Mokranje to Rajac on E4 Day 44

Today I managed to follow marked trails through oak woods, vineyards and hawthorn scrub, passing distinctive wine cellars with rounded arches traditional in the area.
Trails marked by "Tourist Triathlon" signs had been difficult to follow on previous occasions but I had been advised that following them from the signpost 100 metres before the Mokranje waterfall to the village of Rogljevo and then Rajac would not be too difficult. So abandoning my preplanned route I allowed myself to be guided by the signposts, using my compass and checking distances to make sure I was following the maps I had photographed of information boards. Success! I followed the trail through woods to Rogljevo. Just before the village I saw my first wine cellars or "pimnice" with their characteristic round, masonary arches.
The path from Rogljevo to the wine cellars at Rajac was marked with red and white waymarks as well as signs. It went through the little village of Smedovac passing curious but timid goats. Apart from one sign pointing the wrong way the path was easy to follow, passing vineyards and fields dotted with blossoming hawthorn. The path finished at Rajačke Pimnice, where there was a ghost town of wine cellars. I was before the tourist season, which starts in May apparently, although even after May only a small number of places would be open to passing visitors, although they are visited by organised tours.
At my B&B in Rajac at the Villa Milenovic my hosts were very friendly and helpful. It seems the village has far fewer inhabitants than previously as people have moved away to towns or other countries leaving many empty houses, some very old ones in need of restoration, some apparently abandoned and others smartly renovated waiting for their owners to return from working in far away places. The football pitch had been left to the sheep, it appears a team can no longer be mustered. They took me for a walk around the village, everyone seemed to know everyone. They pointed out some Hungarian police, sitting in a matt green Czech registered van, on the look out for refugees crossing the border. Rajac is Serbia but they pointed out the next village was a Vlach village. Vlachs are an ethnic minority in Serbia speaking a version of Romanian, their music was on the television that evening while my hosts fed me some lovely food - stuffed cabbage, a sort of corn porridge, battered peppers, some good white wine, rakia and coffee.
I will not eat so well for some time...

A gentle 16.9 kilometres walked today. A gpx file of my route can be downloaded from wikiloc.com. The route can also be downloaded from OutdoorActive.

Rajačke pimnice, these are wine cellars with characteristic round masonry arches

One of the rooms in my B&B with a traditional bed and furniture

Negotin to Mokranje on E4 Day 43

Except at the impressive waterfalls at the end, today was a flat walk along quiet roads and river embankments.
I was waved off from the "Guesthouse for Adventurers" by my hosts and confidently set off in the wrong direction, should have checked my GPS first! Once re-orientated I walked a few kilometres up a road to join the E4 route which the "Rambling through Serbia" booklet has circling Negotin. The booklet takes you right out to the Danube before turning back towards the village of Mokranje. As one man off fishing on his bike put it in our common knowledge of a little French, the route was "plus loin", some 28 kilometres to Mokranje rather than maybe 11 by a more direct path. However it was a pleasant, flat walk along river embankments, by some fields and through some woods with a green fuzz of bursting buds and yellow celandines carpeting the ground. The most significant point was where the track almost reached the Danube. There was a bridge across a channel to the Danube riverside but as the water level was high, half the bridge was underwater. At this point three countries meet: Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. An old border look out tower stood rusting, a reminder that this was where the iron curtain was once located. Now it seemed a favourite spot for fishing. The river Timok joins the Danube here, a river I will pass later on my trip. High water in the Danube meant that the Timok had flooded the fields within the embankment. Load croaking showed the frogs approved, while ducks flew off the water on one side of the embankment as I walked passed, pheasants hurried into the air from the fields on the other side, making noisy complaints about my presence.
At the road at the end of this section, the booklet implies the E4 goes to the north of the Mokranje road through woods and across a ridge. Nothing was visible on my maps and I had tried with difficulty to pick the route it might refer to on Google Earth, but looking at where it began made me think I had picked a drainage ditch instead of a track! So instead I followed the small, quiet road into Mokranje.
My host at the "Guesthouse for Adventurers" encouraged me to visit the waterfall at Mokranje and his colleague at the local mountain society had suggested it was a good place to camp. I was expecting a modest waterfall such as I had seen elsewhere, but they were most impressive, two parallel waterfalls in fact in full flow coming from a rocky, limestone gorge with a 10 metre or so drop. Large logs had been stranded at the top. Apparently in summer the falls can dry up altogether. Not so easy to photograph as trees got in the way.
I am now camped near a viewpoint on some rocks which has a great view across the village and maybe Bulgaria in the distance. On the lookout for ticks.

30.3 kilometres walked today. A gpx file of my route can be downloaded from wikiloc.com. The route can also be downloaded from OutdoorActive.

Look out post, now old and rusting, close to where Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania meet

Mokranje waterfalls (behind the trees!)

Negotin rest day 42

Tired after some long days, with some big blisters I decided to take a rest day.
I woke at 1:30 am worrying about a tick I had found on my stomach when showering, not having my glasses on I thought initially dirt or a scab and removed ineptly. So in the early hours I was Googling Lyme disease. It appears I need to look for a bullseye rash in the next few weeks, although based on Wikipedia it seems unlikely I will catch it due to month, time on body etc.. I am glad that I have previously been vaccinated for Tick borne encephalitis. Then again you can get very worried about all the nasty diseases you could, but probably will not, catch.
After breakfast, a look around town, coffee, cheesecake ice cream and some shopping, and despite it being a rest day I walked 4 kilometres to the Bukovo Monastery. The wall paintings here had darkened with age, and were in a more naturalistic style than those I have seen in other monasteries. As this was the Orthodox Easter Sunday, many people were visiting, making their devotions and leaving gifts of money. At breakfast my host presented me with a painted egg, an Easter tradition, I saw other beautifully decorated eggs elsewhere and the monastery church also had a selection.
Just relaxed the rest of the day.

Negotin

Bukovo Monastery

Šarkamen to Negotin on E4 Day 41

Today I looked forward to a night indoors at the "Guesthouse for Adventurers" in Negotin.
First a visit to the ruins of a Roman palace a short way after where I pitched my tent last night. The ruins, the remains of a few walls, towers and buildings, were spread over a wide area. With no signs telling me what I was looking at, I did not stay long. Once a very important place the ruins are now in a remote spot reached by a long gravel road. In the village of Šarkamen 5 kilometres later, a passing man made sure I had seen this important "vrelo".
After Šarkamen the road changed from gravel to tarmac but with more patched up potholes than original tarmacadam. It joined a more major road in good condition from which I turned off to follow a parallel, if ocassionally muddy route across large fields and occasional woods. After some early rain the sun was now warming the day. The skylarks were belting it out overhead and I also heard a cuckoo. May blossom bloomed on branches of hawthorn.
At the village of Jasenica there was a shop and, as is common in Serbia, some benches and tables outside with some men talking with bottles of beer before them. I joined them for a coke and a "7 day" cocoa filled croissant and tried to answer their questions (in Serbian). I generally assume they are asking what on earth am I doing walking through their village with a huge pack on my back, and recite a phrase I learnt saying I am English, I am hiking and detail the places I have come from and going to (generally misprouncing them).
The E4 route does not go directly to the next town of Negotin but circles around it going via a village called Vidrovac. The path from the main road to Vidrovac was clearly an old ridge path but had become overgrown in the parts not used by farmers and their tractors. There were some views from the path looking over the plain around the Danube with several towns and villages visible.
I left Vidrovac via an informal rubbish tip soon joining a road into the next village of Miloshevo. Then I headed directly to Negotin and it's long suburbs, keen to arrive at the guesthouse, a blister on my right heal hurting and causing my gait to give my hip some pain. Finally there I was, made most welcome with a very refreshing beer, and a chance to shower and wash my clothes, which were starting to get smelly! The "Guesthouse for Adventurers" is also known as "Guesthouse for Cyclists" (Negotin is in the Eurovelo 6 route) and Prenoćište Stanisavljević, and the owner Bojan, is a very helpful person.
Later I was guided to a restaurant with a quartet on guitar, two accordions and a double bass (which he seemed to be playing with a pair of spoons). Always self conscious I was pleased they focused on the other diners. They were sharply dressed young men and women mainly in black with some white touches, one women in red. The musicians and waiter wore faded jeans. As I walked around Saturday night Negotin, many more similarly dressed people were strolling around enjoying each others company.

34.6 kilometres walked today. A gpx file of my route can be downloaded from wikiloc.com. The route can also be downloaded from OutddorActive.

Vrelo Sarkamen - ruins of a Roman Palace

Blossom

Enjoying a welcome beer at the Guesthouse for Adventurers

Vratna to Šarkamen on E4 Day 40

Highlights of today were the natural bridges in Vratna canyon and the privilege of attending part of an Christian Orthodox service at Vratna Monastery.
Dry, warm and cosy in my sleeping bag I listened to the rain pattering on my tent while I munched on some biscuits and prepared to get up. To avoid everything getting wet I packed my rucksack inside the tent (an awkward manoeuvre in the confined space) before taking down the tent and packing it last. The rain made the steep path into Vratna canyon slippery, requiring great care, yet the view of the two natural bridges made the effort worthwhile. Monumental, grey limestone arches framed the river below. The lack of leaves on the trees made them move visible than they would be later in the year. Several yellow spotted, black "fire salamanders" were on the path, barely moving as I stepped over them, maybe cold and sluggish in the rain. There was a high viewpoint you needed to climb up to, but I gave up on it after climbing a little way, tired after some long days, I feared I would fall on the slick path climbing up, or more likely coming down.
On my return from the bridges the monastery was open and I went into the church. A black robed nun was reading at a lectern. She spoke English and made me welcome. A sister later arrived and asked if I was hungry or needed lodging in the nearby Vratna village. She said I could stay for the 2 hour long service at 8:00 am and I confirmed it would be OK just to attend part of it as I had a long way to walk today. While waiting for the service I admired the paintings which, typical of Orthodox churches, covered all the walls and ceiling. There were pictures of Jesus in various scenes from the bible - baptism, last supper etc. and of course the Virgin Mary, plus lots of saints all with gold halos, all looking solemn, even when welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Today was the Orthodox Good Friday and the service was led by a bishop. A priest and three nuns participated and I was the audience. I did not understand the service (in Serbian) yet gained some serenity from the 20 minutes of listening to the liturgy.
After retracing my steps of the previous night to Vratna village I took a track over the hill to the village of Jabukovac, where a signed indicated there was a more direct path from the viewpoint in Vratna canyon that I could have followed. A café (kafana) with those silvery windows that you cannot see through looked closed but an "all terrain vehicle" outside and a desire for coffee made me try the doors. It proved to be in business and I enjoyed a Turkish style coffee, small, strong and black, served with a piece of Turkish delight (more flavoursome than the British version) and a small glass of sparkling water. The other customers then quizzed me on what I was doing in a mixture of languages (none of which was English).
After a walk south down the tarmac road, I had prepared two alternative routes to the next village, Plavna, one going into another canyon and a longer one taking a route around it on tracks I was more certain actually existed. After yesterday's failure to find a suitable path I wisely chose the longer, safer alternative, mainly through farmland. After Plavna, at a road junction just beyond the cemetery, I saw signs for the canyon but not in the place I expected. It looked exiting, there was meant to be a natural tunnel there, maybe a trip for another occasion. (Update: while walking the E3 I walked down to see the amazing Natural Tunnel, see my blog)
As the farmhouses thinned out on the road to Šarkamen I found a place among trees to camp, hoping there was no-one around to upset. I camped a little earlier than normal as I wanted to give my tent time to dry out after the soaking it had this morning. It was still wet as I went to sleep.

31.6 kilometres walked today. A gpx file of my route can be downloaded from wikiloc.com. The route can also be downloaded from OutdorActive.

One of the natural bridges beyond Vratna Monastery

Vratna Monastery

Fences were typically made of local materials in this part of Serbia

Ljubichevac to Vratna Monastery on E4 Day 39

A good day's walk in sunny conditions until 4:00 pm when a river and an incorrect route meant a long detour.
I always carefully pack out my rubbish after camping although at last night's camping spot no-one would have noticed it given the amount of fly tipping of builder's waste, plastic rubbish deposited by the Danube and detritus left by fishermen and other visitors. Things became tidier later as I walked along the Danube embankment, slowly being overtaken by a barge, passed a pumphouse clearing the lower lying ground beside the river of water.
I was delighted to find the restaurant on Brza Palanka riverfront open, and had an omelette, bread and coffee for breakfast. They also advertised rooms. It's a pity I did not know before as I might have pushed on yesterday to reach them.
From Brza Palanka I walked up a long valley to the Blederija waterfall with its tufa deposits before heading uphill onto the plateau. There were direction signs on this part of the route, part of a "Tourism Triathlon, hike, bike and canoe". Unfortunately not enough signs at crucial junctions to tell you where to hike. Nevertheless I progressed along my route planned with Google Earth and Wikiloc.com trails following the path indicated in the small scale maps in "Rambling through Serbia".
The plateau was cut into by steep sided valleys of which I planned to cross two. At the top of the first valley I lost the path, or more likely none was there, but managed to slither to the bottom of the slope through the trees. I could see the track up the other side but with the water level so high in the brook that ran down the valley, a little wadding was required giving me wet boots for the rest of the day.
I reached the second valley about 4:00 pm. Getting down was no problem this time but the river was in full flow. I might have crossed at the planned point with some care but it was apparent that instead of a path up the steep and rocky valley side opposite I had traced a stream on Google Earth - or as far as I could see a small waterfall. In consequence I had to retrace my steps and follow the track along the valley floor to the village of Urovica. Not a route consistent with the "Rambling through Serbia" booklet but my only certain way of getting to Vratna.
Fortified by a Coke and chocolate in the long village of Urovica I reached Vratna Monastery a little after 7:00 pm as it was getting dark. As it was after the Monastery's closing time I pitched my tent out of sight in the woods and rested after a walk today much longer than intended.

An enormous 47.1 kilometres walked today including attempting find a path avoiding Urovica, plus 870 metres of ascent. A gpx file of my route can be found on wikiloc.com. The route can also be found on OutdoorActive.

Barge overtaking me on the Danube

Blederija waterfall

Kladovo to Ljubichevac on E4 Day 38

Less climbing and more roads than on previous days as I headed south on the Danube.
"Rambling through Serbia" has the route going up one side of a lake and down the other side, returning to where you started. I rebelled against this because I find it demotivating to walk several kilometres in order to return to where I began, and secondly, I could not see a path on the north side of the lake on any map or on Google Earth.
Instead I followed the road out of Kladovo to Trajan's pier, which is all that is left of this Roman Emperor's bridge across the Danube. Not much but it looked good reflected in the water on a still, sunny day. The only other person there was a man selling decorated bottles and boxes from a table,  some background folk music added to the atmosphere. Then I strided down the south side of the lake. Rushes lined the edge of the water and adjoining drainage channel, swans swam serenely.
The only climb of the day followed as I made my way through woods uncertain as to which track I should be following to reach open farmland on the plateau. A few kilometres later I was in Vajuga, the first of four villages I walked through on the edge of the Danube. Sadly none appeared to have a bar or café where I could get a cup of coffee  (I thought longingly of the little village bars I used to frequent for coffee while walking through Hungary). In places I followed the road, in others I diverted off it. One such diversion went through small vineyards where people were busy on their vines. I was offered a beer, but it was a bit to early...
I had hoped to stay in Ljubichevac  (a settlement with bigger than typical houses) but the rooms were still closed for the winter as it was too cold, although I was feeling distinctly hot in the sun today.
So I am camped right by the Danube beside some abandoned farmland. A barge has just passed going upstream, a few bats are flying around and some noisy, nearby fishermen have finally left. Various howling from distant dogs and cars on the road a kilometre or so away mean this is not the quietest camping spot so far.

33.5 kilometres walked today, mostly on the flat. A gpx file of my route can be found on wikiloc.com. The route can also be found on OutdoorActive.

Trajan's pier, once part of a Roman bridge across the Danube

Dog in the Danube