13. Prizren to Skopje (North Macedonia)

Another big up and down day today!

And despite the wee graphic above….it started all down. At about two o’clock in the morning…..and again at 3.30…..and again…..as my delicious Mexican dinner went down the toilet! So…having suffered the breaking cold and the chills yesterday….I woke up feeling awful, sweating, dehydrated no doubt, headache…you name it!

So I swallowed one too many paracetamol, and a couple of ibuprofen….and was just about coming right, by the time Iain appeared…only for him to lose all his dinner too!!

We were a right pair! And left somewhat later than planned, bottom tampon in place, tidily kept in place by the wedgie of the saddle!

Take it easy we agreed!

But not much chance of that as we climbed…

……and climbed once again…

……1200m straight, without a single downhill relief!

And somehow it actually felt better to be on the bike….than not! (…sort of like “never had a day off work in my life”, which is true…so only ever got sick on holiday/days off…so best just to keep going..a combination of adrenaline and bloody-mindedness!).

It was stunning though……..

And we pulled into the hilltop town of Prevalla with some relief! And braved a coffee (which did not work for Iain)…..

We felt for the roadside store-keepers (selling mountain honey, malt, “blueberry” juice…and cheese). Maybe ten cars – and one bus – passed through in the half hour we were there. Maybe three stopped, and between the seven stalls…they sold not a thing! Pretty spot though.

The descent was in fact extraordinary as the profile graphic shows. Not as steep down as up….and it went on for close to 70kms!!! A few ups..a few flat bits…..but what a great ride!! Certainly our longest downhill ever!!

But…the first bit…was painfully cold! We had all but reached the snow-line…and hurtling down at 40+kph…with no pedalling….fingers turned to ice. Thankfully it did not take too long for us to get down sufficiently far for the temperature to become bearable once again.

And it was a hill which kept on giving!

We stopped for lunch just before the border. Great wee cafe. Smoke inside. And a large chicken salad and chips….a big omelette with salad….half a loaf of bread……coke and coffee….all for the princely sum of eight euros!

So we left Kosovo…with slightly mixed feelings. Ok we have really only been to Prizren (& up a few hills!)…but….the people are certainly not as friendly as the Albanians of Albania! Perhaps they have struggled for too long with Serb domination (prior to the war…..and their subsequent quasi independence)….or maybe that Serbian arrogance has rubbed off a bit. But Prizren was lovely and certainly worth the visit….but we really only skimmed the country en route to North Macedonia..so it is unfair to judge…..and the war so recent really.

Simple border formalities (somehow always exciting on a bike!)…before we continued the downhill to Skopje.

Only to discover that our Albanian SIMs seem to have stopped working. So…we were lost……

…. But finally found signs to the centre, and knew we must be close when….

Routemasters…?? Really?? What a sight! But no…these are ‘Citymasters’..from China! Funny though….Boris would have been proud!

So we maplessly found our way to the middle…but still had no idea where our accommodation was! So stopped at a cafe to borrow their wifi….(seemed churlish not to have a beer!)…and eventually found our way.

Interesting city!! Feels really good! And I do not think I have ever been to a place with so much public sculpture!