This spring we decided to go and spend the Easter holiday in Ohrid, where I have spent many summers long time ago in a galaxy far away. We booked a house in front of the lake, outside of the busy Ohrid town, close to the border with Albania in an area called Elen Kamen. It was a fantastic quiet place surrounded by nature and just a few cars passing by. We arrived late in the evening and went straight to bed.
Day 1
On the next day we were truly astonished by the view from the terrace of the house, with the whole lake in front of us and a few boats floating carelessly around. The sun rays were gently touching the watery surface, with its little waves formed by the fresh breeze.
It was an Easter holiday, so we decided to go to St. Naum monastery, located on the opposite end of the lake within the Macedonian territory. The weather was fantastic and it was such a joy to pass through all these familiar places and observe how things have changed within the past 10 years. We spent a few hours in the monastery, admiring the magnificent peacocks, carelessly posing on the roofs of the surrounding buildings.
We enjoyed a lunch in the town of Ohrid in front of the lake, followed by a pleasant walk in the old part of the town.
We reached the little church of St John at Kaneo following the road in front of the beach, which now was absolutely empty, while in the summer there is literally no space to put a towel. The tranquility of Kaneo is really astonishing and we could have spent hours there. The funny thing was I wanted to enter the church and the lady who was working there told me that if I don’t buy a candle I would have to pay an entrance fee.
To go back we took the road up the hill and exited the fortress through its gate.
Day 2
After a proper Easter breakfast in the house resulting into a number of eggs smashed, mainly by Reya we decided to explore the villages close to the border and headed to the little Radozhda village.
It has just a few houses and 4-5 restaurants, situated in front of the lake. At the end of the village we found a magnificent old campsite which, as it turned out, was abandoned after the political changes in the country in the 90s. We explored the whole area, the kitchen was still equipped with plates and tea cups, there were sheets and pillows in the bungalows and in the laundry building. It looked as if people left the place due to some ecological disaster and never came back. It was a really strange feeling to walk around and imagine how the site looked during its glorious days. We met some local people who shared their memories about the beauty of the camp.
We then went for a walk in Struga town. We explored the walking area and went to the beach where Reya had a lot of fun playing with the countless little stones around.
Then we went for dinner in one of the restaurants we noticed in Radozhda during our morning walk there. We had some fresh fish and local specialties, as well as some rakia for the guys.
It was a great and fulfilling short vacation in this natural surroundings, making my grandma’s dream to see this place come true.
