Day 106
It’s 160 km from here to Skopje, so I’ll split that into two short rides. Unusually I’ve booked ahead for a stay at a winery at the half way point.
The route has a lot of “cycling highlights” marked on it, it’s on what used to be a major road through the valley before the motorway was built. It’s quiet and smooth most of the way but not particularly scenic. After a couple of tunnels it opens out into the wine region and after a relaxed lunch I arrive early enough to have a tour of the winery, a bottle of very excellent wine and a long chat with the other visitors.
Day 107
Most of the day is following the Vardar river again northwards to Veles with similar gorges and landscape. I have a weird deja-vu-like experience as I was on this road once before when I was here during covid, and although I don’t exactly remember the road I suddenly hear in my mind the radio play I was listening to back then.
From Veles only the railway follows the Vardar, I have to go to the lake for lunch then over the mountain to rejoin the Vardar on the other side. OSM suggests an even longer route on account of the unpaved road, but I know it’s not too bad though it climbs and climbs before a long twisty descent on perfect tarmac with no traffic which is a lot of fun.
When I get to Orashani I find that the wonderful corner shop with café has recently closed down which is a massive disappointment. That may shorten my stay here. I detour to the next village for supplies then on to the hostel at the mushroom farm. There’s only one other guest here, and in the morning he and Tiho, the owner, are off on a mission so I’m directed to pick my own breakfast from whatever I can find in the garden.
Day 110
I’ve not seen any rain for weeks, but when I get up for an early start the clouds are coming over. Tiho is less disappointed as he’s got a building job and he’s quite grateful for the delay. He is 78, used to be an architect, now needs to supplement the hostel income with labouring jobs.
When the rain lets up I pack and leave, but it’s very late. I could leave it until tomorrow but don’t have sufficient currency for an extra night and it’s a 40 km round trip to get some. So I head off through Skopje, I hate this road more every time I have to ride it, then north to the Kosovo border. I’ve picked this route as the crossing to Serbia is a nasty main road or the suggested cycling route a very wide detour. However, entering Kosovo from Macedonia means I can’t cross into Serbia at all, I’ll have to choose Albania or Montenegro, both high mountain passes.
The area approaching the border is the typical industrial wasteland.
