{"id":1359,"date":"2023-05-09T05:32:18","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T05:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=1359"},"modified":"2023-05-09T07:29:26","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T07:29:26","slug":"13-prizren-to-skopje-north-macedonia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=1359","title":{"rendered":"13. Prizren to Skopje (North Macedonia)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another big up and down day today! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And despite the wee graphic above\u2026.it started all down. At about two o\u2019clock in the morning\u2026..and again at 3.30\u2026..and again\u2026..as my delicious Mexican dinner went down the toilet! So\u2026having suffered the breaking cold and the chills yesterday\u2026.I woke up feeling awful, sweating, dehydrated no doubt, headache\u2026you name it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I swallowed one too many paracetamol, and a couple of ibuprofen\u2026.and was just about coming right, by the time Iain appeared\u2026only for him to lose all his dinner too!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Take it easy we agreed! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not much chance of that as we climbed\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u2026and climbed once again\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u20261200m straight, without a single downhill relief! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And somehow it actually felt better to be on the bike\u2026.than not! (\u2026sort of like \u201cnever had a day off work in my life\u201d, which is true\u2026so only ever got sick on holiday\/days off\u2026so best just to keep going..a combination of adrenaline and bloody-mindedness!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was stunning though\u2026\u2026..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And we pulled into the hilltop town of Prevalla with some relief! And braved a coffee (which did not work for Iain)\u2026.. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We felt for the roadside store-keepers (selling mountain honey, malt, \u201cblueberry\u201d juice\u2026and cheese). Maybe ten cars – and one bus –  passed through in the half hour we were there. Maybe three stopped, and between the seven stalls\u2026they sold not a thing! Pretty spot though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The descent was in fact extraordinary as the profile graphic shows. Not as steep down as up\u2026.and it went on for close to 70kms!!! A few ups..a few flat bits\u2026..but what a great ride!! Certainly our longest downhill ever!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But\u2026the first bit\u2026was painfully cold! We had all but reached the snow-line\u2026and hurtling down at 40+kph\u2026with no pedalling\u2026.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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it was a hill which kept on giving! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We stopped for lunch just before the border. Great wee cafe. Smoke inside. And a large chicken salad and chips\u2026.a big omelette with salad\u2026.half a loaf of bread\u2026\u2026coke and coffee\u2026.all for the princely sum of eight euros!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So we left Kosovo\u2026with slightly mixed feelings. Ok we have really only been to Prizren (& up a few hills!)\u2026but\u2026.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\u2026..and their subsequent quasi independence)\u2026.or maybe that Serbian arrogance has rubbed off a bit. But Prizren was lovely and certainly worth the visit\u2026.but we really only skimmed the country en route to North Macedonia..so it is unfair to judge\u2026..and the war so recent really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Simple border formalities (somehow always exciting on a bike!)\u2026before we continued the downhill to Skopje.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Only to discover that our Albanian SIMs seem to have stopped working. So\u2026we were lost\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026. But finally found signs to the centre, and knew we must be close when\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Routemasters\u2026?? Really?? What a sight! But no\u2026these are \u2018Citymasters\u2019..from China! Funny though\u2026.Boris would have been proud! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we maplessly found our way to the middle\u2026but still had no idea where our accommodation was! So stopped at a cafe to borrow their wifi\u2026.(seemed churlish not to have a beer!)\u2026and eventually found our way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interesting city!! Feels really good! And I do not think I have ever been to a place with so much public sculpture! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Simply everywhere\u2026..even right outside our apartment!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But the crowning glory is of course Alexander the Great ( centre stage in Macedonia Square)\u2026..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u2026and his Dad Philip! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u2026Even Mother Teresa was born here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Skopje\u2026..certainly a place to spend more time!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And after Albania\u2026and Kosovo\u2026it feels so much more\u2026..chilled\/civilised\/happy\u2026not sure. The GDP is no higher, and it is in fact cheaper here\u2026! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As last year\u2026North Macedonia feels like a great place to visit properly!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another big up and down day today!  And despite the wee graphic above\u2026.it started all down. At about two o\u2019clock in the morning\u2026..and again at 3.30\u2026..and again\u2026..as my delicious Mexican…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collioure-to-istanbul-back-2023"],"yoast_head":"\n13. 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