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To say the least - to see first hand (and the existing remnants) of a war in and amongst current day homes (and not on the battlefield) is entirely unnerving. Your home in my mind, was always your impregnable secure castle - not here !
We leave Osijek and ride on to Vukovar and things only get worse. In fact Vukovar had to withstand the worst of it, with an 87 day seige, and at the height of the battle was taking 12 000 shell and rockets a day !
Vukovar was the first major European town to be entirely destroyed since the second world war. Then 1000's of the inhabitants were ethnically cleansed.
The next morning we rode to the site of their mass graves, a rather sad and forlorn place. We left and rode on quietly after, absorbed in our own thoughts out of Croatia and into Serbia.
We free wheeled side by side with each other, across the border into the customs check point and lined up in the car que with the other 20 trucks, cars and vans and a couple of mopeds, feeling a little silly and if not insignificant.
We arrived hot &
bothered to our gorgeous enormous airconditioned hotel in the midst of a wedding party with the bridal car at the front door (that is best explained as a 'toilet roll holder on wheels'). We had a chuckle to ourselves.
Backa Palanca was a strange little village, 2 main streets at 90 degrees to each other packed with restaurants, cafes and a few stores. The stores though were bereft of most products and although the restaurants were all packed at night, none of the local patrons were eating, they were merely drinking and most of these were coffee, whilst socialising with their friends.
People still went out and socialised, and had coffee, but could not afford to eat out. It was only a handful of tourists and travellers that ate & so we met 'other eaters' in Peter (70) and Elke from Hamburg and also cycling & on their way to the Iron Gates in Romania, where we are considering to finish our ride.
The following day we are on our way again on sheep tracks and mundane dirt roads to Novi Sad. A gorgeous, prettily decorated town with some rather modern quality stores, a marked difference from the
last handful of towns.
There is money here.
We wander down to cast our eye over the mighty Danube, only to be greeted by a massive mural under the bridge, of the three city bridges bombed.
In 1999 NATO (that I had presumed was impartial and was part of the UN - I was wrong, NATO is an international military machine created in 1949 to counter Soviet Comunist power) had bombed the cities 3 bridges in an attempt to cut off supply & bring the Serbians to their knees.
Two Serbians we met later in our hotel relayed rather strongly their abhorance of the EU (they Serbia is not part of) and that the Kosovo war, was purely created and driven as Madeline Albright (then Secretary of State in US) had both financial & commercial private interests of her own in Kosovo & hence obviously no good in Serbian control ? Who knows ?
That afternoon we walked up the hill to the castle overlooking the river and city, where a local artist Bane Radosevic (whose studio is set in the castle) has created an icon of a hand, index finger raised and a piece of thread tied in a
bow around it - Not to Forget ! Signifying not to forget what had happened to Novi Sad, a lovely city.
The following morning we leave early, rather excitedly (before breakfast even) with our pre-arranged lunch packs stowed, to Belgrade, our final stop we have decided. We should also by then have totalled over 4000km.
About 20km before Belgrade, after a stretch of 10km of very busy, narrow, pot holed road with trucks, lorries & cars skimming past us too close for comfort, we achieved our 4000km marker ! WooHoo.
High on a cliff top, overlooking the mighty Danube we wheeled in to the beer garden and sat down to two large icycold beers and toasted each other.
We can see Belgrade in the distance - its a nice satisfied feeling.
Not to get too relaxed and celebratory with our achievements, we were immediately unnerved on arriving in Belgrade town, to the sight of 500 - 1000 refugees of all ages (families, kids & grandparents) all lying around in the parks etc trying to make their way anyway possible to Germany, we are told.
Close by we find our accomodation (probably the worst of our trip) and freshen
up and head out to explore.
Although NATO also bombed Belgrade, and still very visible, the city is wonderful, modern, vibrant, creative and artistic and of course the home of Novak Djokovich.
Unlike Novi Sad, although NATO attempted to also bomb Belgrades bridges, the city folk crowded the bridges, stood with targets on their heads in defiance of the bombers and in so doing saved them.
We lunched mostly in the vibrant bohemian quarter, or at one of the many floating restuarants on the Danube, we walked at night along the rivers edge reflected in the evening lights, enjoyed the zoo and over five wonderful days winding down and reflecting on the journey we had completed and what we had achieved, the ups & downs, the good & bad, the people we had met & friendships made and an experience we will never forget..................and not one puncture !
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Les and Cheryl
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The New Gnus
We are sure that these experiences will make you new gnus with your memories. No, we can't imagine someone bombing out the Causeway or Narrows bridges etc. Also to have to walk out of your home with a suitcase knowing you leave it all behind forever - how hard must that be!!! So go now gnus and enjoy some peace and tranquillity on the water, sailing we believe, with Wilna and Reg. We did a "relocation" camper van from Adelaide to Perth a couple of weeks ago just for fun. Had a few days in Adelaide and went to the Barossa Valley. On a deadline for the van to be back in Perth so only had 7 days for the drive. All good. Last Thursday to Sunday Cheryl and I went to Geraldton as I got asked to play with a brass band from Perth who were short of players. All expenses and on a coach so it was relaxing. Great news from our Fiji lawyer today that the money from the sale of our Koro Island property was paid into our bank account today. Hooray it has only taken 11 months to settle! Good news is that we get paid in US$ so over this time we have gained on the exchange rate. This means we lose a lot less on the whole exercise!!!!!!. Bought my new bike a month ago. A Merida Scultura - full carbon. Rode it 80 kms in Wongan Hills last Saturday week with a group of 10. Was absolutely stuffed at the end but eventually did the loop to get back. Lots of good wishes, Les n Cheryl