EASTERN EUROPE - Ohrid - Macedonia

Monastry Peacock

Roman Mosaics

No 13 Email.Ohrid. Macedonia
This is a continuation of my effort to go to Ohrid in Macedonia, from Saranda in Albania.
There was no bus from Saranda to Ohrid as I had been told, another case of misunderstanding. I have to do better by writing everything down and have the other people do the same.
Anyway, I went back to the hotel and checked at the “bus station” on occasion to find there was another bus to the border of Macedonia. None showed up. I went back to the hotel told them I was staying another day. As I was getting confusing infos from the owner of the hotel and from the other people there I decided that I had to regain control of this situation.
The real problems are:
It is hard to find anybody who speaks English
The only tourist office open at this time is totally useless. As an example, on the other side of the street from the office is an area full of Roman ruins and apparently some mosaics. I asked the office for some kind of pamphlet or guide to this site. It took the woman there about 15 minutes to find something.
All of the buses and minibuses are privately owned and do not publish any schedule. A rule of thumb, I was told, you know a bus is not coming if it does not show up about 15 minutes before departure time!
My first quest was to find somebody that spoke understandable English. Then I could ask this person to tell me how one goes about finding bus schedules.
Back at the hotel I asked the owner for an English speaking contact. He immediately called one of the two women who works there. The next thing that happens is that she eventually showed up with my breakfast, but she understand very little English. I am getting a little bit frustrated. I crossed my arms, told them that I want somewhat who speaks English, and I am not eating my breakfast until I am satisfied.
They finally understand, the owner gets on the phone and calls the other woman helper. She came in about 10 minutes later and she is able to understand what I want! She told me to follow her, we leave after I told them to leave my breakfast alone, I’ll eat it later.
She takes me to a coffee/bar shop near the “bus station”. She talks a few minutes to the woman in charge who take a piece of paper and writes down a complete bus schedule for both Pogradec and Elbasan. Two cities close to the Macedonian border and the only way to Macedonia.
I felt great having regained control of the situation. I go back to the hotel and eat my breakfast.
Maybe you can guess what happens the next day??
The bus to Pogradec is scheduled for 6:30 am (the preferred option).The bus to Elbasan is scheduled for 7:00 am.
Next day: At about 6:20, a bus driver and a woman approached me. The woman is a British nurse that works here in a small village. She told me the bus to Pogradec is not coming (she learned this from her own bus driver). She think that this is due to heavy snow fall in the north of Albania.
Not surprising, the bus to Elbasan does not show up. At this point I am not sure what to do: give up and buy a house in Saranda (just kidding but the thought crossed my mind) go back to the hotel and try again tomorrow? One of the problems is that I have made Internet reservations in Ohrid and I have changed them once already.
I go back to the café/bar and asked the woman about this situation. She suggested that I go to Tirana ( a 6-hour drive away) and catch a minibus toward the Macedonian border from there. The bus driver happens to be there and promise me that it will take me to the appropriate bus station in Tirana.
To make a long story short, in Tirana they dropped me in the middle of the town, and called someone to take me to an appropriate location. A man showed up (not a taxi!) and asked for too much money to take me to a place where I can take a bus. This turned out to be a station for private minibus only. This is a place where they do not leave until the minibus is full! Time is working against me and I finally agreed to pay 25 euros to take me to Pogradec. Expensive by Albanian standard but not too bad considering the fact that it is a three-hour ride thru the mountains and the driver promised me to take me directly to one of the Macedonian borders. This turned out to be a great trip. The driver speaks English, and he worked in Michigan for 12 years.
The scenery is truly spectacular along this high altitude twisting road. The driver wants to buy me a cup of coffee in one of the few restaurants on the road. This happens to be a very classy place, with waiters dressed in traditional Albania costumes. A nice fire is roaring in the fire place. A very nice experience.
I am somewhat worry about finding transportation from the border because I only have information about the other border. We make a deal, we will go to that other border if transportation is unavailable from here. The driver stays with me until the border guard told him that there are plenty of taxis at the Macedonian border.
At the Albanian border, and while they check my passport, I ask a driver going by for a ride to Ohrid. He told me, in perfect English, that there are taxis on the Macedonian side. As I am walking to the snow toward Macedonia, the same driver stop, and asked me if I am alone (is not obvious!?). He offers me a ride to Ohrid, and drops me very close to my hotel. A very good introduction to Macedonia!
The door of the hotel is open but there is nobody there. I go next door to a wine shop and the man in charge calls the owner of the hotel. He shows up a few minutes later and told me that he did not expect me so early (it is about 18:30). I did real well. According to the Lonely Planet site, it is next to impossible to make the Saranda to Ohrid trip in one day!
I have a double room for the price of a single (20 euros) it includes breakfast, a TV set (with some English-speaking channel including CNN) and it is centrally located. The owner speaks English and he is very helpful. He gave me two keys, one for the front door and one for my room. I asked him If I should lock the front door, and he said “ It is not necessary, this is not Albania” !?
Ohrid is at the edge of Lake Ohrid. It is a very pleasant place with several sights of interests. As a lone tourist I got special treatment in two of the churches. In the oldest Macedonian Cathedral I was showed parts of the church not generally available to tourists, including an attached smaller church for woman only. All the well-preserved frescoes shows women saints only. (including St Sofia, the church patron). The woman attendant in the St Dimitri Church has been working there for 27 years, has a Master Degree in Ethnography and for her thesis wrote an extensive publication on the meaning of the well-preserved, nicely restored frescoes that covers all the walls in the church. She was happy to explain her interpretation of the significance and the meaning of the beautiful frescoes. Unfortunately we are not allowed to take pictures.
An early Christian Basilique is located besides Roman Ruins and some very well preserved mosaics. Most of the walls with two of the gates that surrounded the original city still exists. An Amphitheter, built around the birth of Christ, wasn’t fully uncovered until 1984.
One of my favorite sight, the 13th Century Sveti Jovan Church at Kaneo, provides a perfect background for a very nice view of Lake Ohrid.
A minibus ride took me near the southern end of the lake to the 17th century Sveti Naum monastery whose grounds are patrolled by dozen of beautiful peacocks. The monastery located on top of a hill offers magnificent views of Lake Ohrid and the snow covered mountains around it.
Note! The Macedonian TV offers a few channels in English, including CNN.
Next Skopje, the birthplace of Mother Theresa.