Day 39
Exploring Ohrid
Friday, September 27, 2024
Zdravo,
Tourist Registration in North Macedonia
Within twenty four hours of arriving in North Macedonia, all tourists are required to register at the local police station. There you will be issued with an ID card which you must carry at all times. If you are staying in a hotel, they usually take care of this formality for you. Since we were staying in a privately owned apartment, finding the local police station and registering ourselves was our first task for the day.
Google Maps helped us find the local police station. At the front desk was a handsome young policeman whose muscular arms were stretching the sleeves of his uniform shirt. Young, handsome, uniform and big muscles. Yep, he was just Grandma’s type!
Grandma’s new boyfriend sent us to a “Service Office”, about a hundred metres down the road. That seemed to be exactly what it was called, the Service Office. From what we could understand, it was an office full of forms. This is the office you come to if you live in North Macedonia and want to apply for a driver’s license or firearms license or complete any other type of government bureaucracy.
As foreign tourists, we had to first visit the Service Office and fill in the form for tourist registration in North Macedonia. Then we had to take the form back to the police station to be stamped and filed.
At the Service Office, a nice lady found the correct forms for tourist registration in North Macedonia. Using information from our passports she filled the forms out for us. Which was great because most of the questions were written in Macedonian. Then we were asked to pay a fee of 160 denars each. Oh, and by the way, the North Macedonia Service Office only takes cash. No EFTPOS, no credit cards.
Oops. We had no local currency. We had yet to visit an ATM.
We expected the lady to hold our forms while we went to an ATM to get some cash. Instead she insisted we take the forms with us, take them back to the police station, then come back later with the cash. The lady explained that the North Macedonian authorities are most insistent that we always carry our registration cards, so better to take them now and worry about payment later. She was incredibly trusting.
Back at the police station, Grandma’s hunky young policeman stamped and signed our tourist registration cards, then reiterated that we must always carry them with us. He also explained that when we leave North Macedonia, at the border we have to hand the cards over with our passports. If we do not have our registration cards when we try to leave the country the border authorities will fine us €600! That is approximately NZD$1,200, or 37,000 Macedonian Denars,
We found an ATM and now we feel very rich with all the cash we have. One New Zealand dollar is worth 34 Macedonian denars. Our pockets are stuffed with 1,000 denar notes.
After complying with the rules for tourist registration in North Macedonia, we were free to explore Ohrid.
Old City Park
The weather was spectacular. Again. We really have been blessed with the weather during this adventure. All day we were marveling at the colour of the sky, it was such a glorious deep blue, as you can see in our photos.
We walked back through the Old Town and around the lake front. Nestled against the Eastern flanks of the hill that overlooks the town is the Church of Hagia Sophia. This church was built in the middle ages and appears to be made entirely of bricks.
Behind the church a path led up the hillside to an area known as Old City Park. It's a steep, narrow climb that serves up spectacular views over Lake Ohrid. There are many paths through Old City Park, most of which are not sign posted. However, Google Maps does have the various paths well mapped, so using Google Maps is the easiest way to ensure you are heading in the right direction and do not miss any of the attractions.
One of those attractions is the Church of Saint John the Theologian, also known as Saint John at Kaneo. it is a small church built on the edge of a cliff overlooking Lake Ohrid. The shore on the far side of the lake is the country of Albania; the border between the countries runs down through the middle of Lake Ohrid.
Tsar Samuel’s Fortress
At the top of Old City Park is an old fortress, called Tsar Samuel’s Fortress. We'd seen this fortress from the balcony of our apartment and Grandma was determined we needed to make a visit.
Samuel was the Tsar of the First Bulgarian Empire during the 11th century. This fortress served as the capital for Samuel's empire. These days, the fortress is a tourist attraction and the site of archaeological excavation.
Steep, narrow stairways led to the walkways along the ramparts. Too high and scary for Koro to climb. But brave Grandma was happy to climb them and take pictures of the spectacular views.
There was not a breath of wind. With the beautiful lake as the backdrop and the flawless hard blue of the sky, it was a day made for Instagrammers. Sure enough they were out in force. We had seen several deeply engrossed in photo shoots as we'd climbed the hill of Old City park.
"Pfft. Amateurs", huffed a dismissive Buzzy Bee. "I'll show them how it's done."
So, while Grandma patrolled the fortress walls, Koro and Buzzy Bee had a bit of a photo shoot, with a huge North Macedonian flag gently wafting in the background. The other Instagrammers could only watch in awe as Buzzy Bee quickly struck a pose and, like the professional he is, achieved the perfect shot first time.
We left the fortress and continued our exploration of Ohrid. The town was once a Greek settlement, so of course there was an amphitheatre. It is called the Ancient Macedonian Theatre of Lychnidos. It is in very good condition and is still in regular use during the summer months. The stage is rigged for modern lighting and sound.
By now, the afternoon was very hot. We'd been walking for hours. The three of us had built up a powerful thirst. The type of thirst that can only be quenched by a tall glass of ice-cold beer. We walked along the lakefront searching for a suitable bar. Google Maps had recommended an Irish-themed bar about five hundred metres along the waterfront.
It was a mistake. Despite being busy (most of the tables were occupied), only one person was serving, and he was not in a happy mood. The grumpy service put a dampener on what was otherwise a nice pub in a spectacular location.
This weather we're enjoying is so good that we want to take advantage of it while we can. It is now late September and we're conscious that the temperature will soon start falling as we get deeper into autumn. While walking the ramparts this morning Grandma noticed a pretty beach drenched in sunshine. It is located in a bay just North of where we are staying. We've decided that tomorrow will be beach day.
Love to you all from Grandma & Koro & Buzzy Bee.