In the suburbs of Skopje is the amazing Matka Canyon. Previously, the Treska River flowed along its bottom, but in 1938 it was blocked by a dam, as a result of which a beautiful artificial lake- reservoir.
At the entrance to the canyon there is a parking lot, a place for a picnic, a place for swimming. There are stalls and shops. A rafting track has been built along the canyon. Routes for climbers are organized.
A path stretches from the parking lot to a mighty dam. It is forbidden to take pictures on its territory, but many secretly ignore this ban.
After the dam, a little more trail and you go to the once-existing monastery of St. Andrew. Now the church of the same name, built in 1398, remains from it. Around the church there are cafes, a restaurant and a marina.
From the church of St. Andrew along the lake, an equipped trail stretches for many kilometers along the steep shore. In some places, small pedestrian tunnels are hollowed out. 
The water in the lake is emerald green. 
There are many caves and cozy grottoes hidden in the canyon and rocks hanging over the lake.
One of the most famous is the Vrelo cave. The cave consists of two halls, with a total length of 176 meters. In the first room, countless bats live on the ceiling. There are so many of them that in the twilight of the cave it seems that the vault of the ceiling is alive and moving all over. And it also smells awfully of the waste products of these mice. 
In the "transition" between the first and second halls, a hefty stalagmite named "pine cone" lurked. Its height is 3 meters. 
There are two lakes in the second hall. One small and uninteresting. But the second is very tempting. It is 30 meters long and about 4 wide. The lake has not yet been studied, but there are suggestions that its depth can reach 500 meters, which makes it possible to call the Vrelo cave the deepest in Europe.
The shore of this deep-sea reservoir was dubbed the “Russian beach”, due to the fact that some Russian ambassador easily dived into the icy abyss. The rest of those present did not have enough fortitude! 
We got to the cave by boat. She can be hired for little money at the pier. The helmsman of this watercraft is also a guide. Many caves are closed to free access single tourists, including Vrelo. Tour guides have keys and access rights, they monitor the order and safety of tourists. 
We were lucky with the guide, a very nice person and told interesting things.
My travel companion Maxim, an ambulance doctor and part-time bodybuilder, offered to go to Macedonia together. I agreed without thinking, because by nature I am prone to quick decisions. As a result, Maxim refused the trip. Well, your humble servant, not having the habit of turning on the "reverse gear", found himself alone in Macedonia.
But despite the lack of a direct flight, I still highly recommend visiting this beautiful Balkan country. Who doesn't love connecting flights, can reach Skopje from Sofia by road. A four hour journey is not that far, but a Bulgarian visa is required. The second option is via Belgrade, but the trip from there will take almost 6 hours. I advise you not to bother and fly to Skopje on the "Turks", as I did. Turkish Airlines offers transit flights through Istanbul with good connections.
"Turkish" in Lately fly from Vnukovo. Driving around Moscow to any airport, and even from the other end of the metropolis, is almost always a risky occupation, not being late for a flight for long. And I took the Aeroexpress train from the Kievsky railway station. 38 minutes from the center of the capital - and you are there. It was also nice to see the updated platforms at the station. Last time I was here fifteen years ago. It is gratifying when things change for the better.
Traveling by train, in my opinion, is much more comfortable and interesting than by car.
The Vnukovo Aeroexpress differs from the Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo ones also in that at the end of the journey it “goes into the ground”. The platform in Vnukovo is underground, which is very original.
Today, three main airports of the capital have railway communication with the center of Moscow. Aeroexpress is definitely better. Indeed, unlike a taxi, for example, you do not need to calculate the time with the so-called margin, fearing possible traffic jams.
I’m already too lazy to get a camera at transit airports and airports of arrival, and I’m completely tired of duty free, so photos on trips usually begin at the first sightseeing moments.
On these boats you can go on a tour of Lake Matka.
I have always been interested in the Balkan languages. As you know, the former Yugoslavia is now home to 7 independent states: Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia and Kosovo
From the point of view of linguistics, only Slovenes and Macedonians have their own languages: the so-called "Slovene" and, accordingly, Macedonian. Next: Kosovo Albanians speak Albanian. But the Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins and Bosnians, in fact, have mutual language- Croatian (aka Serbian). During the reign of Tito, the Serbo-Croatian language was national language Yugoslavia.
But after the collapse of the country in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, language differences began to be deliberately introduced. Political forces, interested in making the peoples of the former Yugoslavia irreconcilable, needed to divide its population along national lines, including linguistic ones, so that reunification was impossible.
The difference is artificial. But all the Yugoslav languages have their Slavic roots in common. Yes, and Russian is not a stranger here. In Macedonia, if you speak Russian with the locals, the chance of being understood is very high. Although it is possible in English. Young people speak it quite tolerably, and sometimes even very well.
This sign says that trout fishing is prohibited.)
Well, we got to the Church of St. Andrew. According to legend, during the war between the Serbs and the Ottomans, a tavern stood on this site. And one day in 1392, the brother of Prince Marko - Andrei - came here after the battle.
Marco, meanwhile, stayed outside to wait. There were Turks in the tavern. They killed Andrew. And the prince, suspecting something was wrong, entered there with his retinue and took revenge on the Turks, destroying them all to one.
The church still keeps the handprint of Prince Marko on its walls.
The church was built in 1389.
Drink Red Bull sponsors fish on Lake Matka)).
There is a trail along which you can make a 6-kilometer voyage along the river. I walked only a short distance, and on the way I met such a monument to a climbing carbine. Alas, on trips I am almost always limited in time, so a long walking tour preferred a motorboat.
We swam to the Vrelo cave. On the way, near the shores of the lake, we met quite interesting buildings. Sort of like a fishermen's lodge. "Hiking" option, at the same time with very attractive conditions. Only 20-25 squares of land. Above the mountain. Below the lake. It is impossible to reach them by land.
When we sailed, a foggy veil spread over the lake.
And then the boat moored at the pier. And soon we will go down to the Vrelo cave. It is one of the deepest in the world. Scuba divers from Italy explored it to a depth of 220 meters. But the cave seems to be bottomless, and exploration continues.
The water in the river is unusually clear, and when you swim, it is interesting to observe the relief of the bottom.
The scheme of this cave at the entrance for some reason reminded me of pictures from the times of the USSR.
The electricity in the cave is maintained by a generator that is "masked" a few meters above the entrance.
Stalactites and stalagmites have been created here for billions of years. I used to always confuse what is what, until I heard one wonderful rule: stalactTite grows from the ceiling, like the letter "T", and stalagMite grows from below, like the beech "M". Figured out this simple thing and I'm not wrong anymore.
People are so arranged that they give their names to everything. Caves and their contents are no exception. Someone called this stalactite a "cone", and then the whole hall became a "cone hall".
