Just a 45 minute bus ride from the centre of Skopje City you can find this amazing gorge, a nearby cave system, and these two monasteries on Lake Matka. One Monastery is perched on the top of a cliff overlooking the river and second monastery below, both of which you can see in this photo.
You have to take a boat across the lake (which look more like a river as with a lot of “Lakes” in the Balkans), and when you are ready to return there is a hammer and metal plate that you have to hit to get the attention of the boar captain to come and pick you up.
The 1 hour hike to this top lookout point is definitely worth the effort. I went to explore it Lake Matka together with another Aussie who had some time to kill before catching his bus to Greece.
