Serbia

I only had 11 days left for the rest of the Balkan countries before I had to hop on the ferry to Italy. From there I would be catching a cargo ship to Israel, but for weeks now I had felt rushed trying to see as much of the Balkans as possible. Riding with a deadline drives me nuts and takes away from the enjoyment of the freedom of it all. But still, I was trying to make the most of it. I scheduled 3 days for Serbia, again without any plan. Luckily Lazar from Valjevo had contacted me via Instagram and invited me to meet the local motorcycle club. Perfect! After so many days of solo riding, I just wanted to be with people again.

I crossed the border in Jabuka in the early morning and by noon I had arrived in Valjevo. Local riders were already waiting for me on the outskirts of the city and gave me the best welcome. We rode to the moto cafe in the heart of town to meet the rest of the Sorabi Club.

My first impression was – what a great bunch of people! And this opinion continued for the rest of my stay in Serbia. The Serbs are incredibly hospitable and I was overwhelmed with their kindness and generosity. I was made to feel like one of them and included in all their activities.

For a night I was hosted by the Davidovic family and oh boy was I spoiled there. Svetlana prepared so much delicious food I thought I’d never leave the dining table. For a while there I felt like I was part of their family, it was a nice feeling to feel that love and care, I will cherish it forever…

In the morning after an incredible breakfast, the whole family took me on a little ride around town to show me the highlights of the region. We saw a few monuments and visited an Orthodox Church, witnessed a wedding and did a little dance with “trubači” as you do in Serbia!

With great sadness, I said goodbye to the Davidovic family and hoped I would get to see them again someday.

The Sorabi Club had put me in touch with the Ketna Club in Niš so I headed directly there. I left Vlajevo quite late and by the time I got to Niš it was already dark. Again the guys from the Ketna Motorcycle Club greeted me at the entry to town and escorted me to the club. Another great welcome, more presents and Rakija!

For the night I stayed with Vesna and Milan. We spent a nice evening sharing a few glasses of wine and lovely conversation together.

The next morning we had a quick breakfast, then on the way to the club, Milan showed me a rather terrifying site Ćele Kula – The Skull Tower. This monument was made out of the skulls of Serbian rebels during the Ottoman occupation of Serbia in 1809. Originally there were 952 skulls built into the tower, today only 59 skulls remain, yet still, they illustrate the horror of the original tower.

As it was Sunday, the Ketna Club members had joined me for the ride to the border with Kosovo, they suggested we visit a unique place along the way – Davolja Varos – Devil’s Town! That’s a very interesting name! Let’s go!

I didn’t really know what to expect until we got there, but I was warned there would be some walking involved! Me and my still healing leg were quite sensitive to the word “walking” at that time. When we arrived at the location, we parked our bikes, bought the entry tickets and then the “walking” started! Not sure how far it was but it was uphill and there were lots of stairs involved, it felt like forever but realistically it was a 15 min walk, hehehe. Ok, I’ll stop whinging and focus on the positives now. Once we got there, the sight I witnessed was just incredible and worth all our efforts!

Davolja Varos is a unique rock formation created by erosion. There are over 200 distinctive rock columns rising into the air. There are several legends surrounding this phenomenon but the most common one is that the poles represent God’s punishment and that the formations are wedding guests that have turned into stone.

At the end of our walk, I gave a big hug to my tour guides and deeply regretted that I couldn’t stay in Serbia a bit longer. I’m sure there will be a next time though…

In Numbers:

Duration: 3 days (26 -28^th October 2018)

Total km’s: 647km

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The “Are We There Yet” World Tour is about more than just me seeing the world on a motorcycle. Throughout my journey I’m raising money for a young disabled child in Poland named Franek. Franek was diagnosed with cerebral palsy (weakness of the entire right side of the body) and he will require constant rehabilitation for the rest of his life. All the money raised will go directly to helping Franek and his family lead as normal a life as possible so please donate  generously:

www.gogetfunding.com/arewethereyet