We managed to ride exactly 125 kikometres today. Again, the path was a beauty, lots of river Danube and magnificent scenery, hardly any cars, trucks or coaches.
In Donji Milanovic, we slept in the hotel “Lepenski Vir”. It is a huge block of a building at the high bank of the river Danube and was built during the time of trunk construction. This is a real mega building, and even though it has undergone renovation, you can see quite a few weaknesses. Yet, it is imposing: the dining room has more than 500 seats, they have 200 double rooms and 65 single rooms, various sports facilities, swimming pool, sauna, internet café, restaurants and bars and much more.
At 6.30 a.m., I wanted to tune in on the internet. But – no wireless, not even in the internet café. In theory, cable access would have been possible, but the entire hotel had no cable.
nfortunately, I left mine at home in Riemerling, because it really never crossed my mind that I might find an internet café without a supply of cables.
So – no internet – I postponed my internet activities to a little behind the “Iron Gate”, where I managed to get access on a rest area. There is plenty to relate: numerous inclines, the stretch near the river Danube with its 25 tunnels (all of them unlighted and therefore quite an adventure for the cyclist), the monument by Constantin Dragan, the dam, etc.
Seeing the dam, I remember that during the civil war the western media had written for two days that the dam has been mined and is now being threatened with blasting. Fortunately, this did not happen, and now the civil war is ten years behind us already.
After our arrival in Negotin, we look for accommodations. This was not easy at all. On the map, Negotin looks rather big. In fact, there was some activity, because the 8th form celebrated the end of their school careers with a procession and some music. On the map, it said that there is one hotel and several pensions. Basically, this is a good omen for a suitable overnight stay. The only hotel was called INEX. Unfortunately, it even lacked the post-communist charm.
The rest of the attempt to find somewhere to stay overnight was not easy. The city map is incomprehensible. Since I do not wish to end up in private quarters with unacceptable standards, I am rather hesitant with further inquiries – until I find a lady who speaks German. She knows a pension she can recommend: Villa Christina. A young man leads us there with his moped- this is truly a stroke of good luck.
With all this looking for accommodations, it got late. We want to go out for dinner, but the hailstorm prevents us. So we turn around and buy our dinner in a shop. We finish the day on bread, cheese and cold meat. It was another good day!
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