Ohrid to Resen – July 12th
Distance: 29.3 km – Elevation +960 m -800 m
Weather: Sunny. Temperature: High 23 degrees
I enjoyed my short time in Ohrid. I stayed in the old town close to St Sophia – the Holy Church of Wisdom built in the 11th century and very beautiful inside. I was a little subdued and concerned as I prepared myself for the day ahead, everything I had read suggested it was a tough day’s walking to cross the Galičica range. There were suggestions and advice to break the day’s walk and thus reduce the distance with a stay in the Monastery St. Petka in Velgoshti. It was 5.00 am when I left Ohrid with those doubts in mind, but an extraordinary sight greeted me as I left my lodgings, a giant cross built on the hillside at Ramne; it stands guard over Ohrid and was shining bright in the early morning light as dawn broke behind the mountains. It was as if it was calling me “This is the way”, it was inspirational and immediately my spirits were lifted and my concerns for the day ahead were eased.
The street cleaners were the only visible signs of life as I left the town. The cĺimb started from the outskirts of Ohrid, first to Velgosti where I visited the Orthodox Church of St. Kliment where I met a young lad preparing the church for morning service. He seemed anxious about my presence in the church, so I sat quietly at the back of the church before proceeding on my journey. The climb from Velgosti became increasingly steep as the track zig-zagged its way around the side of the mountain providing glorious views of Ohrid and the lake below. Just before 8.00 am I reached a point where a new church, St Peter and Paul, was being built and a small congregation had gathered including the young lad I met earlier for the morning service. It was a tiny chapel and I had to stand outside the entrance to glimpse a view of the priest and listen to the service. The young lad was selling prayer candles and I purchased three and he didn’t understand when I indicated he should keep the change as a donation to the church fund. A woman in the congregation understood and spoke to the young lad and explained.
As I climbed further a battered car came down the hill gingerly navigating the deep ruts in the track and stopped, the driver seemed to think I was lost and was very concerned until I showed him a map of my intended destination, he looked at me and with a wave of his arms and head shaking as if to say you are “crazy” he returned to the car and disappeared in a cloud of dust. I reached a small plateau where someone had placed the rear seat of a car in such a position you could sit and enjoy the magnificent views of distant Ohrid and the lake below, and so I sat and rested for a while.
It was perfect walking weather but slow going. Almost 12 kilometres to reach the summit at an elevation of 1600 metres. Feeling a sense of achievement I stopped to rest and eat my packed lunch. I was in the Galicica National Park and for the first and only time, I came across waymarking with directional pointers to a number of different destinations. All written in Cyrillic script with the equivalent translations in Latin script but none pointing to Resen. The navigation with GPS was fine right from the bottom to the top plateau. It was the descent where the GPS tracks head off into the woods and the path becomes non defined and unclear. I became disoriented and some distance to the right of the GPS tracks. I was on a very steep slope, so steep I couldn’t go left to rejoin the path, the only option was to go down to try and find a path that would allow me to go left, and because of the steepness the only way down was to slide on my bottom, 200 metres down I found a path which enabled me to rejoin the trail and from there on it was very straightforward. There were wonderful views of Lake Prespa and Baba Mountain as I descended towards Resen.
On the outskirts of Resen I passed a large pack of stray dogs, more interested in scavenging a rubbish tip than showing an interest in me. I arrived in Resen at 5.30 pm, twelve and a half hours after setting off having walked close to 30 kilometres and climbed 3000 feet. I found an English speaking waiter serving customers at pavement tables and he was able to direct me to the only hotel in town, Hotel Dior, the reception was also the local Western Union currency exchange and I had to wait before I was able to take a room for 600 dinars, the equivalent of £9. The room was basic but clean and comfortable and I enjoyed a hot shower before a supper of a very large and tasty pizza in a nearby cafe.
A long beautiful day’s walk with magnificent views and through woods that reminded me of home. With no waymarking, GPS tracks were absolutely essential for navigation.
