Tuesday 30 September 2014

Day 4 - Mechanical Issues, Roman Ruins & the Road to Skopje

29/08/24 - Stobi, Central Macedonia to Skopje

STOBI

I thought it best to close my kitchen saddle bag after hearing a lot of scuttling and nibbling during the night, seems it was a good idea! 
I found mouse poop all over my bags...


That morning I carried out some very necessary maintenance, wheel straightening, complaining how filthy my mechanics are etc... I tried to tune my front de-railer, but the feckn front sprocket is bent! (the big cogs with the pedals attached)  No wonder it was making so much noise! I need to replace the entire thing... there is no way I can afford it... Just going to limp on with my smaller gears! 




What a pleasant surprise! I camped beside a very significant national heritage site. Great opportunity to take a break from the cycling! 






This site is probably the most valuable historic site in what is now modern Macedonia, so much so that the rather fabulous mosaics are printed on Macedonia's currency. 


Macedonian 10 Denar Note - 0.16 or £0.13

For more information of the significance of Stobi check the Wikipedia page. Also, have a look at the Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire to learn more about the extent of the Roman empire. Its a rather fantastic resource for any history lovers and map nerds (that's me!) out there! 


THE ROAD TO SKOPJE






Some photos from the day

An ID of this spider would be appreciated!


Not a crop of Pineapples!
Hitch hikers from Poland, would have picked them up if I could... They had just spent the last 2 weeks hitch hiking around Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia and Albania!



SKOPJE!
This is the real main road into Skopje, Goran here was more than helpful. I first saw him cycling along with no hands eating an ice cream. He guided me into the city, treated me to a coffee at his friends brand new coffee shop and helped me find my accommodation! I learnt so much about Macedonia in such a short cycle, I'm very grateful.

My hosts, the Kula Collective, fed me rakia and took me along to a metal gig in the middle of Skopje, which is not at all what I expected. Even the open air consort in such a seemingly grand river front felt quite strange. There is a very stark contrast between what I had seen in the rest of Macedonia and it's capital.



Every possible place in the city centre has a sculpture squeezed into it, sculptures everywhere, so much so its as ketsch as Disney Land!


SLEEP

88.2 km
Survive the roads to Macedonia's Capital City, done!

Click to enlarge


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