Monday 10th September 2012
Another brilliant day for our final day of our Best of Serbia tour. Last night we enjoyed the lights of city of Nis from our vantage point at Hotel Alexander and this morning the view was equally as good.
We enjoyed a later start this morning (9.30), and headed for Mediana, yet another Roman site in varying stages of restoration. On display were some replica weapons, a catapult and battering ram. Unfortunately the museum wasn’t open (yes it is Monday), so we just wandered around the site, checking out the remains of different buildings. There was a large area covered with sand to protect the underlying mosaics, this was surrounded by a box hedge and even some rose gardens.
From here we attempted again to see the Skull tower, built by the Turks from dead Serbian fighters during an uprising in the 18th century. We could just see it from outside the fence, probably a good thing it was closed on Monday as well. There was also another fortress in the centre of Nis and this necessitated the mandatory climb to the top of the wall to take in the view.
Fortified with a light snack we set off to find Đavolja Varoš ( Devil’s Town), geological formations (sandstone pillars with rocks on the top) not far from the Kosovo border. It turned out to be quite some distance from Nis and along with road works it took till almost 2pm to get there. Like most tourist maps the map of the area was open to interpretation but the path was easy enough to follow. The creek that flowed through the area was most unusual. The water was clear, but the dirt under it was bright orange. The brochure suggested it had a ph of 3.5 which I think makes it very acidic. At one point there was a Red Spring bubbling through the ground. The view from the top of the observation deck was stunning, the recently commenced night light show would have been even better. The sign not to lean on the safety rail was a bit disconcerting. The light was quite eerie walking back through the forest now that the sky has begun to cloud over.
As we were pressed for time we opted for a quick lunch, although it quite a while to work through the monster roll with ham, kaymak (soft white cheese) and hot peppers. Bruce was keen to ride down the valley road, so he set off on his bike about 4pm. It took Danny, Ewen and I about 14 km to catch him in the van. More windy road and detours for road works slowed progress, but we were reassured when we discovered we were on the road to a town called Brus (pronounced Bruce). Another 50 km of windy, uphill road and we eventually arrived at the ARDF site just before 7pm.
Bruce: Brus was otherwise not particularly notable 🙂
A note to Zlatan: Dany has been consistently good humoured, despite some long days driving, translating numerous menus and signs and answering our many questions. Today was another sterling effort by Dany, considering once he left us he had to head back down the mountain for the return trip home.
After sorting out some SI stick numbers at registration we checked into our hotels and had dinner which was excellent. Yes we are in 2 separate hotels which is pain. We will be able relieve this a little as Bruce and Ewen have handhelds. A minor problem being Bruce didn’t bring his battery charger, to save weight. This has now been fixed with the unconventional use of a hair dryer and a laptop power supply. The hotels are about 4 star standard so very comfortable.
It was very enjoyable meeting up with people we had met in Croatia, Bob and David from the English team and John from Norway. Also spoke to one of the Chinese girls that came with James and I on the street orieteering in Maldon for the R3 last September. She was quite excited that we recognised her and gave me a big hug. Someone else to cheer for.
We are quite settled in now with the flag flying out our window and post card on the door. I can even have my early morning cuppa of green tea, but Ewen is having withdrawal symptoms due to the lack of English Breakfast tea (there is herbal sweet stuff, as normal here, and sometimes Earl Grey (ugggh))
Bruce: As the model event was so short this morning,I had plenty of time to go for a ride before lunch. After some adventures finding someone appropriate, I got a map that included cross country ski trails, so that seemed a good enough thing to try. Not bad riding, except the map was wrong (we have come to expect this from Serbian maps; certain Rogainers would thrive), and the pine tree or 4 across the trail I had to stop to lift over. I’ve discovered, I think (may have got lost in the translation), that the chairlift takes bikes on Saturday, so there might be a chance for some MTBing after the FoxOr.
Bruce: Incidentally, the food has been pretty good here so far, way way above MTBO uni caf standards.
Bruce: PS: I finally looked on Google maps at what I’d attempted to ride the other day at Silver Lake; looks like I’d have got through, but I’d lost all confidence. I also didn’t even know the lake was that shape, so I’d have worried about riding “away”from it on the northern side. The southern route I took doesn’t appear on Google at all.
Devil’s Town), geological formations (sandstone pillars with rocks on the top) not far from the Kosovo border. It turned out to be quite some distance from Nis and along with road works it took till almost 2pm to get there. Like most tourist maps the map of the area was open to interpretation but the path was easy enough to follow. The creek that flowed through the area was most unusual. The water was clear, but the dirt under it was bright orange. The brochure suggested it had a ph of 3.5 which I think makes it very acidic. At one point there was a Red Spring bubbling through the ground. The view from the top of the observation deck was stunning, the recently commenced night light show would have been even better. The sign not to lean on the safety rail was a bit disconcerting. The light was quite eerie walking back through the forest now that the sky has begun to cloud over.