Day 29- Novi Sad to Belgrade- 92.3 kms

Well after a good nights rest which was partly interrupted with my mobile going off with cold calls from Australia trying to sell cheaper electricity contacts.... there aught to be a law against these idiots doing these cold calls....

Anyway the day started with the normal 5.30 am wake up. We organised breakfast from the supermarket the previous evening with muesli and jogurt complimented with orange juice.

After a good feed we were off at about 6.30am and although the weather looked threatening it was not raining.... thank god!

The first few kms out of Novi Sad were on good roads through some lovely villages and we were in good spirits after the challenges of yesterday...

Then Cycle Travel took us off the main road on to an unmade road and then it got muddy and there were big puddles across the road and all of this was for 10kms. At one stage we passed through a construction site of a new motorway where they were building overpass bridges and the mess on the road was terrible.... needless to say my bike was a muddy mess again, the wheels were clogged up and my shoes and socks were wet and muddy.... to make matters worse the mozzies were everywhere if you stopped. 

After negotiating this we were lucky to find a local soccer ground with a tap which we used to clean the bikes and our shoes to proceed further.....

From there the weather seemed to brighten up and the roads certainly improved 

Talking of the weather .... although is has been humid for most of the days since Switzerland, the temperatures have been in the high teens for the mornings then getting to the mid to high 20’s in the afternoon... occasionally we get in the the early 30’s. This is why we get started early to miss riding in the heat and humidity.

The ride in to Belgrade was very simple as the hostel we reserved was near the centre of the old part of the city.

Arriving at the hostel was at about 2.30 pm which was good timing for me as I needed to see a dentist as one of my teeth had fallen apart and although it was not painful I was concerned something might go wrong in the back blocks of Serbia or Rumania and I would be in strife.

After waityan hour for the check in we were shown our room which is in an old apartment building and the style could be described as 1950’s Soviet complete with graffiti and old style lifts....

The cost for the night for us both including towels was 17 Euros ( approx 30 Aussie)!!!

The shower facilities are located in a bath with no shower curtain so the only way to shower properly is to sit in the bath and wash. I think a few of the other guests have tried to shower standing up with the result of water being flung all around the room.... all fun!

After a shower I made my way to a local dentist I located on line near the hostel..... well the street where the dentist was located had some very seedy shops and I wondered whether I had made a good choice. To my absolute delight the dental care studio called Proestetik was very professional and the standard of the rooms were at least as good as in Collins street Melbourne.

The dentist Dr Mihailo Radojevic spoke very good English and did a great job with my temporary filling. The cost was about $50. He and his nurse were very interested in our trip and wished us both well for the days ahead 

Having fixed my teeth it was time to have a wander around Belgrade and have some dinner. It would be fair to say the Belgrade we saw was either being cleaned up physically or was in need of a good clean up.

A lot of work is being done on the construction front and in 5-10 years it should be something special.

After dinner and the obligatory ice cream we headed back to the hostel to bed at about 8.30 pm

Today was a better day of riding and I got my teeth fixed up so all is well....

Now for the photos 

Early morning on the Danube at Novi Sad 

Main square at Novi Sad 

Serbian farming land mainly fruit and vegetables 

Me at EuroVelo 6 sign

Morning coffee.... a good cappuccino!

Our home for the night 

Republic Square in Belgrade 

A partly completed/ demolished building in Belgrade near our hostel 

Sun setting over the Danube 

.... and another over the Danube at sunset 

(Temporary Backup) Day 28 - Sombor to Novi Sad- 108.4 kms

It all started last night after dinner......

We had a delightful dinner in the centre of Sombor where there were big festivities to celbythe summer solstice. The towns folk were in a festive mood and there was a fish cooking contest well underway with pots of stewed fish being heated to the boil on open fires under each pot. There were over 200 of these being fired up as we walked around the square. Just imagine this being done in Fed Square in Melbourne!

We had a good meal which included a beer for me... my first drop of alcohol in 9 days!!!

Then it started raining.... and I mean raining and all we could do was make our way back to our accommodation which was about 1.5 kms away and get soaking wet. 

After reaching the accommodation we wrung ourselves out and hopped in to bed hoping the clouds would clear in the morning and our clothes would dry

Awake again at 5.30 am, we packed our things and after a few words with the owner of the house and his daughter we were on our way. The weather seemed ok so we stopped in at a bakery in Sambor to get some breakfast before taking to the road 

At this stage the clouds were starting to build in the direction we were heading.... then about 10 kms from the start it began to pour down with thunder and lightning to boot.

We donned our rain jackets and soldiered on stopping occasionally to see what the weather was doing... alas we were in it for the longer haul.

Associated with this were the state of some of the roads... yes the Serbian roads are really something...

Then just before the 50 km mark we hit a patch of about 3 kms of unmade roads... the surface was basically dirt with the consistency of sand and when I hit this my wheels locked  up clogged with this mud and I fell off the bike.

The only eaywe could get through this was to walk the bikes.... not on the roads but on the side in the grass to make sure the wheels turned .... the road ( or what purported to be a road) was a muddy mess playing havoc with the bikes....every now and then we had to stop and clear the wheels from mud.... all very yuck and somewhat challenging stuff. As I said this continued for 3 kms and when we finally reached the safety of a sealed road we had to find a deep puddy try and clean our bikes. Luckily the rain had stopped but the other big issue was the mozzies... they were everywhere and if you stopped you would be attacked unmercifully 

Having passed this test we felt we nuts get to our destination ASAP and I mean really ASAP!!! We were wet through and muddy beyond belief 

To try to continue the bike cleaning process we adopted a strategy of riding through puddles which seemed to work.

The remain 50 odd kms weya bit of a blurr to us both as we simply wanted to get somewhere we we could shower and clean ourselves and the bikes 

On the way in to Novi Sad we saw a car wash and used the high pressure hose to clean our bikes much to the amusement of some onlookers who were cleaning their cars 

We arrived at our accommodation at about 2.00pm and were able to have a shower and clean some of our bike bags, shoes and the like 

Generally having a good wash after a challenging day makes a big difference.... and it certainly happened today 

Early morning with our hosts at Sambor.... note the sun is shining!!

A nice shot of the road early on in the ride

Note the threatening clouds!!!

Bike cleaning time at the car wash

My bike before being washed.... yuck 

Home for the night... very comfortable hostel with towels and a great shower 

Today’s ride... our biggest challenge so far 

Day 27 - Kalocsa to Sombor - 116.2 kms

Today we were awake again early at about 5.15 am and were packed and ready to go a little before 6.00am. We had located a bakery in the Main Street in Kalocsa last evening on our after dinner walk. Kalocsa is a very pretty town with some very big ornate government type buildings and a lovely baroque cathedral. I should try and do a bit of a history review of the region when I get home....

Anyway we were on our way after some fresh pasteries at the bakery and our first stop was on the Danube in time to see one of the river boats docking near Kalocsa with a bus ready to take the guests from the boat on a local tour 

For us though it was on the bike trail for about 5 kms of very loose gravel surface!!! Needless to say this is not my favourite riding conditions and the going was slow. I was buoyed by the fact that this was the only rough riding for the day...... yeh!

After that the riding surface was a very good bitumen cycleway until we reached Baja at about 60 km mark for morning tea. It was market day in town and the market area was packed so we headed for the town square where we found a local cafe for coffee and a cake... all very nice really given we were refreshed and only had another 30 kms to go!!!

So after morning tea it was off to the Hungary/ Serbia boarder and on to Sombor for an early day.... well so we thought ....

Arriving at the border we presented ourselves to the immigration officers and after looking at our passports were told that we could not cross at this point we needed to go through st another crossing.....well you could not have deflated us more with this news more 

After consulting the official further we located a route that might be fairly direct to get us to Hercegszanto .... so off we went. At first the roads were ok, then gravel, then it was tractor tracks with deep ruts and sand and altogether very yuck traveling. This was for 10 kms and at the end you would not believe it but there was a an outdoor church in the middle of nowhere.... somehow the cycle gods had been looking after us after the disappointment of the earlier failure at the border crossing 

From the church it was a short distance to Hercpfhcocoudoy or whatever!!! Where we had lunch!!! AND a cool drink because the temperatures were in the early 30’s by now and it was quite humid 

We had lunch of pitta bread and souvlakia which were quite good fuel for the 30 km ride across the border and on to Sombor.

The ride to the border post was quite short and we had to present our passports to both the Hungarian and Serbian officials and they let us through 

This takes us to 7 countries being France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and now Serbia so far on this ride.

Immediately after the border crossing you guessed it..... yes the roads deteriorated badly and it was slow going until we got closer to Sombor.

We came in to town and Chris saw a watermelon stall on the side of the road and together we ate a quarter of a melon to quench our thirst after an interesting days ride

We arrived at our accommodation at about 3.15 pm...cleaned  the bikes, did our washing and had a cool shower.... wow it is a great feeling to shower after a ride in the heat. We were lucky to start early to get a few kms up before the heat and humidity kicks in

I just want to make a couple of comments about the road conditions so far on the ride. It goes as follows:

1. France Germany and Switzerland- great roads and bike track surfaces in general. The best of these 3 is possibly Germany 
2. Austria was ok but there were some poor road surfaces
3. Hungary, Serbia ( so far) and Slovakia are the worst roads and bike surfaces. I guess this has a lot to do with the fact that many of these countries were part of the old eastern Soviet block countries where there was no investment in road infrastructure.

We did a bit of an analysis last night on the trip so far and we both think we can make it to Costanta on the Black Sea assuming we continue with our current pace of over 100kms per day and we stay safe...

Now for the photos 

Early morning on the Danube... a big boat docking at Kolosca

We had to get some Hungarian Forins .... this lot is worth about $90 Aust

Morning coffee for Peter..... note the cake!!

The central square at Baja where we had our coffee break 

We saw several church arrangements like this in the towns we went through in Hungary today 

Selfie of Peter and Chris at the border post where we were rejected and told to go elsewhere 

Our faces say it all...

The outdoor church after the 10 km scramble through the shocking road which was the short cut to the second border crossing 

A real godsend to see this....

 Welcome to Serbia says it all!!!!

This is the Eurovelo 6 route through Serbia.... I hope the roads improve!

Today’s ride

Tonight’s home 

A lovely apartment with towels above the family home

The family have been very helpful in making us feel at home

Day 26- Budapest to Kalocsa - 131.1 kms

We had a reasonable night of sleep despite having some close neighbors in our bunk room. I think it was party central last night at the hostel. When we got back after dinner last night there was a lot of noise in the main dining hall and plenty of beer was being consumed by the young folk many of whom seemed to backpackers from many parts of the world.

This morning we were up an packing our stuff at about 5.15 am... we had to be quiet so as not to wake the others in the bunk room 

We were on our way on the bikes by 5.45am in an aim to beat the Budapest traffic and get a lot of the ride done before it got hot.

Getting out of Budapest was my responsibility as I was the navigator for the day.... We managed to get out reasonably well... I think I got off course twice which is not to shabby for me 

The roads out of Budapest and for most of the first 50 kms were simply terrible. There were pot holes everywhere on both the main roads and the lesser roads and bike paths... after the double flat a couple of days ago I was worried it was going to happen again...

We stopped for breakfast at about 30 kms which had us well out of Budapest. The breakfast consisted of strawberry jogurt and a bread roll. It was enough to keep me going as we rolled on over the very rough roads hoping the conditions might turn around by some miracle 

Rather than go on bike paths which were terrible we made a decision to take one of the major roads which is always frought with danger as the traffic and trucks can be real hazardous.... luckily the traffic seemed to be light and we managed okay 

We pushed through until about midday at the 90 km mark at a place called Salt.... yes you read it correctly SALT 

Couldn’t see much salt around and the eateries were hard to find..... we managed to find a bakery who had Hungarian bread and drinks.... so here we are sitting ona park bench under the shade, with temperatures around 34 degrees having our drink and pasteries. 

We made a decision to continue on the main road to Kalocsa which turned out to be a good one for 2 reasons.... first the distance for the ride was shortened by about 8 kms.... second the road and bike path surfaces improved greatly which made riding easier for us both.

Finally we arrived at the hotel at about 3.15 pm which was an excellent outcome for the day. I was happy with my navigating and am starting to understand the features of the Garmin.... finally!!!!!

We are staying in what seems to be a family owned hotel tonight. For both of us on s shared room we are paying 30 Euros for the night ( roughly $ 50 Aust). We have found the the prices of everything in Hungary seem cheap 

Tonight we also did a wash catch-up as we were unable to get our washing done.. so today we were in “ used” riding gear and the smell!!!

Looks like we will eat dinner at the hotel where we are staying tonight 

Tomorrow I think we have a shorter ride planned 

Now for the photos 

Early morning on the Danube 

I think I will do a spot of fishing!!!

Chris having a well earned drink outside our hotel


Today’s ride 

(Temporary Backup) Day 25- Ecztergom to Budapest- 73.3 kms

Today we had another early start with us up and about at 5.30 am and packed and ready to leave at 6.00 am

We located a bakery in Esztergom to have a pastry and some apple juice for breakfast 

In sharp contrast to yesterday the weather was cooler, the Bike seemed ok and the roads and bike paths seemed better....

We made quite good time before our first stop at Szentendre which wAs about 60 kms in to the ride. We found a delightful cafe beside the Danube and had a very cheap bowl of fruit muesli and toasted roll. I had a cappuccino and Chris a cup of tea ( English breakfast of course...)

After refueling, it was on to Budapest along mostly bike paths to our lodgings at the Avenue Hostel in the centre of Budapest. We arrived at about 1.00 pm and the rooms were not ready so we had lunch at TGI Friday which consisted of sharing beef ribs and having a couple of cool drinks.

We were allowed to book in to our hostel at 2.00 pm and after booking in we had a quick shower and hopped on a big bus tour of Budapest.... the going was very slow with traffic jams everywhere.... the bus trip was shortened as a result of the traffic so our ambition of going to view Budapest from the Buda side was thwarted 

We managed to get back near our hostel to organise ourselves for dinner ....

Before dinner we both decided we needed a haircut and there was a barber shop near our hostel...so off we went in to the great unknown??? Yes the haircut was ok and cheap about $10 Aussie but no waxing of ears and nose available 

After this we went on the hunt for somewhere to eat..... plenty of drinking establishments but hard to find food 

Anyway we caught a place where we were able to have pasta and were seated in a table that was the main thoroughfare to the loos and we saw a guy with an eagle on his hand going to the loo.... made me think whether he used one hand for the eagle and the other for....well you know what!!!!

Funny how some people are

Anyway has been a good day and a shorter trip helps 

Good sight seeing in Budapest but still some big days ahead to get to the Black Sea!

Now for the photos....

Me changing tubes yesterday after getting 2 flats....

An interesting gate to the entry to a town as we traveled to Budapest 

Water Skiing on a lake outside Budapest 

There was no boat involved in towing the skier it was all by rope pulled 

Home for the night 

Today’s ride 


Budapest castle above 

An interesting statue outside a museum 

Hungarian parliament building.... very impressive 



 The guy with the eagle above.... not sure what is in the other hand!!!

Day 24- Gabcikovo to Esztercom - 120 kms

Today was one of the more challenging days of the ride as you will read later.....

It all started out well with an early wake up at 5.30 am and a pack so we were ready to leave at 6.00am.Unfortunately the front gate to the hotel was locked so Chris has to wake up the owner and have him unlock the gate.

All great for the start of the ride with about 2 kms to bring up 2000 kms traveled on the tour.... yeh big celebration 

We were making great time on the ride for the first 60 kms despite some bad surfaces including a major road where I hit a crevice and managed to have punctures on both wheels... what a real pain!!

This set off a series of mishaps which included me breaking the valve on my spare tube, Chris’s spare tube had a leak so we resorted to my puncture repair kit. We were successful with one tube but the others failed miserably so Chris volunteered to go in to the town ( Kormano) to pick up some new tubes. He arrived back about half an hour later with new tubes..... but they were for mountain bikes so he had to go back again....All in all this added nearly 25 kms on tithe ride for the day !!!

After the respairs were made we returned to the bike shop to get my front tyre checked as the hit on the road surface made an awful mark on the tyre. The guy at the bike shop said I needed a new tyre and I happily obliged . 

After the replacement of the tyre and getting our tyres checked for tyre pressure, we had a salad lunch and we were on our way again. By this time however the clouds were rolling in and it was starting to rain. With about 55 kms to go the rain made for slower going 

 We were due to catch a barge across the river with about 15 kms to go..... so we thought!!!

Barges still operate most days to cross cars, bikes etc .... great way for crossing the river

But Oh No the ferry was not operating so we had to take a longer option. 

The trip in to Ertzergom was achievable through some innovative play by Chris and we made good time 

We arrived at the hostel at about 6.00 pm Gaya long and frustrating days and it was great to have a shower and clean up. After a drink in the bar.... non alcoholic for both of us.... we went to a lovely restaurant within a short distance from the  hostel.

It had very good food 

The day was a long one for us both and as we sit here in our hotel room doing our blogs we are both feeling super tired. 

Tomorrow is s shorter day in to Budapest with about 70 kms to ride.... all good after a big night of sleep 

Now for the photos 

A selfie at 2000 kms!!!

The church at Estergom

In to Hungary....our 6th country 

Home for the night at a very” bohemian “ guest house