Hello everyone! Hope you're doing better so far in 2021 :)
Today, I’d like to share with you one of the best campsites I’ve ever been! The St. Andrew Church; which is located in the famous Matka Canyon in Macedonia, Skopje.
This is from our trip to Macedonia, back in February, 2020. Even though it’s just almost a year ago, it seems like a distant past; because of how corona virus shifted our conception of time… The corona virus was at its beginning at that time. There was zero case in Macedonia; and I believe there were just a few cases in Europe. So we still had our faces exposed, free from masks; and we had no problem with travelling… Aren’t we all missed those times?.. Anyways, about the trip…
We heard/read lots of good things about Matka Canyon, located west of Skopje. The Canyon is a giant artificial lake and one of the most popular outdoor destinations in Macedonia. There are activities such as Canoeing, Caving, Trekking, Rock Climbing and Camping. It’s a great location to plan any of these activities or just to spend a day! The Canyon displays some great colours of true nature and generally has kind of Lord of the Rings vibes, which is cool to be in :)
We went there on the first day of our trip and we’ve arrived kind of late. We wanted to do some activities like Canoeing and caving, but we knew that the campsite was hard to reach and we didn’t want to take any chances of getting lost or rush things. We wanted to take our time. So after a quick walk to check out the canyon, we immediately went camping before the sunset.
The St. Nicholas Church and some of the other precious structures of the canyon are on the other side of the lake; which has no terrestrial passing from the canyon's entrance, so the only way to cross the lake is by boat. The country itself is pretty cheap compared to most of Europe and Asia; we were worried about whether it will be any different, just because we are in the canyon and we have no alternative whatsoever than taking what’s been offered. But that wasn’t the case. The activities on the canyon and generally the canyon itself were pretty convenient financially than we were expecting. So we took the boat to cross the lake rather than swimming across :)
Group photo
Me and my gf :)
The path that goes to the St. Nicholas Chuch is pretty steep; it took 30-40 minutes of a continuous hike to get there. I was still recovering from a heavy flu; still wasn’t feeling %100, so it was harder for me specially, but it all worth it when we see the church's first sight.
Monkeying around the booth :)
Being on the true nature with just a majestic church was a blessing. There was flat ground for tents, a fountain, a booth, a toilet, total silence and a great view&atmosphere… Pretty much everything you can ever look for on a campsite. After we pitched our tents, we took a walk to explore the surroundings. There, we found a shack behind the church; it was the house of the church guard. Who didn’t know any English but still welcomed us warmly. We asked him –by sign language- if we can take a quick tour inside the church, which later we understood was not allowed but he was kind enough to show us the inside for 5 minutes. We were told by him that the church was built in 1336.
As beautiful the place is, I have to say that we spend the night shivering. It was freezing outside. We expected it to be cold, we were prepared but it was colder than expected. The church guards shack had a stove, so we had to visit him a couple of times to get warm :)
We had a light breakfast in the morning and went for the activities we wanted to do yesterday. Some of the group went to Caving and we went for Canoeing.
Rowing through the magnificent rocks was a unique experience. It was calming yet labored. We had another meal after the activities and left there with beautiful memories. Overall, it was a great place to explore and camping; I would recommend it very much. But keep in my mind the cold of the Balkans is like no other… Make sure you’re prepared :)
Thank you for reading!