Macedonia for the Night

Unlike several of the other Rollins Abroad programs, my program allows for only two independent travel opportunities. Our program coordinator approved only independent visits to countries of the former Yugoslavia and for my first trip I ended up in Skopje, Macedonia. I was originally planning to go to Slovenia with a friend but hours before leaving our plan was cancelled due to problems at the border. Roughly four hours before another group of people left for Skopje I bought a bus ticket and decided to join them. We left at 9:00 pm from the bus station in Belgrade, Serbia and after standstill traffic and several strange pit stops, we made it to Skopje at 5:00am, four hours before the hostel that we reserved would open its doors. The first thing I noticed was all of the stray animals. Walking from the bus station to the center of the city more stray dogs came up to me and followed me than I could possibly keep track of. Incredibly throughout my time there they would follow me around, wait politely at the front door of any café or store I went into, and then continue to follow me or wander off and follow someone else.

Skopje stole my breath and a little piece of my heart.

I spent the morning hours visiting the dozens upon dozens of monuments around the city, I even found my twin:

After walking around for hours and enjoying a very leisurely breakfast at the center we finally were able to make it to our hostel and drop off our bags. We heard about a canyon almost an hour away from the city called Matka and incredibly, I realized that I had actually written that down several months ago as “One of the top 100 places to go before I die.” I had no idea it was in Macedonia, only that one day I would find myself there. Luckily everyone in my group (four other girls) wanted to go as well. It was a bumpy ride and extremely confusing because we had no idea where to get off. We saw a couple of backpackers and made the assumption they would be going to the canyon as well and decided whenever they got off we would do the same. Not something I would normally suggest. Crazily, it worked. Matka canyon isn’t like anything I could possibly describe. I found a small kayaking company and kayaked down the river. I wish everyday that I could live somewhere that beautiful and one day I hope to go back and take a tour of the stalagmites. Unfortunately I was only able to stay for the night and left early the next day. If anyone finds himself or herself in Skopje, Macedonia I would definitely add this to the must-see list.