Day 41

27/09/2011 – Day 41

Apatin to Karavukovo – 60km

First the bad news, yes, M misunderstood the receptionist last night and the room did cost 50€. Also, he had to go back to Sombor as they had not given him the right code for the internet. He took a taxi to do this so it saved us a few hours.

Once he was back we left with no clear objective for the day. There is a problem with the route now in that there is no accommodation listed for the next 120km. This is a lot for anyone to do and we decided to break it in half and sleep in Karavukovo if we can.

On the way out of Apatin we missed a sign (it was probably stolen by Hungarians) and did not turn left at the right place. This led us to an area of housing that we found a little strange. Firstly there were lots of people about, men, women and children. Not the sort of thing you expect on a week day. Secondly the condition of the houses was not what we had come to expect, they were dirty and very tatty.

Then we saw that most houses had piles of scrap metal in the gardens, this is not a good place to be. As we cycled along the road a truck came in the opposite direction and I saw the driver shaking his head. That was enough for me, we did a quick u=turn and headed to the main road which was where we were supposed to be.

Once we left the town we ran into the apple convoys again. I was thinking that Serbia cannot be part of the EU as there are far too many old tractors about, they have not been allowed into the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) scam where they are encouraged to by a new tractor every three years.

The road conditions are a lot better today and we rolled along quite fast. The further we get away from the town the less traffic we see. As we enter a nature reserve we spot a couple of cyclists up ahead. When we catch them up and it is the two girls we met on Sunday.

The route now takes us back on top of the dyke where the road is tarmac covered at the moment. Unfortunately this does not last; soon we find a section which is hard packed earth. If it had rained in the last few days this would have been a nightmare but at the moment it is dry as a bone but it still slows us right down. After 6km of this we then get back to a good surface and pick up speed again.

At Kudeljara we re-join the road and find another two stray dogs, this time they are just puppies. Every time a car passes they are expecting it to stop and pick them up! We have seen strays every day since we left Budapest, all of them recently abandoned as they look at you as if you are going to take them home.

We have been on the road for over 2 hours now and decide to stop at the next bar for lunch, a good choice today as it is clean and friendly. Looking at the menu in Serbian I have no idea what anything is so I go for pot luck. This turns out to be stuffed chicken breasts, and they are huge. While we were eating the two girls we passed earlier now pass us.

During lunch we definitely decide to stop in Karavukovo and have an early finish. Entering the town there is no sign of accommodation, but the guide says there are 2 places. We think the town centre would be the best place to start and ask directions from a guy, and he sends us the wrong way.

After a bit of random cycling we find the centre and the café that is advertised as having a place to stay. They have now closed for the season but give us directions for a hunting lodge which is supposed to be about 10km further along the route.

With a little trepidation we set off along the route, if the information is wrong we have two options, either pushing on Bačka Palanka which is 90km further or a bit of wild camping (which we are prepared for).

Just as predicted, at about 10km we see the signs for the lodge. It is set back behind the dyke and is a collection of buildings. In the middle of a grassed area there is the large round lodge. As we enter looking for a reception area there are a lot of voices coming from a room to our left, looking inside it is full of men wearing camouflage clothing eating dinner.

As we step outside again the owner’s son comes up to speak to us. Yes it is open; yes they have a room, internet? Not even our mobile phones work here!

The building is set round a central spiral staircase and the rooms radiate off it. For a hunting lodge it is exactly what you would expect, even down to the gun cabinet in the room. For us it was better than sleeping in a tent.

It operates as a hotel and a full range of food is available. As it turned out we were the only guests, all the hunters had left. The whole place is run by the family and the owner’s husband ran the bar in the evening. When we asked for the menu it is only in Serbian (surprise!) and we had no idea of what anything was.

We had the bright idea of asking him to suggest something traditional for dinner. What a mistake that was, we had this huge plate of mixed grill with salad. There was enough on just one plate to feed both of us. The food was very good just far too much, I suppose if it was mid-winter and we had been out in the snow all day it would have been appropriate but for us it was too much.

After dinner we retired to the room and lay there, too bloated to move.