Day 23--Belgrade to Golubac, Serbia

LOCKED IN THE LOO

Thursday, July 17, 2008
Belgrade to Golubac, Serbia
Distance: 132.83 km (82.53 miles)

X+--We've traced the path of the Danube east, then south through central Hungary. As the river forms the boundary with Hungary and Serbia it turns eastward to push its way through the great mountain chain of the Transylvanian Alps. Here, the famous "Iron Gates" of the Danube formed over millions of years. We follow the river through Serbia today and stay the night right where the Danube enters the "Iron Gates."

We rode out of Belgrade as a group, led by Jovan. When crossing the river on the sidewalk of a very busy bridge over the Danube, Harold stopped and Judy collided with him. Both fell but with minor injuries and fortunately not into the heavy traffic. After the bridge, I rode by myself for awhile. We’d been routed to a six-lane, high-speed road for 20 km. Fortunately we could ride in the right-hand bus lane without being harassed. The road was smooth and the ride fast, something we’ve not had for whole days on this ride.

I left the freeway on a hill and then had a pretty good additional climb to small back roads through many villages. Sometimes the road was roughly paved and sometimes smooth. I stopped for a view of the valley at the top of the hill and the Rear Guard caught up to me. We all ate our bananas and snapped some photos. As we started to leave, Harold discovered that his front tire was flat. I hopped off my bike and volunteered to change his tube for him, calling myself the flat fixing expert. Lo, I could not budge the tire from the rim it was welded to. Each of us took turns trying pry the tire from the rim to no avail.

leaving a village; a seemingly  ancient farm building

We are not done with melons yet; building a new farm building

My little camera just could not capture this captivating view

Now, Jovan had ridden his bike back after the bridge incident and was going to buy chalk and pick up the van, so after about 20 minutes of struggling with the tire, we looked up and spotted the van. This was literally the first time on the ride that the van had passed us after ride start. TGSF. (Thank God for small  favors).

Jovan got the tire off the rim with only a little work, but then the valve on Harold’s spare tube was too short. Fortunately, Judy had been given a long valve replacement for her flat tire earlier in the ride. We pumped up Harold’s tire with the foot pump from the van and all was well again.

Carolyn assists Jovan by handing him the bicycle pump.

We were all racing to get to the ferry that left at 1 and then not again until 4. But, alas, the flat tire brought us to the ferry at 1:45 pm, so we sat in the shade around a table at a riverside café and ate our lunches while waiting impatiently.

I also had a bowl of fish soup that the owner pressed upon me. I didn’t really want any, but he insisted, so I caved and ordered a bowl. He brought out a mixing bowl sized portion and four individual bowls. The soup was fishy and thin with pieces of boney fish in it—undoubtedly carp right out of the polluted river where we were sitting. I ate some but the others wouldn’t touch it. It had climbed into the high 90s, so I also had two bottles of water and a Sprite. Most of my money on this ride has been spent on water and other drinks.

Theterrace at the  little restaurant where we waited for the ferry;  Carolyn checking out her cash supply; notice all the beverage containers; also notice that they are empty

While waiting for the ferry I spent my time watching and photographing the kids in the river.

Boats along the shore and the ferry finally arriving after a nearly 4-hour wait at the riverside restaurant

Finally at 3:30 pm the ferry appeared. But the owner of the restaurant had warned us that the ferrymen would drink and smoke and hang around for 45 minutes after getting in. While the ferry was docked, a handful of kids used it for a float and dived and cannon-balled from it, wading unconcerned through the bottles, clothes, and other trash washed up along the bank.

After the ferry arrives, the kids use it as a swim platform, jumping and diving from it. They stay on the ferry even as we pull away from the harbor; then each jumps off at the last possible moment and swims back to shore

The ferrymen finally had enough beer and cigarettes so shoved off at 4:15 pm. We arrived downriver on the opposite bank at 4:40 pm. After debarking the ferry, we were faced with a steep cobbled street, which we walked halfway up to an area where we cold mount our bikes and ride the rest of the way up the street. There were large overly ornate houses on one side of this street.

We were on the ferry for about 30 minutes before it docked at a harbor to the right of the red-roofed hotel top right. there was a fairly long steep climb out of the harbor which we walked a good deal of. the houses at harbor side were very large and elaborate, seemingly the homes of wealthy individuals. In contrast a short way down the road, vacationers stroll  past a babushka  shepherdess.

Jovan had told us of a very different terrain that we were to encounter today: An area that had once been vast sand dunes because of over logging, but had been planted with pines in the 50s to try to hold the sand in. Because it had once been sand dunes, this section of our route was hilly and open for much of its length.

Eventually, I left the Rear Guard behind again and cycled solo along narrow farm roads to a bike path, and then through a city and then more farm roads, another dirt road, more farm roads through the corn, and a right onto a dirt road through the woods for 2 km to our Villa Dunavski Raj hotel.

The villa was a vastly different affair than we have been staying in. It was located in the middle of a tall pine forest. Across the dirt road from it were tennis courts and a sand volleyball court. The villa itself was two story with a southern-type balcony running across the front. To the side were round picnic tables under wood pavilions. It had more the feel of someone’s rudimentary summer getaway than a hotel, and that is exactly what it really was. The family who owned it, rented out rooms and lived in the basement during the summer.

Sand volleyball court across the street from our hotel

From out balcony; that's Rod and Bob's balcony with the table

I got in at 6:15 pm, washed out my clothes and hung them on the balcony to dry (they did not dry because it was so cool and humid in the woods), and then sat on the balcony and enjoyed a drink.

The Rear Guard got in about an 40 minutes after me. As I am always too hot to shower soon after I ride, so Judy took the first shower in the tiny bathroom. She reported that the bathroom door would not close, so when I went in to shower, I slammed the door behind me, and it closed . . . and locked. When I got out of the shower, I tried to open the door to let out the steam, but it was locked. I tried the skeleton key to no avail. I called to Judy and had her try from the outside. Nothing. So I wrapped myself in a towel, and Judy went off in search of help.

Help came in the form of the burly Villa owner. He knew how to get in; just take the knob off. Still no entry. He fished around for awhile with his tools, and then the crowd that had formed by this time was warned to “stand back,” and I was warned to stand clear of the door. This was hard to do as the bathroom was only about double the size of an airplane bathroom. Anyhow, I cowered behind the sink. Burley Guy then kicked the door in. Its frame crashed inches from me on the sink. I was laughing a bit hysterically, the crowd outside was laughing merrily, and Burly Guy was pissed that he now had a repair job on his hands. The deadbolt that had somehow barred the door had been at least 2 inches into the frame.

The locked-in-the-loo excitement over, I dressed and went down for dinner, al fresco at the round picnic tables: fish soup and catfish with a great dessert of fresh fruit.

The gang at dinner and our bikes now tricked out with headlights so that we can navigate tomorrows tunnels