Day 9 – Thursday, August 14, 2025

It was time to leave the campground – I resisted the temptation of tolling the bell early in the morning, though it would have been fun waking up all the villages.

Not a sight I see often – a church within a campground

I was up and ready around 7:15 and rode through a valley for a dozen kilometers or so. Here I had to make a decision – either I would take an old road or a new one. Fearing poor surface, I opted for the new one. No matter which road I would take, there was loads of climbing awaiting me, as Google Maps divulged. Slowly, painstakingly, I started the ascent. Though I never had to shove my bike, it was on the verge – it might have been more efficient at certain places to get off the saddle. There was quite a view from the top to the valley I had ascended from.

View from above – quite steep was the ascent

I reached a a beautifully executed patch of road, veering through modern tunnels and bridges – it was a feat of architectural achievement (not to be outdone by the radar station, one more nod to Albanian engineers). Similar to Podgorica, there were quite a few wildfires to be seen. Near the town of Bulqiza, two young Swiss bikers caught up with me; we rode along for a while. They stopped to escape the heat, I decided to push on.

Nice job in building such roads – a "bit" better than in 2012

This modern road reached the town of Bulqiza, hosting the largest chrome mines in Europe. One could tell that there was mining activity going on; a lot of the ground had been displaced.

Apparently, not a lot of effort in protecting the environment

I did stop to buy some water and refreshments a bit later, and in a modern supermarket, a small kitten felt very much at home, playing really clumsily with the cardboard boxes and packaging materials. I had a splendid laugh.

Now came a patch of road I would not make best friends with. It was just straight, very straight, and to make matters worse, it started inclining. I do like climbing mountains taking switchbacks, having turns – I detest such roads, where there is nothing but the ascent into Nirvana. You feel you are not making progress. There were cars that felt they had to test the utmost limits of their engines; an old, battered, sputtering BMW flew past me at above 200 km/h. It sounded like a fighter jet.

Not my favorite patch of road

I finally made it to the top, where there was a turn – and now I was headed for the border of North Macedonia. There was quite a queue, but you know the drill – I went straight ahead and within a few minutes, I was in the 60th country I had ever visited, according to a list (my buddy Rustom is way above a hundred).

A weird thing happened as soon as I crossed the border – it started drizzling. It was the first sign of precipitation on this trip and lasted some five minutes, not even enough time to get wet.

I took a rest in the first small town, called Debar, population of some 10,000. I went to a local bakery, where I could still pay with my Albanian leks. I sat down at the table of a closed coffee shop. Not much was to be seen in town, so I started riding to the main destination I came to North Macedonia for – which was Lake Ohrid – but that was still some 65 kilometers away towards the south.

Here I was only at Lake Debar, an artificial lake – with a depth of some 100 meters, quite deep! – and a relatively narrow road veered along the shore of it. Oh my, there were lots of ups and downs that day – later, I was riding next to River Black Drin.

A pretty artificial lake

There were not many highlights – one of the few was a water fountain, where I could freshen up a tad. Talking about freshening up, I was really, really tired when I got to the vicinity of Lake Ohrid. Now I was close to the town of Struga, with a shopping center at the intersection; I laid down on a patch of grass to catch my breath. The town of Ohrid itself was still 15 kilometers away – there was no freaking way I would make it that evening. I was really exhausted, plus it was getting dark. I decided to find a place to stay in Struga.

Luck, I thought, was on my side – or so I thought. I found a room for just €14, about 2 kilometers away from me, so I reserved it on booking.com. Getting up was a challenge, but then I made it to the place. I did not even think of going to the lake itself; I was so beat. It was not the nicest neighborhood, but then €14 is a bargain. I got there and was amused to see three kittens running around playfully. Their master, however, was not very friendly; he told me he had double-booked the room and that there was no vacancy. By that time, I had sat down on one of the lawn chairs. The mother was more friendly; she offered me some watermelon, which was freshly cut. I was pretty pissed at the guy. He started calling around to find a room. He told me a friend would have a room for €20; it was still in the cluster of reasonable. He then mentioned one large room in his property had just been cancelled, but as it was a larger room, it would be €25. I was so tired I would have paid double that, but argued that I had an offer for €14, so he should honour his commitment. We agreed on €16 including a toast, which was actually quite tasty. I showered and dropped on the bed – and slept rather well that night.

The ride was 113 kilometers long, with 1,472 meters of elevation gain.