Day 49

5/10/2011 – Day 49

Vinci to Donji Milanovac – 67km

The day started bright and sunny as usual with a low mist hanging over the river. On the opposite bank we could see Romania, a new country in a different time zone (I had been misinformed earlier and Serbia is on Central European Time with the rest of us).

Breakfast was a cheese omelette and fresh bread with Serbian coffee (like Turkish coffee but…..).

We packed up and set off with the intention of reaching Donji Milanovac or Porec today. This makes the next day to Romania possible.

The whole day is on the road, most of it a busy main road according to the guide book. The first 5km are on the same back road that brought us to Vinci and was quiet with only one or two cars. When we reached the main road we expected heavy traffic but were pleasantly surprised to find the road very quiet.  The road was wide enough for the car to pass us without any problem.

The river at Vinci had expanded into a huge lake which narrowed down again just after a town called Golubac. At the point where the river narrowed someone had built a castle to the right of the road which then spanned the road with two gateways and carried on down to the river, a sort of toll house I assume. The gateways are just wide enough for modern trucks to go through one at a time and the traffic heading west has priority. However, the road bends just before both gates and you cannot see straight through. When we arrived there was a queue of traffic just before the first gate. Being on bikes we filtered to the front to find the road totally blocked by two trucks. The one going with us had arrived at the second gate just as a larger truck had come through it. The result was they could not pass each other.

The road was full of people giving advice and the drivers were trying to inch past each other until at least one of them could get through. Fortunately for us they managed to open the road a few minutes after we arrived.

Our average speed for this first part of the day was a staggering 23km/h but it was hard work on the legs to keep it up all day. We didn’t stop until Brnjica for our second coffee and that was just under the hour. Looking at the map we had to decide whether to stop at the next town, Dobra, for an early lunch or push on another 30km until town after where we should be able to find food.

Plan A was to get to Dobra and see how we felt, if we were hungry we would eat, if not we would push on for the next 30km.

Just as we entered Dobra there was a sign for a guesthouse/restaurant to the right. Turning in we found an elderly couple who welcomed us with open arms. There was no menu just soup, main course and dessert. OK, sounds good so we ordered two beers and waited. After bringing the beer over he came back with two little carafe shaped glasses with some of that home-made alcohol in them, this time it had a slightly yellow colour to it. Tasting it we were surprised that it was quite mellow, still strong but without that bite you usually get.

The first course was noodle soup, followed by pork done in breadcrumbs and finished off with crepes and chocolate syrup. As usual there was enough for four. This would have been a great place to spend the night had we been here in the evening. As we left we said goodbye in German and Serbian as everyone here seems to speak German.

We had been warned that there were tunnels along the next section so we checked our lights and made sure we could be seen. After 8km the first tunnel appeared, 215m long. Entering it with sunglasses on is not a good idea as you cannot see anything, bike light are not designed to light the road but to let other people know you are there. If there had been a pot hole or anything lying in the road we would have hit it. Over the next 15km or so there was a series of tunnels of varying lengths, I tried them with glasses on, with glasses off, it made no difference, I could not see a thing.

Just before the last tunnel the route takes you left off the main road down a steep side road to a museum and some archaeological dig. The only benefit here that I could see was that there was a café. Following the route past the café you go down even further to a river bed at underneath the road. Then you climb all the way back up again! Why?

It is a climb of just under 160m over a distance of 2km, you start as low as it is possible and come back to the road about 150m from where you left! It would have been easier to stay on the road, miss the café/museum stop and already be half way up the hill with a good run at it. One of the people who compiled this guide is a sadist, there is no other reason.

The only good news is that it is downhill all the way now, but there are some wicked bumps on the way, if you are following a car or someone else you get some warning, otherwise you only see them just before you hit them.

As you arrive at the outskirts of Donji Milanovac there are various signs for accommodation, but the ones indicated in the guidebook are mostly closed now, not for the season, just closed. We were searching around for the bank when we saw the sign on a house in the town centre, another elderly couple who once again could not do enough for us. The price for the room was 16€ without breakfast. We asked if we could use the washing machine and she offered to do it for us for free. The last place we used a machine they charged us 3€ so we paid that here as well.

We walked into the pedestrian area to find a restaurant for dinner and found a fairly large place that looked good. The waiter was patient with our bad Serbian and when we asked for local beer he brought back a bottled beer from just down the road. The beer was different in that it has a slight apple taste to it, but it was very drinkable, the food as usual was good and plenty enough for us.

All around you could hear people having fun, young people playing, older people walking in the evening warmth. There was no drunkenness, no shouting and fighting and no feeling of wariness that you get at home. The whole atmosphere is one of relaxed people having a pleasant time.