Day 18 - Sofia to Belgrade

September 02, 2022

Day 18 - Sofia to Belgrade

Day 18 Wednesday August 31

We will be entering Country # 5, Serbia.

We reached the Bulgarian border at 9.45 am. Although Serbia is not part of the EU, a valid Schengen visa is enough for entry. There was a very long queue of cars wanting to cross the border but Tushar waved his magic wand and our convoy was cleared by the border control in half an hour. We were now in Serbia and due to the time zone gained one hour, we are now 3 and a half hours behind IST.

Ready to roll from Sofia

Checking the entry stamp in Serbia

Lunch was at Izvor restaurant in Nis. Nis is the birthplace of the 3rd century emperor, Constantin, who founded Constantinople which is the present day Istanbul.

A short walk away is the Skull Tower which is a chapel built in 1892 and a national symbol of resistance. The first uprising by the Serbian rebels against the Ottoman Turks happened in 1809. In the battle of Cegar Hill, 16000 disorganized Serbs fought against 30000 professional Turk soldiers. They lost the battle but inflicted heavy casualties on the other side. Hurshid Pasha, the commander of the Turks was furious and to teach the Serbs a lesson, he severed 3000 heads of the dead soldiers, stuffed them with cotton and sent them to the Sultan in Istanbul. What remains today in the chapel are 58 skulls of some of the soldiers who died in that battle. It was not a pleasant sight. Finally in 1878, with the help of Russia, Serbia got independence from the Ottomans after being ruled by them for 500 years.