Mavrovo National Park (Macedonia)

I took 2.5 hrs bus to get to Mavrovo national park and ran into a 2-day Corp sponsored sports festival. I got to ride the ski lifts for free and posted to compete. The views from the ski lifts were impressive. My bus ride into the park was quite an adventure. I thought I should get off at the last stop, yet I realized half of the people got off at one stop then the bus drove away from the lake. I showed my hostel flyer to other passengers in panic. Fortunately, the bus driver was kind enough to drive back 2 km to drop me at the right stop. I could not dial via the hostel number, so I asked for help from a restaurant staff. The hostel owner waited for me to buy some vege and fruits during my stay.— checked in to Mavrovo Lake.

On the next day, I started my 35 km biking along the Mavrovo lake around 7:30 am and finished the loop in 4 hrs with several photo stops. One point of interest is the half-submerged church in the lake, which was flooded when a dam was built. A new church built nearby in place of the submerged one has colorful paintings. The mount bike borrowed from the hostel owner has only one working speed so I walked the bike a few times on uphills. — checked in to Mavrovo Lake. I stayed in hostel vertical (10€) only one night due to lack of transportation between the hostel and Mavrovo town. The public transport in MK is really inconvenient, except for major cities. If I ever go back to Mavrivo national park, I will rent a car. Hostel info (owner was nice, but smokes a lot and has no car so his girlfriend rode me 15 km from town to hostel on Saturday, and then rode me back to Skopje on Sunday night Otherwise, I would either not be able to get to the hostel, or trapped there could not get out.   To the contrary, the bus from Skopje to Ohrid was direct, fast, and comfortable, and good views along the ride. — checked in to Ohrid-Makedonia.