A Long Way For A Curry

24/06/25  - Day Forty-Three Alastair Humphrey’s in moods of future joys : “By coming so gradually to Africa from England - mile by mile, day by day, town by town - everything seemed quite normal to me. I needed to remind myself not to lose my wonder.” I must heed greatly this quote: wonder as if I were a child, or teleported here. Think dean Moriarty from “On the Road” amazed by everything. Do this and even the most mundane things become novel and exciting. Oh look a Serbian lamppost!  I wandered round town this morning taking in the feel of the city while doing a little bit of shopping. I found a Che Guevara themed cafe, which I knew Jakob would like. In the evening, we ate some Serbian food in a restaurant, big slabs of grilled meat with bread and chips - perfection! Then Jakob took me to a very cool bar, no signage, just a striped out apartment serving cheap beer. The legalities of it all elusive, the air foggy with smoke and a real edge to it. Pretty cool. We were joined b...

23/06/25 - Day Forty-Two I have been dreaming of this day for a while now, especially when the going gets tough - my arrival to Belgrade! Eager to get there I made minimal stops, and pushed hard on the pedals to get there quickly. I had become very impatient in my excitement to get there, every stroke was an intense effort. As a result it was not a fun day, a type 2 kinda day, which started off with a long hill. My mindset was all wrong, I yearned to be there. It was the hottest day to date aswell at 33 degrees, which didn’t help! I made it happen though, and with the 55 miles complete, it was a surreal experience arriving to Jakob coming out of his block to fetch me off the street. It was bloody great to see him! We had a lot of catching up to do, so we chatted endlessly as we sat atop the old fortress overlooking the city, basking in the evening light. We went for a beer and a pizza, before meeting his Serbian friends Bozidar and Milan. They were good guys and active in the current ...

22/06/25  - Day Forty-One No harvest this morning, but a dewy tent awaited me. A minor inconvenience as I’d now have to dry my tent at a rest, but still a bit irritating. I rolled over and checked bbc news, something I’d been doing religiously of late. The US had made multiple strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. This was big news and I lay back to let it sink in. I wondered how people in the different places I had and would visit would see it. It reminded me of my conversation with Zsolt, about politics, and how people from some places have completely different outlooks to us in the west. This was particularly prevalent as my journey was transitioning from west to east. I’d be crossing into Serbia today with its pro Russian sentiments, but maybe that’s just western bias too! I will keep an open mind though, and try and ask people I meet along the way for their takes on current affairs.  This transition was reinforced by my first encounter with some wild dogs - they wer...

21/06/25  - Day Forty I had a lie in this morning and caught up on sleep waking at 8am - my concealed campsite allowing me this luxury. I had an awful nightmare that I had shaved off my beard, so the (not so) cold light of day brought with it a wave of relief too. It was another hot day, so after the morning miles I was delighted to stumble across a beach area in Osijek, on the banks of the Drava. I got straight into the water to cool off then read and sunbathed. I couldn’t help but notice how many stunning Balkan ladies were here. No doubt a result of spending so long alone on a bike, but the Balkan beauties do seem to hit different! Tall, dark haired, and of course the accent.  I left after lunch to visit the cathedral, followed by lots of sleepy miles in the afternoon. I struggled to find a campsite once more, endlessly passing fields with no obvious hideaways. As always though, if you stick at it long enough, and just as you’re growing exasperated, something will appear fo...

20/06/25 - Day Thirty-Nine Nice day, pretty big in the end at 85 miles. Slowly increasing the normal. Gorgeous start to the day waking early due to my tent being visible from the cycle path, but it was out of town so figured it goes. I love the feeling of getting up early (once I’ve woken up that is), and attacking the day. Just feels like you’re winning already, and I was loving life on the road this morning as I cycled in the warm morning light.  I stopped under a bridge to cook some porridge and fuel up. Then again to get an inner tube and some cycling gloves! The bony bit at the base of my hands had suddenly become quite painful so to stop it in its tracks made the purchase, despite my reservations about style. Although maybe a bit gimpy, they made me feel like I had somewhat of an idea about this whole cycle touring business. And that I’m actually on a journey that warrants them: a quest!  It wasn’t as hot as yesterday, and the miles flew by. I crossed the river on a fer...