Today I want to take you on what was one of the highlights of my month long stay in Serbia. Those familiar with my blog might know that I am an owner of remote holiday house in the Serbian countryside. It serves as a base to me. Off the grid property where I park my bikes, some food supplies and camping gear.
I will therefore start with describing the setup of my bike as that is an important part of bikepacking...
This modern approach of bike-touring is focused more on practicality and functionality than to load as much stuff onto your bicycle as possible. Due to its minimalist approach it is hence suitable mostly for short term trips.
I was planning overnight or two nights trip in the mountains. Perfect light setup scenario.
Kicking it off at around five in the afternoon I had about thirty kilometers to go to reach my first planned camping spot next to the biggest lake in the area.
My plan was to reach the village Temska to load up on beer and some snacks.
From there it was pure uphill battle for another 15 kilometers or so. Heck I even had to cross a river balls deep as there was no bridge from the road I choose to take. That meant no traffic, but quite a scary crossing as the stream was powerful and I got nearly carried away with it.
Rest of the day I had to survive without underwear as I had to use it to dry myself after the river crossing. Not a big deal. I still had swim shorts to sleep in that night.
When reached my destination - Zavojsko Lake, I was surprised by its beauty. Even though it is a man made dam, it surely has its charm. Definitely a place worth visiting...
The next day I woke up early. Quite a windy night didn't allow me to sleep deeply. Also the locals chilling on their houseboats - Splavs as Serbians like to call them, were a bit loud with their music.
However I felt great and I was ready to kick the pedal. My luggage holding system got upgraded so I had to carry even less on my back - which is the whole point of bicycle travel. You're not commuting but touring so you want to have as little as possible on your back. Not only it is not comfortable but you'll sweat three times more. Small and light backpack is than the maximum allowed load.
I had another 15 kilometers to push uphill to the last bastion of civilization called Topli Do.
So I have crossed the river again and hit the road.
Topli Do is an attraction on itself. It looks like somewhere in India really. Broken or soon to fall old mud houses are dominating the scenery. It is however expensive address and those ruins are selling for 20+ thousand euros. No thanks...
That was it, from here the asphalt road changed to dirt and real adventure started. No signal coverage only creates extra level of adrenaline. How do you call for help when something happens right...A
After I climbed few hills and jumped over few rivers again - luckily this time with wooden bridges, I reached a first waterfall of the series. There were so many I have honestly only seen about half. Each and every single one of them is a kilometer or more from the main road, so It involves getting off your bike and hiking - sometimes quite some challenging paths.
There is however no need to be afraid about leaving the bicycle somewhere as there is nearly nobody around. In fact I have met in total five people in the span of four hours there.
As I ran out of food and took a wrong road for quite some time, I ditched the idea of camping another night out, had a shower in the last waterfall and slowly headed back to civilization.
Back at the kiosk in Temska locals wouldn't believe me that I really got where I got on the bicycle. It was definitely not a beginners journey, but with enough time and right gear almost anybody can do it.
So if you're down in south-eastern Serbia do not miss out on this awesome lake surrounded with more waterfalls that you can count on one hand.
All the best,
Global Local