Vicious Rock; Bouldering in Macedonia

On our way to the bouldering around the town of Prilep we spent an unexpected night in Veles. We were driving along and found a slalom course. Veles is a small, fairly obscure place, even by Macedonian standards. A few of the guys invited us for drinks. Once we had one drink with them the deal was sealed. It was expected we watch the world cup with them followed by drinking into the early hours of the morning and staying at one of their houses. Although the general hospitality of people in Macedonia doesn't seem to be up to that of people in Albania these guys certainly matched the pressure on a person vs. person basis.

The next morning we had breakfast out with them at what was more like lunch time and away from the noise of drink venues they told us a little about their lives. They don't get paid much more than 300 euros a month but with this they budget for five to ten euros a day which includes a pack of cigarettes, two coffees, several beers and some food out as well as the day to day basics. This group of men, ranging from around twenty odd to around fifty meet up several times each day to consume these things. Its certainly an interesting life. One of them also happens to have three phones which he keeps on himself constantly. When I asked about this it was explained by the simple statement; “he is very important person”. The Macedonian lifestyle also includes updating your profile picture on Facebook multiple times a day on certain occasions but definitely never dropping below the obligatory daily update. They refused to accept a cent for the bills they footed at bars and restaurants and their hospitality.

Prilep's central square

We managed to leave just before midday and drove the remaining 40mins to Prilep. The town, or city rather, is quite charming. It sits in a very arid landscape beneath rocky hills with clear influences from both Christian and Islamic settlers. Seeing as we arrived in the very peak of the day's heat we just went to a cafe and got WiFi and icecream. Later we called a contact one of the Macedonians from Veles had given us who was going to help us out with bouldering information. 

He came very promptly and took us to his house where we sat on his lawn and talked. He offered to take us bouldering a little later when the weather cooled down. Then things got interesting. Now I understood why one of the Macedonians the evening before had asked what “deal” we had with this guy. Poor English failed to express it was a paid service. Now we were roped into paying for at least some paid guiding, much to our disdain. It wasn't overly expensive and we were grateful for his information and guidance but still it wasn't really something we wanted.

The boulders around Prilep are plentiful and have pretty unique features. One of the most common is huge, skull sized pockets in the rock that form massive jugs. The main downside is the grain; the rock is granite with great friction but at high expense to the hands. After a mere two hours bouldering here I had sizeable blisters on six out of ten fingers. Its just the nature of the rock and I'd had a long absence from climbing, meaning my finger pads were weak. 

We bouldered until the sun went down, enjoying how spectacular the location was and finally being back on rock. Our Macedonian guide was extremely encouraging and good at picking problems to suit our abilities. Still, we both somewhat resented almost being deceived into this. We made sure to firmly wrap up any open business that night and pay him so it wouldn't be hanging over our heads that night. 

That night we got the car stuck looking for camping. It was about twelve at night and despite efforts to give the tires traction they just kept spinning and spinning. Sleep that night, by the town dam, was certainly well deserved. 

The following day we relaxed, partly due to the heat, partly due to my fingers. We swam in the lake and spent a considerable amount of time in the cool of a cafe. After a while of not doing much we went for a walk. I gazed up at the still in tact minaret of a ruined mosque. "Do you think that thing's climbable?" I said to Dan. 

Ten minutes later we were standing on a tiny balcony, hugging the wall for safety, the city far beneath our feet. To get there we followed a narrow, winding staircase that seemed to have received some kind of restoration judging by the state of the rest of the building. The minaret ended in a cylindrical ring of bricks and without a sketchy climb we couldn't quite see sideways out of the top. At the very top I could see nothing but a solid circle of deep blue sky. 

As the day wore on we went looking for a boulder we had seen in videos in a remote area but had no luck at all. We ended up doing a little four wheel driving and camping where we bouldered the previous night, a ten minute walk from the car. It was a great vantage point to watch the sun go down and camping in amongst the ancient blocks was simply an awesome experience.

When we started walking down the hill in the morning we saw two figures waiting by our car. As their shapes became clearer we began to wonder what those things pointing up from their backs were and why they were wearing identically strange clothes. The reason turned out to be that we had camped in a military zone. Sure, we parked 200m from the barrack fence, but there was nothing whatsoever to indicate that the surrounding area was included in the fenced area in effect. The soldiers interrogated us a little but when they found out we just wanted to camp near the climbing their tone switched entirely.

“You crazy kids!” They said. They didn't seem annoyed after that point and began making casual conversation while we packed the car. They waited for us to leave before disappearing through a hole in the barracks fence. Unfortunately neither of us got a photo, We didn't think they'd like it in the slightest and it was hard to be discreet.

There's one more thing to add to the list of curious beings we've had in our campsites. Numerous goats and sheep, gypsies and now soldiers.