Learn about my travels to the hidden gem that is Serbia

• Morning in Budapest
• Bus journey to Belgrade, Serbia
• Arriving In Belgrade, Serbia
• Exploring Belgrade
  • Belgrade Fortress
• Belgrade to Nis
• Nis Day 2
• Nis Final half a day

Morning in Budapest

Since I luckily did not put the Pest in Buda, I was still allowed to reside in Budapest, and I awoke for my last morning in this wonderful place.

I can’t recommend the hostel we stayed at in Budapest enough. The Maverick City Lodge was a fantastic choice, and the experience was made even better by our departure. Not in the way you might think. Check-out was at 11 am, but a very kind receptionist named Geri allowed us a late check-out at 1 pm. This was amazing for us because our bus to Serbia wasn’t leaving until 4:30 pm. The best part? There was no extra cost for the late check-out, which meant less time lugging around our big bags.

• A side note to interrupt this blog post.
  • The Budapest 3-day pass via the BudapestGO app for public transport definitely paid for itself. It’s super worthwhile if you’re traveling here.

With our later checkout time, we managed to catch up with a couple of the lads we had met during our time in Budapest. The plan was to meet at a pet café, which looked like a fun spot based on a quick Google search showcasing an array of different animals and reptiles. However, to our disappointment, it was fully booked upon our arrival. So, our brunch group consisted of two Kiwis (myself and Matt), a Dutch lad, and an Egyptian lad. We shared some stories and exchanged helpful travel information (mostly from them, but hey, we tried).

After successfully consuming brunch and having some good conversations, we parted ways. We stopped at a supermarket to grab some dinner for the bus ride to Serbia (pastries and apples). Then, we gathered our bags and made our way to the bus station using a combination of walking and the train. Once there, we had about three hours to kill, so some people-watching ensued. Let’s just say it involved watching someone break their suitcase handle, throw a hissy fit, and then drag it along the ground. Annoyingly, despite sitting there for three hours, we cut it fine getting on the bus due to a last-minute gate change.

Bus journey to Belgrade, Serbia

Usually, I wouldn’t have much to say about a bus journey, but a couple of interesting things did happen on this trip.

First off, a German girl, who we later befriended, was on the phone as the bus journey began. We were seated in the two seats behind the first row, and she was on the driver’s side. However, the Serbian bus driver must’ve been stressed because at the first red light, he jumped out of his seat, walked up to her, and started yelling, telling her to stop talking on the phone and some other stuff in Serbian.

The second thing to note was the assistant, or number two, who checks tickets and helps the bus driver. He had taken up the front two seats on either side of the bus and spent most of the journey stretched out between them, sleeping and mumbling away. Occasionally, his arm would half-drift over into our seats, providing some unintentional entertainment for the approximately six-hour journey.

This leads me to the third note. Do you like sparkling water? If you answered yes, then okay, weirdo. We had bought a bottle of water for the journey that I was looking forward to, but when I turned the lid, the crack resulted in a hissing sound. The sheer terror I felt at that moment! I call that stuff the devil’s water. Water should be flat (like the earth?). It made for a very fizzy bus ride.

This brings me to my final note. A note to a lover? Maybe for the bus driver. During the ride, I noticed his phone and was intrigued to see a picture of Vladimir Putin dressed as smartly as he could be on the lock screen. Oh, and his screensaver too. It made me smile, realising just what kind of person was taking us into Serbia. A bus driver, of course!

Towards the end of the bus ride, the assistant bus driver (not Putin’s assistant) grabbed a handful of chocolates and handed them to the German girl, presumably as a peace offering. It was a little creepy because of his lack of words and insistence that she take them, but hey, I think the thought was there.

Border crossings side note

Two main things to note about border crossings, especially if you’ve never done one on a bus before like me (within Europe, you don’t typically have any):

• When leaving the EU and traveling between other non-EU countries, you will need to exit the bus and have your passport checked as you leave the country (hopefully getting approved).
  • The you will drive a little further to the next border, you will leave the bus once more to have your passport checked again and stamped to enter the new country.
• Border crossings can take time. This one took us around an hour, but they can be longer or shorter depending on the traffic or the size of the bus.
• As a bonus, these crossings make you feel for truck drivers, who are always in a long line that doesn’t seem to move.

Arriving In Belgrade, Serbia

As our bus arrived at the Belgrade station, the German girl—who I will now name Luise (real name or not, who knows)—asked if we were heading to the Balkan Soul Hostel. We most certainly were, so now we had someone to find the hostel with, an added bonus since three brains are better than two. Walking through the lively streets of Belgrade, up some stairs, and over cobbled streets, we made it to the hostel.

Checked in and happy, we headed downstairs to the soul of the hostel. This room was very homely, with the dining area and hang-out space merged into one. The hostel, being on the smaller side, gave it a cozy, homely feel. We sat down and spoke to Luise about some of her travels and shared stories of our own. We also tried some of the chocolates she had been handed on the bus, and since I’m still here writing this, I guess they were good!

We also met another traveler named Patrick from England (another rural lad abroad). He was making his way as far as his money could take him, and he too had some interesting stories and travel plans. After these conversations, it was time to hit the bed and sleep.

Exploring Belgrade

Waking up is always a good start to the day if you ask me. First on the agenda was getting some cash, as Serbia loves cash and not many places accept card payments. With cash acquired and the size of the notes making it feel like a real-life Monopoly game, we found a supermarket and purchased some supplies. Scurrying back to the hostel, we cooked up breakfast and settled in for a long morning that bled into the afternoon of planning (yes, we ate breakfast too, just to clear that up).

Planning took ages as we tried to sort out our trip to Turkey and organise things for ANZAC Day. We ended up having to continue later on. We did manage to book a couple of bus tickets on a Turkish website, but the money came out and no tickets arrived for a while, leading to some slight panic. It was somewhat funny when we noticed our gender was listed as female (still don’t know how that happened), but hey, it’s 2024, so we felt safe if need be we could roll with it.

During this process, we also realised we had booked the wrong month for our bus from Nis (Serbia) to Sofia (Bulgaria). Unless we wanted to hang around Nis for a month, a rebooking was required. Fortunately, we managed to recoup most of our money when we rebooked, so it wasn’t the end of the world. We were lucky to catch that one early, unlike the fiasco with Winchester.

Around 3 pm, lunch sounded like a great idea, and we needed to do some exploring (planning can be very time-consuming). This was not helped by the most annoying person from Kazakhstan I have ever encountered in a hostel, who played dictator-style TikToks out loud for hours, muttering to himself and getting increasingly closer. Nice.

Anyway, making our way to the main street, we were met by hordes of people. There was so much going on—buskers and street vendors were everywhere. The smell of popcorn occasionally wafted up my nostrils as we passed by popcorn stalls, fuelling my hunger. People, people, people—Belgrade was such a vibrant city, and even in the short time we spent there, it certainly grew on me.

Have you ever seen a bear kidnap a child? Or do you know Five Nights At Freddy’s? Well, I saw a crossover of these two things during our walk for lunch. An innocent photo with a couple of human-sized bears quickly turned into a nightmare for a little girl. She decided she wasn’t having it and began crying and reaching out. It made for a great photo from my perspective, though.

Picking up a wrap (and eating it, crazy, I know) on our walk, we beelined for a pizza place we had been recommended. When I say recommended, it was more of a “this was the weirdest, worst pizza of my life” kind of deal. Naturally, I wanted to experience this for myself. Serbian pizza is a normal pizza, but on top, it’s slathered in a combination of sour cream and mushrooms, with some variations but always sour cream. You can see why I wanted to try it—because I like trying weird foods like this. Please don’t salivate too much at the image below (including some back streets to get there).

Belgrade Fortress

With the daylight we had left, we explored Belgrade Fortress and discovered a sneaky little hack. As you enter the fort from the zoo side (the Belgrade Zoo is right beside the fort), if you hang a right, you can see down into the hyena, lion, and partial white wolf enclosures—all for the fat price of $0.

Continuing into the fort was a fantastic way to see some of the city. The higher walls provided views over much of the city and the nearby river, which, as a bonus, had some warships passing by while we were there. The fort is free, and we only had to pay a tiny fee to go up the taller tower. But if you’re into fully free experiences, you still get great views from around the fort walls.

Although we were speed-running this, you could easily spend heaps of time here. On the other side of the fort (it’s a big place), there is a selection of tanks and weapons from different eras, which made for some great patriotic-style pictures (see slideshow below).

All in all, I wish I had spent longer in Belgrade to explore it more, but it leaves plenty of opportunities for the future. The time we spent exploring was worth every second. On the way back to the hostel, we were treated to a stunning sunset that drenched the surroundings in brilliant orange.

To top off the day, we cooked up some pasta and even got to watch an arm-wrestling match between a couple of fellow hostel members.

Belgrade to Nis

My sleep on this final night in Belgrade was great… no, not really. I was woken up around 4 am by the same guy from the previous day, being a right pain and yelling at the top of his lungs.

Anyway, despite that, I enjoyed the hostel overall and would recommend it to anyone staying in Belgrade, especially if you’re into a smaller, homely hostel vibe.

Handy tip time.

• Bus stations within Serbia require you to pay in cash to enter the bus platform. So, even if you buy a ticket online, you will still need to go to the desk to purchase a platform entry ticket. (Unless you want to miss your bus, of course.)

Luckily, we figured this out with enough time to queue and purchase these entry tickets.

Now, it was a stinking hot day outside, and it wasn’t even midday yet. So, this bus was a welcome sanctuary to escape the heat through some good old air conditioning… or it would have been. Before the bus had moved 100 meters down the road, I was already sweating. No fan, nothing. But luckily, I had been trained for this during my time in the meat processing facility. The journey back from the plant was always a long one on the bus, and during the summer, it was a hot ride too. With multiple occasions of no air conditioning and being on the sunny side of the bus without curtains, I had been conditioned.

Despite the heat, the bus ride was interesting, with new landscapes passing by the window. In the Balkans, the honking of horns is a very normal thing. So, when the bus driver honks his horn every two seconds, don’t be alarmed. It’s like a toy to them, so it occurs almost constantly.

Arriving in Nis was a definite change of scenery. While Belgrade, being the capital, was a newer-looking city, Nis, the third biggest city, was a little more run down. Don’t get me wrong, amidst the older streets and buildings, there was still beauty to be found, streets and buildings certainly having more character.

Arriving at our hostel was a bit of a shock. The Bloom Inn Hostel, as advertised, did not seem the same in person (shocker). There was no kitchenette area or even a sink for that matter, with drinking water supposedly being “safe to drink” from the bathroom sinks. That was a no from us, so bottled water it was. This hostel also lacked a common area, making it difficult to meet other people.

But, in a somewhat silver lining (which I love to find), our 6-bed dorm room only had us in it, and I swear there was only one other guest in the entire hostel. So, despite almost changing hostels upon arrival, it all worked out okay in the end.

The rest of the day consisted of eating a late lunch at an Irish pub we found (they’re everywhere, I swear). This lunch included a red and black burger, which were tasty and super cheap. We then chilled for a while to recharge before grabbing a quick dinner and calling it a day.

On a huge plus note, food in Serbia is very good value for money with the quality and quantity of food being fantastic.

Nis Day 2

The morning started with some cornflakes in a cup, which I discovered is an underrated way to consume them. Then I had a good chat with my brother via video call (not carrier pigeon, unfortunately). Oh, and a side note—my sickness was finally deciding to leave me, so that was great.

As I waved goodbye to my sickness, we made our way towards the Nis Fortress. This is another free-to-enter fortress that provides great views and offers a bit of history about the different cultures and ages that influenced its construction and modifications over time. When I say fortress, you might picture a castle. I certainly did before heading to Europe. However, many of them (including this one) consist of high walls surrounding a grassy park-like area with a few old buildings dotted about (see slideshow below).

After walking around the Nis Fortress and seeing the sights, it was time to head for lunch. We had been recommended Burek, a Serbian pastry filled with cheese. The bakery we found hit the spot as we consumed our spinach and cheese Burek next to a dog that looked like it had also consumed far too much.

At this point, we decided to make our way to the Bubanj Memorial Park. Along this journey, one foot in front of the other in 30-degree heat, we passed by some beautiful sights. However, one sight stood out as the most beautiful sight I had ever seen, leaving my chin probably on the ground as we passed one another (building…).

After walking up a winding hill and being dive-bombed by a bunch of bugs, we made it under the canopy of trees leading up to the park. Initially, we had no real idea what this park was all about, but we later learned it held significance. At the top, there are three giant concrete fists piercing out of the ground, standing strong and defiant. We discovered that these fists pay tribute to those who lost their lives while under Nazi control in World War II in the concentration camp situated in Nis (more on this the next day).

Hanging out at the park for a while and taking in the tranquility, we made our way back down the hill using a different route, which again offered views of various unique buildings. On the walk back, we tried an Elderflower and Lemon Fanta, as well as a tropical flavor. These were flavours I had never seen before, and come on—you have to try them!

Nis Final half a day

Wow, I teleported you past the evening because it made for even more boring reading then usual (the power of words).

Today, we visited the Crveni Krst Concentration Camp (Red Cross Nazi Concentration Camp). You can’t always trust Google Maps. When we looked up where to find this, it showed it way out in the middle of nowhere and also not too far from us. Initially, we thought the one closer was just a replica or something, but we decided to go there first. However, a very helpful, kind, and wonderful local informed us that this was indeed the correct place and that the other location further out didn’t exist. So, Uncle Google doesn’t always behave.

Visiting the concentration camp was a very moving experience. The area where they housed all the people had been converted into a museum with stories and items from the camp. Walking around where people had died, suffered and been locked in confinement was eerie when paired with reading stories of struggle and death. Learning that for every Nazi killed in Serbia during the war, 100 prisoners were taken up the hill and executed, with the next group forced to bury them before meeting the same fate. For every Nazi wounded, 50 prisoners were killed.

This camp also had one successful breakout from the Nazis, but it ultimately led to more suffering as people were caught and others were punished for their actions. However, it gave the camp something to hold onto. It was an extremely moving place to visit, and I highly recommend it. You can now understand why, after the war, Serbia was pro-Russia due to Russia being the ones to liberate them from the Nazis. The three big fists on the hill represent the fight and defiance the Serbian people had against the Nazis.

With our visit to the concentration camp taking up some time, we made our way back to the hostel, grabbed some lunch, and unfortunately got hit by a bird pudding (thanks, Mr. Bird). We were also informed that a bomb from 1999, which hadn’t gone off back then, was found in the University near where we were at the concentration camp, so that was quite something…

Afterward, we collected our bags and journeyed back across to the bus station, boarding the bus for our journey ahead to Bulgaria and then Turkey.

Overall Serbia was an amazing place, and I would love to visit again in the future. There is a rich culture with interesting places to visit and sights to see. For anyone thinking of going there, just go. The people are friendly and willing to help out, so you feel safe all the time (even if there’s an old bomb). Special thanks to the local who helped us out by giving tips, advice, and sharing the history of the Balkans.