May 5 page 27 |
2005 BALKANS TOURBen Oostdam |
Ohrid |
| I had decided to skip Bitola, so this morning Marcel and I attended the colorful sermon of Archbishop Timothee. I sat next to sweaty (Sveti) ladies and hagiodisjes (holy lizards). | 
| Next, I packed and settled my accounts with Nada and Stephan who tried to dissuade me from staying in the expensive Naum Lodge. He also arranged for a water-taxi to pick me up. |
| After sad goodbyes to Marcel and others, I rode the water taxi to town, where at the last minute I bought some Euros since the guide book said there were no ATM's in Albania. Instead of taking a bus, I was -and in my turn persuaded a young German tourist to share a taxi to the border. We bargained for a half hour stop at the temple of Naum (below)., This complex was being reconstructed and is "served" by a luxurious hotel with a white pheasant, much to the religious chagrin of our taxi drivers and other locals. |
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| The taxi driver took us to the border, where we had to pass the Macedonian customs to get out, then walk across Nomansland carrying our luggage, go through the Albanian customs who charged us 5 Euro each (much to the German's dismay), then wait for the taxi which some kind people (on commission, I guess) radio'ed to take us to the town of Pogradec. |