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Published: June 27th 2013
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Camp in a pear orchard in Serbia Tue 25th June 2013
Day 23 - Serbia - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Montenegro
Well, I wanted to see the mountains and get away from those hot flat plains and mosquitoes, and today I saw the mountains, lots of mountains, all day long I saw nothing but mountains. By the end of the day I got sick of seeing those @£$!^ mountains.
Cold and damp start to the camp in the Serbian mountains. It was cold and it rained quite heavily at times. First thing I did was to warm up and breakfast and made a fresh brew of Chinese tea in a thermos flask. Then the rain came, there was little to do, so I sleep for while inside the car as oppose to the tent. Packed up all my belongings and then I tried to start up my car, guess what, it would not start, even after many attempts. I changed the pre-fuel filter, tried again, no luck. I ran out of ideas, so I used the tried and tested method - sprayed some of that 'Cold Start' content into the car and "broom, broom", the car started and there was a big puff of black
My French neighbour
My French neighbour some coming from the exhaust, the grass on the ground below the exhaust pipe was covered in a layer of black oily substance.
My French neighbour in the camp gave me a snigger and a funny look, probably thinking - you poor China man, can you not afford to buy a big new shiny mobile home like mine. I didn't like the way he looked at me, I dare not write what was on my mind at the time, must have been something very rude.
All was well after leaving the camp site, eventually I arrived at the border crossing between Serbia and Bosnia. The Serbs want €10 for leaving their country, which is fine with me. on the Bosnian side of the border Police/Custom asked me where is your 'Green Card'. What green card, I thought to myself. I am just passing through your country, I don't want to become a permanent resident in Bosnia. Then the official explained to me that it was an insurance policy and I could have it straight away if I paid €30. I thought, It is only money, so I quickly paid €30 and they gave me a piece of paper.
Looking tired after a long drive
Looking tired after a long drive Anyway, with the formalities over, I drove into Bosnia.
Bosnia is a different place altogether from the other former Yugoslavian countries. It was grey all day, cloudy, and so few people around. Garodze is a small town I drove to and stopped for a coffee break. The people are friendly enough, but then I noticed a lot of holes in some of the older buildings. I said to myself, "This place has a woodworm problem". Of course, these holes were actually bullet holes from the fighting during the war. Other noticeable feature of Bosnia are the Minaretes found in every village, town and city. It is obvious that this part of Bosnia was of the Muslim faith. The people even resemble the Turkish people. The route I took, has taken me through many villages, mostly empty or with few people around.
By 5pm I was quite desperate to leave Bosnia for Montenegro, but the stupid SatNav keep sending to the wrong places. I was beginning to have an eerie feeling about Bosnia and had no wish to camp their for the night.
I re-set the SatNav for another town in Montenegro, and this time is worked and it
took me through some single track and part dirt track up in the mountains and then suddenly, there was the Bosnian - Montenegro border crossing. I went through the same ritual again, this time i had to buy another green card from a nearby bar for €15 before I could proceed with my border crossing. Things got better after that. The car ran better (?????), and I feel better. The mountain scenery just got better and I was so happy to have left Bosnia. Montenegro - is even more beautiful than Switzerland in my humble opinion. It is less populated, less commercialised, less pollution; just pristine countryside.
Found camp in a nearby campsite. The camp owner was very hospitable, offered me a small glass of his home made plum brandy. The plums were picked from his orchard and made into this rather nice plum brandy. I took a sip and that stuff was so strong that it was burning me and made me cough. On an empty stomach, I poured the rest of the plum brandy straight down. What a mistake. I was quickly drunk. I like this Montenegrian cullture. It was too late and I was too tired,
so I decided to eat at the camp owner's restaurant. Soup and lamb with salad. Very nice dinner, and after the coffee and made an attempt to erect the tent in the dark drunk. It was good that I had experience of this. This time I managed to put up the tent quickly without falling off the roof rack of the car.
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