Day 82
Miskloc is a place that I had again passed by whilst transiting through Hungary but I had never actually stopped in.
It is quite a well spread out city that is much longer East to West that in its from North to South. The city does not have a central square and this seems to be a thing in Slovakia, Hungary and other countries to the South of Europe, instead it has an elongated main street on which most of the shops, bars, and cafes are located. From my experiences it seems to me that central squares seem to be more prevalent in Northern European countries for some reason.
Day 83
After a few days of lying about doing nothing in particular I got on the bike and headed South from Miskloc in the direction of Szolnoc and then on to Szeged which is close to the Serbian border. Hungary is quite a flat country and the ride South whilst enjoyable due to the largely empty roads was not particularly scenic. On the approach to Szeged I rode up to a roundabout and saw what I think is a MIG 21 fighter plane mounted on the roundabout so I just had to stop and photograph this very unusual roadside ornament. I love the way the central Europeans decorate their public spaces with their old military hardware, I find this kind of stuff much more pleasing and interesting that some twisted hunk of metal that is supposed to be a sculpture of something or other by some person who is allegedly an artist, but however that’s just me.
Anyway about an hour after photographing the MIG I was at the Serbian border. I arrived at the border of Hungary and Serbia and everything was quite painless until the question of “Green Card” insurance arose. Now having a UK Insurance policy I automatically have cover for most countries in the Balkans, however, before I set out on my latest journey I had contacted my insurer to get a hard copy of my green card. No problem they said, just use the website and request it online. The website was not functioning correctly for this task. Phoned again. Again told use the website, I told them it was not working. Don’t worry it will be back up soon. Can’t you send me a copy by email? NO, use the website. As I never got a copy of my Green Card I needed to buy temporary insurance at the Serbian border before I was allowed in. No problem, however 50 Euros for 15 days cover? Oh well I just got legally robbed but nevertheless I was now in Serbia
I then made my way to the city of Novi Sad where I spent the night in a nice hostel for about 20 Euros. I had a walk about the city and bought a SIM card for about 10 Euros and then relaxed in a pavement cafe with a few coffees and a nice cigar as I watched the world pass by.
Day 84
The next morning I set off for Belgrade which was the former capital of Yugoslavia. The road there was pleasant enough but not what I would describe as scenic and it got much busier as I approached Belgrade, however once in Belgrade it was madness with horrendous traffic, very few road signs of any relevance, and extremely bad driving by almost everyone in a four wheeled vehicle. I tried to navigate around the city, I even tried using Google maps, but the one way systems combined with the aforesaid madness was too much for me and I decided that I had had enough of Belgrade and decided to head out of it to the South. However, as I was looking for a way out I found myself riding next to a huge church with a domed roof so I took a break and walked the 30 meters or so from my bike to where I could see it properly, as usual the madness had struck and it was closed.
I found my way out of the city and as the road rose up out of Belgrade I saw one of the most beautifully decorated churches that I have ever seen. I had to stop and photograph it.
As I headed further South from Belgrade the road passed by the river Danube so I took the opportunity to take a break and a photo.
I continued South but again the countryside was pleasant but uninspiring. I took some roads through the hills surrounding the main roads but on doing so I found that these were just roads through forests with nothing to see nor no small villages, towns, or bars to stop at. Eventually I headed back on to the main roads and realised that all of the places to stop and have a coffee seemed to run alongside the motorways or other main roads. Nearing the border with North Macedonia I passed the biggest quarry that I have ever seen. Truly massive in scale.
Only when North Macedonia approached did the scenery improve.
Spurred on by the mountains in the distance I decided to forego a second night’s stay in Serbia and made a dash for the North Macedonian border.
I normally like to take a photograph of the sign at each border to record my visit there. However, on leaving Serbia and entering North Macedonia I must have missed it so no photo of that to include in this post. It might also have been the fact that the “Green card” insurance here was only 15 Euros for 15 days that distracted me. No robbery here. As it was getting late in the afternoon when I crossed the border I decided to head for the capital, Skopje. I managed to book a small hotel near the city centre for about 23 Euros and once parked, showered and changed I headed in to the city and had a very well earned local beer before calling it a night.
Day 85
The next morning I wandered around the city centre marvelling at the enormous statue of Alexander the Great which dominates the main square.
Then just over the river another one of him.
It really was a very impressive place, but I was not there just to walk around the city so I headed off East in to the mountains that I had seen when I approach Skopje. The roads were good and very twisty and as I turned to the South I encountered a really old stretch of cobbled road.
I don’t know how old it is but it was a bit of a shaky ride along it. I then decided to take a small mountain road across the South of the country just below Kavadarci. The road was superb for about 20 kilometres and then it degenerated in to a potholed obstacle course for another 5 kilometres or so before turning in to a rock and gravel path but undeterred I pressed on passing logging camps as the rode rose up in to the mountains. Then the road grew quite steep and very rocky but I pressed on until eventually it turned in to a full blown earth logging road with huge long deep mud pits every twenty meters. Being fully laden I had to admit defeat and turn around. In all I had ridden about 35 kilometres before U turning, however, fate was smiling on me because as I was nearing the junction with the main road I saw a small hotel and I decided to inquire about vacancies for a very muddy and very tired biker.
It turned out the the hotel was a family run business and one of the family members was a woman called Liz who spoke perfect English having lived and worked in London for about thirty years and I was made very welcome at this really nice hotel. The price was 30 Euros which for this hotel was excellent value for money. I had a meal here which was very unusual for me as I don’t often like hotel food however the food was excellent. I don’t often recommend places to others but this one I would to anyone visiting this area.