Day 57 - Novi Sad to Slankamenački (Near Beška)

51.6 km - Total so far 3,198.90 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day: Europe Day 57 

We are safe and secure in Slankamenački.

It felt great getting back on the bikes this morning. Hélène’s route planning for today made it pretty easy to ride through Novi Sad, get to the bridge and cross the Danube.

Once across the Danube there were no more bike paths, no marked lane on the road. We were just two slow vehicles trying to safely make our way towards Belgrade. It was a bit rock and roll and a lot more challenging than riding the dykes. No photos or videos of the 4km climb.

Once in a while, the route took us off the main road into villages to do a bit of sightseeing. 

4 Lion fountain

We had a chance to do a bit of climbing, the road goes up to a 5% grade for 4 kms. Just before the top, our route veered right onto a gravel road and then onto a nice quiet country road. Two dogs decided to give us a welcoming but a few blows on the whistles made them forget why they were in the middle of the road.

View after the 4km climb

We stopped for ice cream at a café grill just across the street from a school. We could feel a positive vibe to this village. The café we were in was expanding, something we had not seen in other villages. There is also a new looking supermarket in the village, Beška.

Ice cream in Beška

Outside the supermarket, we were approached by a couple who asked if we spoke English. “Of course we do, we are from Canada and speak English and French.”

Turns out they were a couple from Kitchener. They immigrated from Serbia to Canada to give their children a chance at higher education. They are in Serbia visiting their son, who lost his Canadian job during COVID, but who found one in Serbia. Their son works as an electrical engineer. 

After the supermarket, it was all about getting to our accommodation for the night. We pulled off the road for a quick break at a spot where 2 guys were in a pick-up truck.  One guy came out with two bottles in hand and offered them to us. He would not take no for an answer so we got ourselves two bottles of lemonade. 

If you look at the route peddled, you will see a nasty little climb to our home for the night. What you don’t see is the 800 meters road we had to go down to get to the final destination. This road is straight down and has a grade if at least 20%. Its gonna be a quick warm up tomorrow morning.

The place is great and offers a superb view of the, you guessed right, the Danube with hills in the background.

Our hostess treated us coffee, cup cakes and locally grown cherries . We communicate using a translation app.

A warm welcome today