Bosnia and Serbia

It’s been a bit of radio silence, no? We’ve been camping and riding and not much mental strength to update or write. So grab a cup of cocoa, a nice cup o' tea, or a whiskey on the rocks cuz here I go…

Now where did I leave off? Leaving Dubrovnik, right? So after much research and deliberation, we left Dubrovnik by bus en route to Sarajevo. Not very pioneering of two cycle tourists but when we looked at the routes, they didn’t seem very safe for two people on bikes. Seeing as how we still had many miles to go on our adventure, getting bruised, broken, or creamed on our trip by the many lorries or tour buses, was not top on our fun list. All in all, we were glad for the bus ride, it was a stunning 6 hour ride next to the crystal blue waters of Croatia and through the insanely beautiful country sides of Bosnia.

My take on Bosnia...I can admit my American ignorance about this country, not knowing much about it and thinking it third world and war torn; I worried for my safety. Can you imagine? Oh how stupid I was. This city and country are most definitely NOT third world and I am ashamed to have ever thought that. When the shit was hitting the fan for Mostar and Sarajevo, I was in high School. I vaguely remember there was a war happening somewhere here but that was the extent of it. I was too self absorbed in the soap opera drama of my adolescence, why my hair refused to look shinny and supple, or why my face resembled a bit of pizza pie. I don’t think I’m fully to blame. I know that there was much hype around Clinton and a certain stained dress. But it wasn’t just that, I just don’t fully recall the U.S. giving the events much thought not that this is true since this was 20 years ago; it didn’t seem to concern our people since it was so far and not our problem. Sarajevo is both sad in it’s bullet and bomb scarred buildings(a very large percentage of them), and yet those same buildings still make you appreciate how pretty they are. On one day we took a free walking tour with a local college student who had lived through the war as a young boy with his family. He spoke freely of his experiences so we could get a grasp of the monuments and the memorials, like the Roses, scattered about for the estimated 12,000 killed. I can't imagine what it must have been like, having grown up in our protective bubble.

Culturally there are Muslims, Jewish, and Catholics that are all living in open tolerance within the city. It is a melting pot where people coexist and seem to get along just fine. Imagine that. The people are incredibly friendly, the food is very meat heavy, and the Bosnian(or Turkish) coffee is quite strong(don't drink to the bottom of the cup). I highly recommend the Burek, its a flaky pastry filled with  any of the following: meat, cheese, potatoes and cream or yogurt on top. In all we stayed in Sarajevo for 3 nights. 

Burek

When we finally decided to vacate the warm cozy interior of our hostel, we were greeted with cold rain and a 28km climb out of the city through the mountains and it’s snow line. Our destination was Belgrade, a mere 300km away. After making it through the first major pass, we decided to do a little wild camping next to a small stream while watching our footing to the ample droppings of dear and cow poop. Riding through Bosnia is a trip in its old time simplicity and all together not much of noteworthy excitement, mostly just wondrous landscapes. For the most part we were in the country with rolling hills, little villages where people tend to their own food and livestock and even a few cows to ride around. It was great and I now want a farm to which I will promptly persuade my father to tend in his retirement. 

Greg passes a cow

why yes, that is a cow drinking from a puddle next to a roadway

I am the Bear Grylls of tent camouflage. Recognize

Top of peak, greeted with snow

and this...furry...thing

Rolling into Serbia was simply a pedestrian bridge, and an odd look at the acquired stamps in the passports(mostly raised eyebrows from the guards at our distance and a smile about San Francisco, one even sang to us at Romania). A quick night in a hotel on the river in Mili Zvornik and then a beautiful flat 80+km ride the next day with a broken spoke(to date, I've had 3). The ride into Belgrade from Sarajevo ended up being four days total and just shy of 300km. Once there, we stayed with an incredibly gracious couple, Aleksandar and Milica, who put us up in a room for two nights and cooked us some great food(Milica also taught me how to make the above mentioned Burek). Belgrade has varying years of history and war torn buildings like Sarajevo. The politics between the two towns are not favorable and I didn't quite follow the history as, in my eyes, so many countries have conflicts and their reasoning and arguments for them. Peace will never have a chance in this world, we were sprouted as free thinkers with too much time on our hands. Just my simple minded non-political-knowing ignorance. 

In these two countries you see a lot of evidence of the Communist relics left behind(Greg tells me there will be many more to follow in parts of Europe) that really stick out like a sore thumb amongst the beautiful architecture of the past. For all that America has force fed into our heads about how bad Socialism, Communism, or anything other than the great almighty Capitalism is, I have been told by some of the natives that they felt a Communism society was better. I heard this the most in Serbia. In Belgrade, the couple we stayed with informed us that there was more jobs, less homeless, and the standard of living overall was better with Communism with higher employment rates. In Sarajevo we learned they have a 42% unemployment rate, in Serbia about 23.7%. Back home we blame Obama for not raising the 8% unemployment rate; bad, yes, but not 42%. Even with those high rates, I couldn't help but notice the lack on homelessness, of course there are the standard panhandlers and peddlers common in all cities around the world, but the bottom line between the two countries was this “we take care of our own”; families and friends help each other. It’s a wonderful concept that still seems novel in the “me first” society of America. Italy was beautiful, true, but thus far Eastern Europe has made the greatest impact on me in concerns of friends and family, and being more self sufficient. Locally grown food here is just so damn tasty.

damn fine cooking

Yugos are very much alive and well in Serbia

The incredibly accommodating lovely couple

We left Belgrade via the EuroVelo Route 6, a European bike friendly route that follows the Danube. It's very beautiful. It also sucks on the dirt with two fully load road bikes. EuroVelo dicks. I highly recommend full suspension road bikes and bug spray if you follow this route. The days between the city and the Romanian border where a series of bumpy roads, dirt roads, beautiful country, and three campgrounds, amongst other things. The people in Serbia, my golly, so accommodating and friendly. We had one campground tell us free but "tip if you like". Another treat us to some yummy cake. And yet another treated us to beers and coffee, as well as making sure we had a translator at the bus station the last day. One cafe tried to offer me some of their lunch, when I politely refused, they called one person's father to let them know we'd be arriving for eats. It was like this all over Serbia, everyone so willing to lend a hand, it was fantastic and welcoming.

looking at Romania 

We're in Romania now, having just spent a few days in Bucharest and now holding up in Brasov in Transylvania. Hope to be a little better with the writing in the future. Transylvania is stunning...

This has nothing to do with anything, but the marketing team behind cereal that could lick or bite back does not seem appealing