//Day 17/28-03-22 /Donji Milanovac-Negotin

I had set my alarm at 6.45 as I planned to cycle 120 K to Negotin. Yesterday when the landlady asked when I wanted breakfast and I said 7.30 her smile disappeared a second. But she quickly smiled again and said she would prepare a real Serbian breakfast for me. Cyclist need to have strong food….(google translate). 

So in full anticipation I descended to the family living room to have breakfast. Coffee, mint thee, homemade marmelade, freshly made bread, goat cheese, a sort of melocakes and a varation of burek ; fried pastry filled with goat cheese. It was great. I eat 2 of the bureks, although one would have been plenty, but what can one do when the lady is standing nearby to see if you eat enough…In addition I had to/could  take the leftovers with me as lunch, which meant that I had a big cheese sandwich and 2 bureks. 

At 8.15 I was ready to ride. I said goodbye to the lovely couple and their dogs. The weather was sunny, still cold. Thanks to the steep climb I had to make to leave the B&B I was directly warmed up. After a 55K / hour descent I was on the Eurovelo 13 route. 

I could have taken the short route to Negotin through the inland but I wanted to see the entire Iron Gate gorge. 

As I cycled the south side of the Danube, I was mostly cycling in the shade of the hills. No T-shirt temperatures (except for Maarten V.), Romania on the other side of the Danube was bathing in sunlight and I assume at least 5 degrees warmer. The views were beautiful. I can only recommend this part of Serbia. People are friendly and helpfull, the Danube and the Iron Gate gorge are splendid….a (motor) bike heaven. The road (smooth again as silk and with almost no traffic) went up and down. Black Horse and I climbed 2300 meters today. But also descended less or more the same 2300 meters. The result was that after a climb I was always rewarded with nice descent and thanks to quality of Black Horse it  was no problem to do this at 50 K/hour fully packed (great job Koga - thanks Serbia for the perfect asfalt).

In the meanwhile the sun was high enough to also shine on the Serbian side of the Danube. Not only did the sun shine on me but also on the obituaries which are posted on bus stops, and other public places, a practice which I noticed since a couple of days. The photo’s of the deceased are always representing them at a  much younger age then of the age when they passed away (could be of course they all aged well). Most of the obituaries are of people  born in the mid to late 50’s, which indicated and average age of death  almost a decade younger then in Belgium…based upon the stats I found on internet it is 6 years….good deduction Watson…..

 

20 K before Negotin an Eurovelo  signpost was giving me the option to either take an asfalt road but with some steep climbs or to take a dirt road  without steep climbs, I chose for the latter. After 100 K Black Horse’s battery had around 20 K left, more steep climbing would mean I had to swap the battery of Black Horse. My aim was to reach Nigotin on 1 battery charge. So I opted for the dirt road without steep climbs. I arrived at my sleeping places after 126 K, with 4 K juice left, somewhat dusty....Not bad taking the climbing into consideration. 

The 23 K was me entering the city…..I did not get a ticket.

I had booked an accommodation type chalet  (I’m getting indoctrinated by booking.com) at Nigotin called Base Camp for Adventurers - Urban Guerrilla…

I was expecting a garden shed with a bed and some basic shower…but was happy,  not only to find a chalet on steroids but also the amazing host Bojan. The chalet (an old garage ) was clearly decorated with a lot of love and sense for detail ; the bathroom included an assortment of shower gels, a nail clipper and even ear sticks, besides razor blades, after shave,…. I was welcomed by Bojan with a beer and interesting conversation. This for 14 euro / night. If you are ever in the neighbourhood of Negotin do not hesitate to stay with Bojan. Oh yes, I forget to mention…there is also a tennis court…so bring your tennisrackets. Besides my chalet-studio there are rooms for rent and In the summer you can also sleep in tents. Oh, I forget to mention again ; the place is located in the center of Negotin city ; a small Serbian city 20 K from both Romania and Bulgaria. Apologies If I sound like a commercial but the the place is really great. 

I took finally my 56 mm lense out of its bag  and made a short stroll though the small city. I would have preferred a longer stroll but the city was not that big. 

In the evening I had a nice  Serbian stew (veal, carrots, potatoes, gravy) at a restaurant nearby my “accommodation”. The waiter threw we me out the restaurant around 20.30…A wise decision of the man as it has been a long ride today. Tomorrow I will dive a first time into Bulgaria, albeit only for one day. I will head to Vidin at the frontier with Romania.Vidin has lost almost 40% of it’s population to emigration the last years. My host told me that the same numbers apply to Negotin. Interesting to see the impact on the small city.  Vidin is only 42 K away via the shortest route. The scenic route will take 65 K. It will be an easy day tomorrow one way or another. Plenty of time in the morning to enjoy breakfast and have some more conversation with Bojan.

Lessons learned :

• Serbian burek is great.
• Serbias stew is great (except maybe if you are a vegetarian/vegan). 
• The Iron gate gorge route is great.

Song of today : Djanijevo Kolo - Boban Prodanovic

Ps : I made an error with the blog dates. Nobody noticed but unacceptable of course….