of the Turkish State, in İpsala.  It was around 9am. The customs police of Greece didn't show me any difficulty while I was passing through their border. It wasn't long time to see the ticket point on the highway, our neigboors had settled so many ticket point on the highway along my route, between every 40-45 km.

The ticket fee of highway was between 1,20 -2,40 euros , I paid at least  that amount.

I hadn't had  a breakfast before  I departured  from my house. My biological hour didn't delay sending the sign of request of my stomach. Already I was observing correct resting points along the highway. After passing  so many car parking points I turned the steering wheel  to the right while turning  on the signal  together with it.

The break on the  highway..It was very hot. I felt waves of fire   outside when I got out of the car.. It was blowing light wind but  as if it was a  flame...

The highways of Greece were so nice. I can't say Greek  drivers were obeying  the speed rules. I didn’t dare to speed  where you must pay the fine in Euros , my glances constantly was over on speed indicator. I didn’t mind  the passing cars  like a wind..

 I didn't leave the highway to stay in Thessaloniki when I was passing  there.   I had an apartment reservation  in Ohrid for the same night . I miss the old  days that did not have  any plan, reservation, you would able to come across  completely coincidental  events..

I prefer  to use the gate of  Niki which is between Greece and Macedonia via Thessaloniki. Bitola is very close to the  Niki Gate. I didn't have any navigation problem after leaving the highway of Thessaloniki except when reaching to the Niki Gate. I have directed to the wrong way somewhere in the  main road due to the pile of rubble in the middle, I can't blame the navigation device, there was not any direction plate there. My expectation of disappearing  continued very short time. I noticed that I went to the wrong direction and I returned to the beginning point where I had preferred the wrong way.

 Bitola which is  known as Manastır (Monestery)  in our country is a destination point for us with its ancient military school that is a museum now. This small and modest school was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's military  school once .

That's why I went to see this building that was in the center of this calm and green town.  The navigation of the phone didn't work.  I had to ask to a young boy in a store that was on the street where it is.  Actually the museum was on the back, I had passed it a bit ago. I returned to the street that had big  trees  both of its side.   

The Bitola Museum is one of the  largest permanent  museums  in the South  of  Macedonia. It has so many  national, local  pieces,  as well as  the memorial room of Ataturk. It is not difficult to guess  that the most of visitors is coming from Turkey. The entrance fee of the museum was 1 Euro. Very cheap  if you compare it with ours or western countries'  fees.

There are so many  local works like clothes, dress, guns in the museum. I liked this picture. How  familiar  musicians these are.  Their hats, dress and instruments are related to  the  common history of the Ottoman state and Balkan countries. I left the museum with warm feelings.

Ohrid Town is not far away from Bitola. But as   anywhere  in the Balkan peninsula there were so many bends on the road.  I spent an hour and more to come  to Ohrid Town from Bitola, was not boring, beceause I was seeing these lands for the first time.

I tasted cherries that was offered by the owner  after  I had stopped beside of the road where a local old woman was selling  fruits in front of her house.  The arriving time to Ohrid Town included this break time… Why didn't I take a photo there?  I don't remember that woman's face now. How can  you trust your memory..?

Sunset  was starting yet  . I had  looked  to sun for a while on the coast of the  lake   before  I went  to the apartment. The Lake seemed very beautiful, calm and smooth..

 Ohrid Town is a quite touristic residential place of Macedonia. There are so many hotels on the coast of the  Lake. One of them which I reserved it, Nate apartment,  was on a  small hill where you can see the Ohrid Lake , 3-5 kilometers far from the heart of the  town.  My reserv room did not  have  any lake view so I realised  why the fee of the room was the  cheapest.  Also the apartment had a small car parking , you would able to  park there if you come  early before evening.

But it had the cooking devices and kitchen   equipments as well as  a small window which was seing the backside of the apartment.   

Nikola was a good guy who was the owner of Nate apartment. He listened to me with patience up to the end of my words. He proposed another room where I  could able to see the lake directly with its additional fee. I had focused on the cheapest fee of my reserve room before  I  came there so I  didn't accept his suggestion that was five times more  expensive.

I went to the center of Ohrid by my car after having  a breakfast next day.  I left my car in a proper, no fee  street to get around. You would see the fortress of Ohrid from so many places in Ohrid,  which was on top of  one of  the hills   and  had a beautiful view of the lake.  I didn't think to climb up to the fortress.  Actually I made a wrong decision, I should have climbed the fortress. I could have taken  the photos of the lake  , in  the best view of this location.

There were a few historical buildings on my main route  like  ancient theatre of Ohrid , St. Bogorodica Perivlepta Church,  Church of St. Sophia...    I simply  passed in front of these historical buildings.

I went straight to the Church St. Jovan Kaneo. It was rainy as long as I stayed  in Ohrid, even three times in one day. When I went to Church of St Jovan Kaneo it was raining, I sat on the stairs of a private property  on my route,  even so the tourists that had blue eyes and blond hairs  didn't mind the rain.   Already the rain didn’t last long time, the Sun immediately  appeared between clouds.

You can't able to find much better  place to take a photo like St. Jovan Kaneo Church's location. I have a lot experienced about this. The most of the times buildings   don't settle in your frame with all of the sizes that you see through the visor of camera. St. Jovan Kaneo Church is in the dominant location to the lake  on a small hill. This small and cute church gives you a lot opportunity to take photos together with the lake’s images. Aside the religious value of this small church,  it deserves seen due to its amazing view.

Of course you can find much more beautiful  photos of St. Kaneo Church on the Internet than mine

I quote these  sentences below from the Internet .

“Built in the honor of St. John the Theologian, St. Kaneo with its sublime atmosphere and views of the placid lake below, remains an inspiring place for spiritual contemplation.The church which was consecrated at the end of the 13th century was built on a rectangular stone base.”

Another  place which has the Ohrid’s beautiful  lake view is The Monastery of St. Naum. This orthodox monastery is  29 kilometeres away  from the Ohrid center. I went to the Monastery through  the coast of the Ohrid Lake on the road by my car.  It was built on a hill  like St. Jovan  Kaneo Church’s . There were a lot of small stores  which were selling local works and souvenirs on the coast.  After passing this field you must climb toward the hill on which St. Naum Monastery is placed. 

I quote these sentences below from the Internet .

“The Monastery of Saint Naum is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the Republic of Macedonia, named after the medieval Saint Naum who founded it. It is situated along Lake Ohrid, 29 kilometres south of the city of Ohrid.  The monastery was established in the Bulgarian Empire in 905 by St Naum of Ohrid himself.”

I came across with some information about St. Naum Monastery that's very surprising for me .. This monastery and other religious buildings have provided a title to the Ohrid Town ,  that is " Jerusalem of the  Balkan lands". Even,  according to what I read, the monastery known as Sarı Saltuk tomb by  local Turcs. They were visiting  this monastery as a blessed place  once upon a time . This is  not a surprise. The Turkic tribes ,  Avars, Bolgars, Kumans  and Pechenegs were situated in the Balkan lands after  the 5th century, although majority of them converted into  christianity in years. But after 13- 14th centuries, Turks came these areas with their Islamic  identity.

The view of the lake and coast was very beautiful in front of the monastery. There was a slight wind and sprinkled clouds on the sky then. There is a river that mixed with  the lake   just ahead of the skirt of the Monastery, İt was called Srno Drim.  Srno Drim is one of the important rivers that supporting to the Ohrid Lake coming from Galiçitsa mountain. Srno Drim carries  so  clean and clear water to the Ohrid Lake.

I prefered to return to the Ipsala border via Skopje. So I would able to see small towns of Macedonia like  Gostivar, Tetovo. Between Ohrid and Skopje  is around  170 kilometers, 3 hours by car.  The minarets and bells were certain separator between different cultural groups. Probably I didn't see such long minarets in Turkey than in Tetovo or Gostivar. The most crowded group of Muslims are Albanians in Macedonia .   I booked an apartment in the city center of  Skopje ,  that is called Apartments Kolevski. This modern flat's fee was 63 Euros for two nights  that included the kitchen with full equipment.  I liked its comfort.

Actually there is not any important  stuff to see  in the center of Skopje city. After I came to Skopje I decided to go Matka canyon. I had heard about  this canyon  from my friends before I came to Macedonia. Already it was very close distance from the city center of Skopje, around 15 kilometers. There were    canoe races  there  coincidentally. I parked my car somewhere  quite far away  of the dam barrier beceause already the police didn't allow me  to   pass further.  This river valley  became as if it is  a market place. I bought boiled  corn from a seller, when I saw his cauldron,  with  the anticipation to find  local organic  corn . My anticipations werein  vain, international seed productors had already reached to  the Macedonian  peasants before many years ago,  when I visited there. .

Even so I was glad to meet  with a corn seller who was a local Turk .   He couldn't speak Turkish but he was proud for  sending  his son to learn Turkish to a Turkish school .

I can't say there is not any remarkable thing in the capital  of Macedonia. The monument of a warrior on the horse  was erected in the main square of Skopje at the commemorate  of the independence to the 20 th years, in  2011  by the nationalist government of Macedonia. 

Actually this monument  is typically thought to depict   Alexander the Great although it was not named  in this way by the official also.  The ownerships of the  names of the Macedonia and Alexander the Great are  a  reason to discuss  between Greece and the  new Macedonian  Republic.



As well as  new fictional monuments, there is a real historical bridge  which is named as Stone Bridge  in the Skopje Square.  It was started to built under the patronage of Sultan Mehmed II in 1451. It is 214m long and 6 m wide.  You can come across a few beggars on the bridge where they work together with    all of  their family members. The weather  was very hot while these children were lying on the stone bridge under the sun, probably they were expecting a few coins from visitors. Gypsies’  lives  are very similar in every land , their habits  don't  show a big difference  in the western countries or eastern countries

The Stone Bridge that is across of Vardar River connects  to historical old bazaar from the Skopje Square.

The old bazaar of the city of Skopje. There were not too much interesting place except a meatball shop "Destan" that is peculiar to the Balkan countries at least for me... By the way I should say that  "Destan" means  saga ..Destan meatball shop has two branchies  in Skopje . Another known meatball shop is "Merak" in the city center of Skopje . There was an alive music in Merak in summer evenings. İts salad and bean salad were delicious , ı can't say the same thing  for its meatball.

I saw a modern museum in the city center of Skopje that was built for memory of Jewish people . According to what I read from the Internet, The Holocaust Memorial Museum for Macedonian Jews was officially opened on 10 March 2011, exactly 68 years after the allied Bulgarian and German forces deported the Macedonian Jews to the Treblinka extermination camp. The museum faces the Vardar River .

My photos that belong to the return road are  not available , I mistakenly erased them..There was a long car queue in front of the Greek  border.  I had to wait for a few hours there before   I passed the point of passport control.  Only this  case stayed in my mind.. I arrived at home at 9 pm  ,  whereas  I had arrived to Ohri town before the evening although I had departured in the same hours…