The donkey race in Kavadarci

It’s been a long time since the wine festival took place in Kavadarci, but I’ve just found forgotten photos from there. Apart from tasting a wide range of wines (personally I was too busy of trying this beverage and imitating an expert from abroad, to focus on making more detailed photoreportage from this event…), one of the main attraction was the donkey-race contest. In the competition took part four contestants together with drovers. Before the race one of them hardly tried to call all the observers’ attention to him, screaming, threatening and trying to discourage his opponents. Finally, the victory achieved an another race participant – inconspicuous and modest, what humiliated the self-confident gentleman.

The monastery of Treskavec

The monastery in Treskavec is absolutely amazing place. Surrounded by mountains, cut off from the world by 2,5 hour climbing, the monastery is an ideal place for meditation and mental rest. 

If you add to this an option of waiting and watching the sunrise from the near peak - Zlatno Jabolko (Golden Apple), katharsis guaranteed.

In the complex right now live one monk and his helper, the business is guarded also by three awesome dogs.

In Treskavec takes place an action of the famous Milcho Manchevski movie - Before the Rain.

Duvalo - the last active volcano in the Balkans

Kosel, a Macedonian village located 7km north from Ohrid, inhabited with about 600 people. The place resembles dozens of villages in the region, but in the one respect is special. Here, there is the only one active volcano in the Balkans – Duvalo. Going there to check how this place looks like, I imagined a big crater releasing loads of smoke, but on the spot it turned out that this is only small hill and several small holes in the ground, 50 cm diameter and 30 cm deep. Nevertheless, it’s enough to guarantee unbelievable stench of rotten eggs. How the people can live there?

On the place I found a lot of dead animals – foxes, hedgehogs, birds and snakes. Well, it’s not a surprise because the stink is unbearable.

The last time when hot water was found here was in 1973 in the depth of 80 m - 35ºC, and 400 m deep - 95ºC. Volcanic fumes kill local animals but the volcano has simultaneously curing attributes. People suffering from various skin illnesses come here and apply mixture from sulphur and volcanic mud on the ill places on their bodies. However, staying next to one of the craters more than 15 minutes can end with suffocation.

Below, the material of Macedonian television and photoreportage.