With no breakfast on offer in the hotel, we had food in our room and then set off for Novi Sad. Today was to be another trip along the now much busier main road.
Passing through the village of Tovariševo we were surprised to see an old aeroplane nestled beside a supermarket and a kids play area. Doing some research later it turns out it belonged to a pilot, Mileta Protic, who was born in the village. I am sorry to say that although it looks familiar I am at a loss to what kind of aircraft it was. If you take a look at the flickr pictures and happen to know what it is, I will put it in the description.
Back on the road we received several more waves, greetings and friendly horn blasts. Possibly the odd not so friendly ones as well. We are pleased to say that it is the same here as it is at home, the flasher the car the less space you give to cyclists when you pass. We can understand when there is traffic coming the other way, but when the road ahead is clear what's the problem with giving a bit more space. I am now convinced that BMW and Mercedes drivers especially, are compensating for something!
The closer we got to Novi Sad the heavier the traffic got and with it came fumes that made us feel quite nauseous. Among the worst offenders appear to be the buses that seem to pass in a cloud of exhaust fumes. I don't imagine the huge amount of dilapidated Yugos are particularly green either. Still it certainly isn't on a par with India!
Just as we entered Futog we passed the 3000km mark and stopped for the obligatory photo.
It is amazing how far we have come, but somewhat daunting how far we still have to go.
We have christened Futog 'Cabbage town' as everyone seemed to have huge trailers full of cabbages parked outside their houses. The whole place had a cabbagey aroma about it, who it was that was going to buy all of them is anybodies guess. You would think that at least one of them would have branched out into carrots or something!
Out of nowhere a cycle path appeared and we said a fond farewell to the busy road for almost all the way into Novi Sad. Using the trusty city guide I had picked up in Bač we navigated our way first time, to the Hostel. Without the map it could have been difficult as our Eurovelo maps aren't exactly brilliant for city navigation.
At the hostel we were greeted by a rather large Newfoundland dog called Boba, who immediately took a liking to biting the backside of Debs' cycling pants. So much so that the Hostel owner had to come and rescue her. I would have helped but I am afraid I was laughing too much! The dog seemed strangely nippy for a Newfoundland, but then we found out that it is still only a puppy. A puppy that weighs 47kg (as much as our laden bikes!) that is.
With Debs safely in the house we were checked into our lovely room. The 'Hostel Podbara' is more like a home stay and we are currently the only ones here.
While having the paperwork done for our stay we learned what could have been a costly lesson. When you enter Serbia you are supposed to register with the police within 12 hours; this is done automatically when you stay in a hotel/guest-house. You are handed a piece of paper which is your confirmation of stay when you get your passport back. You have to keep at least one of these to show to the officials or be subject to a large fine upon leaving the country. You are also supposed to keep one handy if a policeman stops you. This was all news to us! Thank goodness our host spoke excellent English and explained it to us. I guess if we had free camped all the while, we would never have known and had to pay the fine.
After a shower and a rest, we went to have a look at the city. The hostel was a short 10 minute walk from the heart of the old town, where just about everything there is to see is housed. Fortunately Ivana our host had given us a map and some idea of the sights, because the tourist office once again proved to be useless. We are beginning to suspect that Serbia doesn't get a huge amount of western tourists.
After having a look at the Cathedral, Serbian Orthodox Church and very attractive town square we went to see if we could locate a restaurant that had been recommended for later. Navigation around the city is aided because it is in quite a compact area, but made tricky by the fact that some of the street names are only in Cyrillic script. With some guesswork and Debs' excellent map reading skills we found the restaurant and then decided to head back to the hostel for a rest before dinner.
The rain that had been forecast for the day started as we ventured out for dinner. Rather foolishly we decided it would pass and left our waterproofs back at the hostel. It was two very wet people who turned up at the restaurant and two wetter people who went in search of a different restaurant when we didn't like the look of the first. Perhaps we should have stayed where we were, because Hotel/Restaurant Fontana was rubbish. Almost inedible over seasoned food and an indifferent waiter. Plus the beer was the same price for a small one as we had been paying for a large. We ate up and paid the bill in as much of a hurry as we could bearing in mind the inattentiveness of the waiter. Grabbing a huge bottle of beer for the princely sum of £1.60 from a shop we decided to head back to the Hostel and give up on a night on the town.
More sightseeing tomorrow!
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