HisPhew, that was a tough day's walking. At least we were loaded up with a big breakfast again; eggs, cheese, bread, jam and a glass of milk. I think the milk was fresh from their farm. It tasted different to bottled milk. Sweeter. Quite a perfunctory goodbye and we were off again. And i soon managed to get lost. Tim stopped for a coffee and i went on ahead. I was daydreaming away and when i thought to check my location i saw I'd missed a turn off and was about 500 metres off course. The track i was on ran parallel for a while so i thought I'd keep going and join back up later. When the path i was on turned the wrong way, i set off cross country towards the via egnatia track. I saw tim walk by about 400 metres away, but quite high above me. I kept following animal tracks upwards, but encountered a few obstacles. A deep gully and lots of spiky brambles thag i had to go through. Eventually i ended up in a farm yard with two vicious, but thankfully chained, dogs. Just as i left through a little gate the fsrmer came the other way. I asked where the via egnatis was and he took me by the arm and walked me a km till i reached the track. After a lot of uphill, the way wad down to Perenjas, and i had soon caught up to Tim. My detour added a km to the journey, but meeting the farmer made it worthwhile.
I ummed and ahhed about getting money out, since i wasn't sure if i would leave Albania tomorrow or monday. As it turns out, it looks like monday, so i don't have enough money. Oh well. I bought tim a coffee for being willing to detour tp an ATM and while we drank an old guy came up and very proudly told us he was 86.
Oh, and on the way into town we passed an interesting derelict factory. Two towers had ladybirds painted all over them. In another building, someone had made a house out of one corner.
Off again and a steep climb towards lake ohrid. I had neglected to look at the altitude marks on the topo map and assumed we'd be going down to a lake, not up. It's at 700 metres. It was pretty horrible gor a couple of kms, walking on the narrow shoulder of the highway. There were a couple of noteworthy things though. Another plaque commemorating partisans from ww2 and the sight of car wash saturday. All the way up the hill there were little pull ins where a hose wad pouring water down the road waiting for a car to wash. At about half, a car or truck was being washed. An awful waste of water. They use the gushing water hose as a sign that they're open for business.
Eventually a path took us off the road and onto the railway tracks. It would have been a relatively quick walk down them to lin, except it wad a tunnel all the way. I wad up for it but some locals warned me off. We continued up and up and eventually i took the via egnatis trail marked on the topo map while tim continued on the marked gpx track.
It was a lovely walk doen through pastures and along a dried out creek bed to the lake, a short walk along the shore and now here i am eating chips and drinking beer at Rosa's bnb right on the lake shore, with s room looking out across the lake. After the ladt teo nights it is like paradise ...
Photos are here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/4KenCaLV1txScAst8
Track details:
https://www.mapmyhike.com/workout/3523468219
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