A warm and sunny day in which I crossed the mountains to reach the Djerdap dam and then walked past Roman and Turkish forts to reach Kladovo.
I left Tekija early and after a short walk along the road headed up the valley side with some good views of the Danube behind me, eventually reaching the plateau which forms at around 500 metres. Yellow crocuses carpeted the ground in places, brilliant in the sunshine, along with the little blue flowers. I was warm even with my thinnest base layer, an extreme contrast to the snow of a few days ago.
I came off the plateau a little before where the "Rambling through Serbia" booklet implied because I wanted to see the Djerdap dam. The last part of the path I chose was overgrown with brambles but I managed to push through, walking through the trees at the difficult bits, although it does my clothes and rucksack little good as they catch on the trees and brambles. Future travellers on the E4 may wish to avoid this section. Then it was along the road to the dam where a road crosses to Romania. I tried to get a closer look at the dam but was accosted by a guard and asked what I was doing. Perhaps he thought I was a refugee trying to get to Romania the other side of the dam.
Nearby was the Diana Roman fort. According to the sign it had been built and destroyed by invaders a number of times. I did not go too close as it was unclear what the procedure was. There was no sign of a ticket office and there were dogs roaming.... So off I walked through a few villages and by the Danube. While the water level seemed low above the dam, below the dam it seemed high, half covering some beach umbrellas. I was surprised there was such a wide lake below the dam. Large volumes of water were gushing through some of the gates of the dam, which seemed a bit of a waste of potential hydroelectric power.
Continuing along the road, among other industrial fabricators I passed a major shipyard just as the workers were finishing for the day. Soon after was the Turkish fort, or at least it's thick walls and entrances. Inside there appeared various modern recreational grounds.
Tonight I went for a posh 4 star hotel in Kladovo, the Danube Aquastar. Very nice with helpful English speaking staff. The town is pleasant as well with a pedestrianised street with cafés where I indulged in a banana and Nutella pancake earlier, with a lemonade made with real lemons, sugar was provided so you could adjust sweetness to your taste. As I write this in the hotel restaurant the orange street lights of Romania twinkle across the Danube and Annie Lennox is singing in the background.
32.7 kilometres walked today with a 750 metre ascent. A gpx file of my route can be found on wikiloc.com and wandermap.net. The route can also be found on my.ViewRanger.com as johnpon0028.
I left Tekija early and after a short walk along the road headed up the valley side with some good views of the Danube behind me, eventually reaching the plateau which forms at around 500 metres. Yellow crocuses carpeted the ground in places, brilliant in the sunshine, along with the little blue flowers. I was warm even with my thinnest base layer, an extreme contrast to the snow of a few days ago.
I came off the plateau a little before where the "Rambling through Serbia" booklet implied because I wanted to see the Djerdap dam. The last part of the path I chose was overgrown with brambles but I managed to push through, walking through the trees at the difficult bits, although it does my clothes and rucksack little good as they catch on the trees and brambles. Future travellers on the E4 may wish to avoid this section. Then it was along the road to the dam where a road crosses to Romania. I tried to get a closer look at the dam but was accosted by a guard and asked what I was doing. Perhaps he thought I was a refugee trying to get to Romania the other side of the dam.
Nearby was the Diana Roman fort. According to the sign it had been built and destroyed by invaders a number of times. I did not go too close as it was unclear what the procedure was. There was no sign of a ticket office and there were dogs roaming.... So off I walked through a few villages and by the Danube. While the water level seemed low above the dam, below the dam it seemed high, half covering some beach umbrellas. I was surprised there was such a wide lake below the dam. Large volumes of water were gushing through some of the gates of the dam, which seemed a bit of a waste of potential hydroelectric power.
Continuing along the road, among other industrial fabricators I passed a major shipyard just as the workers were finishing for the day. Soon after was the Turkish fort, or at least it's thick walls and entrances. Inside there appeared various modern recreational grounds.
Tonight I went for a posh 4 star hotel in Kladovo, the Danube Aquastar. Very nice with helpful English speaking staff. The town is pleasant as well with a pedestrianised street with cafés where I indulged in a banana and Nutella pancake earlier, with a lemonade made with real lemons, sugar was provided so you could adjust sweetness to your taste. As I write this in the hotel restaurant the orange street lights of Romania twinkle across the Danube and Annie Lennox is singing in the background.
32.7 kilometres walked today with a 750 metre ascent. A gpx file of my route can be found on wikiloc.com and wandermap.net. The route can also be found on my.ViewRanger.com as johnpon0028.
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| Barges on the Danube |
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| Spring flowers |
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| Turkish fortress |
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