Lakes in Western Greece and North Macedonia.

Sometimes, advice comes from the strangest quarters.

I buy cheese regularly from a stall at Victoria Market in Melbourne. The cheese seller is a biker and of Greek heritage. His mum lives in Niki on the Greece/ North Macedonian border. He told me the lakes and mountains in this area we very special. They are let me show you!

Arnissa is a beautiful little village on the banks of Lake Vegoritida, nestled in the mountains on the Greek/ North Macedonia border

But the best lakes were over the border in North Macedonia.

I was guided to these lakes by a chance aquaintance at Victoria Market.

This is where I buy my cheese and the cheeseman is a biker of Greek origin whose mum lives in Niki on the Greek/ Macedonian border.

He told me the riding and the scenery around Lakes Prespa and Ohrid was magnificent. And his advice was true.

Lake Prespa and Lake Ohrid are divided by a large limestone mountain range. Lake Prespa sits in a mountain basin and is 150 metres higher elevation than Lake Ohrid. The mirky shallow water of Lake Prespa is filteres through the limestone emerging form spings into the crystal clear waters of Lake Ohrid. The Lakes are believed to be the oldest in Europe, having been in existence for more than 1 million years.

Lake Prespa is a place for birds and fishing. The shores are primarily agricultural with a few hotels.

The mountains between the two lakes form the Galicica National Park.

The trails in the forests are beautiful for walking, and the roads are magical for motorbike riding.

The spring sourced from Lake Prespa flows at the southern end of the lake is the Monastery of Saint Naum

The mountains provide beautiful views of the lakes and countryside.

The mountains also allow for paragliding over Lake Ohrid.

The water of Lake Ohrid is just beautiful. The eastern side of the lake in North Macedonia and the western side Albania. The City of Ohrid sits at the Northern end of the lake.

Small villages are dotted around the sure as well as big resorts. This is a tourist lake with some amazing history.

At the southern end of the lake, there is the Monastery of St Naum, which is reputedly the oldest Byzentine monastery in the world.

This is where the mountain filtered spring water from Lake Prespa flows into Lake Ohrid.

In Ohrid the Church of Saints Clement and Panteleimon is also a historic treasure. Both the church and the Roman ruins.

Doing this post reminds me I must once again thank the cheese seller for his wonderful travel advice.

Albania

The mountains of Montenegro continue over the border into Albania.

Spectacular hairpin roads, coming up from the coast.

Near the border is the Theth National Park. A beautiful alpine area for both riding and walking.

There are a number of restaurants, guest houses and hotels in the area. The local food is delicious and plentiful, and if you are lucky you will be invited to share a campfite with the locals.

The next destination was Vlore on, what is termed, the Albanian Reviera.

Vlore is also where Europes last wild river empties into the Adriatic Sea.

The Vjose River’s headwaters are in the Mountains of Western Macedonia, Greece, where it is called the Aoos and my route through Albania.

Vlore has beautiful marshlands as well as beaches.

But I was keen to aquaint myself with the Vjose River. Next blog will follow the Vjose river into the mountains of Greece.

Montenegro – a bikers paradise

Montenegro is a country of absolute scenic beauty with high mountain ranges that run right to the sea and mountain roads the match of any in Europe.

A day didn’t go by that I didn’t find other riders.

The great roads started at the Bosnian border. The first destination was the Bay of Kotor and the Kotor Sepentine.

With 25 hairpin turns and amazing views over the Bay of Kotor this is a special ride.

After a night in Kotor, it was off to the city of Podgorica to undertake one of the great rides of Europe through the Moraca and Tara river canyons.

The ride along the Moraca climbs from the Montenegro capital Podjorica into the mountains and onto the Serbian Border.

The village of Kolosin is just off the road. At 1450m elevation its a beautiful ski village with lots of accomodation. It is a beautiful place to stop after a hard ride.

Its also a good place to see some striking Soviet style architecture.

Mixed with some good local beer French Romantic style buildings.

It was a short along the Moraca canyon road to Mojkovac to the start of the Tara Canyon road.

The Tara Canyon is second only to the Grand Canyon as the longest canyon in the world.

What a ride!!!!

The road finishes at the Durdevica Tara Bridge, which provides a wonderful view down the Canyon.

How good was the ride? So good. I turned around and road it again as set my course for Albania.

In all my riding in Europe and Australia, these canyon roads are close to the top.

The road to Albania continues through some remote mountain country. Where the script changes in the little villages.

On the return trip, I took the road from Serbia down through the Durmitor National Park. Beautiful, high plain roads.

That lead back to the Bay of Kotor. Being late September, many of the water side hotels were closing for the season and rooms were relatively cheap. Right on the water at Herceq Novi, which is right on the Montenegro/Croatia border.

Croatia 1 – northern mountains

The overnight ferry from Anconna arrived in Split on a hot Croatian morning.

With very hot weather forcast for the Croation Coast, I decided to head to mountains of Northern Croatia, in particular the Gacka Valley.

The cleat water of the Gacko river flows through the valley.

The Gacko Valley sits between two natural attractions in Croatia; Plitvice Lakes National Park and the Samograd Cave.

The Plitvice Lakes are a spectacular series of lakes and waterfall.

Entry into the National Park is strictly ticketed, and given it was the peak holiday season, there were large crowds. I, therefore, took a walk around a forest trail that overlooks the Lakes. As you can see, it gives good views of the lakes and puts you at the top of some on the waterfalls.

The Samograd Cave goes deep into the limestome mountains, and the 8c temperature inside the cave quite a contrast to the 35c+ temperatures on a hot mid August day.

Access to the cave is ticketed and is underaken in small groups with a guide.

The motorcycle riding through these mountains is beautiful.

On a hot summer, the mountains are about 4c less than on the coast. For me that meant low to mid 30s and opposed to high 30s.

But don’t worry, you can still find a place to swim if you get local advice. I was given directions to this lovely swimming hole between Gacka and the Plitvice Lakes.

Puglia – Manfredonia and Gargona National Park

Manfredonia sits at the northern end of Puglia on the Adriatic Sea, nestled, south of the Gargona Promontory.

Its a lively town with a big fishing fleet and wonderful seafood restaurants.

It’s flanked by beaches.

And wet lands

The Gargona National Park is on a plateau with ancient forests, amazing motorcycling roads, and historic towns and villages.

Monte Sant’Angelo is a UNESCO World Heritage village perched up on the Gargona Escarpment. It is recognised as one of the most beautiful villages in Italy.