Day 1,411
The Iron Gates
We had enjoyed our day off, and we even managed to have a party after a lovely couple from Germany arrived in a camper van and they said a party was a good idea. They brought the beer and Tom brought the rakija. We chatted about our respective trips and lives then, somewhat drunk, we headed to bed a wee while after our normal bedtime!
In the morning, despite our late night we were up and away fairly early. The headwind was still with us but not so fierce. The sun was out though and the heat was building. Due to the thunderstorms we decided to head for a campsite again. The ride was on mixed surfaces, but we made good time and reached the campsite by early afternoon. We maybe should have pushed on but we both felt a bit tired, some might say hungover! Shortly before 4pm we spotted a group of cyclists, it was a French family, a young couple with their 4, yes 4, children! They have taken a year off, been riding for 9 months and we were awed by their trip. We chatted and compared routes etc. but were so engrossed we didn't take any photos.
We had a long day planned, so we were up and away before 7am. Riding besides the Danube can be a bit repetitive but today we knew we were in for a treat. This section goes through the nature reserve of Djerdap National Park. It's a natural arboretum, with an awesome variety of trees densely covering the steep cliffs far above us. The river flows through a gorge, and at one point the width narrows to just 150 metres at a point called the Iron Gate. This has resulted in the road having to go through many tunnels, at least 20. The majority were very short but about 5 were somewhat longer. We would wait for a traffic free section and then pedal like mad. Surprisingly the only bad experience was with a German driver, who seemed uncertain of when to overtake. We decided that due to their amazing cycle paths they are simply not used to cyclists on the road.
We have both been feeling somewhat ‘over’ visiting museums, but the French family had highly recommended that we stop and see Lepenski vir. Thank goodness we did.
The man they found ‘sleeping’ by the fire
The tour of the museum started off with a short film. Back in 1965 an archaeologist with a group of students were excavating the area, and another group were filming them. At first the archaeologists were very unimpressed to be filmed but they got used to it and this resulted in a film that let us witness first-hand what they discovered. Day by day they dug deeper and deeper, eventually uncovering the remains of a village and graves from over 8000 BC. This was a ground-breaking discovery, literally! They had found proof of one of the oldest settled areas in Europe and information about a group of people and a way of life not previously known about. When we viewed the remains of the village, the artwork the inhabitants created, their pots, etc. everything meant so much more. A truly fantastic experience that we will long remember.
The carvings from river boulders were amazing
On we went, and from the museum we rode a section of what was clearly the old road with the modern highway looming above us. Unfortunately it only lasted a couple of miles, but the main road was pretty quiet thank goodness. We have started to spot more touring cyclists, in fact twice whilst we were stopped for a snack, we bumped into the same two guys, who now know us as the ‘couple who eat all the time’!
Old road - new road
Our time in Serbia is coming to an end, and we are going to be so sad to leave this country. Last night we arrived in Negotin and booked into a cyclists hostel, Base Camp Urban Guerrilla. We had just missed the 3 guys we had camped with a few days back, but we won't be catching them up today as we've decided to stay an extra night. This place is simply awesome. We had a just about perfect little apartment, tonight it's booked but we will camp here. The owner feeds us constantly, homemade bread, fresh produce, beer, coffee, juices, in fact I best finish here as lunch is ready!
‘Working’ hard
