12 May 2018, Saturday
After just one night in Sofia, it was time to move on to another country. We woke up at about 5:15am and it was a chilly 9 degrees Celsius outside. After munching on our breakfast, we checked out of our Airbnb apartment and walked to Central Bus Station, arriving at about 6:40am. We were early, as usual. Our bus would only depart at 7:30am.
The Matpu bus from Sofia to Niš was full and it departed promptly. The bus was clean and comfortable and it was a pleasant ride. Almost an hour later, we arrived at the Serbian border. Having experienced the land border crossing into Bulgaria by bus two days ago, we were much less anxious about it this time.
There was a queue for buses to clear customs on the Bulgarian side and it took about half an hour to do so. Over at the Serbian side, we took another 45 minutes to clear customs. Unlike the border entry to Bulgaria, we had to alight from the bus both times. After clearing the Serbian border control, the bus stopped for a toilet/coffee break for another half an hour. By the time we finally set off again, it was already 9:14am (Serbian time). Do note that there is a time difference and Serbia is one hour behind Bulgaria. Don’t forget to adjust your watches!
As the bus rolled along, I was getting anxious with each passing minute because we were in danger of missing our 10:50am connecting bus to Belgrade. We finally arrived at the Niš bus terminal at 10:48am, 18 minutes later than scheduled. After alighting the Matpu bus, we still had to redeem our tickets at the counter before we could board the Niš-Ekspres bus. It was a mad rush. However, it must be said that the ground staff were generally helpful in assisting us with the queuing and communicating with the counter staff.
After getting our tickets, we quickly placed our luggage in the bus storage compartment below. We were then told that we had to pay 50 Dinars (S$0.70) for each piece of luggage. However, we did not have any Serbian Dinars with us because none of the moneychangers in Singapore carried the currency so we were unable to get hold of any Dinars before entering Serbia. We asked if we could pay in Euros but they insisted that we pay in Dinars.
At that moment, we felt quite panicky because the bus was already late for departure and we were holding everyone back with our protracted wrangling. I was also afraid that they may decide to unload our luggage and simply move off without us if we were not able to pay.
Thankfully, a kind-hearted Serbian lady whom we had met during the first leg of the journey from Sofia came to our rescue. She was already seated on the bus but looked out of the window and saw that we had a situation. As a last resort, I decided to ask her if she could spare some Dinars to help us out. She immediately pulled out 150 Dinars and paid the bus attendant on our behalf. We then shuffled up the bus and finally departed Niš at 11:04am.
At 2pm, we arrived at Belgrade Central Bus Station. The kind-hearted lady was continuing her journey to Novi Sad so she did not alight with us at Belgrade. I wanted to pay her back in Euros but she flatly refused to accept our money. It was a pity it was such a rush and we did not get to take a photo with her. We gave her quick hugs before saying goodbye. Her kind gesture restored my faith in humanity that there are good people everywhere and that complete strangers will help other people in times of need. This is one beautiful memory I will take away from my experience in Serbia.
From Central Bus Station, we walked to our Airbnb apartment, about 15 minutes away. As we were early, we went to a café opposite the apartment to have a drink while waiting for our Airbnb host’s brother to arrive at 3pm. We then checked in to the apartment, which was huge and very clean.
Airbnb apartment
Address: Kraljice Natalije 68, apartment number 8, Beograd
Host: Tanja
Price: S$168.52 for 3 pax for 2 nights
Link: https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/876761?s=51
At about 4:45pm, we headed out. First stop was to visit the money changer, or exchange office as they call it here. We found one just around the block and not a moment too soon, because it was going to close in 5 minutes’ time. As we were only spending two days in Serbia, we changed only 80 Euros worth of currency, and obtained 9,400 Serbian Dinars (RSD). The exchange rate is thus 1 Euro = 117.5 RSD or S$1 = 72.31 RSD / 100 RSD = S$1.38.
After getting our hands on the elusive Dinars, we then went to our second stop – Belgrade Railway Station, which was next to Central Bus Station. According to my research from the excellent Seat61 website, the Avala train from Belgrade to Budapest (Hungary) is on an unlimited permanently-available special offer of 15 Euros. Reservation is not necessary and the offer will not sell out. So the only way to buy the ticket was to pay a visit to the railway station.
Thankfully, the information proved to be true and we managed to buy our train tickets to Budapest without a hitch. The tickets were indeed 15 Euros (S$24.40) each but we paid an additional fee of 1,074 RSD (S$14.82) for seat reservations. Despite Seat61 saying that reservation is not necessary, we felt it was still better to have the seats reserved, especially since we were travelling with large suitcases.
With the second bit of business settled, we were happy and relieved. The weather was beautiful so we decided to take a leisurely walk on Brankov most (aka Branko’s Bridge) to New Belgrade across the Sava River.
Brankov most led us directly to Ušće Shopping Center. Ušće is an urban neighbourhood of Novi Beograd (aka New Belgrade) and the word Ušće means confluence in Serbia. It is so named because Ušće is located at where the mouth of the Sava River meets the Danube River.
Ušće Shopping Center is a modern, huge mall with over 150 shops and a cineplex with 11 screens. When we arrived at 5:45pm, we headed straight to the food court. We were starving because we spent 7.5 hours travelling on the bus so we didn’t have a proper lunch. We had never been happier to see a stall selling Chinese food and made a beeline for it. We ordered three portions because we were so hungry. The total bill for dinner, including two bottled drinks, was 1,750 RSD (S$24.15). It was a little pricey but it was so satisfying to have rice and noodles for a change.
We spent the rest of the evening shopping at Ušće. There was another money exchange in the mall so we changed another 50 Euros, but the exchange rate here was poorer (1 Euro = 115.50 RSD). We then finished the day at the supermarket buying groceries – our usual fruit juice, milk, bread and pastries. At 8:30pm, we left the mall and took a bus back to Old Belgrade, where our apartment was.
We didn’t do a lot today because we effectively spent half the day travelling. But we didn’t have to rush because we have two nights here so we can spend the full day exploring tomorrow. As I lay in bed that night, I thought about the kind lady who helped us out and that put a smile on my face.