Balkan Bike Trip - Part 3: More Serbia

Day 9: Bascki Petrovac, Serbia to Indija, Serbia

39.8 miles on bike

Today was a day of interesting gas station encounters.  We met this guy first thing in the morning - we named him the "gas station philosopher."  We stopped to buy waters and he heard us speaking English.  He spoke English and asked me, "what are you doing in the ass end of the Balkans?"  Between servicing cars at the gas station he gave us his opinion on Trump (somewhat of a fan) and of the American education system (not a fan).  He also informed me he makes 190 Euros per month, but gets fined 150 Euros if he forgets to wear his name tag.  I asked if he is considering attending a university to get a better job.  He said that is impossible since he dropped out of primary school to play video games.

We stopped in Novi Sad, a relatively big city an hour's drive from Belgrade.  

Novi Sad hosts a big music fest called Exit festival. It is at the end of June and advertisements are up. 

In Novi Sad we stopped for lunch and a crazy stray dog latched onto Julie.  He sat under her chair the entire time we were there.  When we got up to leave he followed us for about a mile.  

The bridge leaving Novi Sad and crossing the Danube has a bunch of locks on it.  I am not sure of the significance.  There were hundreds of them.  

Second gas station of the day.  We stopped for more water and the guys working there brought us some old desk chairs to sit on.  

We reached our goal city for the day.  Ever had pizza topped with pepperoni, cucumbers and french fries and egg baked into it???? 

Day 10: Indija, Serbia to Belgrade, Serbia

28.3 miles on bike

Today's ride was not too exciting.  It was basically urban sprawl leading into Belgrade - industrial parks, auto shops, a lot of trucks, etc... Not many great photo ops. 

This is yet another bridge over the Danube as we searched for our VRBO in Belgrade.  

Frank Zappa themed barge/bar.  

Had this Montenegro beer when we got to Belgrade.  I like the name.  

Day 11 - 13 Belgrade, Serbia

0 miles traveled.  

Took a few days off the bikes to visit Belgrade and rest sore butts, arms and knees.

Here are some scenes from Belgrade...

Julie's criteria for choosing a restaurant.  

1) Has outdoor seating.

2) Is crowded.

3) Is crowded but has one table available.

4) Is "cute" in some way.

The below restaurant checked all the boxes.  

Looking out over the Sava and Danube rivers from a famous fortress in Belgrade...

Men working in a hole in the sidewalk...

Two trips to this gym in Belgrade...

Burger after the workout...wow!

Evidentally cleaning your shoes with a hotel towel is a problem...

Great graffiti all over Belgrade...

Check out the 4th floor of this abandoned building...it looks like someone built an apartment or office within it.  Also notice the cool Owl art work....

Haunted house?

Next post will find us back on the bikes in Bosnia...

Balkan Bike Trip - part 2 : Hungary & Serbia

Day 6: Kalocsa, Hungary to Baja, Hungary

31 miles on bike

Today's route was along a nice series of bike paths and back roads.  Almost the entire day we had the Danube River to our right and farm land to the left.  Not too exciting, but scenic.  

Some interesting carved poles in the middle of nowhere... 

Sleeping sheep, sorry for the bad photo.  My camera died, this is an iPad photo.

We found a cheap hotel in Baja, there was no camping options.  They let us store our bikes overnight in a room that was being set-up for a wedding the next day.  I hope the bride doesn't stop by.  

Day 7: Baja, Hungary to Sombor, Serbia

51 miles on bike (Again, ignore the distance in the map below.  Side trips to bank and grocery store plus a visit to a closed campground added 10 miles.  I am using mileage from my bike computer) 

Some Hungarian looking women doing Hungarian things outside of a Hungarian supermarket.  

We have been using an app called maps.me for most of our route planning.  It has found us some great back roads and bike paths.  Today the route had us go on a country road straight south and basically dead end into the border fence between Serbia and Hungary.  We then headed due west along a "road" (more of two tire tracks in a field).  This "road" ran parallel to the border fence for about 5 miles.  Here is the road below.   

I have a minor obsession with land borders.  So it was cool to ride along this border fence in the middle of nowhere.  You can see the border in the background of the picture below.  

On our dirt road we stumbled upon some police/military/border patrol.  They were blocking the road and had a lot of guns.  One guy was in camo.  We thought we might get in trouble for being on the road.  But they just waved and moved aside as we road past.  Since Hungary is in the European Union, many refugees from various places have tried to enter Hungary via Serbia.  I am guessing these guys were on the lookout for migrants.  

After passing the border police and 5 miles on the rural road, we popped out into a little town and found a huge statue of Mary.  

We then crossed into Serbia.  Neither the Hungarian nor the Serbian border guards said much.  They stamped our passports and handed them back in 30 seconds.  Since this was a relatively rural crossing, there were no other cars or people crossing.  

Scenes from Serbia day one...

When we got to town, we went to a campground for cyclists on our map.  The owner apologized and said he was closed for family emergency, but directed us to another camp site down the road.  We lucked out because this one is much nicer.  The owner runs a sod farm in a city an hour away.  From what I gather this is their vacation property and they set up a business renting camp spots.  They have a tennis court, small indoor pool, a kitchen to use, showers, beer, covered area to park bikes, etc...  And we are the only ones here.

Day 8: Sombor, Serbia to Backi Petrovac, Serbia 

62 miles on bike 

When I wrote the previous day's entry, I spoke too soon.  Later at night Felix, from Germany, showed up.  He made us feel like amateurs.  He had half of the stuff and in one day he biked what we did in the last two days!  He as a very nice guy and we decided to bike together the next morning.  Here is a picture before departure.  

I liked this little old lady...

Wedding dress shop with sidewalk display case...

My Serbian friend Neb told me about the "best ice cream in Serbia" in a town called Odzaci.  It was somewhat on the way so we stopped there.  We all agreed it was amazing.  

Felix stopping to buy some fruit from a road side stand....

...after Felix bought cherries the owner insisted on giving Julie and I some plums for free.  

Auto repair shop...

Felix is an animal.  After 62 miles, we were at our end stop.  Felix planned to go another 20...but first he stopped to buy us beers.  We went to a cheap hotel, he went back on the road!