Belgrade

Београд

March 10, 2005

Our train pulled into the Novi Belgrade station at which point I went under the bridge with two others from the train and caught a tram into town. The mullet-wearer who had already been harassed by the police on the train decided to “help” me by asking me questions about where I was going and then started following me around, until I eventually out-maneuvered him... or he just got sick of me, probably the latter.

I found my hotel and realized the man I reserved my room with on the phone had not made a reservation for me and reception said they had never heard of me, so I went in search of the hostel mentioned in the guide book. Unfortunately, to get there I had to skate across the sidewalks, which were slicker than an ice rink and quite hilly. It took much longer than it should have, but I got to the hostel only to find out it has been turned into a casino and hotel, the prices had jumped about three times, yet this place retained its old name.

I headed back to the other hotel, and stopped at about four other hotels along the way asking each for room, none of which had any for cheaper than the first hotel’s doubles. I decided to try to get out of town immediately and skip the city: the people were rude, the streets poor and half of it was still bombed out from the 1990’s.

I found the train station to be quiet, but the police officer there, about 20 years old, was holding his semi-automatic and was quite proud of himself when he understood the word schedule when I asked for it. He responded “I understand” with a big smile, then used his gun to point to it; he made me laugh. The times were poor and I headed to the bus station, where they weren't much better, but the ticket office was closed and the earliest trip out was an 8:00am bus going to Zabljak, Montenegro

At this point I was stuck at the first hotel and I weighed what was more important: spending a lot of money but not returning to the place that didn't make my reservation or swallowing my pride and saving some money? I swallowed my pride and got my room.

March 11, 2005

The next morning, I got my free breakfast, served with less enthusiasm than a hibernating snail, but she cracked the music, which was playing Criss-Cross’s "Jump, Jump" and other 80’s classics.

I headed into town and found it to be a drab place so got to the bus station early.

As I tried to get on the bus the driver told me something that I didn’t understand and so another guy said they weren’t going to Zabljak, but were going to the town before it. I bought a ticket to Zabljak though, so I asked how I could get there and he said there are plenty of shuttles between the town we're stopping in and Zabljak so I got on, but a couple hours and $50 later I realized there was no shuttle but at least the bus driver who misled me, was nice enough to make sure his buddy took me to Zabljak for $50; I was at his mercy and stuck in the middle of the Montenegrin mountains.