Serbia
here we come! Hadn’t really planned on coming here but here we are.
John continued the drive on the small white road, it was a little
potholed in places but not for far. We arrived at the border
Strezimirotci, one of the 25 towns that were divided when the new
Serbian borders were created. After a little chat with the guys I
cleared us out of Bulgaria. It is unlike South America in that they
don't need forms filled out for the vehicle and signed by the “paper owner”. We drove the 100m to Serbia border control and there was a guy with good English (American accent) who translated for the officials. The maps on our vehicle once again proved their worth. It shows we are travelers and have been places. The customs officials have a look in the house door, maybe open a locker, and peer in. Generally they do not enter the house. Any way all through with stamps in the passports.
The
road meandered from 800m altitude up to a chilly 1300m. It is coolish
and trying unsuccessfully to snow. We stayed on the main road until
lake Vlasina at 1150m and then headed north on a yellow road. Tourism
is reasonably new in Serbia and this lake area is being made into a
tourist attraction for summer and the surrounding mountains in
winter. The lake has many picnic areas and it is possible to drive
down close to the water. A really delightful spot even more so as
there is no one else around….
The small villages are neat and tidy with some abandoned housing. However the rivers seem to be the rubbish pits and are quiet disgusting in places,
We
cut west to a largish town of Koracevac where our map listed a bank.
We found cash, a sim and a few groceries. A dual highway is nearly
complete so up this little valley the floor is just roads. New road
an orange road and the yellow that we were on. Not much room left for
housing.
Back
onto a white and north. Green veges are hard to find unless you like
cabbage, but I managed to find a cauliflower in Vlasotince. Back
on orange East then north on yellow. Looking for a camp.
The graveyards are amazing with baskets of flowers hanging on the edges of graves. The common recent headstone is black granite with photos of the deceased.
This yellow
road has little villages listed on the map but in reality it has
house dotted all along it.
We exited on a white and parked behind a
shrub in an unloved paddock close to the road.
171km
171km
A
quiet night.