Rock-Climbing Across a Heap of Rice

Pilav Tepe –I think of the Indian rice dish Pulao or Pilaf heaped on the plate! That’s exactly what this little mountain 14 km outside Radovish, in the north central part of Macedonia is called. This picture though, is across the Pilav Tepe peak and is the one set up for rock-climbing - with different levels of difficulty.  This whole area lies south of the great rice fields of Kochani, so the people who moved here must be missing their rice and imagined this huge helping when they decided to settle here a couple thousand years ago.

Two adventurous Macedonians – one a certified climber and the other a biker, purchased an old cottage with the help of an American friend 3 years ago with a dream of building a thriving small scale business geared to entry-level extreme sports.  I along with 5 other volunteers jumped in to help with the refurbishing and decorating of the mountain house with 2-bedrooms (3 bunk beds each –sleeping a total of 12 people), a modern bathroom and a common kitchen area in exchange for an experience to do some rock-climbing, albeit one of us was a certified director of rock-climbing herself back in the States.  We were given the soft tasks in the remodeling event, while the Macedonian volunteers took care of building kitchen cabinets, laying the bathroom tile, installing the plumbing, including the sewage drain, and installing the bathroom fixtures.  A lot of this work was completed before our arrival. Our tasks of painting, sewing curtains, washing donated kitchen paraphernalia, putting up posters was just as important to makes this empty house into a welcoming weekend place.

The hiking trails leading to the taller and more difficult rock faces in the adjacent picture, had been created and marked with signs throughout the forest with colorful red and white stripes. These markings on wood and on stone were at every possible fork to guide us even if we lost sight of each other. We did exactly that, when we encountered a land turtle and a few of us stopped to take pictures!

Macedonian countryside in spring is filled with a wide variety of colorful flora from the bright red poppy and yellow buttercups to purple, pink, white, lavender and blue wildflowers that I am tempted to gather them in armfuls and bring them in to decorate the house. Alas, I have digressed a little!  Back to rock climbing in Pilav Tepe.

I was able to choose a rock climbing shoe that fit me, from the clubs collection.  They look like sturdy moccasins’ and stretch, mostly in width, but not in length   It had a strong heel and high cut upper leather around the toes and ankles, designed to grip the juts in rock face with the toes.  Shoes for rock-climbing are extremely important so they don’t slip and slide but grip the rock face and I am grateful I was able to find a perfect-fit pair, unlike some of my colleagues. 

Next was the harness, which I stepped into and adjusted both around my upper thighs and the belt around the waist. It had a number of elements to it, but in my first descent I was carrying nothing other than the belaying rope for security, so I don't know what they are for.  The belay rope is a security device. Though, for my short climb, it’s primary function was to provide for a smooth descent. It was so comfortable to “sit in” when I took my hands off the rock and leaned back into the seat holding the belay rope and pushing off the rock in a series of jumps. The belay rope was attached to my harness with some fancy knots and looped at some high point in the rock face and back down into the loop of the belayer, who controlled the length of rope slowly during ascent and descent for security in case of a fall.

My second climb

The club had prepared all the rock faces with fixed loop bolts, for clipping on the belay security devices with a carbiner, but took us up the presumably easier beginner climbs. The owner-director-leader first climbed up the rock himself to set up the belay ropes before we were allowed to start our climb.  On my first climb I only ascended up about 2 meters, finding a piece of jagged rock with my hands and pushing with my feet and not pulling with my hands, each time feeling for those slightly jagged indentations on the rock wall to find a hold. The shoes didn’t slip and with each push up, I felt a rush of adrenalin and a heady excitement. The first time I just kept hugging the wall, not daring to let go when I wanted down! However, with encouragement and by following procedure, and knowing I was supported by the belayer, coming down was so easy – much easier than picking my way down a mountain during a hike when I am afraid to slip and fall!   Absolutely enchanting Macedonia!

The climbing on the first two days and the 3-hour hike in the morning of the day of return to site, on a portion of the steep ascent the biking path takes up the hill from the cottage, past a monastery and through an old village is for the physically fit. The bikers descend down to Mantovo Esero (lake) near Radovish and loop back to the cottage, while we returned the way we walked up!

For a small developing country there are a lot of hidden gems for recreational activities – from the passive sun-bathing on the shores of beautiful Lake Ohrid, to beginner level extreme sports such as rock-climbing, white water rafting, para-sailing or hang-gliding during the weekends at a local spot nearby!

Weekend Vacation Spot

With Macedonia in the throes of special elections for its parliament, it was a good weekend to find a place to vacation deep in Mavrovo National Forest on the western flank of the Republic.  Not knowing what to expect, I was in for a surprise.  The intensity of my experience during this vacation was not only a function of place alone, but also a combination of place, ambience and companionship.  This weekend these three things came together.

Beyond the stunning vistas and the equally interesting monasteries with their relics – bone fragments of saints, a small piece of the cross Jesus was crucified on, etc., obtained at the time of the Holy Crusades in the 11^th century - the utterly delightful experience of seeing how the villagers themselves appreciated their simple, slow pace of life, the unpolluted air and the nutritious nourishing food growing abundantly around there homes set the stage.

Of the two must see monasteries in the area, the outbuildings of Sveti Jovan Bigorski, most well known off all in Macedonia, had burned down two years ago in 2009 and were under construction during this visit.  This monastery is nestled in a peaceful tranquil setting on the western flank of the Bistra mountain range.  Hidden in the forest, it is reminiscent of the time when the world was in flames with the battles between the Roman Empire and the crusaders.  Fortunately, the stone church built in 1020 AD and dedicated to St John the Baptist, and the main wooden monastery buildings were saved in this fire.   These buildings have the look and feel of newness as they have been remodeled and added along, especially in the early 19^th century, a fairly recent event in its history. The soffits are built in the same style as the Turkish sultan’s palaces in Istanbul as was the room where we had coffee.

On the other hand, the women only Rajcica monastery with the church of Sv. Gjorgi, offering a stunning vista of Debar Lake was perched on the most visible location by the lake! The day we visited was sunny, bright with blue skies and the terraced monastery grounds filled with a profusion of red roses and green grass.  It was stunningly beautiful.  Inside, the dining hall tables were covered with drying mint leaves, to be later added to bottles of oil, liquor and sugar water for mint flavored products.

We had a tour of a gypsum mine by a Macedonian engineer from the German plasterboard construction company Knauf.  Though he was very thorough, the tour was in Macedonian language and it was hard to believe that this large valuable pure gypsum mine was handed it over to the German company without any payment.  This encompasses a known area of approximately 10 km long by 1 ½ km wide by 700 meters high and sits along the northeastern edge of Debar Lake.  Depth unknown.   So I did a little web research. According to Wikipedia, inexpensive Gypsum (known as gips in Macedonia) is a calcium sulfite mineral with the formula CaSO₄·2H₂O and though used primarily for drywall, it's uses vary from fertilizer, dietary calcium, flash freezing cement and plaster of Paris among others! I wonder what they add for calcium-fortified milk etc. in the US!

Our host, a hotelier with the Slow Food vision, something quite unusual in this part of the Balkan peninsula provided the vital ingredients that changed a ho hum holiday to this incredible experience.  Slow Food is a non-profit member-supported association, founded in 1989 by Carlo Petrini in Italy, to counter the rise of fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

On arrival at Hotel Tutto, after we oohed and aahed our way in, we were seated at one of the tables on the terrace with stunning views of the River Radika. We started with a very traditional yellow rakia, a Macedonian plum brandy.  As we waited for the salad, we became quite a raucous group, drinking alcohol albeit a little, on an empty stomach.  The food came in different courses and with simple recipes using local vegetables and dairy products. The meats – veal, chicken and fish were delicately flavored.  After the main course and before dessert, we walked through the village picking the herbs – mint, chamomile, thyme, oregano, etc as we walked along – our host thoughtfully provided us with plastic bags!  Dessert of baklava and ice cream with coffee came after our return about two hours later! No dinner necessary.  Breakfast was an equally superb gastronomic experience, where we consumed fresh preserves of strawberry and apricot jams with our buttered toast, omelet, white cheese, both sun-dried and freshly sliced tomatoes, roasted banana peppers, olives, slices of baloney (?) and fresh air. Truly a wonderful weekend vacation!

Na Gosti in Lazani

Macedonians have rediscovered, post Communism the many holidays associated with saints’ days. In addition to his or her birthday, each person celebrates “imenden”, the saint’s day from whom their name has been derived. Yesterday and today were Spasov den (day) and Sveti Nikola den respectively. Three-year-old Nikola had his imenden slava (celebration) today in the nearby village of Lazani, in the municipality of Dolneni. The gathering was for his immediate family and my colleague (his father’s sister) and her family. It was privilege to be included.

Though Lazani is about the size of my community, it is more of a village than a city without paved streets or sidewalks and a buried sewage system. There was no evidence of a modernized ‘plostad’ or town center, and I was disappointed that my tour was cut short by a lighting storm that drove us indoors. We had just barely finished a tour of their farm at that time. They grow corn, wheat and tobacco as cash crops and more than enough vegetables for consumption at home and for the green markets found in most Macedonian cities. It is a modest living. Tobacco sells typically for 3.5 euros a kilo, far less than the 5 euros the Bulgarian and Greek farmers get. No wonder that last fall the tobacco farmers protested, when the price had fallen to 1 euro a kilo! Of the two plum trees laden with fruit, one produced sweet fruit and other sour fruit. The plums will be ready at the end of June early July when the family starts making plum liquor or “rakia” the traditional alcoholic drink of Macedonia. It is often said that rakia will cure every ailment!

The one story farmhouse had a small porch with a washstand and wooden railing built like a fence giving it the appearance of a small room - similar to an attached gazebo. We sat there chatting with an elderly neighbor who claimed he consumes 80 kilos of tobacco every two years and rolls his own cigarettes. It was hard to believe he started smoking when he was 4 years old and at 74 didn't suffer from a smokers lung! Anyway, the adjacent primary school has two shifts for the classes and as the second shift ended, I was startled to see young children run into their yard and grab a bike each to go home. It says a lot for this family who takes care of their bikes during the school day. It was also quite a sight to see the roosters and hens followed by their brood running helter-skelter, like the children, to find shelter from the rain.

 

The village is predominantly Muslim with little opportunity for a young Christian farmer to meet young Christian women in the village. So a marriage broker arranged this marriage between an Albanian Christian from a small village near Skoder, Albania and this Macedonian family.  She quickly learned Macedonian upon her arrival 7 years ago and now brings dual language skills to her two children.  She is lively conversationalist and we found common ground to talk about children with a mixture of Albanian, Macedonian and English! We were so engaged in conversation that the husband had to remind us to leave the learning for a while, as it was time to serve the food. This is the kind of woman I have been eager to meet and befriend – so engaged in life beyond the mundane tasks! Her husband too was knowledgeable about the world beyond farming and we were able to communicate on a number of issues.

Fridays is a day when no meat or dairy products are eaten and the meals are “poct”. Hrana literally means a meal or food. The meal was thus considered “poct hrana”. Just before we started, my host glady went to the fields in the rain to cut some fresh spring onions to supplement our dinner of a ‘tavche gravche’ and ‘fried fish’. Tavche gravche is the traditional Macedonian bean dish. The afternoon went by too quickly and I have promised to return for the next celebration on August 2 to their home.

Spring is here!

With the onset of warm weather, the slow pace has slowed further. Joining a group of women last week, on makeshift seating in front of a little general store (prodavnica) on the main road after work listening to the friendly gossip was an eye opener.

First, it gave me an opportunity to stop and read the small 8x11 notice announcing direct buses 3 times a week from Brod to Italy via Slovenia on the store window. This information will not only remain unknown to most residents, it also went unnoticed by me for the last couple of weeks when I passed the store during my morning walk! Now, if and only if I had been planning a trip to Slovenia, it would save me some serious connecting time at bus stations along the way. Now, I need to find a direct connection to Dubrovnik, Croatia my next destination of choice!

Second, I also found myself glancing at my watch whenever a combi went by, noticing any differences in the regularly scheduled times as well as if additional times were added for the summer hours.  With much laughter, when queried by a passerby about cost and times to go to Skopje, they yielded to me for accurate information as I travel far more frequently out of my community than them. Though the fare between Brod and Skopje went up by 50 mkd in February the drivers gave us a grace period to get used to the new rates till mid May, after which they insisted for the new rate, especially with students.

Third, I became part of a semi-closed system, in which local entrepreneurs went shopping for clothes to Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey for jeans, blouses, dresses in the ‘latest styles’ and fashions for non-professional working women. These women are too constrained by meager wages and lack of time, spending hours growing their vegetables and other staples, planting, harvesting, canning and pickling all year long along with meeting the obligations of raising young children, food preparation and keeping up the house, to travel to neighboring cities for purchasing clothes. As always I am eager and open to new experiences I wanted to meet this entrepreneur. The following day Dragan, stopped me on the street to introduce himself and set up a time to meet at the opstina to see his wares!

Fourth, watching people walking past offered not only a window to my community, but an insight to the stereotype of construction workers on lunch break back home.  I now have a better understanding of the light-hearted play between the watchers and the watched.  My experience last week of watching people walk by, some self-consciously, others with a wave or with small children and still others stopping to say hello and curious about the foreigner among was delightful. The evening had the ambience of a lazy summer vacation day – a soothing balm to the hectic pace of life and to be indulged in once in a while and indulged in small towns the world over.