The landscape from Skopje through Northern Macedonia and into Greece consists of rolling hills covered in dense shrub vegetation with the road meandering between the hills or powering its way through them in tunnels with the occasional spectacular bridge over a deep ravine. The road was very quiet with only a few cars and the odd truck, but we were able to provide a litle excitement to a couple of policemen in North Macedonia who flagged me down with their silly little batons and gravely informed me that I was travelling at 140 kmph in a 120 zone.The fine is up to 20 euros but they would reduce it to 5.
The Greek border was a doddle and we didn’t have to buy insurance. From Thessalonika towards Larissa the hills gradually became transformed into stunted mountain and from Gravena they became much larger mountains. The road went right over the top of them, eventually arriving in Meteora. A fellow-traveller we met at Pamukkale in Turkey in 2018, Truckmush (although I doubt if thats his real name) was appalled that we had travelled through Greece and not gone to Meteora..
There are six 14th century monasteries on the tops of hills with almost vertical cliffs. We booked a tour, which goes against the grain of travellers like us, but seemed the best way to see inside three of them and visit the other three. The tour agency, Meteora Throne, suggested that we park in a free car park near blocks of flats and we spent the night there.
The rocks at Meteora on which six monasteries are located.