From Sarajevo, we our Journey took us to another war torn fall out from the hedonistic days of the former Yugoslavia, the states former capital, and now capital of Serbia, Belgrade. The journey departing Belgrade left at the bleary eyed time of 6:00am, the previous nights BBQ and beer not encouraging much enthusiasm for a 5:00am awakening. The journey was again sumptuous, bouncing through gorgeous tree filled swathes of aggressive hilly terrain. This included seeing spots marked off by tape, an indication of land mine filled countryside. The final approach to the Serbian border was a captivating lake, which the road followed the lakeside, with gorgeous backdrops of a slightly mountainous view. I had little idea that this lake was part of the border between Bosnia and Serbia, only twigging when the occasional Serbian flag was seen on the other shoreline.
Going through the border was again slightly drawn out. Hutch's desire to get a 'Welcome to Serbia' sign on the border, was less welcoming that he'd imagine, getting frog marched back onto the bus! This was the second land border we had crossed, and the second time Hutch had pissed off a border guard, following his topless approach into Bosnia and the failure to produce the passports in record time, resulting in the border guard in Bosnia to scream at me!
Once through to Serbia, the landscaped changed as did the use of the alphabet; the Serbian's use Cyrillic, the landscape now flatter and less scenic. Poverty also seems to slightly improve, with better established housing and more cars scattered as we headed to Belgrade. Once dropped into Belgrade, another currency was required to ensure we could have the statutory arrival beer; The Serbian Dinar, with a conversion rate of ~150 to the pound.
In a scorching hot Belgrade, we were due to meet a friend who was on a 6 month placement. The last time I had seen her, she was in New York on a different placement. What a contrast, but nonetheless, we were in Belgrade, and Charlotte Read had foolishly agreed to not only meet us, but host us. Before the rendezvous, we had a meander through Belgrade (via a split toe nail for me; lesson, don't wear flip flops on undulating pavements in Belgrade), and settled at a recommended lunching spot. To our surprise, the traditional menu hosted:
- A Calf's Head in Tripe
- White Glands (Bulls Sex Glands)
There was no disappointment. We stumbled upon a frantic private party on a boat on the Danube and were welcomed to the party by the ever so stocious Ivan. The back drop from the boat was the gorgeous Kalemegdan Park and more of Belgrade. We partied hard until 6:00 and knew it would soon be time to go, when Ivan was carried off the boat looking pretty ill. Ivan will forever be known from this trip as Ivan the Terrible after the former Grand Prince of Moscow. Belgrade didn't disappoint for nightlife; we were there on a Monday night, and the appetite was buoyant and the locals welcoming and encouraging to our requirement for a party!!
When we gently awoke, we got ready and headed off, but not before being struck but something strange. Rain! It was the first time on the tour we had experienced it, and thank goodness for my borrowed Anderlecht jacket. After a tour of the previous nights back drop, Kalemegdan, and other pivotal sights in the city, we headed into the bohemian quarter Skadarlija for a final beer in the city before heading back to Boleč to go to the station for our next Danube destination: Budapest. The final beer was a thanks and fairwell to Charlotte for hosting and joining us; Hutch and I have offered a reunion meal upon Charlotte's return to Nottingham.
Once aboard our new host, we settled into our sleeper carriage and started consuming the couple of beers we had for the journey. Upon departing Novi Sad, a sudden flashing and banging occurred (I know I've mentioned this in a previous stat post, but for continuation I will include in this post). Initially I thought it was some firework being launched towards us, but this flashing and banging continued for 30 seconds or more, I started to fear for my life; we were in Serbia, and the possibility of coming under attack was high. As soon as it had started, it disappeared, the train coming to a sudden halt during the 'attack'. After some moments, we were informed that it was from the high voltage electric cable. It had fallen onto the train, causing high powered static and plasma explosions. The fact the cable had come down on our carriage accentuated the visual and sound quality. To also find it hanging precariously outside our window was not only confirmation, but fascinating.
Whilst we were looking out, Hutch noticed another curious passenger poking his head out, further up the carriage; he too had the cable, but hadn't seen it's proximity to his head; centimeters. Hutch pointed this out, and the passenger had a sudden jump and was panicked. Accordingly, Hutch was rewarded a hero; he had just saved this dudes life.
The repercussions of the cable meant we would be behind schedule, whist the required repairs were executed. The jubilant mood of our first sleeper train had been killed, and in between the noises of the repairs, we slumbered in our carriage until we got to Budapest, only being awoken at the border for Passport checks (this one went without incident, given the two previous troubled crossings). I was also fortunate enough to quickly make a reflected sun camera, to witness the rare transit of Venus, over our life source, the Sun. This was fortunate because it was due to occur at sun rise, just as the border control was happening. If you missed it, the next one occurs in 2117.
