Day 53 – “of Castles and Butterflies”, Stara Palanka to Donji Milanovac, 93km

Woke up at 5:30 to catch that 7:00 ferry across the Danube and begin my ride, of the EuroVelo trail no. 6 on the other side!

Energy levels are OK for a few hours but the lack of sleep starts catching up with me and around noon I stop for a quick power nap. Unfortunately, it ends up being more of a sweaty half-awake lie down while I brush off the numerous ants crawling all around. A butterfly pays me a visit and sits in for a long photo session – just me, the butterfly on my fingertips and the glorious Danube in the background.

It’s funny to be cycling in Serbia and peering at Romania on the other side of the great river.

This EuroVelo trail turns out to be, for the most part, simply the regular scenic road along the south bank. Aside from a few creative and hidden paths at the beginning of the ride there is nothing particularly special about this stretch of the EuroVelo, atleast nothing a cyclist couldn’t derive for themselves using a regular road map. It is however nice to feel like a part of the continental bike initiative and it means I see, for the first time in weeks, a few other bike travellers on the road

So, what with sleepiness and a coming storm, the air is heavy and the going slow, but thanks to my early start it is a relatively high-mileage day.

I write this to you from the shelter of a little B&B off the main road; yet again, this side of Europe, I am finding western standard and comfort for eastern prices; 10€ for a private apartment, welcome coffee and breakfast would be unheard of in Italy or France, for example.

The thunder is rolling in and we may be in for quite the sky shredding within a few hours – with weeks and weeks of scorching weather it’s high time the heavens open up and release some rain!

Enjoy the photos!

- on the ferry crossing the Danube
- me + ferry
- castles
- butterflies
- evening: B&B owner, his dog and fishing on the dock. On the other side is Romania

Day 52 – “Crossing the Danube”, Vršac to Stara Palanka… (42km)

Today, I’m halted by the same river I was so eager to reach!

There are no more ferries to get across the illustrious Danube and the nearest bridge is more than 50km away. I’m more than a little angry with the whole situation – I feel great, it’s only 17:00 and I’ve got a lot of unreleased power in my legs. I would gladly do another 30-40km today!

If not for the stretch of wide river in my path…

Calm down and surrender to the situation, I tell my angry self. There are some things you can fight, and others, like ancient rivers with limited ferries, which you cannot.

So, I take the evening to catch up on writing, looking forward immensely to tomorrow’s riding and, also, trying out EuroVelo’s no. 6 bikepath along the river.

We shall see what adventures tomorrow holds,

Kasia – your river-crossing cyclist