Serbia - Nis

 1974

Saturday 30th March

We set off on the road to Nis but the navigating went a bit wrong and instead of avoiding the city centre, we went straight there. Visited the market and bought some food. Quite an experience. People were buying their chickens for dinner alive. We drove on to Sofia and were stopped by the police in a radar trap but as we had no Yugoslavian or German money they let us go. Had to change £1 to Dinars as there was a toll bridge we hadn't bargained for. It took quite a time at the border getting money, visas and petrol coupons. When we stopped at a petrol station the man gave us five litres worth of coupons back in return for twenty cigarettes. All the camping sites were closed so we had to book in at a bungalow near Plovdiv. We met a German who had just come back from the Persian Gulf, he spoke American, and we had a meal with him in the restaurant which was quite cheap. A very dull, cold day.

2025

Tuesday 3rd June

We set off early for Belgrade Bus Station as it was a a couple of miles away.  It was newly built and very large.  It was a hot day, starting in the low 20’s and by the time we got to the bus station it was climbing towards 30 degrees.  We had to buy a platform ticket each.  Luckily we found a bench in the shade as we got there two hours early!  The bus was on time but it soon became apparent that the air conditioning wasn’t working.  The temperature rose even more approaching 40 degrees.  On the other hand the  heating worked very well and was on full blast.  There were no windows which would open.  When we were 2 hours in to our 3 hour journey a man a couple of rows in front turned around and said “we’re all going to die”!  I didn’t disbelieve him.  Then the air conditioning units in the roof started to spray water over the right side of the bus.  And still the bus continued and we arrived in Nis on time.  Neil told the driver what he thought of the bus in Serbian and the driver laughed.  We walked the short distance to the hotel.  The pluses of the hotel are (a) the shower is fantastic, (b) we have tea making facilities, (c) we have a fridge, and (d) we are near the centre.  Minuses are (a) my feet don’t reach the floor when sitting on the toilet, (b) the air conditioning isn’t working effectively, and (c) there is no lift and we are on the second floor.  We ate at the restaurant opposite and couldn’t resist the ice cream.  Oh, by the way, we have checked, they no longer sell live chickens in the market!