A couple of weeks back I took you through my assertion of one of the many ridges in Canyon Matka to reach St. Nikola's Monastery. This week I'll take you on a tour through this wonderful monastery and the journey back down.
We take a different, more majestic path, on our way down. So you guys are gonna get all new, and frankly much better, photos of the surrounding area.
I know you're just chomping at the bits to get started so i won't keep you waiting - Onwards! 🚶
🚩 ST. NIKOLA 🚩
The monastery was built around 400 years ago. It's nestled in this valley between the hills and is an absolute treat to just be there.
Once we arrived we took shelter in one of the many protective areas (summer homes? not sure what they are called in English). The rain wasn't intense and it soon subsided. But we still had to chill after the long hike.
There were a lot of people present at the monastery at this time. Which I didn't expect since it's so secluded in the mountains.
A lot of families and laughter all around. 👏👏
And of course, there's the man himself - St. Nikola!
The monastery is taken care of by one caretaker. There are many stories about this old man's hospitality and generosity. Allow me to share some:
- He kept a group of mountaineers overnight for no charge to shelter them from a storm;
- He built the surrounding 'summer shelters' by himself with the money he gathered from donations to the monastery;
- He housed and healed a boy that broke his leg and refused to take a dime from his rich father. Saying "The monastery is here to heal the helpless, nothing more;"
- Countless stories of how he would prepare breakfast for people staying the night;
Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of this legend. 😅 The place was super busy and I didn't want to seem standoffish asking around about the caretaker. Call it a stupid insecurity but it is what it is.
There are many ways to get to the monastery. Many little paths and trails end up here.
There are also small fortifications for some reason to the side. Not sure why they are here but I reckon they are from times long past.
I of course entered the monastery and paid respects to my dead pops and cousin.
The inside is beautiful and tranquil. Taking photos inside holy places like these is prohibited, or at least frowned upon if nothing else, so you'll forgive me that I'm not showing you more than the picture above. 🙏
A beautiful place that I would wholeheartedly want to return to one day. We stayed for about 2h before packing our stuff. As I mentioned in the intro of this post, we took a different trek on our descent.
Would be a miss not to show the Macedonian flag on this hand-made wooden wall. 😁
Time to head back down!
🚩 FOREST 🚩
Before we got to those long-promised views we had to get out of the forest that surrounded the lower portion of the monastery.
A colleague at work was talking to me the other day about how he and his bodies got lost in these woods when they were kids. We're talking pre-internet, pre-cell phones. Scary stuff. Lucky they made it out, honestly. 😅
A landmark of this forest is this natural spring water stop. We took a very short break here to stock up on water for the hike back down.
And with everyone accounted for it was time to get back to the trek!
At the forest's edge, there's this handy-dandy sign that doesn't do anything really. 😂
Soon enough we were out of this dreaded first and into the more hilly area. Really, everything around here is just hills, but anywho, I digress.
🚩 TREK VIEWS 🚩
This portion of the area must've had a fire recently. So if you see a bunch of burnt trees that is the probable culprit.
This trek itself, although descending, really goes up and down. It was pretty peculiar. But fun!
And as we hike it only gets more and more majestic. ✨
Found the same flowers from the last part! The astute viewers will know that there was only one of these flowers on my hike up. Now there's a bunch!
But really, these views are what it's all about... just gonna link a few here, no commentary needed.
That strip of white in the far distance is Matka Lake where we started this journey! We are slowly approaching our destination.
But yeah... some of those shots look like they're out of a video game. No cap.
🚩 FINAL STRETCHES 🚩
The closer we got, the more you can see of the lake/river/canyon in the distance!
And near the end here the trek starts to resemble the trek we used to ascend.
You can clearly see the bridge in the distance! 😪
Soon we were on said bridge and heading back to our cars. Tired and worn out, the journey was a resounding success! 😁
Some day I would like to go kayaking down this river. Olimpic trials are held here, I know that for a fact. I'm saying this to reinforce that it's a legit thing that people do at Matka. 😅
Soon enough however we were all accounted for and it was time to head back to Skopje.
Hope you guys had as much fun reading as I had writing this piece. Hiking aside, I really am appreciative of this community. So I don't usually say this, but thank you for embracing my walks with open arms.
Until next time. 👋
Not sure where we'll go next week, but I reckon I'll find something interesting.
Obligatory shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙
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Thanks for reading and I hope you guys have a great rest of your week. 🍻