Day 33: The hotelier and the fisherman

Brza Palanka to Novo Selo (51km)

It was a calm morning on the river and despite there being little current because of the upcoming dam, it was the most pleasant kayaking for a few days. Djerdap 2, the second and final Serbian dam was visible long before reaching it. Just like the first dam, I had the option of going through either the Serbian or the Romanian side, once again I chose the Serbian side. I pulled up on the bank and began to look around the area for a potential place to pass without having to wait for a ship. I was wandering around for a while when a guy approached me, looking menacing. He turned out to be extremely nice and spoke very good English. He had seen me wandering around on the security cameras and explained this wasn’t allowed due to the dangerous nature of the neighbouring power plant. I explained that I was simply looking for a place to pass around the dam. He told me this was not possible and I would have to wait for a ship. He said it would be 2 hours before the next ship and advised me to wait on the bank near the dam. I thanked him and paddled over to the opposite bank.

Shortly after the dam, the river leaves Serbia and becomes Bulgaria, therefore it is probable that this security guard will be the last Serbian person I meet on this trip. He was a typically helpful and friendly man, perfectly encapsulating almost everyone that I have met in Serbia. I had some reservations about the country, the only non EU country on the river, I had been warned a few times about the nature of the people and that caution would be required at all times. My experiences have shown that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Undoubtedly not a wealthy country, but the people have been amazing. Unquestionably friendly, they have frequently gone out their way to help me and I have nothing but fondness for the country.

I sat on the bank for a while, mostly hiding from the midday sun, before deciding that it would be a good time to have lunch. I had two options, the exactly the same lunch as yesterday that almost made me vomit or to cook pasta. With plenty of time to kill and eager to enjoy my lunch for as long as possible, I opted for the pasta. Whilst getting the cooking equipment from the kayak, I realised that two of the three compartments had some water in them, most probably from the sinking incident a few days ago. Thankfully, the one without water in it was the one with all my clothes, a happy accident rather than ingenious planning. This would be a perfect time to remove everything from the kayak and give it a good drying out. I did this and began to boil the water for the pasta. Water boiling, I actually had the bag of pasta open, ready to pour, when I saw a ship swiftly approaching the dam. I jumped into action, I had just waited an hour and a half for this ship, I wasn’t going to wait for the next one. I throw out the water, quickly packed the kayak and hurriedly paddled after the ship that had now passed me. Despite only being a couple of hundred metres from the dam, I had somehow managed to miss it filling with water, the doors opening and the green light coming on, all quite clear signals that a ship was approaching. Thankfully I did get into the dam in time and waited patiently while it drained. This time there was only one chamber and once drained, the doors opened and we were free to go.

The current after the dam was strong. The wind had now picked up considerably, so I once again had my spray deck on, but my speed remained good thanks to the current. At some stage, I’m not actually sure when, I left Serbia and entered Bulgaria. Upon entering Serbia, I received an entry stamp in my passport. I assumed that when leaving, I would have to stop and receive an exit stamp. Perhaps it was due to the strong winds garnering all my attention, but I didn’t see anywhere to stop. Therefore, I left Serbia without a trace. After a while, the winds died down a bit and I made good progress to Novo Selo, my first stop in Bulgaria, arriving shortly before sunset.

I pulled onto the bank and had a quick look around. I was almost immediately met by a man who began asking about my trip. Usually I happy to answer questions about the trip but this man’s questions were proving quite hard to answer, mostly because he spoke absolutely no English. Undeterred by this, the man invited me to join him for a beer at a café on the beach. I accepted and asked him if he could recommend a good Bulgarian one. He pointed to one, “this good”, he said. “It’s Bulgarian?” I asked. “Yes, Yes, Bulgarian”, he replied. I dubiously went with his recommendation and we retired to our seats to enjoy our bottles of Stella Artois, one of the most famous Belgian beers around. I asked if there was a hotel in town, he said no. He then began explaining something, I wasn’t sure what he was saying but my understanding was that there was a house nearby that I could stay. We had a couple of beers, mostly in silence, before he gestured for me to follow him to a nearby house. We went to the house where he introduced me to the owner, an elderly woman, who apparently spoke English. It turned out that she was English. I asked if there was a hotel in town, she said there wasn’t. I asked if it would be ok to camp on the beach and she replied that it would be fine and that people do it quite frequently. I wanted to ask how the hell an English couple ended up in this random Bulgarian town, but I was really struggling for a tactful way of putting it, so I thanked her and left. We returned to the bar, where the man was met by two other men who joined us for another beer. Combined, the three men spoke zero words of English, but from their conversation, I could gather that they were surprised that the English couple hadn’t invited me to stay with them. We sat for a bit, darkness had now engulfed the sky and I was eager to get away and set up camp. A while later, one of the fishermen, who had been there the whole time, began to pack up and leave. As he was leaving, the man I had originally met gestured for me to go with him. “Hotel”, he said, pointing at the departing fisherman. I went with the man, into town and then to a house with an outhouse that had all the characteristics of a B&B. I thanked the man and he left. I remain completely confused as to why I wasn’t referred to this man immediately after I first asked for a hotel, but in end, everything worked out fine. I’m going to be in Bulgaria for the next week or so, on this evidence, it’s going to be interesting.