Day 43

29/09/2011 – Day 43

Bačka Palanka to Novi Sad – 43km

Due to the fact we had to wait until noon before we could collect M’s bike we had a slow start to the day. Breakfast was at 9am and was not that impressive, four bits of thick bacon that were mainly fat and two boiled eggs. This seems to be the standard Serbian breakfast and when well-presented will set you up for the day (like the one in the hunting lodge). But today it was just a disappointment.

After packing the hotel was kind enough to let us keep my bike and our bags in the garage until we had M’s bike back, so we walked into the town centre for a look around and a coffee. This is the first time in Serbia we have seen the information signs in the town centre in Serbian and English, they must be getting American tourists coming through now!

Our impressions from last night were correct, there were lots of young, wealthy looking people about, the centre was well kept and pedestrianized. There was one guy sleeping in the hedge at the side of the road but that is not unusual in the UK, is it?

At noon we went back to the bike shop and sure enough, Marco had fixed the wheel and replaced the broken bottle holder, all for the cost of 4.50€. Having paid we walked back to the hotel and packed up.

The route out of town is along a busy road for about 9km until we turn right onto a back road and then onto the dykes again. All along this stretch of the river there are caravans and sheds built on the bank for fishermen to use, they are well hidden under trees and bushes. According to the map there is a restaurant amongst them somewhere. Although it was not signposted we spotted the umbrellas and some tables and turned down to it.

It was a wooden shed that had been expanded over the years to become quite big. As we walked in there was a young guy eating and the owner was chatting to him. We sat down and ordered beer and asked for the menu. The owner said it was fish! He then reeled off three different kinds of fish or fish dishes and we were lost. The young guy who had finished eating repeated one of the fish so we went with his recommendation. We had no idea what it was but that is part of the fun.

When it arrived it was a whole fish cut into steaks and fried in breadcrumbs, with a potato salad and tomato (and of course, raw onion). We still don’t know what type of fish it was but it was good, once again there was enough for about 6 but we managed to finish it off and ride for the rest of the afternoon.

Today’s objective was Novi Sad, not a great distance but due to the buckled wheel yesterday it was all we had time for anyway. I had been put onto a website called ‘warmshowers.com’ which is for cyclists who are willing to put up touring cyclists in their homes. With only 24hrs notice I emailed Anna and asked if they had room for us.

Anna had just come back from cycling to Istanbul for a charity she worked for and way happy to let us stay. She gave us directions to her house and said we should call if we got lost.

M looked up the address on Google maps and we set off to find her. We made our way to the main road into Novi Sad and stopped at a crossing where a young man asked if we needed help. M told him the address we were looking for and he laughed as he lived there too, he is one of Anna’s housemates. Crossing the road was not easy as it is a pedestrian crossing on a dual carriageway; no one even slows down as they approach. The only way to cross is to take a change with a gap in the traffic to get you to the central island and then do it again on the other side. Once across we went straight to the house.

The concept behind the website is that you are available to help fellow cyclists when they are in your area or you can find someone where you are going who is willing to put you up. In this case Anna was putting us up for the night. The house was a large three floor detached building that looked fairly new. We were given the top floor where we had a choice of beds to use.

Because we had arrived at short notice we decided to go out for dinner and walked to a restaurant about 20 minutes closer to the town. Here the menu was all in Cyrillic and I was totally lost, M had to order for me. When the food came it was enough for two, as usual, and there were the compulsory raw onions. But, having said that the food was up to the high standard we have come to expect, and cheap! The one question that keeps coming to mind is why are they not all obese here? The sizes of the meals we have been getting are huge!