"I hate the English - they bombed me when I was in Belgrade!"
Drunk in Sombor, Serbia
These were almost the first words anyone spoke to us in Serbia. Admittedly, the speaker was not in the least bit threatening (after getting this off his chest he invited back to his flat), but it sort of set the tone for our stay in Serbia, You have to agree, it's not a bad reason to hate a nation.
Our route through Serbia - click to enlarge
Entering Serbia
Serbia was a distinct step down from Hungary. If Hungary felt as if it was leaping aboard the European Union band wagon, Serbia felt as if it had just fallen off the Soviet Union's one horse cart. The first things we noticed were the ancient cars, lots of rusting Fiat 500s, and the gangs of young men with too much time on their hands.
Rat camp northen Serbia
The north of Serbia was essentially an agri-desert, with huge open fields stretching away as far as the eye could see. This made it quite difficult finding anywhere to camp. This campsite was in amongst some disused agricultural buildings in the middle of a gigantic field. The other thing about northen Serbia was the large quantity of rats. We made the mistake of leaving our rubbish bag out at this site and the rats were scamepering around just outside the tent all night.
Novi Sad was a welcome relief from the miles of open fields. We had two nights in a posh hotel done out in best russian mafia chic.
Novi Sad
Flood defences on the Danube at Novi Sad
Tim, overjoyed at the propect of another day battling into a headwind
3000 kilometres done
As we pedalled into the hills in the south of the country the countryside became alot prettier. Somewhere on the way to Nis we celebrated our 3000th kilometre.
Peda
This is Peda, the friendliest guy we met in Serbia. We had arrived in Nis on 1st May and had forgotten it was the biggest holiday of the year. All the hotels we could find were either closed or on strike. We were wandering around like a pair of lost sheep when Peda rode up on his scooter and asked if he could help. When we explained our plight he got on his mobile and rung round all the hotels he knew until found a reasonably priced one that was open. He then led us to the hotel on his scooter, puttering along in first gear for two miles, while we tried to keep up. A really nice guy.
Pushing up the detour
If we had been fluent in Serbo Croat, we would have able to read the big warning signs that told everyone else that the main road between Nis and Pirot, en route to the Bulgarian border, was going to be closed for blasting. As it was, we only found out when we reached the barriers. Rather than retrace our steps for 30km we decided to try a diversion into the hills. It got steeper and steeper and we finally ended up pushing the bikes up a near vertical dirt track.
Last day in Serbia and it bucketed down!
Cyclability
C+
The roads in the north are fairly dreary, but it gets quite pretty in the South. On the plus side, there's not much traffic and the drivers are reasonably considerate. The roads aren't in great condition
Cake rating
C-
Like the scenery the grub is better in the south. It's all rather greasy up north.
Accommodation
C-
Quite difficult finding campsites in the Northern plains. Pretty difficult finding budget hotels (ask for "private" hotel).