Day 58-59 - Budapest, Beograd

Wednesday 15 September 2004, 16:00 CET

I'm now on the train from Budapest to Beograd. It's definitely been an interesting time seeing Budapest - I have probably been too harsh on it in the last few entries, but it is a bit rundown in a way which could not be described as charmingly decadent. It wasn't without its showpieces though - the walk up to the Buda Citadel, the Parliament building, some of the churches, the bridges and the waterfront were really nice. The accommodation in these sorts of situations can make or break a place for a traveller like me - my Halifax experience is a testament to that.

Anyway, off to Beograd now. The normally-20-minute walk to Keleti station with all my luggage in tow in 24° and high humidity is not something I would generally recommend. The Hungarian old couple who got off in Kiskoros seemed to find my water-satched state extremely amusing (even more so than my attempts to speak Hungarian).

So far it's been very boring - flat farmland on one side and...flat farmland on the other.

Wednesday 15 September 2004, 23:45 CET

Dobro vece from Beograd, Srbija (better known as Serbia).

Well, a bit of adventure indeed getting here. As I mentioned earlier, my hotel disappeared off the face of the earth (edit: it turned out it hadn't, just they don't answer their phone. I watched the receptionist studiously ignore the phone when I went there today) and the Budapest guys got me a reservation for Three Black Catz in Beograd. A few Serbian teenagers got on the train at Novi Sad and were practising their English on me, to much amusement all around. Once we arrived in Beograd, I found myself arguing with an incomprehensible taxi driver with a cart on the platform and trying to help a German tourist who couldn't read Cyrillic alphabet both at the same time. I was supposed to meet some German travellers from the Budapest hostel there but after getting out of there, I couldn't find them anywhere.

Interesting point - I've since found out (and guessed correctly at the time) that many tourists get ripped off by these aggressive taxi drivers who either just charge them 5-10 times the going rate, or even drive them as far away as Skopje, Macedonia or Novi Sad as a "shortcut" to Beograd and then demand hefty fees in euro to get people back to where they're supposed to be. If you're coming to Beograd and need a taxi, find out the phone numbers in advance and order one.

I found the hostel after getting lost several times - let's say the official site has some glaring geographical misconceptions on it. "One block" from the train station means across, down one block on a main street (Nemanjina), up an at-times-steep hill for approximately 500m, under an underpass, left into a confusing array of shops which turns into a street (not identified as such unless you know Cyrillic alphabet and look carefully). Once you find No.8, it is in fact an apartment building and the hostel is an apartment on the 6th (top) floor. Only the locals can tell you where it is - there are no signs or directions. (A number of the other things on that site are also wrong.) One aside - in Budapest and Belgrade, it is usual to have to use an underpass (stairs only) to cross a major street as crossings are often not provided.

Once I got there, though, it was a very nice atmosphere. It turns out two of the Three Black Catz are not actually black - although I don't normally like cats, I developed quite an affinity for the ginger one. The hostel is easily the most relaxed one I have stayed in - the only rules were to take off your shoes and to leave the toilet door open after you've finished as it's also the cat litter area. The other people here seem pretty friendly and relaxed, which is always good.

Thursday 16 September 2004, 22:00 CET

Beograd is a city which, despite being rundown, has a charm to its decadence. It has suffered much in its long history and sometimes, rebuilding and cleaning everything just doesn't rate alongside other priorities when money is tight. Even the national airline's magazine describes SCG (Serbia & Montenegro/Srbija i Crna Gora) as one of the poorer parts of Europe. However, the people are unbelievably friendly and unlike many somewhat wealthier Eastern cities, many here speak at least some English. I have felt safe the whole time I've been in Beograd and, taking only basic precautions like not flashing my money around, have had nothing happen to me - and this seems to be the opinion of most Western travellers here. Honestly, too, it's also an excellent city for people-watching. The Serbian people are very proud of their identity and their country - and I can actually understand their pride, they do have a lot to offer. It's sad that they have got such a bad rap from the world media.

After staying around the hostel for a while, I decided I should really explore the place even though I was still sans map. I found the fortress (Kalemegdan) and a really ornate Serbian Orthodox church almost by accident, and spent several hours exploring Kalemegdan for a few hours. I then wandered around the shopping districts for a while - the shopping culture here is very different even to other Eastern European cities.

On arrival at Trg Republike (Republic Square), I overheard a Canadian tourist discussing a "war tour" of Beograd with a taxi driver called Predrag, who for just 100 dinar ($2.50) took us around some of the more notorious sites of Beograd's recent history, on the condition we didn't get out or take photos. I felt a bit uneasy putting my camera in a safe, but Predrag assured us we would get it back at the end. Half an hour later, we had seen Slobodan Milosevic's rather luxurious former residence in Dedinje, the sites of the revolution in October 2000 which ousted Milosevic from power, the place where Zoran Djindjic was killed in 2002, numerous badly-bombed apartment buildings (some just one block from the train station) and a few other harrowing sites. It was almost a relief afterwards to walk in a nice green park just next to one of the buildings where the kids were playing basketball, the birds were hopping around, the lunching workers were eating on the grass and one could almost believe things had always been so normal.

After this, I went back to the hostel. They're currently playing a drinking game, while the not-so-subtle tension between the two people who run this place mushrooms. I've been amusing myself with the cats and with chatting to some of the other guests and to Nikolas, a Serb boy who came over and has been providing his thoughts on recent and not-so-recent events in Serbia and the surrounding region. Not feeling too well at the moment - Beograd's smog problems (the worst I've seen while away from Perth) and the indoor smokers may account for some of that.

Oh, yeah, and there was an impromptu fireworks display from the HVB Bank behind the hostel - was quite an impressive show for about 5 minutes. I'm told it has something to do with corrupt local politicians celebrating their own achievements, but it doesn't take away from the fact it was fun to watch.