We have been in North Macedonia for almost a week and we are absolutely thrilled with the country. Here, too, the hospitality is unbeatable and the food tastes phenomenal.
We definitely don't want to miss Mount Korab. Albania shares the country's highest peak with North Macedonia. We decide to climb it from the Macedonian side.
Even the journey to the trailhead is adventurous. There is a 10 km dirt road into the Macedonian wilderness. We have heard of the poor road conditions and are therefore planning to arrive the day before the hike, as long as there is daylight. Nevertheless, the road is quite a challenge for our VW van. After some kilometers we pass the federal border guard station to Kosovo. The place looks deserted. We are driving through at walking pace when suddenly a uniformed man is running after us. We completely overlooked him! Hopefully there won't be any trouble ... But no need to worry - the border guard is in a very good mood, takes a quick look at our identity papers and asks where we are going. He's getting more and more communicative. Apparently people don't come here that often. And so, after a short chat, we continue to the Strezimir station, where the trailhead starts. We are now at an altitude of 1,450 m and it's pretty cold here. Originally we had planned to camp on the Korab, but we feel that it's too hard when the temperature is below zero.
The next morning we leave at 8 a.m. We have more than 1,200 meters of altitude ahead of us and the days in October are pretty short. However, the path is quite easy to walk. The ascent is mostly even and the view is great all the time. We reach the summit around noon, in best weather!
There are only a few people at the top, most of them are coming from the Albanian side. We enjoy the 360 ° view with a snack. Far and wide only mountains!
After an extensive photo session, we make our way back. As always, it's not that sparkling. Downhill is always disgusting for the knees and then it's the same way. But as the sign on the summit says: "Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory." Good point :-)
In the late afternoon we arrive at our car and decide to drive back the dirt road the same day. We are not keen spending another cold night in Strezimir. The border guard has been joined by some colleagues and they are making a barbecue around the campfire. They have a really chilled life there and are in a great mood. And we are also very happy. The hike was a real highlight - and not the last one in North Macedonia :-) Stay tuned.