126. Trying Sour Milk

Day 126

Location 23: Ohrid, Macedonia

Mar. 6, 2023

My day was off to a sour start. Let me clarify: My breakfast consisted of sour milk.

Actually, I'm still not sure whether I ate yoghurt that self-identifies as "sour milk" or "sour milk"-flavored yoghurt. Either way it was a palate's worst nightmare.

Afterwards, I learned that although Luka Dončić, the Dallas Mavericks star and future NBA hall-of-famer, grew up in Slovenia, he seemingly trains here in Ohrid.

If you can't see, the backboard unexpectedly dons the Dallas Mavericks logo.

After lunch, I went for a hike with Ronnie (a fellow hostel guest) and Bubba (the hostel's resident dog). Before embarking, Ronnie and I borrowed a leash for Bubba. But at the behest of his owner, we let him roam freely off leash—"unless there's an emergency".

A few minutes into the hike while Ronnie and I were lost in conversation, we realized Bubba was lost in the woods. Eventually, we carried on. Waiting for us at the summit of the hike—like a wise Tibetan Lama that villagers seek out for nonsensical advice, like "only a tree that's fallen can touch the ground"—sat our long lost canine.

Atop the hike sat an extremely remote village. The houses could be more accurately described as huts. We followed a dirt road that led us towards the barking of an aggressive watchdog (not Bubba). Nervous at the prospect of dog on dog crime, Ronnie and I affixed the collar to Bubba's neck. Immediately, the clasp gave out and the leash fell to the ground. Uh oh.

Bubba continued to encroach onto the home of the hound with the confidence of Joe Pesci in Home Alone reaching for a secretly scalding door knob. This pissed off the watchdog who was, like a serial killer who keeps small remains of his victims in display cases, happy to show off his teeth. And this canine's canines were scary enough for Ronnie and I to begin shepherding Bubba away. But in an instant the watchdog was close behind, shepherding all three of us away. We hustled along and quickly made our way back down to our hostel.