Picture: Hike 'n' Swim

Yesterday, a group consisting of 6 PCVs, 2 Serbs, a Macedonian and a Polander went on a long day hike starting in the nearby village of Vevcani and ending at an awesome little lake between two mountain ridges. On the way up, we were moving fast and sweating bullets. Once we got above the timberline, though, it got really cold and all of our sweaty clothes turned into wearable ice packs. That wouldn’t have been so bad if we hadn’t been planning on going swimming in this mountaintop pond. Some people decided to stay on dry land, but the rest of us were stubbornly committed to going for a dip after all that hard work. Alex and Josh got in first, and said that the water was “cold but refreshing”. Ha! “Refreshing” my foot. The water was so cold that it knocked the wind out of me and I struggled to take in a single breath. After about a minute I was okay, and we swam around for a few more minutes before getting out. Getting dressed was a challenge because cold-induced rigor mortis had set in and my fingers stopped working. The sun was starting to go down and I had visions of turning into a human icicle. Luckily, once we got back into the trees and as long as I kept moving, I was fine. Look, ma, no hypothermia!



To get to the swimming hole, we had to climb a really steep ridge (not quite as forbidding as the ones in the background), but it was all worth it. I’ve never seen anything like this before.









Matt, Josh, I and Alex br(rrr)ave the snowmelt.




We had a great view of Struga and Lake Ohrid. My apartment building is one of those white blocks on the right.