A hurtle down the 25% hill…even for only two kms…certainly blew away a few seedy cobwebs, after our fantastic night at our monastery hotel. What a place! Truly world class…so if anyone is anywhere close…just go there!! “Modest” rooms….”modest” menu…& cold beer…in the most magnificent setting…! (..if you’re a cyclist..you either need to be electric…or a freak!). So memorable….
And…of course (this being the Balkans after all)….our downhill hurtle was followed by a stiff climb…up to the Bulgarian border!! But a lovely grade…almost a constant 5%….up 500m over ten kms.
And…it turned into one of the best border crossings ever! We left North Macedonia…with little more than a wry shrug (as I was still panting as we reached passport control!)…but the Bulgarian guys were fantastic! At passport control (pontificating about everything which is wrong with the politics in Bulgaria, and the corruption)….the young guy thought we were mad…..the police likewise….as they joked that our bikes might get nicked! And then the customs man wondered how many drugs we were carrying…as we produced cigarettes and vapes!! All totally unthreatening…and all in good humour!
A good omen, we both thought!
For we had just left what I (currently) believe is THE most under-rated tourist destination in all of Europe! Two visits now (last year and this!)…both too brief….but North Macedonia is a great place to go! Truly beautiful….with friendly folk…glorious scenery….Lake Ohrid is world class…Skopje and Bitola both have a wonderful vibe…and our Monastery visit took the cake! Combine that with prices which are barely comprehensible! Love the place…….!!
So…now in Bulgaria…we enjoyed the inevitable rush down the hill (..makes sense for most border crossings to be geographically defined…by hard-to-access mountain divides!!)….& 25kms on stopped for coffee!!
This route…NB…..was not on the original plan! But one ‘sick day’ in Prizren…required a readjustment! We (I..!!) had been planning a trip to Bankso – and it was a tortous/mountainous route (another one!) – so we are taking a slightly more direct route through to Plovdiv (taking Robyn’s advice!!)…but alas…the hills keep coming….and a third double-tonner in a row ensued! (..our nickname for over 100kms AND over 1,000m!).
Absolutely gorgeous in bits….
…..but they really do love their straight roads here…so it can get a bit tedious….with cars driving too fast for comfort! So too much of this:
No top-up charging required today, but we did swap bikes for the last bit to share the battery management required!
We picked Samokov off the map as a suitable overnight spot. Felt like a very weird place…..with almost everywhere closed! It turns out this is a sort of cheap dormitory town for the adjoining more upmarket ski resort of Berkamets…..very busy in winter…but evidently not in spring! So it was largely deserted, not helped by it being Sunday evening (maybe?). Certainly not the community feel of Albania…even in much smaller towns!
We did however find a spectacular bar for much-needed rehydration, EPL on the tele (Arsenal live to boot)….& superb menu!!
And…in crossing the border…we had carelessly lost an hour…so we were unusually late to bed!! (..it was after ten!!)
