Route GPX: From the North Macedonian border to Ohrid (via Mavrovo).

We begin the day crossing the Kosovo-North Macedonia border at Blace, after a restful night and delicious breakfast at a hotel just 5 minutes from the border in Kosovo.

Our destination once across the border into North Macedonia? We want to join the TET (Trans European Trail) near the Matka Canyon. We give the canyon itself a miss as it's full of tourist buses and one of us was too injured to hike. Similarly, Skopje (the capital city) would have to wait.

Instead we continued on in the direction of Mavrovo Lake. But rather than taking asphalt, we started going off road near an unnamed hamlet / small collection of houses {41.953722,21.210808}.

From here, we were treated to some incredible scenery as we climbed the foothills with a view of the Sharr mountain range. The track was perfectly do-able in our FJ Cruiser and would probably be fine in a Defender or Land Cruiser too.

I'd grade this part of the trail an easy - we did it in 2WD – just avoid the ruts!

We took way too long doing this part of the route because we felt compelled to take photos and videos every 5 minutes. We barely saw another vehicle - only 2 quads coming the other way.

This part of the trail finishes as you approach the village of Sedlarevo. This is a good place to stop for a coffee or bite. There is a restaurant with a panoramic view of the valley that was serving delicious looking pizzas, but we made do with a quick Ice Tea pit-stop to make up for time lost to photography.

After following the tarmac for a short while, we quickly entered a dirt road again. This time it is rocky. A little harder than before but no more than a 2/5 in terms of how challenging it was. This one too we mostly did in 2WD execpt for part where the surface was loose enough to merit going into 4H.

At {41.870615,21.093025} we deviated from the TET to join the road, taking a right turn. In the FJ, the descent through the mountain passes was also very enjoyable. Fast flowing curvy roads!

Follow the road, we continued towards Mavrovo, stopping only for scenic view points. We took the road along the north-west coast of the lake as this is said to be the most scenic and offer the best vantage points of the lake.

Then we peeled away {41.697574,20.746919} taking the R1202 towards Lake Ohhrid. This drive too offered some beautiful views and fast flowing roads.

We spent the night at a hotel in the old town of Ohrid, high up the hills near Samuel's Fortress, with a quick sunset walk and all set to continue our exploration of Ohrid's rich history the next day.