Istros

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This post is about a 19km walk from Negotin to Mihajlovac. I reach the Danube, and a bureaucratic hurdle means that I have to hurry.

I would have liked to stay longer at the Base Camp in Negotin, but a problem had arisen: the border of Serbia and Romania at Kladovo was located on the dam of a hydroelectric power station, and as it turned out, it was illegal to cross it on foot. Bojan had warned me of this.

It was like a flashback to my trials and tribulations with the Bosphorous Bridge in Istanbul.

help from Kladovo

Not knowing what else to do, I called the Iron Gate Cycling Route association in Kladovo to inquire. A friendly lady called Aleksandra picked up, listened to my story, and immediately offered to help.

Calls to the border authorities were made. Emails to Belgrade were sent. In the end I got a notice that I had been granted permission to cross the border on the hydrogen dam on foot.

I had to be there by Sunday.

the danube

And so I left the base camp and started walking towards the Danube. The river appeared after a few hours, a sliver of blue at first, widening as I got closer, until I stood at the shore and put my hand into the water. The Danube. The river that the Ancient Greeks had called Istros. I could not believe it.

It was a moment only comparable to the first time when I had crossed the Yellow River in China more than 10,000 km earlier. Both were huge streams that had formed, nurtured, and devastated cultures around them. I would cross both of them two times.

a bed

I walked along the Danube until I got close to the ruins of an ancient Roman fortification. I was planning to camp there, but, just as I was walking by, a man called me into his yard. He spoke German, his name was Sasha, and he insisted that I stay for dinner, a beer, and the night.

pictures

the walk from Negotin to Mihajlovac:



  • Masaki Ling

    Hahaha~you took photoes of bees 🐝 but not escape away😂 that’s surprised me.

    Reply

  • SteffiJ.

    Diese Art Kreuzfahrtschiff kommen aus Deutschland, und durchqueren das ” Eiserne Tor” ,das du zu Fuß überqueren willst ,um dann umzukehren und die Donau wieder zurück zu bereisen. Sicher bist du jetzt,zu Pfingsten,schon weit in Rumänien drin. Ich bin gespannt auf deinen Bericht ,wie du die Grenze geschafft hast. Liebe Grüße,Steffi aus Dresden

    Reply

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