Vares to Zavidovici; 26th October

26th October

Left the hotel around 11am and turned north out of Vares. Just on the outskirts of town, they were tarmacking the road at the entrance to a road that went through a cave. Probably the most interesting tunnel I have been through, looking up at the large cavernous ceiling with the lampposts lending it atmospheric lighting.

Through the cave -- there were bats flying around the roof

The road for the rest of the day was very quiet as there is a larger road nearby that connects larger towns, which seems to take the vast majority of the traffic. It was a short climb up to the pass, where we got to enjoy the autumn colours from a height — possibly the last time this trip, as for the rest of the journey there are very few climbs and the leaves will have dropped in a few weeks time.

We had lunch next to a fountain dedicated to a guy who died at 32. Through the Balkan countries many people are commemorated through such fountains.

By the time we reached the bottom it was afternoon, and with the loss of altitude it was noticeably warmer. Passing through a village a man riding the other way on his bike said ‘salamu alaykum’, the first we’d been greeted this way in the Balkans. We enthusiastically, almost by muscle memory developed when cycling though Central Asia, replied wa ʿalaykumu s-salām. As we leave for Croatia in a few days time, it may be the last time we are greeted this way on this this trip, as we leave the territory that was the Ottoman Empire.

We rode into the town of Zavidovici, which has natural spherical stone balls as an attraction. Reading Hugh’s blog as he crossed the desert to Nukus earlier this year, I’d known of this phenomenon, but we didn’t visit them at that time.

These balls attract spiritual types too, who believe they have some supernatural powers. There was one person who was lying down, hugging one of the stones, who appeared to be having a spiritual moment

After visiting the spherical stones, we got some groceries from a supermarket. Outside, we got some fruit and veg from the fruit seller — his colleagues came over and we hat a chat — they told us there was an even bigger stone ball further up the road. Maybe something to visit in the morning.

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