There are always numerous chores to do on a rest day. After a breakfast offered by the host (coffee, flaky pastry things, yoghurt) I put my clothes in the washing machine at the "Base for Adventurers". Then I went to buy a Serbian SIM card. Not having access to the Internet was causing me problems with booking accommodation, communicating to my wife etc.. My sister told me I should get a dual SIM phone, one SIM for the UK and one for Serbia. Later, checking the details of my phone I discovered it could take two SIM cards!
Buying a SIM card was the easy bit, making it work was a problem. First, putting it into the phone was difficult, but with the help of members of the accommodation's family we discovered I had to remove the SD card and put the SIM in sideways. Second, the SIM had to be registered. Not so easy but again help was provided with the Serbian on the website and App. Registration required taking a photo of my passport and comparing it with a selfie. We could not pass this stage. Finally I went to the Yettel shop, Yettel was the phone company. They did not sell SIM cards but did get me registered. There was an option somewhere to say it was a British passport that we had missed. So now I have 15 GB of Internet access (or maybe 5). The cost was modest but the effort required was large. I can understand why they want to prove who the phone user is, as part of the fight against crime, but I feel it could have been much easier.
Simpler tasks involved answering email, bringing my blog up to date, and shopping for food and batteries. Also a chance for a long conversation with my wife over WhatsApp without worrying about the rapidly rising cost of the international call. The "Base for Adventurers" was a great place to stay as it was a chance to talk with others doing similar activities helped by snacks provided by the host and beer, rakya and wine which appeared from somewhere. I was curious as to what one of the guests was doing on his laptop late into the night. He said he was working on an urgent tax return for a Ukrainian. Not so much "working from home" as "working while touring Europe on a bicycle".
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