I was pleasantly surprised by North Macedonia: Fairly pristine nature and very affordable. The clear water of Lake Ohrid particularly impressed me, so I stayed there for 5 nights.
After that, I took a shortcut through Albania to Greece.
The first thing I saw in Greece was Motorway 29. Curiously there are no signs banning cycling or walking on it. Given all the bottlenecks (A Schengen border, customs between two countries with poor economic performances), it was also deadly quiet. While doing my homework, I found a CGOAB post by Julian Thomas who said cycling on it was so nice, it was actually boring.
So I followed his example. My reception at the tool gate was a bit cold. But, after telling them about the lack of signs, they let me through.
