Kicevo to Lake Ohrid, Macedonia. Rest day tomorrow.

After a wonderful sleep at the Palace, NOT.  We were subjected to the singer and band downstairs till the wee hours of the morning and then the call to prayer, then a pack of dogs the size of Wollongong pound involved in some territorial dispute.  They were going off their heads for 1/2 an hour.  I did manage to fall back to sleep waking around 7am.

We packed up and went downstairs to put our panniers back on the bike, grab our passports and head down to the local market to get some yogurt and bananas to go with our cereal for breakfast.  As I was about to wheel our bikes outside the Palace, there were about 20 dogs near the doorway, so I grabbed my dog dazer and let one of them have it.  You should have seen him bolt.  Obviously the dog must have told his mates to leave us alone as we rode out of the carpark because they just watched us, knowing that one of the crazy old men had a device that can cause some serious shit to a dog.

Breakfast was sitting on the kerb outside the market in the chill another beautiful sunny day in Macedonia.

 The photo above is of Daniel the young Englishman we met yesterday before the left the town of Gostivar.

The first part of the day like usual was riding up the mountain we had expected.  The weather was on our side this morning and the climb was not that bad.  We reached a height of 1000metres and then rolled down the other side, across a plain and then it was time for lunch.  I should say I have to take my hat off to Peter the way he turned himself inside out to get up the mountain.  He's still far from 100%, but he never gives in. 

Lunch was a real treat, water and a banana roll on the rocks in a deserted motel complex. 

The above photo shows the mountain we had to climb first thing in the morning.  The 2nd hill was not as bad as the first, only 3kms to the summit and then downhill as we were told earlier on. 

As we entered Ohrid we stopped to ask directions to Antonio's guesthouse with one of the taxi drivers.  I had researched this place a couple of days ago and it looked like a good place to have a rest day at. No sooner had I asked the question and this guy turned up on his motorcycle and said, 'hello, I'm Antonio'. Now how strange is that?  He showed me his driver's licence to prove who he was, and we were off following another motorcyclist to our accommodation.  This one was slightly older than the one from yesterday.  The place is excellent, fridge, wifi, cooking equip, dining table and sat TV all for 9 Euro each a night. 

After the compulsory shower and washing the clothes, we went for a walk of the town to find a really nice little village, and nothing like we had expected when we rode into town.  We walked the cobblestone alleys and made our way down to the lake to see a game of water polo in action.  It was fantastic fun watching the guns trying to legally drown each other with the locals watching on the sides urging their team to get at least one goal.

The above photo was taken of some of the guys involved in the game and the spectators.

The above photo is of the water polo game in action with the back drop of the town of Ohrid.

It was back to the apartment to relax, hang out the clothes and put my feet up for the evening.  We intend to watch a movie, and sleep in.  Hopefully no dogs living nearby.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.