Serbia, April 2017

This whole trip started a bit differently than others.

First of all, I'd like to say - I probably would never have thought about going to Serbia if I hadn't met some of the most amazing people ever.. which are Serbians. I didn't think much about going to eastern Europe all in all.. boy am I glad I got a chance to change my mind.

Serbia is one amazing country!

So this started off with me sitting with one of the above mentioned Serbian people, Smiljka, while she was checking for flights to go home for easter. She did find some flights for an incredibly cheap price.. and without thinking about it I said 'for that price even I'd go to Serbia'. Well.. a decision was made. Although the price was higher few days later when we finally booked - my mind was set on going to Serbia.

It was just for a few days but I had an amazing time that felt like a lot more than just four days.

I did not expect people to be warm and welcoming for some reason. The first people I really met were Smiljkas parents. Now there was a bit of a language barrier as my Serbian skills are pretty limited and only her father was able to speak a little English. Luckily Smiljka acted as a translator at most times. These two lovely people invited me to their home (not just for dinner but to spend a night) and I felt so welcome. I wish I could have interacted with them a little more as I believe they are amazing people to talk to. As Smiljka hadn't seen her parents in a while it was no problem for me to stay in the background a bit and let them catch up while I was observing and simply enjoying being where I was.

Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit but I can't remember a single minute where I wasn't given food (so delicious) or Rakia (so disgusting..haha). I had the best time being with this family for a day and I truly hope that I can go back to see them again! After breakfast the next morning I headed out to explore Serbia and let Smiljka celebrate easter with her family.

First I headed south to check out a national park called 'Tara'. A beautiful place, amazing nature! I had many stops to take pictures, enjoy the fresh clean air and enjoy the beauty of this place. I even had a nap in my hammock for an hour - somewhere on a mountain near Mokra Gora. With a great view and some heather on the ground.. this was one of my favorite napping locations.

This afternoon I spent quite some time trying to find a place for the night. Somehow it seemed impossible. At some point I stopped my car and approached a group of people having a BBQ on their terrace to ask for directions to the next hotel. Before starting a conversation I noticed two things: First, there was waaaaay too much food for this little group of people. They could have fed an entire village.. and were just about a dozen people. Second, there was loud metal music blasting. Decent people. So the one girl from that group who was able to speak english gave me directions and finally I found a hotel. Not the nicest place.. but a bed. All I needed. This evening I didn't do much else but having a few beers and a big dinner in a nearby restaurant. Food in Serbia is delicious. The portions are huge.. and.. people know how to cook in Serbia, believe me.

The next day I had planned to stay around Tara, wanted to hike for a bit to check out some viewpoints. Unfortunately the weather turned bad and hiking in the rain didn't sound too appealing. So while having breakfast I checked where in Serbia the weather was better.. long story short, I decided to drive north, visit Fruška Gora (another national park) and stay in Novi Sad, the city right next to that park.

The weather cleared up soon after leaving the Tara area and I drove north. The sun was out at most times and I really enjoyed the countryside. Now what's next might remind you of the report about Armenia and Georgia (if you've read that). I was stuck behind a slow car and decided to overtake. Which was not allowed. I didn't see any police so I went for it.. unfortunately the police saw me though.. and stopped me. The officer was really friendly and we communicated in a mix of English, German and Serbian. He told me that I did something wrong, I agreed and we sat in his car to talk about the fine. Somehow we started talking about everything else but the fine - as I said, he was a really nice guy. After five or ten minutes he told me the amount I had to pay (which was surprisingly high). But.. well, I broke the rules, so I had to deal with the consequences (as you know I haven't learned from this mistake..). I was just about to get out my wallet when he gave me my license and passport back and told me to just go. Well.. weird. I told him that I know I was wrong and was fine with paying the fine.. but he insisted to not charge me. So.. no idea why I thought this was a good idea but I then offered to at least pay for his next beer and tried handing him 10k Dinars (equalling 8 or 9 Euros // 3 KWD). He looked at me and told me he's legally not allowed to take this. While saying this sentence he opened the glove compartment and nodded towards it. I understood. So I left their car with an 'oops I dropped my money, well never mind', headed back to my car and drove off. Great experience that got my heart racing a little. And again: Serbia has some of the friendliest people!

I reached Fruška Gora and drove around for a bit there before coming to the conclusion that this was a great spot to put up my hammock for a nap again! Now this nap was not quite as comfortable as the last. Temperatures were really low so even though I was wearing a thick jumper and a scarf AND was tucked into my sleeping bag.. it was pretty chilly. So this nap was rather short - although one of the most peaceful ones I've ever had. No people around, no cars.. just lush green forest and birds singing. Awesome.

Once I had myself defrosted I drove to Novi Sad and found myself a decent hotel. As I was still a bit cold I decided to have an hour or two in the hotels spa.. great idea. I was the only one around so I had the pool, whirlpool and steam room to myself. Then I got up and walked to the city center. This city is really pretty cool. I didn't see much of it but enjoyed its vibe. I had dinner in a little restaurant.. amaaazing food. Really delicious (this is where I fell in love with Ajvar and Urnebes) and again, friendly people! And the prices are really low, compared to Germany or Kuwait (especially the latter).

After dinner I walked around a little more and had some ice cream on my way back to the hotel. My last night in Serbia!

The next morning I left early to head back to Smiljkas parents house. I arrived early and was able to spend some more time with these beautiful people. Of course that meant I had to eat some more of that delicious home cooked food :). After that it was time for Smiljka and me to head back to the airport and fly back to Kuwait.

These few days went by way too fast, though felt like at least a week. So many impressions, so much food, such amazing people. I really need to come back to Serbia. I'm sure there are many more places to see and many people to meet (again).

I'm so happy that I got this opportunity and visited Serbia.

Shoutout to all of you: Serbia is really cool, check it out some day.

Thank you.