We had a clear plan for this day and the next. In the morning we will move from Ljubljana to Zagreb. We will explore the city and in the evening we will take a bus to Skopje, northern Macedonia, where we will be in the morning. There we will take another connection and enjoy lunch on the shores of Lake Ohrid. But one plans and Flixbus changes.
Nish
The morning was normal as usual. We had breakfast and after a tropical night I had to shower again, even considering that the next shower would not be until 28 hours later. We packed up and headed out as planned. Just then I get a text message that our FLixbus connection to Zagreb is an hour late. We don't bother and go to the bus station, where we spend the rest of the time in the station restaurant.
Ljublana - Here we were still laughing
As the time of the alternative departure approaches, we go to the Flixbus stop to wait for it to arrive. A second hour has passed and the bus is nowhere to be found. I go to the Flixbus website and see that the bus is still in Austria. This went on for a few more hours until the bus simply disappeared from the map and it was clear that it would not be coming. It's just that our naive idea that the bus would actually arrive didn't make us react flexibly. With this naivety we lost all connections, the whole plan fell apart like tea and we were stuck in Ljublana.
Ljublana - Train and bus station
The flexible response would have been to jump on the train and take the rails to Zagreb, because the buses were full. However, the last train that could still make it was in a time zone where we still believed the bus was on its way. Plus, all the Flixbuses that passed through Ljublana that day were late. It was the beginning of August and Germans were rushing to Greece and Croatia for their holidays. Long before this unfortunate event, I was slightly nervous about this trip. Firstly, whether we would miss something along the way and secondly, whether all the tickets we had bought on the internet would be honoured. The only calm port of call for me was Flixbus. A western company, that's for sure, nothing will surprise us there. Actually, we had only one problem with the carrier during the whole Balkan trip, and that was this Flixbus. The buns were burnt, but the question was, what now ? Tomorrow we have to be in Ohrid! It's a journey across four countries and the direct services don't run every hour, but about once or twice a day. So Janet and I go to the ticket office to ask if there is anything else going to Skopje. The cashier tells us that we should go to Nish, which is near the Macedonian border, and that something will definitely go from there to Skopje. So I didn't understand the departure at first, thinking it didn't leave until 7am, but then looking on the internet I see it leaves at 7pm, which is in two hours. Let's have a quick team meeting and go buy tickets. In the remaining time, we go out to eat and collect some more euros, since we had to pay this extra expense in cash. At seven we stand boarded at a red bus with the Nish express sign. As is customary in Serbia, they collect one more Euro from each of us for our luggage and then let us into the car. Here it is clear that this was our predetermined fate. To my surprise, the seating chart was followed here, and thanks to that I see that we took the last six available seats on the bus today. As a bonus, I get a seat by the engine and a guinea pig cage still lying next to me.
Ljublana - Our bus to Nish
Travelling the Balkan way
My seatmates
I put Major Grom on my phone before bed and then I fall asleep. The first wake-up call is at the Slovenian-Croatian border. After that, I fall asleep quickly and wake up at the Croatian-Serbian border. There we stand in a queue, but luckily I sleep through all that and wake up only when we go to passport control. The Croatian one is fine, but I'm a bit nervous at the Serbian one because people with incomplete vaccinations can only transit and they have 24 hours to do so. So we were wondering if there would be a problem with Patrick. And the result? They didn't bother and they didn't even want to see the certificates, so it's fine. We have a break at the petrol station across the border and as soon as we leave, I'm asleep again. I wake up only in the morning in Belgrade, when I wake up only slightly and somewhere between Belgrade and Nis I don't sleep at all.
We arrive in Nish at nine in the morning. The first steps are directed to the ticket office, where we wait for the decision whether there is a bus going on and whether there is space on it. Everything worked out. The bus to Skopje leaves in about two hours and I hold six tickets in my hand. We split into two groups. One is guarding the backpacks the other is going sightseeing. If you blindfolded me, didn't tell me where we were and dropped me off in Nis, I'd tell you I was in Ukraine. And it's not just the Cyrillic that the Serbs use, it's the look of the city and the chaos all around. Not only does it look like Ukraine,but the prices in the shops and market are similar. We exchanged 5 Euro each and it was a problem to spend.
Nish - Meanwhile, we're laughing again.
Nish - Bus station
Nish
Nish - Marketplace
I still had a baggage allowance and a few bills left on the bus as a souvenir. Once the other group also had trouble spending their five Euros and returned, it was finally getting close to departure time and we went looking for the next red bus. I was hoping it would be a direct connection, but unfortunately it swept every town along the way and we drove on the county roads rather than the highway.
We continue to Macedonia
When we finally made it to the border, we experienced a temperature shock. It was like 50 degrees outside and it was like a desert. On the Serbian side the check was quick, on the Macedonian side the customs officers took their time and we waited for quite a long time before anyone dared to come. In Macedonia, fortunately, it was past all the villages and we stopped only in Kumanovo and then finally Skopje. We arrived there somewhere between four and five o'clock. It was pretty disgustingly hot here, so Skopje won the title of the hottest city of our trip. Nowhere was warmer. After getting off the bus it was the same scenario as in Nish. Get off and quickly go to the ticket office to buy tickets to Ohrid. Again, I was a little worried about how this would turn out, as over the internet all the buses to Ohrid appeared to be sold out, but thankfully this was not the case and ours was about half full. Departure was in about 20 minutes, so a quick pee and onto the bus. The last three hours of the journey are ahead of us! Not much has changed since our last trip in 2019. The sprawling highway is still under construction and I haven't seen any major progress on it. What I didn't notice last time is the clutter along the roads, and the amount of construction that hasn't continued. I have therefore renamed the Macedonians as the masters of dismantled buildings. A good example is the bus station in Ohrid, where a large shopping centre has been built in the meantime. It was now abandoned and surrounded by a junkyard.
We arrive in Ohrid around nine o'clock. We are only half a day late, but we are happy that we arrived at all. We take our backpacks, our swollen feet and walk to the lake where we have our most expensive accommodation of the trip. It wasn't exactly easy to find something here at the last minute. It was pretty much sold out and we're about to find out why.
Ohrid - Finally on site after 24 hours
Ohrid
Ohrid is something like Machac, and in the summer, perhaps the whole of Macedonia has moved here on holiday. It's head to head here, all full to bursting. So if you want to enjoy Ohrid, come here around Easter. The experience of the city was completely different.
Ohrid - Centrum
We stayed in Villa Jovan, which is located in the historic centre and is built in the local typical architectural style, where the lower part of the house is narrower than the highest part. I go to take a shower and in the bathroom I jam a shard of glass into my pinky finger. It wasn't a big deal, but it was leaking so much blood that the whole bathroom was bloody, like something out of a horror movie.
Ohrid - Villa Jovan
We went into town for dinner that evening and needed to withdraw some money in the local currency. We save our euros until we get to Albania. Everything was quite crowded but we found some seats, although the service was not the best.
Night Ohrid
Ohrid - Dinner
After dinner we went straight to our accommodation and to sleep. After these two days, nobody had any more adventures in mind. Besides, tomorrow we have a full day to Ohrid.
Užitečné odkazy:
Villa Jovan
Other accommodation in Ohrid
Accommodation in Nish
C - Punkt Hostel
Other accommodation in Ljublani
Flixbus
Nish Expres
Bus Finder in the Balkans
