Lakes, Caves and Churches in F.Y.R.O.M.

That's Lake Matka, a 20-minute drive outside Skopje.

Sunday morning, we decided to leave the big city behind us and visit a famous lake which we'd heard had some good hiking and caves to explore. We hired a cab driver to take us around for the day (about $20 total) and headed off.

I was under the impression that we were going somewhere far away but as soon as we left Skopje, we were there. Considering the distance, I thought it was pretty funny when our cab driver pointed out houses near the lake and told us they were "summer homes." The idea of having a summer home literally within 10 minutes of your regular home seems outrageous to me, but who am I to judge? After all, our taxi driver told us the houses (with land) only cost around 7,500 euros, so if anyone's looking for a cheap spot to retire, I think I've found your spot.

Also, I can't avoid it any longer. Our visit to the lake was a day filled with euphemisms. According to the guide book, Lake Matka means Lake "Womb" in Macedonian. Fair enough. We could probably have moved beyond that fact. But our taxi driver's name was Fucky. I repeatedly tried to get him to pronounce his name, sure that I had it wrong, but he always came back to that. Finally, understanding my hesitation, he explained "My name is Fucky. Like 'F*#k You.' Fucky."Apparently it's short for"Fuckarostaros" or something. Needless to say, I was not mature enough to avoid snickering every time someone called out to him.

Here's a photo of me and Fucky. Yes, I'm aware that he's wearing denim on denim. Yes, I'm aware that this photo makes it look like we're getting engaged.

The lake was created by a massive hydroelectric dam. Nowadays, it's a big tourist attraction because of several old churches and the nearby caves. To check everything out, we took a boat around.

Here's the Matka crew. The guy on the right is Cristobal, a Chilean we met at our hostel. That meant that our boat had three Chris's (Kristin, Cristobal and Chris), Amelia and, of course, Fucky.

The lake itself was really interesting. The water is pristine and ice cold year round. Apparently no one is exactly sure how deep the lake is. It's fed by an underground river and we visited the source where you could see water flowing up, which I'd never seen before. 

Then, we got to these caves which were lit inside and pretty cool to explore. All in all, it was a Womb Lake I would return to.