The weather has been crappy since my first day. I cannot change the weather so drunk bottles of beer in middle of the day. It cost $1.5 for 1.5ℓ bottle, and had hams and cheeses with. This was a luxury way of using time. I have been drinking beers everyday since Bulgaria because the price of beer have been very cheap.

なかなか天気がスッキリしないが、天気はどうにもできない。昼間から1.5ℓで約150円という破格のビールをハムとチーズで頂く。何て贅沢な時間の使い方か。ブルガリアに入ってからというものほぼ毎日ビールを飲んでる。


I went out some times to check around. Ohrid was used to be the center of Slavs' christianity. There were many old churches and monasteries left in this old town. Old town was quite compact, so it was good size for looking around in couple of hours.
気が向いた時に何度か町中を散策しに出掛けた。オフリドは元々スラブ人にとってキリスト教信仰の中心だったらしく、町の至る所に教会、修道院、城塞等が残っている。旧市街は思ったよりも小さくて、散策するのには半日あれば十分といった感じだった。














I didn't see much Asians in this town. It seemed there were no many Asian visitors. Thus, locals looked at me very curiously, but they were alway nice. I like Macedonian.
観光客は多いがアジア人はほとんど見ない。というか全く見かけなかった。だからバザールに行くと、皆さんの好奇の目が痛い。でも気さくでとても親戚だから、嫌な感じは全くしなかった。



In this time, I had stayed at Mr. and Mss Angeleska's home. They owned an apartment in their property, so I used an empty room as a guest room. It costs €10 included sharing kitchen, bathroom and free wifi. There were no other guests so I used this apartment like my own home. They were so nice. They treated me like one of their sun. Their location is in front of Antonio G.H. which seems pretty famous, so it's easy to find.
今回宿泊させて頂いていたのはヴィラギッツァ(Blagica Angeleska)さん宅。主屋と同じ敷地にあるアパート？を10ユーロで貸して頂いている。ダブルルーム、キッチン、風呂トイレ共同、Free Wi-Fi。とても綺麗で自分以外には誰も泊まってなかったから、アパートを自分の家のように使えてかなり快適だった。ヴィラギッツァさんは世話焼き母さん的な人でいろいろ助けて頂いた。旦那さんも世話焼きで、本当良い人達だった。場所は有名らしいアントニオゲストハウスの目の前。



During my stay there, I fixed a zip of my tent at a tailer shop. The zip had been broken, so my tent had been always half opened. Now, I don't need to worry about mosquitos.
滞在中、旧市街にあった仕立屋さんで壊れたテントのチャックを補強して頂いた。チャックのレール部分が壊れて半分閉まらなかったが、これで大丈夫。虫に怯えなくて良い。

I still need to buy a new tent since my tent, REI 4 season tent, is already old. I hope I can find one in Europe.
でもいずれにせよテントの寿命は過ぎている。どこかで新しく買わないといけない。ちなみに今の自分のテントはREIの物で、あまりコンパクトとは言えないが、4シーズンで中が広くて気に入っていた。


My time in Macedonia has been run out very quickly. Next country will be Albania. I couldn't see much this county but at least could find people were very friendly and helpful. I liked Macedonia.
あっという間にマケドニアでの時間は過ぎ去り、明日からはアルバニアに入る。マケドニア、人がとても良い国だった。

There are some border crossing between Macedonia and Bulgaria. I went through the one along E871 which was the major route from Sofia to Skopje, the capitals of both countries. I thought it would be very busy but was not as I expected.

ブルガリアからマケドニアに入国するにはいくつかの国境があるがE871号線の国境を使った。ソフィアからマケドニアの首都スコピエに向かう最短の幹線なのでさぞかし忙しい国境かと思いきや、案外こじんまりとしていて全くすんなり通過となった。






Macedonia!!

Hmm, my first impression was that Macedonia wasn't much different from Bulgaria. Of cause, those counties were used to be parts of same country. Their languages and cultures are very close. If I need to find a difference, Macedonia is more remote for sure. Towns I have seen were all small, and I have been hearing almost everyday for bells hanging from livestocks. I will remember this country in the future when I hear the bells.

ん～ ブルガリアとさして代わり映えしないな。。。そもそもマケドニア自体ブルガリアと一つだった時代も長かったわけだし、言葉もさして変わらない。違いがある方がおかしいか。しいて違いを言うなら、、、ん～さらに田舎～になった感はある。町という町は小さいし、いつもどこかしらから家畜がぶら下げている鈴の音がカラコロ聞こえて来る。多分この音を聞く度にこれからはマケドニアを思い出すに違いない。


This country had been a part of Yugoslavia, so some cars I saw were from old Serbian made that I've never seen.
旧ユーゴスラビアだけあってレトロなユーゴスラビア製の車も目立ちます。元はセルビアで生産されていたらしい。これ程日本の車を見ない国は始めて。




In here, people are very relaxed and willing to help tourists. Those are people I met on my way. They gave me strawberries.
穏やかな人が多くて、道を聞くと必ず助けてくれる。道端で出会った家族。イチゴを頂いた。


I had a very nice coincidence on my way. It was day 3 after border crossing. I met a couple cyclists. Suddenly, he told me "I know you. You must be Kenta Yamaguchi". Then I remembered. I have met him in Laos, 2012. He, English man, James was after crossing china and heading towered Bangkok. We just talked briefly at that time. Since then, he went to north America and met a girlfriend as next to him on this picture. They are now cycling towered china. For him, this is second round tour. I hope I can also find a girlfriend on my way like him... Anyway, it was super nice meeting him again. What a small world..
信じられない偶然の出会いもあった。マケドニア入国3日目にすれ違ったサイクリストカップル。この彼氏の方、英人のジェームスと自分は2012年にラオスで出会っていた。ジェームスに「I know you. Your name must be Kenta Yamaguchi」と言われて始めて彼を思い出した。良くも覚えてくれていたもんだ。彼はイギリスを出てユーラシアを横断、その後北米を走り今の彼女と出会って今は地球2週目に入った所らしい。いやいや羨ましい。自分もどこかで誰かと出会いはないのか。。とにもかくにもすごい偶然だった。サイクリストの世界なんて本当狭いもんです。



After 4 days cycling from the border, I'm already in Ohrid where Albania border is nearby. Since I arrived, it has started raining. I think it's good timing to take some rest and drink cheap cold beers.
ブルガリア国境から4日走るともうアルバニア国境があるオフリドに到着。着いた当日から雨模様。休息には丁度良いか。安ビールを飲んでグータラしよ



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