Jet lag managed to blur my first week home - except the excited reunion with Roxy will always stay in my memory...
Now I look back on my trip and already the scary bits are disappearing and the beautiful autumn colours are coming back to the fore... its been good to go through my photos and relive the great paths and scenery that Hennie and I rolled through... I had planned this trip to coincide with the arrival of cooler temps and autumn colours. I read somewhere that trees/plants know that winter is approaching because of the shorter daylight hours, rather than daily temperatures. Well, that figures why I was treated with some beautiful oranges, yellows, reds and browns, while perspiring at temperatures hovering around the 26 - 28! Especially in Serbia, the people were soaking up the sun, amazed at their good fortune of some extra warmth before the freezing winter cuts in.
It was interesting to see the changes in the Danube as I progressed along its length, how it widened and the many islands splitting up its width. It was great to see that its banks were generally lined with a good barrier of trees, sometimes blocking its view all day, other times being lined by fishing shacks and holiday homes. Near the villages and towns there were always some guys sitting on its banks, their fishing lines stretched out wishfully hoping to catch dinner, though I only saw one guy proudly walking back to his car dangling a rather large fish - I think that was in Golubac near the end of the trip! In the larger cities, the river was lined with parklands and pedestrian/bike paths (sometimes separated) that were being enjoyed by the locals as much as by me. Sadly, once arriving into Serbia, the banks of the river became more and more polluted with plastic bottles and general debris, but then that seemed normal throughout this country.
The traffic was the worst part of this trip - I hadn't factored that in, as generally where I have ridden in the past (and this includes Russia!) I haven't had too much to complain about, so it just wasn't on my radar... next time if anyone asks me if I am scared to travel on my own, I will quickly answer that the traffic could give me some hassle.
But what was the best? That's always hard to pin down... does purling along a bike path on a sunny day, birds tweeting, sun shining and general happiness count as being the best? Or is it a specific moment, when a woman comes past and hands me a bag of fruit or when I am handed 4 big freshly picked apples! Its hard to say... But for a day trip, I think it was the ride from Komarom to Esztergom, mostly on a bike path that ran behind houses and through parklands along the banks of the Danube. Maybe after Hurricane Hungary the day before, everything looked so much rosier than usual... But looking at the photos for the day, I see so many autumn colours captured a tasty lunch and arriving into Esztergom was pretty spectacular too...
these countries were pretty unknown to me apart from the reporting of the breakup of Jugoslavia in the 1990's. so now I have a picture in my mind of the environment along the river and a feeling of the people that inhabit these lands. what more can I expect, when just briefly visiting a country.
although the scenery wasn't mindblowingly spectacular, there was a peaceful and timeless beauty about it and I think the autumn colours really added a nice touch.
so - yes, I did enjoy this trip and here's some of my favourite pics to prove it!
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