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| View towards Plachkovica on the road from Crn Kamen |
With impeccable timing, the weather in Macedonia has quickly transitioned from the summer heat to the comfort and awesomeness of the fall. I say impeccable timing because the NCAA and NFL football seasons are just starting up, so if I'm going to live stream some games with a 6-7 hour time difference, it must at least feel like football weather. But really, the fall is my favorite season, and that hasn't changed since I arrived in Macedonia two years ago. In Fall 2011, during my pre-service training in Kratovo, I took advantage of the cool temperatures to go hike, run, or sit at the Talisman cafe-bar after language classes to feed my then- new-found addiction to salep. A year ago, I had just moved sites to Kocani, and again maximized my outdoor activity with running and hiking. This year, I am temporarily sidelined from running due to an ankle injury (yep another injury), but that doesn't stop me from going out on my bike to try to make up the miles I wasn't able to run. At the same time, it lets me explore some random villages and areas I hadn't visited in the area due to their distance from Kocani.
My first stop was Gradec, where coincidentally another Peace Corps volunteer lives, and I was immediately struck by how isolated it felt despite being only a few miles from the larger town of Vinica. The road leading to the village is somewhat steep, and it pretty much ends right at the base of the Plachkovica mountain. It had the look and feel of a typical mid-sized village in Macedonia, but the mountain setting definitely added an extra element to its appeal.
After checking out the village, I continued on and came up to some kind of rock quarry, and a dirt path that led further into the mountain areas. I decided to walk for a bit rather than take a chance with my bike tires. Since I'm technically supposed to be resting my ankle, I didn't walk long, but it was pleasant enough with nice scenery.
After leaving Gradec, I passed back through Vinica and headed to Jakimovo, another small village but distinct for the beautiful church at the top of a hill overlooking the village. The church is named after St. Joakim Osogovski (like the large monastery in Kriva Palanka that I blogged about literally years ago), but it was only built in 2002, so compared to most churches in Macedonia it is very very new. After walking around the grounds for a few minutes, that previous note became obvious, because it was impeccably clean and well-kept. The views towards Vinica and Plachkovica were outstanding. I won't ask why there is such a big church in a small village...but it was nice to look at.
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| Approaching Jakimovo |
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| Jakimovo below, Vinica in the distance |
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| Vinica zoomed in |
Once I took the obligatory photos, my next destination was supposed to be Istibanja, a settlement (somewhere between a village and a town) to the north of Jakimovo, but I took a wrong turn and, unaware of it at the time, I was on a road towards Kalimanci Lake (the largest man-made lake in eastern Macedonia). It was yet another area I hadn't seen since I've lived here. The road was nice and steep, and I would have gone on longer if I had known where I was. Instead, I turned around when I reached a village I thought was Istibanja, but it was somewhere else called Crn Kamen.
As a whole, it was a great day to be outside, enjoying the weather and still seeing new things. I've always found in my experience over the last two years that I'm able to cure most frustrations from being a Peace Corps volunteer by simply getting outside. As volunteers, we're extremely lucky to be in a country with the natural beauty and generally agreeable climate like Macedonia. Since I have less than two months left as a PCV, I plan to take full advantage of it!
