27 September 2023, Matka Canyon, 15.34km
Canyon View Lodge 1843 den [R598]

Accommodation with the word "view" in its name, quite often comes at a price. Tonight's room is only a little over budget; the price we paid was having to push our bikes up an incredibly steep and on occasion stoney incline for around 600m. But what a view the Canyon View Lodge offers. 
I love that accommodation in Europe often operates on a system of trust. We were SMS'd a code to a small lock box outside the front door. Opening this gave us access to a key to the front door and our room. Ice cold drinks and beer, crisps and peanuts are available for a fee. We are expected to leave exact cash for the room and any drinks or snacks. The host accepts payment in any currency. 
One complaint: the sound of running water in the valley below us and of birdsong in the trees by which we are surrounded, is disturbing the peace! 
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It was a short, pleasant ride to Matka Canyon, just 12km west of Skopje. The Treska River was dammed in 1938, flooding the canyon and providing hydro-electric power. The dam is lovely, narrow and pristine beneath treed cliffs. "Roughly 20% of the plant life found at Matka is endemic. The canyon is also home to 77 indigenous species of butterfly [and] to the most venomous snake in south Europe, the horned viper." 
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There are several medieval churches in the area and several new mosques. Another sign of an increase in the Muslim population is that a couple of mini-markets we tried did not stock beer. 
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At a restaurant at which we lunched, the loo door had been installed so close to the loo that a section of door had been cut out to allow it to swing open and closed. The sort of thing one sees more often in India. 
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There are only two million people in all of Macedonia, of which over 1/4 live in Skopje.