Serbia and Bosnia

This year for vacation, I went to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, mainly considering the visa-free entry and the fact that I was really bored during the National Day holiday. After discussing with my right-leaning friend, we booked the tickets and went. Two nouns are particularly memorable in Serbia, one is the name "Tito", and the other is "Kosovo" (a country recognized by about a hundred countries and regions, except for Serbia, Russia, and China).

I won't introduce the history, there's plenty online. Interested students can check out the links below. Overall, this trip is, if you're looking for a place to rest and live quietly abroad for a while, Serbia is a good choice. If you want to take pictures of scenery, I wouldn't recommend going considering the round-trip costs. For the same price, you can go to places with better scenery. The best thing about Serbia is enjoying the marks left by the country's modern history. The following document is very long, and much of it is just my and my friend's "ordinary" experiences.

https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/32393546

https://www.zhihu.com/question/24074555/answer/57045497

Flight

It seems that there is only one airline with direct flights from China to Serbia - Hainan Airlines. I checked the ticket price, which was around 7k, which is acceptable. However, when consulting a ticket agent on Fliggy, I was told that there were no seats available for the time we had booked. So, after considering it, we decided to transfer. Flying from Hong Kong is the most cost-effective option, and since it's Emirates, we decisively chose this flight. The Airbus A380 will first fly to Bangkok for a stopover, then to Dubai, where we will transfer to a Flydubai flight to Belgrade.

Interestingly, the main reason for choosing to fly from Hong Kong was that I saw a China Air flight from Hangzhou to Hong Kong for just over 500 yuan, which was incredibly cheap. However, this decision seems to have been a mistake in hindsight, as I later discovered that the expenses in Hong Kong, including the two-day, one-night stay, were a significant part of the overall cost.

It's no exaggeration to call Emirates a top-tier luxury airline. Even in economy class, you can choose seats in different zones, though all of this comes at a cost. If you need a seat with extra space, you'll have to pay a few hundred more. Even standard seat selection requires payment within 48 hours of departure. So, we didn't select seats initially. But strangely, perhaps because it was our first time flying Emirates, we couldn't select seats when the 48-hour mark arrived. And surprisingly, we found that we had been assigned a very good paid seat.

At first, I thought there was a mistake, so I confirmed with Emirates staff whether the seat could be changed. However, since the time was approaching, most of the seats had already been selected, so I accepted it calmly. Then, you can choose your in-flight meal in advance on the Emirates website! They have various international flavors, and they will prepare it for you in advance. When it's almost time to serve the meals, they will provide it to you separately. On the outbound flight, I chose an Indian-style meal for the person on the right (afc163). He looked surprised, thinking something was wrong, because he was served by a very Indian-looking flight attendant before anyone else.

The flight from Hangzhou to Hong Kong was delayed by two hours, and I thought I would miss my connecting flight. But Air China actually arrived only 40 minutes late, which was really impressive. Unfortunately, I only bought overseas flight delay insurance and not for this domestic flight, which was a really stupid decision. We finally boarded Emirates around 9 pm. We didn't have any paper tickets for this entire trip, and we boarded using electronic tickets without checking in at any counter. Interestingly, when boarding in Hong Kong, we were stopped because we hadn't checked in at the counter, and they needed to update our information before we could board. (We didn't encounter this situation elsewhere. When boarding in Dubai, the security personnel looked at my passport for a long time, it was an old passport from many years ago, I've changed so much).

After about two hours of flying, we arrived in Bangkok, but since it was just a layover, we had to sit patiently on the plane for another two hours. We saw ground crew come on board to clean, count luggage, and then welcome new passengers. Luckily, the passengers to our left were also Chinese flying directly to Dubai, so basically our row didn't have to move, and we continued sleeping with our eye masks on. There was a small incident in the middle where some foreigners discovered their luggage was missing, and the flight attendants were helping them look for it. So, when taking a flight with a layover, you need to pay attention to your belongings.

We arrived in Dubai around 4 or 5 AM and immediately rushed to find Terminal 2 after getting off the plane. Our next flight was with Flydubai. We and two others walked almost the entire length of Terminal 3 without finding how to get to T2. Finally, at the end, we saw a security checkpoint. We asked the staff and finally figured out that we had to go through security, go downstairs, and take an airport shuttle bus. It took a loop to get to T2. Dubai airport is really huge, the shuttle bus ride was actually over 20 minutes.

Around 9 o'clock, we finally boarded the Dubai Airlines plane. It was so strange! There were very few people, probably less than 50. Then, something happened that I probably will never experience again in my life: I got to lie down and sleep across three seats! The flight from Dubai to Belgrade still takes five hours, and I was extremely tired. I asked if it was okay to find an empty seat on the right to be more comfortable, and he said to go check the back. I went to the back under the guise of going to the bathroom and took a look. Wow, all the foreigners were lying there sleeping, and the flight attendants didn't care.

My courage grew, and I decisively found an empty seat and went straight to sleep. It was probably the most comfortable time I've ever had on a plane (a poor person hasn't experienced first class). I doubt I'll ever encounter that again. (The flight from Belgrade back to Dubai was full). Although I had this special experience, I have to say, Dubai Air is really stingy! Everything costs extra. Switching from Emirates to Dubai Air was a bit of an adjustment; all the movies were pay-per-view. Luckily, there was a USB charging port, so listening to music made the time pass quickly.

Just arrived.

The two of us, along the way, besides Mr. Pianyou organizing the attractions (he said he organized them with great effort), we just went wherever we happened to be. After entering the country, we encountered a place selling phone cards, about 20 euros, what the heck! 200 yuan, too expensive, so the two of us didn't buy it.

We had Pianyou turn on China Mobile's international roaming to find out how to get to the homestay. We discovered after walking around that we couldn't find a bus. Then, the clever us walked back to the airport entrance and suddenly found the bus right in front of us. After talking to the driver about where we wanted to go, we got on the bus and left!

When the bus just started, I was shocked by the driver's skills. He basically didn't slow down when going around corners! It took less than 25 minutes to get to the city center. We both thought the bus would drop us off at the location we had talked about, but it didn't! Later, we found out that we needed to press the stop button ourselves. So we went about 3 kilometers past our stop. Luckily, we saw a newsstand as soon as we got off the bus, and we bought a phone card. It was less than 30 RMB, 10 GB for 7 days, what a deal!

We stayed in a small wooden cabin by the river for the first three days, which was very interesting! It's also especially suitable for couples, but it was fine for us two big guys. The owner was very polite, and it was a bit of a bummer that we had to borrow shampoo from the owner on the very first day (this guesthouse didn't provide toiletries, but they did prepare very delicious local breakfasts), so the first thing we did after arriving was go to the supermarket to buy toiletries.

Supermarket

This supermarket is probably the biggest one locally! But I reckon it's not even as big as a slightly larger "Lianhua" store. The upper floors sell clothes, and the basement is a supermarket, a particularly small one. When we were buying phone cards, the locals couldn't speak English and didn't know how to operate it, so we just used it anyway.

We also didn't know which plan to choose. Eventually, we found an operator store in this mall, and finally, someone could teach us how to use it in English. In the end, we realized that it was very simple to use. We were just intimidated by a long paragraph of Serbian text and didn't know what to do. Actually, the text message they sent you was telling you to download their app and then choose a plan.

The supermarket downstairs had a lot of local stuff. We bought two bottles of chili sauce when we were finally heading back, but they were confiscated at security. Damn it! Wasn't chili sauce supposed to be allowed?

Road construction everywhere.

The first pitfall we encountered in Belgrade this time was that most of the places we wanted to go were temporarily closed for renovations. It was literally under construction everywhere we went. We went to the Orthodox Church, but the interior was being renovated. We couldn't go in. We went to their government square, but it was also under road construction.

Even the roadside museums were under renovation. The only place we spent a lot of time was their ancient fortress. It was perfect for watching the sunset in the afternoon. Sitting by the city walls watching the sun go down and the boats passing through the river below was quite an experience.

Cycling

Because we walked a lot on the first day, Pian You suggested renting two bicycles. It wasn't very expensive, about 40 RMB. Belgrade probably hosted a river cycling race, so you'll find very beautiful bike paths built along the river. So after we picked up the bikes, we rode along the riverbank until there was no road left.

Because the main goal was to go to a small town, we navigated and rode there, about 12 kilometers. But when we arrived, it was a letdown. This town was really a suburban town, not the legendary European-style town. Then, after carefully looking at the map, we realized that the town's attraction was actually the place where we had cycled from, right where there was no place to turn around.

We rode for about 20 kilometers with dry mouths and throats, but it also allowed us to experience eating freshly grilled meat at a local butcher shop. At first, we thought they only sold raw meat, so we hesitated at the entrance for a long time. Plus, the staff didn't speak English, so we missed the first barbecue place. It wasn't until we were almost back to the city center of Belgrade that we encountered the second barbecue shop.

Luckily, the staff there spoke a little English. After asking, we learned that we just needed to buy raw meat, and if we wanted them to grill it for us, we could just go next door and hand it to the grilling lady. That's how we got to eat some pretty authentic freshly grilled meat. The taste was indeed very good, and the price was very cheap, about 20 for two pieces of meat. We saw that locals really liked to buy large bags of sausages and then take them home after they were grilled.

While waiting for the barbecue, I looked at the vegetable stalls by the roadside, they were particularly expensive, it really is a place where vegetables are more expensive than meat. In less than three days, both of us got internal heat, luckily we bought VC effervescent tablets afterwards to supplement vitamins.

Car rental

It is highly not recommended to rent a car in downtown Belgrade, because you will find it very difficult to find a parking spot, with various complicated parking methods, and you will also worry about being towed away by the local police. However, if you are going to surrounding cities, it is highly recommended to rent a car directly, because it is cheap. Although the gas is expensive, the highway is very cheap!

When parking, be sure to look at the "P" signs. Some only allow two hours of parking, some are free, and some are only for church vehicles (we encountered a church-only parking spot on our last day. Although it had a "P" sign, there was a warning in Serbian underneath that we didn't understand. A local reminded us later).

As for how to pay for parking, that's much simpler. Either buy a parking ticket at a nearby kiosk, or buy one at the machine under the "P" sign (they're usually broken). If there's a text message option, send the number and area code to the designated number, and the operator will deduct the fee.

Also, it's important to note that if you plan to drive from Serbia to another country, you must inform the rental company about your itinerary. They will then prepare a Green Card (a piece of paper) for you in advance, which proves that your car can travel freely in Europe.

As for refueling, don't worry about not knowing what grade of fuel to use. Just let the gas station attendant help you. They will check the fuel grade behind the fuel cap, which is usually 95 (some places may have a "super 95," don't use this, it's much more expensive, just use the regular one). If you don't know how much to fill, just fill it up. To give you a rough conversion, it's about 1000+ local currency for 100+ kilometers (for a regular car, luxury cars are another matter).

Another thing to note is that if you are pulled over by the police, do not get out of the car directly. Stay in the car, turn off the engine, and wait for the police to ask questions. Thirty minutes after we picked up the car, we were pulled over directly by the police because Google Maps, being very unreliable, led us to a school road that we couldn't drive into.

So we pretended to be innocent and said we were lost and didn't know how to get to a gas station, that the navigation had led us astray. Hmm! Maybe it was because we were Chinese, they were lenient and didn't give us a ticket, and even told us how to get to a gas station.

Speaking of navigation earlier, remember to have two navigation apps on hand during your trip so you can compare them. Google Maps had another brain fart later on the way to Bosnia and Herzegovina, leading us to a dead end.

At the end of the road with no signal, a family told us that the road ahead was a mountain path that people usually walk, not drive, and that we had to turn around and go back five kilometers.

Of course, if it's a short trip, you can just take a taxi, and there are also apps similar to "Uber". We took a Mercedes on the first day and a BMW on the second day. How come there are so many luxury cars driving around?

Landlord who doesn't care about money

In Novi Sad, we booked a guesthouse, and what was very strange was that this place almost killed the two of us trying to find it. We probably spent an hour looking, and finally discovered it was between two shops, with a door. You go through the door and up the stairs to see the room. Because we had just driven from Subotica to Novi Sad, we found there was nowhere to park at all. After circling around, we finally found a parking space, waited in line for 20 minutes, and then went to find the hotel. But the two of us were completely lost. After finding the place, we spent a long time figuring out how to open the door, and finally found the key in a milk box.

Then, the most bizarre thing happened. The next day, we were driving to Sarajevo, and we had already been driving for several hours when, out of the blue, he said it seemed like they hadn't asked us for money. Since we hadn't seen the landlord, we didn't know how to pay. So, he called the landlord, who said to just leave the money in the room. It was the first time we'd encountered such an easygoing landlord. Since the two of us had already been driving for a long time, we told the landlord that we would transfer the money to him from a bank when we returned to Serbia, and the landlord happily agreed.

Chinese restaurant

In Novi Sad at night, after settling into the room, the two of us went out to look for food. At first, we were still talking about going for Western food, but then we suddenly remembered that when we were looking for parking spots earlier, we saw some Chinese people walking into a Chinese restaurant.

So the two of us wondered if we should also go to the Chinese restaurant to try the food. Following the route we remembered from parking, the two of us found our way there. As soon as we entered, we found that this Chinese restaurant was similar to the Chinese restaurants you see in American TV shows, all red! Almost everything was red, and there were couplets and all sorts of strange things, even items you wouldn't see in China.

Initially, we were greeted by a foreigner who spoke Chinese incredibly well. We ordered a few very homely dishes, like home-style tofu and stir-fried greens. The taste was quite good. When we were almost finished eating, a Chinese person suddenly came over to chat with us. Later, we found out he was the owner of the restaurant, a very impressive figure. Apparently, he had facilitated some trade between China and Serbia and had been recognized by the governments of Henan and Seville. Mr. Long was very kind and explained some of the city's attractions to us, recommending places to visit. He also helped us check if our route for driving to Bosnia tomorrow was okay and specifically reminded us to be careful. We were very touched and felt like we had met an old friend in a foreign land.

Driving for 6 hours

On the fourth day, we drove from Novi Sad to Sarajevo, which was less than 300 kilometers, but it took about 6 hours because it was all mountain roads. We were excited almost the entire way, but it was indeed tiring. Driving abroad is not as familiar as driving in China, so I had to be 100% focused. The transition from Serbia to Bosnia and Herzegovina was like going from crop farming to animal husbandry, but there were very few vegetables being grown. Most of the crops were corn, and I guess a large portion of that corn was used to feed the livestock.

During our drive, we saw many tombstones alongside the highway. At first, we were very curious as to why the customs here were so strange, with tombstones next to the road. Was it to allow passersby to pay respects to the deceased? However, after driving for several hours, we suddenly realized that these tombstones were all located in areas prone to accidents. Could it be that these people all died here?

Sarajevo

The most unexpected part of the whole trip was that Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina was indeed a very nice place, and the overall pace of life was also slow, so we adjusted our itinerary and stayed here longer. Of course, another reason for the good impression was that the receptionist at the hotel we booked was a very beautiful girl.

Due to years of religious war, the city has now become very peaceful and integrated many religions, so you can see many people from different places, and you can buy many strange things. Because in the local famous night market, there are many utensils and antiques. If you go to this street during the day, you will also find many pigeons, which is definitely a good place to shoot exotic scenery.

We met a very nice Chinese young man on the mountaintop where the Olympic skiing was held in Sarajevo. The young man had been abroad for more than half a month, and then we walked down the mountain along the ski trail together.

On the way, we met a Frenchman at the top of the mountain who said he had slept on the mountain last night, alone with a bicycle and a tent. As we were approaching the foot of the mountain, the three of us were attracted by a local pear tree. A local young man stared at the three of us with wide eyes, and then picked three local pears and gave them to us. We experienced a strong sense of friendship, and the pears were also very delicious and juicy.

Maximum alert

This is also the first time we've encountered a country declaring a state of maximum alert. At first, we didn't even know. At that time, we were driving back from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and there was a small car following us the whole way. I happened to glance in the rearview mirror. It turned out to be Chinese, and a female driver at that! No wonder she wasn't overtaking us. I was going about 60 km/h, and the locals would look at us with disdain and just speed up to 120 to pass us. It was rare for a car not to overtake us.

So we were also wondering if the "local" behind us was drunk. Luckily, we saw later that they were Chinese, so we went around behind them, and they saw us (indeed, another person in the car behind saw us). Then we drove to a small town, we stopped, and the first thing he said was, "Is Serbia still peaceful now?" because they were going to a place near Kosovo. And just a few days ago, Kosovo sent a unit to occupy a reservoir in Serbia, so the Serbian government declared a state of national emergency.

Landlord who doesn't speak English and gun-toting neighbor

When returning to Serbia from Bosnia and Herzegovina, we chose to drive back to Belgrade from the south, stopping for a night near Zlatibor. We surprisingly booked a local log cabin to the right, a real local log cabin, just a two-story wooden house with two other families nearby, situated next to a forest.

The host didn't speak English, so the two Chinese people and one Serbian person relied on Google Translate, translating sentence by sentence. It's quite remarkable that they could get a 9-point rating on Booking without speaking English. After the host finished explaining, they drove away, so we went to find food. After driving for 10 minutes without finding any place to eat, we finally saw two Chinese people, probably visiting for the National Day holiday. We asked them where they had eaten and learned that the only places to eat were at the small train scenic spot.

That night, something very strange happened. Because we were in the countryside, the starry sky was particularly beautiful. So, I went out to the right to take pictures of the stars. When he came back to shower, I took the camera out, and I saw the people across the street standing at their door with a long gun.

I was so scared that I spent a second guessing whether they were on the defensive or offensive, then I pretended to be calm and went back to the room. I quickly asked him if he had offended them when he went out to take pictures earlier. Looking back, it might have been the homeowner returning from hunting at night, or maybe it was just that we two Chinese people who had never seen a gun were curious. Maybe the locals are all like that.

Cabin

This is a place I really wanted to go, so I forcibly pulled Pianyou back from the edge of the little train, and drove him for an hour and a half to the location of the cabin. It was indeed a very suitable place for taking pictures.

We originally wanted to ask the local uncle (who was rowing a boat on the river) if we could pay him to take us to the cabin to sit down, but he said that the tide was not high now, so the water level was too low to go over. As a result, just as we were eating next to it, this uncle! Actually took a group of foreigners over there! And even got on the cabin! Pianyou was so angry that he wanted to throw stones at them.

The difference before and after National Day

To be honest, when we were in Serbia, we rarely saw people of Asian descent, let alone Chinese people. Later, in some cities, we saw a lot of Hong Kong people, and we were wondering why Chinese purchasing power hadn't reached this place.

Who knew that when we were about to return around National Day, we started seeing a large number of Chinese people on the streets. It turned out they had all chosen to come during National Day. And! That was exactly when Serbia announced a state of highest alert nationwide. But I guess many tourists didn't know about this news, and they just acted like nothing was happening.

Tesla Airport

One of the worst airports I've ever encountered. The security checkpoint is actually in front of the boarding gate, so unfortunately, if you think it's okay to buy a bottle of water after entering, they will confiscate it in the end.

What's even more infuriating is that they confiscated the chili sauce we bought. I strongly suspect that the airport shops and the security checkpoint are in cahoots. You buy it, and then it gets taken away. Oh, and once you pass the first security check, you've basically entered the airport, so if you still have local currency, unfortunately, there's nowhere to exchange it, you can only spend it.

Return to China

Hong Kong One Night

After a layover in Bangkok, we flew to Hong Kong. While on the airport bus, Pian You suddenly said, "Why was the hotel canceled?" It turned out he hadn't asked them to hold the reservation. In a prime location like Hong Kong, if you don't check in on time, they automatically release the room (which should be common sense!).

Then, the two of us frantically started looking for hotels on the bus. We found that either they were over 6K or they were fully booked. We were both a little desperate. Finally, after scrolling for a while, a small guesthouse popped up. Without thinking, we booked it immediately (after all, we're poor). When we arrived at the guesthouse, it suddenly felt like a scene from a movie. These kinds of small guesthouses appear so frequently in Hong Kong films.

Venom

On the second day in Hong Kong, feeling bored, I thought, why not go see a movie! It just so happened that Venom had recently started showing in Hong Kong, so the two of us got to see the uncut version of Venom several months before it was released in mainland China. I don't know if it was because we went early, but it felt like the movie theater in Hong Kong wasn't doing so well, there were only a few people in the middle. The price of a 2D ticket was comparable to an IMAX ticket in mainland China.

Return to Hangzhou

Returning, I'll fly from Shenzhen. Although flights from Shenzhen to Hangzhou are cheaper, around 700 yuan, I thought about it and it's not worth it! Because it takes about 2 hours by car, and going through customs also takes more than 1 hour. Basically, it wastes half a day. If I fly from Hong Kong next time, I should directly buy a return ticket from Hong Kong to Hangzhou. Although the overall cost is a bit higher, it avoids all the hassle.

Finally, the whole journey ends with a photo in Belgrade.