There was a massive thunderstorm during the night, and although I was toasty in my tent, it became covered in mud. So I spent the morning drying it while sipping coffee and electrolytes.
Steering towards Mohács, there was an overall excellent riding surface on type of a dyke that went on for over 35km, and I flew along in defiance of the energy-sapping heat and humidity.
I was headed straight for Croatia, but avoided it by skirting along the Hungarian-Serbian border, which was infested with soldiers apparently ‘protecting Europe’s Christian heritage’. They all looked bored.
I crossed into Serbia at Backi Breg, and soon ran into Phillip from Dresden, who is walking to Greece while pushing a cart. We chatted on the way to town of Bezdan and went for a coffee. Interesting guy, he keeps a blog of his trip at mygreatwalktogreece.de.
Some other travellers stopped to chat, and I could have spent the evening there, but I needed to crack-on to Apatin, my target for the day. I opted for a shortcut, but was thwarted after 10km by a broken bridge. A French couple and their two children – on a year long tour of Europe – looked inconsolable as they were also hoping to make it to Apatin by nightfall. I asked a local for options, but all we could do was go back to Bezdan and take the long-way around by Sombor. The French family decided to camp in a nearby field while I continued on.
Getting to Sombor a 8pm I found an amazing campground tailored to cyclists. Pekka and his wife Ivanka couldn’t have been more welcoming, serving me Turkish coffee, fresh cherry juice (absolutely delicious!) and watermelon. I opted to take an apartment for the night, at only 15euro. I highly recommend this place. See the video above for a tour.
Taking advice from Pekka, tomorrow I’ll be avoiding the ‘boring’ Eurovelo 6 route and instead follow the main road to Novi Sad, from where I’ll be within spitting distance of Belgrade.
Overall a really great day, even if I didn’t make amazing distance (about 80km including detours). I’m very happy to be back in Serbia, not least because the roads here are much, much better for cycling than the Hungarian death traps. And did I mention that Serbians are lovely people?