Day 12: Crossing into Serbia

Day 12: Crossing into Serbia, a Dog, and the Cheese Thief

Kiskörös → Novi Sad | 166 km

First, the numbers: 54% of the trip done. Which means roughly the same distance once more and we are in Istanbul. Easy. 💪

Also: Serbia. Bulgaria. Turkey. We looked at the map this morning. Those are very large countries. We looked at each other. We push on.

The border was 50 km away and the plan was to cross early. We crossed at 14:00. This is fine, this is who we are, and we have made peace with it. What mattered is that we crossed, and that is a genuine milestone worth celebrating. 🎉

Then: internet. The border police pointed us to a nearby petrol station. Simple enough, except everything at the station was in Serbian. The leaflets, the signs, the two people running it. No internet meant no Google Translate, which meant no way to get internet, which is exactly the kind of situation that makes you stare blankly into the middle distance. We solved it eventually by borrowing the station’s own wifi long enough to sort ourselves out. Catch-22, defeated. Connectivity restored. The world made sense again. 📶

Another 110 km ahead, and somewhere along the way the Bacardi Bar in Feketic appeared as a charging stop. Great place, good energy, and one very enthusiastic rescue dog who took an immediate shine to Adem. The pictures are wonderful. The dog was sweet, friendly, and absolutely wolfed down all the cheese we had packed for our sandwiches. We then learned he was apparently aggressive towards other dogs, which made our exit feel both timely and justified. Goodbye, beautiful cheese thief. 🐕🧀

Somewhere in the middle of all this, Adem’s rear light gave up for the second time. The rougher roads of the past few days had finally taken their toll. A roadside repair job sorted it, because at this point we fix things on the move and barely break stride.

We rolled into Novi Sad right on time, 166 km done, and found a fantastic wok restaurant in the centre to end the day properly. Great ride. Great day. 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️Read more