30 September 2023, Gostivar, 28.33km
Motel Ignacio 1800 den [R584]

What a super ride to Gostivar, a little under 30km along the R1206 from Tetovo. We had hoped to cover around 40km toward Ohrid, our next destination, but stopped here instead due to a dirth of accommodation options further south but still within our reach on a hilly day. 
To the west lies Albania and this part of North Macedonia comprises predominantly Albanian Muslims. 
We literally passed through one small town or village after the other all the way to Gostivar, a sort of peri-urban ride with a small town feel. In almost every distinguishable town was a new and often attractive mosque. On the outskirts of one was a fresh produce Saturday market with shoppers on foot blocking vehicular traffic. And we must have passed going on 50 coffee cafés. 
One distressing thing: we saw several stray dogs in poor condition. One particularly pathetic creature had a ridged and bony back and was virtually translucent. 
Shortly after getting onto the R1206, we were flagged down by two men, brothers Muamet and Nuhi, who insisted we join them for coffee at a petrol station restaurant a little further on. Muamet is currently a teacher in a small village south of Skopje, but spent seven years acting as a translator for the UN in Kosovo following the war with Serbia. He also worked as an administrator for the US in Afghanistan for a period. He complained of corruption and ignorance, saying that when Albania became independent, its citizens did not even know what a banana was, so poor were they, yet thought their country was one of the best in the world. "Like North Korea", he said. 
This is the second time in two days we have been treated. Yesterday while pottering around Tetovo, we had stopped to photograph a building when a man came out of a restaurant and proposed we come in for coffee. We assumed he was the proprietor, but he turned out to be a guest lunching with his wife and daughter. Macedonian by birth, he has lived and worked in Switzerland for 42 years. Though he speaks seven languages, English is not one of them so we communicated via his daughter and Google Translate. We declined his offer to sponsor us and ordered beef soup and something to drink. As he and his family were leaving, the waiter told us he had paid for what we had ordered. 
We also met a cycle tourer today from Malaysia who began his trip in Athens and is cycling north into a European winter despite being ill-prepared for the cold. He found last night super cold although the days are still beautiful and warm. He is also keen to visit Ukraine, though he does not plan to tell his mother so. He seemed lonely though only three weeks into a year-long journey. 
A good day.