12 Serbia - Construction Worker - 'Wilderness'

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Route: Danube Bike Trail 4 (Backa Palanka - Indija)

distance traveled: 83 kilometers

Highlight of the day: the many greeting and cheering people, the helpful guy with perfect English, the encouraging construction workers

We got up early again. We had breakfast at the hotel, where there were 8 construction workers besides us. There was a varied buffet, from which we took a sandwich and some fruit. Then we set off. The street that was so busy yesterday was almost empty, and then we got out of Backa Palanka onto a busy road. After a few exhausting kilometers, we turned right onto a field path (a real avenue) and then got very close to the Danube. We could see it again and again through the trees and small holiday houses. To the left were wide meadows and isolated groups of trees. It was magical in the morning light. People of all kinds kept passing by. And we talked surprisingly much - usually we ride in silence. Eventually, we passed through villages. Older men working in fields would stop and greet us. Later, many drivers honked and waved.

Gradually, the area became more urban - we passed through Novi Sad. As the name suggests, a fairly new city. The waterfront path was great, newly built, and we eventually passed by some really large villas, all new, with fancy cars parked outside. Just before that, there was also a sand and concrete plant: very impressive. The same goes for Novi Sad. Nothing older than 50 years, well-maintained, clean. At some point, we didn't know where to go anymore. The map said we should go over the bridge on a bike path - but the bridge didn't have one. We stood around quite confused, when suddenly a man in his forties came up to us and explained the way in perfect English. We had to take a different bridge because the police on this bridge demanded a fine from cyclists. Then we wanted to continue following the fairly good signs, but unfortunately, the road was being repaired everywhere. At some point, I was pretty annoyed. We took a break uphill at a church.

It was really nice there. We ate and drank and chatted until we were both really tired. So we lay down on park benches and bam, half an hour of nap time was over. Freshly rested, we continued, first straight on the main road. We arrived at a place that was very hilly. Unfortunately, the through road was closed due to construction. So we went around it by feeling and kept going higher and higher. At one point, we passed a bright red-yellow town hall. Ultimately, we were wrong and drove back down the hill to get back on the main road. And then we drove exactly 50m until it was closed for road renewal. A bumpy, makeshift field path led back to the road, which was also renewed in the next 6 km. But it didn't matter, because it was good to ride on and there was much less traffic. The only drawback was that it was uphill. 8% gradient, 6km long. But it was really doable, you just rode along evenly. Down at the bottom, some construction workers were taking a break, and as we passed by, they clapped and shouted "hopp, hopp!" Then we quickly pedaled and everyone laughed. The view while riding up was amazing! On the right, you could see the valley and how high we already were.

Once we reached the top, we deviated from the route because our destination wasn't on the map. Unfortunately, we had no idea where to go. Then an old man came up to us, probably demented. Julius wanted to ask him with the help of the map where we were. He ignored it, because after the word "German" was mentioned, he started talking in German. He didn't know much, only 32 and Nazi. Eventually, he left again. Next, we met 4 young Italians with a map and an offline map. That helped us a little more, but as we were about to ride down a long hill, we asked another Serbian person just to be sure, and he let us know, through gestures, that we were already on the right track. So we went downhill, and after a reasonable search, we found our hotel in Indija. Otherwise, there's nothing there. Thyssen-Krupp and a few other companies, hardly any restaurants. We found a local place with traditional dishes. The waiter couldn't speak foreign languages, but somehow we managed to communicate and got some delicious food.