This post sees us drive from Bajina Basta to Uzice in Serbia via Kustendorf (Also called Drvengrad or Mećavnik), Mokra Gora and the Sargan Eight Railway.
This is our collective first time in Serbia and we will be returning here after we visit Bulgaria and Romania. This is my 104th UN Member Country (193 total) and is now my 98th UN Member running country after my first run in Bajina Basta this morning.
Serbia (Pop 8.73m, Peak 2,196m) is 1.29 times the size of Tasmania and totally land-locked. Serbian is the main language and Serbian Orthodoxy dominates at 84.6% with 5% Catholics and 3.1% Muslims. Continuously inhabited since the Palaeolithic Age, the territory of modern-day Serbia faced Slavic migrations in the 6th century, establishing several regional states in the early Middle Ages at times recognised as tributaries to the Byzantine, Frankish and Hungarian kingdoms. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by the Holy See and Constantinople in 1217, reaching its territorial apex in 1346 as the Serbian Empire. By the mid-16th century, the Ottomans annexed the entirety of modern-day Serbia; their rule was at times interrupted by the Habsburg Empire, which began expanding towards Central Serbia from the end of the 17th century while maintaining a foothold in Vojvodina. In the early 19th century, the Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the region's first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. Following casualties in World War I, and the subsequent unification of the former Habsburg crown land of Vojvodina with Serbia, the country co-founded Yugoslavia with other South Slavic nations, which would exist in various political formations until the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia formed a union with Montenegro, which was peacefully dissolved in 2006, restoring Serbia's independence as a sovereign state for the first time since 1918.
Interesting Serbia facts:
1) They claim to be the tallest in the world
2) 2nd largest exporter of raspberries in the world
3) Most hospitable nation in the world
4) Has the tallest males in Europe on average
5) Drinks as much “Turkish/Greek” coffee as Turkey and Greece
6) Party (drink and eat outdoors) the most in Europe
7) Derdap Gorge is the deepest in Europe
8) Belgrade has been inhabited for over 7,000 years
9) 3 Serbs were in the NASA team for the 1st moon landing
10)The word “Serbia” comes from the Greek meaning “land of the Slavs”
Küstendorf is a word play on German "dorf" (village) and Kusturica's nickname, "Kusta". Also, "Küste" is German for coast. Kusturica has also been known to call it Mećavnik, which is the name of the neighbouring village. The town has buildings made entirely of pine sourced from the neighbouring forests – the thickest in Europe !!! The streets in the village bear the names of various individuals that Kusturica holds in high esteem or finds to be personally significant: Nikola Tesla, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Diego Maradona, Miodrag Petrović Čkalja, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Joe Strummer, Novak Djokovic and of course, Ivo Andrić, after whom the main street is named.
Mokra Gora is a village below Küstendorf but has many houses made of brick and is free to enter – Küstendorf costs $3.30AUD per person to visit.
The Šargan Eight Railway is a narrow-gauge heritage railway in Serbia, running from the village of Mokra Gora to Šargan Vitasi station. Modern line was restored in the summer of 2003. Mokra Gora was declared one of the best tourism villages in the world by the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Sadly for us we visited on a Sunday and all train rides were booked out so we headed for our overnight city of Uzice.
Uzice (Pop 59,747, Elev 411m, Founded 1900 but occupied since the 3rd Century) is a classic leftover from communist Yugoslavia and struggling to shake that image. You can see this in the photos below. It is located in an impressive canyon valley but its buildings and central square are not so impressive.
The landscape on a drive was relatively flat with lots of lush green farmland interchanged with industrial activity.
Enjoy our triumphant entry into Uzice and Serbia…
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