Skopje day 2

---

I am up at 8 and head out in search of fruit for breakfast. I can’t find anywhere open though so head back for my pick up. At 9am I hear a car horn beep and a man is waving at me from a black BMW. He is the hostel owners brother and after peja I am a bit wary but I have already committed and paid so I get in. He is perfectly pleasant but not overly talkative on the 30 minute drive to the canyon. He drops me off at the end of the road and gives me his business card which lists him as the hostel owner. He says his brother is the manager and I can text him whenever I’m done and he will come pick me up. There are restaurants all the way along with wifi.

I head up the road to the canyon. It is around a 30 minute walk and I buy a pot of cherries along the way which taste amazing. Fruit is so good here. A guy on a scooter passes me and asks if I want to see the canyon by boat, he says its 8.5 euros and includes the cave too. His company is the second one along and it leaves in around 15 minutes. He heads off and I continue walking. The canyon is beautiful and the first company I come to has very colourful boats and canoes. They are offering a boat along the canyon which is cheaper but it doesn’t include the caves. It reminds me a lot of Moraine Lake in the Canadian Rockies with the multicoloured boats lined up against the blue green water. Its so pretty and I take a lot of photos.

I find the next company and buy my ticket. They are waiting for 4 more so I go and get a takeaway espresso and then head back and wait. By the time we are ready to go the boat is full. I start talking to a polish girl and a Slovenian guy who just met on the bus. They are trying to fit as much as they can into the day and I tell them I have a driver taking me to millenium cross after this and offer them a ride there and back for 10 euros. They accept and we chat as we head through the canyon. It is stunning, high walls and blue green water; really beautiful. At the cave we are stuck behind a tour group and there are a lot of stairs. I’m more worried about how slippy it is so take care going in.
The cave is beautiful. Really big and well lit with multicoloured lights which male the features look really interesting and glowing. I take a lot of photos and a few selfies before we head back onto the boat. We seem to have lost half the group so we sit in the canyon for a while waiting for them. It is so beautiful I am pretty content. The group finally comes and we realise they are led by a tour guide. He is Serbian and very opinionated and starts telling the Polish girl Paulina about polish culture, lecturing her on her own country. I try to tune him out because he is annoying me and instead focus on the incredible scenery. I’m glad I came, I feel like this makes up for missing Rugova canyon.

Back at the dock we head away from the tour group and I ask Greg and Paulina if there’s anything else to do here they say the only thing is to walk further along the canyon but the views won’t be as pretty as on the boat. Also it is really hot and starting to get busy so I text Micki that we are ready to get picked up. He says 45 minutes so we walk most of the way, picking up a bottle of water then sit and have a drink. Greg and I have a beer and Paulina has iced coffee. He says he’s here so we start walking but I feel like we’ve gone too far so I ask him to send his location and we have walked too far. I ask him to come and collect us which he does.
Back in the air conditioned car it takes about 50 minutes to get back into town and then up the other side of the mountain. This would have been a mission on buses. The view is incredible though and Micki drops us at the car park. There are food and drink stalls everywhere and I pick up a bottle of water after being bullied aside by a dozen old ladies. We head to the cable car ticket office and we are all in shock when it is only 100 dinar both ways, that’s like 1 euro 20. Its cheap for a cable car but we collect our tickets and climb into our car. The view extends all the way down the bit we are going up and along the road we drove up. You can see the whole city and the sky is clear and beautiful. Ahead of us millenium cross us a huge wrought iron structure on the top of the mountain.

We jump out the cable car and walk around finding different spots to take photos. The view over the city is stunning and in the opposite direction the mountains are everywhere and beautiful. We find an angle with great views of the cross. Unfortunately they are maintaining the elevator so you can’t go up but we walk around the top taking photos from every angle. It’s beautiful but after an hour we are done. I text micki that we are ready to be picked up and get a thumbs up. We head down the cable car and jump off at the bottom. In the car park we find a nice bench in the shade and I tell them about what happened in peja and Paulina is really angry, Greg is new to solo travelling and is shocked that women have to be so careful. I don’t think those concerns have ever occurred to him as a young guy and I definitely think he’s getting an education from us on how different it is to be a woman on your own. Still I think we encourage him to solo travel. He is on this trip with a friend who is spending all day in bed so this is his first time heading off alone.

Micki finally gets there after about an hour and I feel bad for Paulina as she only has today to see all of the city and we watched a bus go by as we waited but we make it back to town in good time. I am starving and need to eat but Paulina wants to see as much as she can so they head off agreeing to message us later on Instagram to meet for drinks. I head to a Turkish cafe and order lamb kofta and beans which comes with bread. I don’t like the beans but the kofta is nice. Still I eat it all and drink two cokes as I have only had cherries and water all day and its nearly 4pm. After I eat I head back the hostel and lie in the cool air conditioning. I gave caught the sun and have a headache so I end up falling asleep. I wake once and check my messages but there’s nothing so I doze off again.

I wake around 9 and check my messages, this time I think to check my requests and I have messages saying let’s meet at 7 and messages asking where I am. Oops. I reply asking if they are still out. They are so I head to join them. I’m wide awake now and it’s a good chance to be out after dark with company. They are in a bar in Macedonia Square which is about ten minutes away so I join them and order a beer. Greg’s friend is there too and he’s definitely strange but Paulina and Greg are lovely. Apparently they came to my hostel asking about me when I hadn’t replied. Paulona has been exploring pretty much since we got back and is wanting to head home. Greg’s friend wants to stay out but he’s a bit strange and Greg is heading back so I drink my beer and pay and walk back with Paulina whose hostel is beside mine.

As we head away from the square I spot a seller with corn on the cob. I’ve wanted one since kosovo and I have only had one meal today so I buy one. The man doesn’t have change and I only have 1000 dinar so he gives it me for free. I promise I’ll come back tomorrow and pay. Once again the kindness here is overwhelming. The corn is amazing and I eat as I walk. Back at our hostels I say bye to paulina then head for a beer in the hostel cafe as I am still awake. The staff ask if I am Katarina and tell me my friends came looking for me. I drink my beer and head to bed. It has been a really good day and I feel like I really got a lot done.

30 euros
1000 dinar
2litres water. Cherries, lamb kofta, beans, bread, corn, 2 cokes, 3 beer

---