From Tirana, my plan was to head north to Montenegro when a friend in Berlin that I had met in Cambodia told me that she was going on holiday to Bulgaria in a few days and that I should join her. Since I was travelling over land, meeting my friend in Bulgaria meant that I would have to travel through Macedonia (before it was renamed to North Macedonia in 2019). But I had no intention of going to Macedonia. What was I going to do there? What’s even there?

The beauty of travelling over land and without a return ticket is that you can be flexible and spontaneous. So I got on a bus and headed to Macedonia to kill a few days. My first stop was Ohrid, which I learned once arriving, is on a lake that is older, bigger, and deeper than Como in Italy. It’s funny how I didn’t even know this lake even existed prior to arriving.

Ohrid is a small city with an old town centrally located by the lake, typical of many European towns/cities. It’s been referred to as the “Jerusalem of the Balkans” due to its countless churches. As you will see, it is also very picturesque.

The small city is dotted with countless historic landmarks. One of the many remnants of Ohrid’s Roman legacy is the Ancient Macedonian Theatre of Lychnidos.

The old town is surrounded by a fortress, which was built when under Bulgarian rule.

The highlight of my time in Ohrid was taking a boat tour around the lake. The lake is crystal clear and so pristine. I was even tempted to drink it.

For European standards, the lake is pretty massive.

The boat stopped by the Bay of Bones Museum, which is a reconstruction of a prehistoric settlement built on wooden piles above the lake.

Up on a cliff overlooking the lake is the Church of St. John at Kaneo. To be honest, I don’t know the history or significance of the church. What I can say is that the view of the church with the lake in the backdrop is pretty frikken stunning, especially at dusk when the sun illuminates the church as it is about to set.

The inside of the church is just as stunning as the outside.

I don’t know why there was a peacock hanging around by the church, but it was there strutting its feathers for all the tourists.

As I was taking in the view of the sunset during my last night in Ohrid, I noticed a bizarre yet beautiful formation of clouds above the lake. It kind of looked like a UFO. I had never seen anything like it before. Little did I know, these lenticular clouds require just the right atmospheric conditions to form, which is why they are considered rare. It felt like mother nature was showing off it’s magic, just for me.