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Macedonia: Vacation time, Day 6: Matka Canyon

Time for annual leave has come and with Nada we decided to have a motorbike trip, starting in Slovenia and ending on Crete in Greece. On our way we decided to spend some time with our friends in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and in Greece.

On day 6 we went with Saška and Vlado to the Old Bazaar for breakfast and then we had an hour for shopping. I bought myself new Nike flip-flops (3 €). With Vlado we finished quickly so we continued with a beer and later girls joined us. Vlado drove us to Matka Canyon, where we had a nice walk away from the city, unfortunately the majority of the visitors still throw garbage everywhere. After we returned back to Skopje, we again had a culinary evening.

Previous days of our vacation: Day 5, Day 4, Day 3, Day 2, Day 1.

We were stationed close to the city centre and today we approached it via the right bank of Vardar

For breakfast we had an old school soda and Симит Погача (simit pogača - bun-sandwich consisted of bun (bread) and a greasy pie without filling)

Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus replaced the old cathedral of the same name, destroyed by the 1963 Skopje earthquake.

St. Andrew's Monastery was built in 1389 by King Vukašin's son Andrijaš

The Matka canyon is located in the lower course of river Treska

Vrelo Cave - the exact depth of the cave is unknown, some speculate that it could be the deepest underwater cave in the world.

The canyon is also home to 77 indigenous species of butterfly.

Kayaking on the Treska River is a popular activity, as are fishing, hunting, and swimming.

Next time we'll do the boat trip

 

A little bit of climbing and time for selfie

The different formations in the canyon like the karrens, flutes, valleys, cracks, crevices and caves have been formed by a long term impact of the mountain rivers, as well as by great temperature oscillations.

 The Treska Canyon is the most important alpine climbing center in northern Macedonia.

 

The Matka Lake within the Matka Canyon is the oldest artificial lake in the country.

Let's have one quick beer

 

Once more we tasted local specialties

Today on the menu: nafora (bread and cheese), patlidžan (tomatoes), šarska pleskavica (meat patty), džiger (liver), krezlji i jatki, kremenadla (rack of pork) and off course pivo (beer) and žolta rakija (yellow rakia).

GeoCaches found:
- Canyon Matka for the brave ones, GC59PKN
- (Almost) All Saints: Sveti Andrea, GC45CK0