We couldn't have imagined being welcomed back into Serbia in a more Serbian manner. The accommodation we had chosen in Pirot was owned by a sociable fellow in a pork pie hat by the name of Dragan (this seems to be one of the most common names in Serbia). Although his English skills were on par with our Serbian, he greeted us warmly and ushered us through a courtyard into his sunny backyard full of fruit trees, and sat us down. For the next few hours he made us strong Serbian coffee, gave us homemade rakia and beer, and called his friend who lived in Australia, but happened to be visiting to come over for a fantastic chat. It was a wonderful few hours. Once our room was ready, both men insisted on showing us the wee apartment, making sure we knew where the spare bin bags were, how the shower worked, which switches powered which lights, both talking over each other in Serbian and English- it was really funny, they were like a comedy duo. Finally they said cheerio and we ventured out to buy our immediately needed supplies- fruit and salad, eggs, bread, cereal, pavlaka (our favourite, a mix between sour cream and yogurt) and of course, rakia! This was another thing we had greatly missed being away from Serbia. The friendly booze seller at the market suggested the kajsija, or apricot, which we agreed with and were more than happy with the smooth taste.
Chilling out with Dragan in Pirot
Pirot was that kind of place, friendly, laid back and relaxing, and we immediately felt comfortable, and happy to go with the flow and chill out after our busy time in Bulgaria. We looked forward to having spare time for cooking, washing clothes and generally catching up on normal life tasks.
We enjoyed the absolutely fantastic market area around where we were staying. Pijaca, in Serbian, these bazars are the great highlight of travelling in Serbia, and we had sorely missed them in other countries. Amazing for simply wandering and looking, we loved the range of fresh and local produce- nothing imported or out of season. Only big, colourful, juicy looking fruit and veg, as well as the periphery outlets. These included bakeries, dairy shops, fish, butcher's and cured meats shops and BBQ meat sellers (bit of a theme going on here!). Add to that the cleaning supplies and electronics shops, cafes and ice creameries all in the adjoining market area, and there was hardly a need for the supermarket. After a few days, some sellers even recognized us and said hello.
Pirot central market
There weren't a huge amounts of tourist sites to visit around Pirot, but instead we slowly wandered around the town over our week's visit, getting a feel for the place. Many locals rode bicycles around, which gave a lovely old fashioned feeling to the place.
Old buildings along the canal, Pirot
The renovated fortress was quite beautiful, but brought more to mind someone's luxury house, and certainly not a defensive structure- especially considering it was on a flat piece of land directly at the base of the town's biggest hill! Waiting with some Serbian tourists for the late opening gates to be unlocked, Rich spied a man walking leisurely down the path towards us, and said "That's the caretaker". I asked how he knew, and he replied, "Because he looks as though he couldn't give a shit"! He was correct.
Pirot fortress entrance
Steep stairwell, Pirot fortress
Pirot fortress on a glorious day
Moat around Pirot fortress
The highlight of Pirot's wanderings had to be the delightful canal running through the centre of the town. Extremely (and rather strangely) well maintained, the clear water ran between lush mown grassy banks, and on either side quiet, shady cobblestoned paths lead to various parts of town. Locals used this space, enjoying fishing, walking, sunbathing and swimming. Some fair sized fish could be seen in the crystal clear water.
Beautiful walk along Pirot's canal
Well maintained and well used, Pirot canal
A dazzling sunny morning was spent at the local pool, a rather grand affair, complete with humungous swimming pool, sunbeds and umbrellas, restaurant, and best of all 80's music pumping out from speakers. Serbs really love 80's music. Being school holidays, the place was quite full for a week day, and the summery atmosphere was brilliant. Unfortunately after a couple of hours, threatening dark clouds started to appear and get closer. When the life guards cleared the pool, we knew it was time to take shelter under the bleachers, where we were caught for about an hour in an absolutely torrential thunder and lightning storm. The air was cool afterwards and we left having thoroughly enjoyed taking some sun on our bodies.
After a few days, we felt the need for a longer walk, and spied a lookout marked on our map. It turned out to be yet another beautiful walk up a hill through dense woodland. Serbia may not have as many forests as Bulgaria, but what they do have are just as appealing, although it has to be said, there is usually rubbish on the paths in Serbia. Ascending from the town, things became quiet and rural almost immediately, with only a few little houses on large blocks without electricity. A couple of landowners tried to speak with us and give us plums as we passed. Our lack of Serbian is so frustrating sometimes. At the top, we were rewarded with a magnificent view over Pirot and beyond. Losing the path on the way down, a large man and his dog walked with us for a short time to show us the tiny path leading steeply back down into Pirot.
Bees and haystacks, Pirot
Wonderful location for a new house, Pirot
Views from our Pirot forest walk
Loving the forest around Pirot
Old shack along the path, Pirot
Made it to the top, Pirot
Late afternoons/evenings were spent in Dragan's garden, sometimes just the two of us, sometimes with Dragan or a friend, agreeably relaxed and drinking some Slovenian beers. Dragan generously insisted on buying us dinner a few times, rather embarrassingly, but we couldn't refuse his hospitality. This consisted of huge pieces of juicy BBQ meat, which of course we loved.
Overall, Pirot was a good, slow first stop into Serbia.
With the train line in southern Serbia being defunct, we were forced to take a bus to our next destination- Niška Banya. It ended up being fantastic as the road followed the old train line through some stunning scenery. Almost straight away we entered a wide valley, with green wooded areas and tiny villages with red roofed cottages dotted high up on the hillsides. Later, the bus passed through a dramatic, deep gorge, following the river. It reminded us of journeys in the valleys of Tajikistan, but greener. Lastly was open rolling landscape with vineyards, before we were unceremoniously dumped by the side of the highway- we had expected to be dropped into the village centre. As we were standing around looking confused, a little local bus appeared out of nowhere, picked us up and took us the final few kilometres.
Niška Banya was a lovely surprise. All we knew of it was that it was one of a few Serbian spa centres, and not having visited any before we were keen to see what the village had to offer. As soon as we stepped off the bus we were enamoured with the pretty place. A huge park and treatment centre took place in the centre, surrounded by many massive ancient walnut and shade trees. Decrepit, once grand buildings surrounded the park, and little streets led off to charming areas of houses and gardens. One of which was our guesthouse, probably the best apartment we have ever had in Serbia. The family's welcome was warm and thorough, and the apartment had everything we could possibly have wanted, and more. Everything was perfect and the kitchen was amazing- even having a toaster, an extreme rarity in the Balkans!
Niška Baya was all about brisk walks around the parks and town. Various mineral streams with different properties sprung up around the place and flowed out through numerous fountains, taps, ponds and culvets, all with people lying around in them enjoying taking in the hot water, high in radioactive Radon. The village is famous for this water and it's healing properties, apparently especially therapeutic for recovery after operations. Many walking wounded with crutches or bandages could be seen limping about and the busy clinic building itself looked like it hadn't been changed in decades. Most popular was sitting in the central park with one's feet dangling in the water (Sal gave that a go). Kids also loved playing in the fountains in the pond and many older people simply lay submerged in a pool with the water swirling around them.
Funky old water fountain, Niska Banya, Serbia
Radon Hotel, named after the curative waters
Faded grandeur in NiškaBanya
Odd building in NiškaBanya, Serbia
Our big walk was up to the viewpoint at the top of the closest hill to see where the paragliders took off. The wind was particularly fierce that morning and it was terrifying to imagine launching oneself off the edge up there. We enjoyed the peaceful walk through the always pleasing combination of beech and oak forest. The colour and early morning sun shining through the trees was glorious. Coming down, our legs were aching from the steepness, but we felt good to start the day off with some exercise.
Huffing and puffing up the Niška Banya hill
Much needed rest on a rock, Niška Banya
Niška Banya was so small it only had a couple of little general shops, a tiny tourist market and a couple of ice-cream sellers, so in a way we were looking forward to moving on to a larger town with more facilities. On our departure, our hosts gave us a bottle of homemade rakia and a bag of plums. Could a gift be more wonderfully Serbian?!
Farwell present from kind apartment owners, NiškaBanya, Serbia
Just too comfy, NiškaBanya apartment
The third largest city in Serbia, Niš, was just down the road from Niška Banya, and having visited most of the sights of Niš on our 2020 visit, this time we simply hoped for a stopover few days of relaxing and catching up before heading to Belgrade. We fondly remembered the city from our first months of travelling around the Balkans when everything was new and exciting. It's still interesting now, but after spending so much time in small towns and nature for the last six weeks, the city and it's noise and overwhelming amount of shops wasn't exactly inspiring for us. If nothing else, it was a good warm up for Belgrade!
Modest memorial to those Niš residents who died during the NATO bombing
Niš fort
Scary things happening at that memorial! Niš
Lovely mansion turned into apartments, Niš
Our great accommodation find was a superb and old fashioned example of a retro Serbian flat, right in Niš centre. The décor looked as though it had been unchanged in style for a long time, although the upkeep and cleanliness were perfect. The kind hostess finished her fag in the kitchen and showed us around the huge space. It's very rare we have a separate bedroom, kitchen, balcony, bathroom and loungeroom!
Sal loved these retro taps, Niš apartment
Our time in Niš was spent visiting the fabulous fresh market, the weekend flea market, and hitting the many op shops (second hand shops to you non-Aussies). A few early morning walks along the river and around the fort area rounded out our excursions.
Trying to find the railway station, we became lost in an interesting estate full of factories and one random train engine. We couldn't decide whether the industrial buildings had been abandoned or were still in use, it was quite difficult to guess! Either way, they had a decrepit and funky feel, and we were waylaid there for quite some time.
Ruin of an industrial past, Niš
Random train engine dumped in Niš industrial area
Not sure if this factory was abandoned?
Thankfully, trains were running out of Niš- after our last few bus trips, we were happy to get back on the Serbian railway for the trip to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Although the bus trip would have only taken us two and a half hours, our train obsession saw us more than happy to take in the scenery for six hours on the tracks.
Awesome, and smelly, Niš railway ticketing office
We spent the month of August at our favourite hostel, the Sun Hostel in Belgrade. As during past visits we enjoyed taking a break from our travels, and simply hanging out with old and new friends, chatting for hours at a time, drinking rakia, eating awesome Serbian food, and generally relishing in the intense socialising. We ventured out into the summer heat a few times to further afield suburbs in the city, but generally we were more than happy to focus on the company of our mates in the hostel environment. Some planning was also involved for the next part of our trip, to Serbia and Herzegovina.
Fantastic trip to the hairdressers with good friends, Belgrade
Cool New Belgrade apartment block with "TV" windows
Can't get enough of Balkan food! Belgrade
One of many fascinating displays of Tito related memorabilia, Yugo Museum, Belgrade
Young boy soldier, Yugoslavia Museum grounds, Belgrade
Sal amongst the saints, Zica Monastery, Kraljevo, Serbia
Our little route around southern Serbia
Although Kraljevo was just supposed to be a pit stop for a few days on our train trip to Nis, we instantly liked the town, and wished we'd arranged to stay a bit longer. The center was wholly pedestrian, filled with vibrant cafes and eateries, all leading to the magnificently lively town "square" which was actually a unique circular shape. When the heat of the day subsided, locals descended there to meet friends, stroll around with ice cream, or watch their kids riding around on scooters, and we happily joined in the throng. Our room was in a prime spot directly opposite the central market, where we sought out the last of the season's raspberries for breakfasts and were pleasantly surprised how much cheaper produce was here than in Belgrade.
Center of Kraljevo in the evening
Well, what can we say? Kraljevo, Serbia
The obligatory beach area in Kraljevo was a simple grassy park fronting the Ibar River, with just a couple of showers and toilets and a few cafes. There were sun loungers for sun bunnies, and lovely big trees and cold drinks for shade lovers (that was us- the heat in Kraljevo was intense!)
Relaxing shady cafe by the Ibar River, Kraljevo, Serbia
Different tastes! Kraljevo, Serbia
Chilled scene by the river, Kraljevo, Serbia
The monastery in the forest we had hoped to visit on a day trip was off limits thanks to the access bridge being washed away, so we consoled ourselves with one closer to Kraljevo- Zica Monastery. We didn't have any expectations at all, and were surprised to discover a beautiful and elegant 13th century structure, with a striking red colour and immaculate gardens. It was a protected monument, and recent efforts in upkeep gave it a tidy and cared for feeling, without damaging the ancient character. No photos were allowed inside, so we were unable to capture the interior frescos. It seemed very popular with locals, and the resident nuns even had a small shop selling homemade wines and beauty products.
Window at Zica Monastery, Kraljevo
Checking out the frescos, Zica Monastery, Kraljevo
Nuns residence and gardens, Zica Monastery, Kraljevo
Faded painting on exterior, Zica Monastery, Kraljevo
Another scenic train trip brought us to Nis, a large city in the far south east of Serbia. Thick forested hillsides contrasted with depressing areas with large disused factories and warehouses. All the Serbian trains we experienced were fantastic- clean, punctual and well priced. Buses in Serbia were much more expensive than trains, so we planned our trip around our favourite mode of transport! It was easy to just turn up at the station before the journey and buy a ticket, although perhaps in busier times it may have been necessary to purchase days before. The other thing we loved was that there were no seat numbers- we just sat where we liked. The trains were all nearly empty, so we had a large choice.
Modern Serbia train
The cleanest toilet we've ever seen on a train!
The weirdest thing we learnt about Nis was that the roman Emperor Constantine The Great was born here in 272. Apparently no less than 17 Roman Emperors were born in Serbia! Anyway, these days, Nis has a different feel to it than the other places we visited in Serbia. It was much more ethnically diverse, and no where was that more apparent than the rough and ready central market. Many Romani hung out around the town in big scruffy family groups, sending their little toddlers out to beg on the streets. Others rode through town on horse and carts. We don't know much about their situation within society in Serbia, but it looked pretty dire.
Nis had a massive central pedestrian space with dozens of cafes and eateries, statues and benches. It was all a bit tatty, but pleasant to sit and people watch with a coffee or beer.
Photo on a grave, Nis, Serbia
Bright church, Nis, Serbia
Advertisements in town, Nis, Serbia
The massive and well preserved fortress of Nis may have lacked the grand views of the fort in Belgrade, but the parkland inside was lush and shady, and plenty of Byzantine-era ruins still stood (albeit covered in graffiti and filled with rubbish- there often wasn't much respect here for ancient monuments).
Old monument! Nis Fortress
Jazz mural, Nis Fortress
Outside a Byzantine ruin, Nis Fortress
The intriguing monument park, Bubanj was on our list to see, and after a hard slog uphill in 30+ degree heat, we made it through the forest park to a huge clearing with three monumental statues of clenched fists, representing the more than 10,000 people killed by occupying German forces around Nis during World War 2. The socialist style memorials, designed and built in 1963, were a powerful commemoration.
Sal dwarfed by the monuments, Nis, Serbia
Bubanj, Nis, Serbia
We had a fantastic apartment to stay in in Nis, with a full kitchen and plenty of room. All our rooms in Serbia were about 1700 dinar/£13 on average, and apart from the hostel room in Belgrade, were all mini apartments in handy locations and included bathrooms, little kitchens and balconies.
Kitchen in our Nis apartment
Our Nis apartment
In normal times choosing our next destination after Serbia by looking at the exotic names on the map would be a fun decision. Would we be tempted by Budapest or Sofia or enticed by Zagreb? There were, after all, eight countries surrounding Serbia! However, during this current time the only border open to us (or so we thought), was North Macedonia. We had travelled south in Serbia in order to cross here by train and continue our journey overland. However, we hit a bit of a stumbling block when we tried to leave Nis and were disappointed to find, not only were the trains across the border not running, neither were the buses. We had no choice but to return to Belgrade to sort out another option.
When we left Belgrade and the cocoon of the Sun Hostel, we didn't really connect much with many Serbian people. In the capital most people spoke at least some English, but the barrier was great elsewhere. People seemed tentative to talk with us, maybe because they were shy of their language skills- although it was us that should have been embarrassed at knowing so little Serbian, really. Occasionally someone would approach to ask where we were from, and people certainly helped us if we needed it. Language, combined with their natural reserve created a situation for us of travelling around without being connected deeply with the place. This contrast was really obvious on our subsequent return to Belgrade, which seemed incredibly friendly in comparison, with strangers having the confidence to speak with us in English all the time, even if it was just a few words.
People say Serbia is cheap. They're comparing it to Western Europe. Prices in general weren't as rock bottom as South East Asia or Central Asia, but obviously it seemed pleasantly affordable after being stuck in the UK for so long. We had to pick and choose a bit what we did and where we visited, and although we didn't see everything Serbia had to offer (that was never going to happen!), we felt satisfied that we had a good taster of the place, and had left plenty to see on our return visit (that's inevitable). Thank you Serbia!!
Random tap in backyard, Belgrade
Kneza Mihaila, Belgrade
Richard wondered why he had a croissant on his face?!
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