Motourama Part 22: Serbia – Flatter Than The Netherlands?

Hello family, friends and followers! In today’s Travel Story we are rocking some kilometres.

After a hearty breakfast with Herbert and Karin, it was time to blast across the tarmac into Serbia. This was the first border crossing, where Esben had palpitations. The first “real” Balkan country on the route. Thoughts of hardened, rough border guards checking every single item we had with us, questioning our purpose to enter the country, eventually sending us back due to an unforeseen detail, went through Esben’s mind. It was all for nothing, though, and we were waved through the border control after having our documents checked. We were in Serbia!

And boy, was it boring! It wasn’t the towns, the houses, the people, or the cars. They all came together to create an interesting first hand experience. It was the landscape, however, that got old quick. The Pannonian Plane stretches its way from the Hungarian border, all the way to Belgrade – and it is flat. Not as in “wow, there are almost no hills here” flat, more like “this is the flattest I have ever seen, and I have been to the Netherlands” flat. There was nothing for it, but to just eat up the distance to Belgrade, our destination for the day.

Still nice curves in Hungary, on the way to the border.

Just after the border, where a line of cars wait to be let out of Serbia. It looks like it is easy to get in, but hard to get out.

Vineyard on the way. One of the few things to “see” on the road.

It’s so flat!

So very flat – and straight.

To break up the monotony, we played around with the camera’s position.

Even peeing breaks became a nice distraction. Say “Hi”, Esben.

Luckily, there were villages along the road as well.

And we could eat ice cream on the go.

We also saw our first authentic horse drawn wagon! With a scooter in the back.

The landscape continued to be flat, though, and the roads kept on going straight.

Uh, but what is that? A hill?! Surely not. Maybe? Or are our minds playing tricks on us?

The only thing we actually stopped to take a photo of, was a mosque on the opposite side of a lake.

Eventually we made it to Belgrade, as the sun was setting.

Arriving at the hostel in the last rays of the setting sun…

…which had been giving her gentle kisses throughout the day.

We had found a very cool looking hostel in the city, called Fa%r&Square Hostel, which we looked forward to experiencing. We arrived just as the sun was setting, and the hostel looked even cooler in real life. With a rough, handmade look, graffiti murals on the house walls and a warm welcome, we felt at home. We were allowed to park the bikes in the closed off courtyard for the night for safety. A very nice gesture. We had some food in the common room and went to bed. We were so tired, we couldn’t even stay awake for the movie night in the common room.

Unpacking the bikes for the night.

Tired but happily, we enjoy our evening meal along with some free wine from the staff, before hitting the sack.

Until next time, watch out for the Sun’s kisses. They can cause some weird looking marks.