Nis, Serbia

Rode from Macedonia to Nis in Serbia, the roads are slightly better here although they were doing roadworks so only had a single lane. We arrived late afternoon and checked into a hotel in the town centre. No camping here and it felt good to have a nice bed and breakfast and all the mod cons which come with 4 stars!
We then explored the town and its main pedestrian street which also has a street underground with lots of shops, it is a very long underground shopping centre! We then explored the citadel on the other side of the river and had some drinks there and then dinner in town with some comrades!

First thing in the morning we went to see the tower skulls, there used to be 952 but now are only 50 or so left. still it was impressive and must have been a scary sight when first erected as a warning to the Serbians who had an uprising against the Turks. The Serbs who were out numbered charged the powder supplies of the enemy in a suicidal move, which once ignited killed 4000 serbs and 10 000 Turks. The Turks still won through shear numbers and beheaded the enemies corpses and and erected the tower as a warning. Although the serbs now see it as a sign of Serbian bravery and resistance!

Next we went to the local Nazi concentration camp, which left an uneasy feeling...although we couldnt understand the language we could tell by the photos and documents and clothing and peoples artwork here that this was hectic..

In hindsight I do feel I should have maybe had a proper shave before going here?!

So now we are in Belgrade and the Serbians have just won Wimbledon so are going mental, Big street party last night with bikes doing burnouts and wheeling up and down the main street, cars all hooting and people waving flags and having a good time. Think there is another big celebration this evening so we are off to join them before riding to Romania tomorrow.

• Wish we could upload more photos and go into more detail but time is precious, especially when you are not at work and having the trip of a lifetime, haha ;-)