We crossed the border into Serbia - it was a slow process but we got there. It was interesting to see the various number plates while we were waiting in the queues. They were from all the neighbouring countries and some further away like Germany, Austria and Italy.
We had a long drive but it was a good one as the roads were all small country roads which meant there wasn't a lot of traffic. The country was a lush green, just like the previous two countries have been.
Our first stop was a largish town where we hoped I could buy a sim card. We tried to find a car park but you had to pay to park and you could only pay by using your phone! Without a sim card it was a catch 22.
Our final destination after a long day's drive was the small town of Donji Milanovac in Djerdap National Park. This park runs south of the Danube River in the east of the country. I've never seen the Danube before and it was huge! Mind you, it had been dammed downriver but I was still amazed at how wide it was. We found the town then followed google maps to our accommodation. It was a steep and tricky climb up in the car and there was very little room to park but we did it. John became very good at backing out the driveway and down the road with very little room to spare. We certainly couldn't turn around!
Our cabin was gorgeous with a fantastic view.
"Mum" who came to collect the money and to show us around the cabin, spoke no English but using her phone to translate, we worked things out. In what we were to learn is very typical in Serbia, these cottages have two floors and are two separate rentals. Luckily we had nobody underneath us for the first couple of days as it's hard to sit outside and talk without the other people hearing you. It's also hard for us when other people smoke as the smoke inevitably drifts over us.
In also what we were to learn is typical for Serbia, the drains in the cottage stunk. We could shut the bathroom and keep the smells at bay that way, but the kitchen sink was in the same room as our bed and we couldn't get away from it.
We really liked this little town. It had a good restaurant where we ate every night and got on really well with one of the waiters. He actually had a twin brother working there and it was almost impossible to tell one from the other.
While we were eating dinner one night a procession walked past with priests at the front. It was a special saints day. I couldn't take photos though - it would have felt disrespectful.
But we were here for the walking and cycling. The national park was beautiful and was full of spectacular viewpoints. On our first day I dropped John off at another town and he rode home. He had a great ride, which was just as well because the next day he came down with a cold. And then it became a fever. The fever only lasted for 24 hours but the cold lingered for a couple of weeks and it turned out that this would be the only ride John would do in all of Serbia! Was it covid? We don't know. But I didn't catch it at all.
Once he got over the worst of it, John did a couple of shorter walks with me and we saw some incredible views over the Danube.
We were recommended to take a boat ride on the Danube. It was great. We had an English speaking captain. "I'm the first female boat captain in Serbia!" she told us proudly. We set off in her 'ship' (Bee that's the word she used - it carried 4 people plus the captain!)
The Danube forms the border between Serbia and Romania. First we went to the start of the "Iron Gates" the narrowest part of the Danube. Before it was dammed it was much narrower and this used to be a treacherous place to navigate by boat. Only one boat could pass at a time but, as the gorge is nearly two kilometres long, a ship entering the gorge couldn't see if another one was coming the other way. The Serbs devised a system where balloons were raised at stations along the river to indicate that a ship was approaching. It was quite clever. The balloons were eventually replaced by large orbs. The system became obsolete though when the river was dammed and the water level was raised by 23 metres. This made the gorge much wider and deeper and now multiple boats can navigate it at one time.
There were points of interest along the Romanian side - we entered a small cave (although not very far). Further along, a huge head was carved into a massive rock. Apparently, there was a ruler of the Dacians (an old civilization in Romania) in Roman times, who was much admired. His forces were overcome by the Romans and, rather than live in subjugation, he killed himself. He's still a hero today.
Occasionally an enormously long barge would slowly cruise past carrying cargo up and down the river. We passed one and it was flying a Ukrainian flag. That cargo must have been so precious!
After the trip we ate lunch at the restaurant we had seen earlier that used to be a signal station. The signal orb was still there.
One morning at our cabin it rained! It didn't last long but it was refreshing while it happened.
Further along the Danube was the ancient settlement of Lepenski Vir. When it was decided to dam the Danube in the 60's, archaeologists studied the area as it would all soon be under water. They found an incredible site - and ancient settlement that's from pre-historic times. It's believed that these people were in transition from hunter-gatherers to living in a settled community.
A lot of money had clearly gone into making this a destination of interest. The entire settlement was moved piece by piece to higher land to save it from being submerged under water and a huge, very flash glass cover protected it all. Even the walk to the site was paved and lined with information boards about the various plants in the area.
They made these cool carvings. It is thought that they represented their gods.
Further again along the Danube was the Golubac Fortress. Again, this had had extensive money poured into it. It had been entirely renovated and we had to pay according to which sections we wanted to see! Sadly, the bottom part of the fort was under water.
It was a striking looking fortress.
John was still unwell so he kept to the lower parts. That's him in the blue shirt walking back along the path from the cannon tower.
Like many fortresses, this one changed hands a number of times over the centuries as it was in a very strategic location.
Moving on, we drove past miles and miles of sunflower and corn crops. The sunflowers were probably a couple of weeks off lifting their heads in full colour. That must be amazing!
I grabbed this pic of a very cool mosque on the way.
We moved on to Novi Sad, a very likeable town. We stayed in a very different place here. On the hill beside the town is a huge old fort. Between the many walls of the fort is a massive building which is now a hotel. Our room looked very fancy but in reality it was a bit squishy and I felt that the hotel was living on past glories.
Our fancy but jaded room.
Everything looked a little shabby and worn. On the weekend hundreds of locals came up here to look at the views and to eat at the outdoor restaurants. As they were wandering around they had to step over all the rubbish in front of the hotel which I realised was the fallen bits of plaster from the hotel walls!
The outside of our hotel. One of those windows is ours.
In the evenings people strolled along the extensive pedestrianised boulevards in the town centre and ate endless ice-creams. I counted 12 ice cream shops in a few blocks! Laneways ran off the streets and these were full of cool bars and cafes. We found a great Italian restaurant and ate there twice. It was a pleasant change from the usual meat, cheese and vegies of Serbian cuisine.
The streets were lined with gorgeous old buildings.
The Matildas were playing their quarter finals in Australia so we found an Irish pub that could broadcast the game for us at 9am. Neither of us are soccer fans but it was exciting to see them win, even if we only shared the excitement with the staff as nobody else was there. The place had been chockablock full the night before though.
On our last night we ate at a restaurant in the fort as John wasn't up to another hike into town. We saw a lovely sunset. The restaurant was known for its enormous vanilla slices so we had to try one!
To enter and leave the hotel by car, we had to drive through tunnels and over bridges over old moats. It was cool!
We're really enjoying Serbia so far. There is lots to see and it's not too hard to get around without knowing much Serbian language.
Til next time.
Heather and John
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