Gwilym's Adventure Blog

Well, today did not go quite as planned. I was all up for an early start with tent down and bike packed by 6.30am. Unfortunately I hadn't seen the notice saying gates open at 8am. Oh well.  So after claiming my free coffee at 8.01 I was wheels rolling by 8.07 on way. Border with Albania,. Easy. €15 for insurance all under 15 mins and on way to my target campsite, high up in mountains near the Kosovo border. I assume there would be a breeze up high. Wrong! It was 35 degrees and I was sweating.   Arrived at the campsite for 2.30pm. Bargain. What! Closed until July. Bugger! Google said next nearest was 68km in the wrong direction (that is about 90mins on those roads).  As only 20min from Kosovo I thought I would carry on and take first campsite there. This was only €10 for insurance and a little longer at nearly 20mins to get sorted.  Through the border, fill up bike and grab a fizzy drink. Use free wifi and ask loca...

6am start and it was already 26 degrees. Based on thunderstorm forecast in Albania, I headed back into Macedonia to look for the road that the chap in the petrol station had told me about. It was very much worth it plus being high up it was cooler and there was a breeze. Following the road back down it was all around Lake Ohrid to arrive at my planned location for the night. What a campsite. Free coffee (and some spirit thing) offered on arrival. Free wifi. Young lad speaks amazing english and told me what was near by and where to go for a run. Free coffee when you get up in the morning. And all this for €5 https://campingrino.com/ So far, I think Macedonia has been my favourite place. Prices are cheap (fuel, food and camping) plus the people are so friendly.

What a difference a day makes! (And 2 countries and 400 odd km) Couldn't wait to leave a wet and miserable Bulgaria this morning with a 6am start and a 3 hour drive to the North Macedonian border.  By rights this should have taken far longer than 20mins  but it was this easy. Show Passport and V5 to get out of Bulgaria Show Passport and V5 to get into Macedonia. As I didn't have a green card for insurance I had to walk 50m to a booth, pay €50 for a month and then walk back to show the guard and collect my passport. Super easy. Hope the other countries I don't have insurance for are this easy though I suspect that may not be the case. The mountain roads in Macedonia were quiet and although not the best tarmac, the views more than made up for it. Lots of storks on lampposts, it was the same in Romania and Bulgaria. A very nice chap with excellent English working in the petrol station told me about the 2 lakes which were the ...