Overnight my feet throbbed with today's exercise and there were signs of fluid accumulation on my left knee. However, by staying at a house in the village I had the luxury of shaving off my designer stubble, grown over days of wild camping, completing my morning exercises, making a coffee and sitting on a toilet. Then it was off over the hill, to the village of Rogljevo, where there were also "pimnice" or wine cellars, as by Rajac.
This morning was mainly on tracks through woods, by vineyards and among scrub land. The vineyards were small, disconnected plots. I wondered if this was the amount of land originally owned by a single person. While some vineyards were well looked after, the earth between rows of vines neatly turned over, others seemed to have been abandoned. I spotted a number of tortoises today, somewhat camera shy.
I noticed a black spot on the inside of my right elbow and tried to scrap it off, thinking it dirt or an old scab. When it did not come off I wondered if it was a small or nymph tick. From the bottom of my rucksack I pulled out my packet of green tick removal hooks. Our vet used one to remove a tick from our dog and I was impressed how well they worked. Unfortunately even the smallest green hook was unable to grip the tiny insect. It did however loosen it so I could get it off with my fingers. Now looking at it closely I could see at least two front legs, definitely an insect so I immediately dropped it, then worried it had got mixed up with the stuff I had just pulled from my rucksack.
My woodland walk ended at the Mokranje waterfall, where two streams of water fall over grey limestone from a narrow valley into a pool beneath. Today was the May 1, Labour Day, so no-one was working as it was a public holiday, consequently several people were about at the falls and associated viewpoint.
At the nearby village of Mokranje a May Day party was in progress. I was invited to join a table and offered cold pork, cucumber salad and a bread roll. Declining a beer I accepted what I thought was lemonade. Only latter after I had drunk a fair amount, the day being hot, did I discover that it was half lemonade, half wine. A band was playing; guitar, keyboard, drums and accordion, fast, "gypsy" style music. The people who invited me (one of whom was a Doctor of Urology) told me they were singing in Romanian, which they did not understand, however there were a few slower songs in Serbian. One they said must be my song, a sad song, because the singer's love for a lady was not returned he goes walking around the world.
I eventually took my leave, thanked them after they refused a contribution to costs, and headed for Negotin. For the next section the E4 makes a long detour to a point where Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania meet in the Danube. Having visited it before, and since I was only on the E4 due to a gap in the E3, I decided to just take the quickest route to Negotin where I was looking forward to a rest day. So I began a nine kilometre walk along the road up over the valley side. The wine and lemonade dulled the pain in my feet but made the walk hard going, as I felt like lying down rather than walking.
Step by step I finally arrived at Negotin, a good sized town with a smart central square. Last night I had rung to try and get a bed for two nights at the "Basecamp for Adventurers" where I had previously stayed. Although busy they managed to find room for me, without me having to erect my tent on the decking in the garden (screws provided to replace pegs). I spent the evening sitting around outside with the other guests. An international group from Serbia, Britain, Austria and Estonia. Debs and Tom from the UK were particularly interesting being on a four year cycle trip around various parts of the world, including cycling through remote parts of South America and falling ill many hours drive from anywhere. The owners joined us providing numerous snacks and I might have drunk a bit more wine...
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