There were some maladies involved in getting from Datça to Belgrade. Thankfully, at this point in my travels I’m somewhat “inoculated” from freaking out – getting upset doesn’t change anything. In short, the trip was a messy experience that I’m planning to forget ASAP. :o) Writing about it is a catharsis of sorts.
Mediterranean Storm
After weeks of clear, picture-perfect weather, the night before departure brought Datça a full-blown Mediterranean storm like nothing I’ve experienced! Sometimes these storms are called medicanes. The howling wind and spectacular thunder and lightning rousted me from bed in the middle of the night. Awakening from a deep sleep, for a second or two, I thought we were being bombed. The heavy rain – falling in unrelenting sheets of water – was reminiscent of severe deluges experienced in South Africa and India, but more intense.
Harrowing Dalaman Airport Ride
It’s a two-hour drive to Datça’s nearest airport, Dalaman. I confirmed the airport transfer and texted about 30 minutes before the scheduled pickup time. Datça has a strange (to me) loose and disorganized taxi thing going on that I don’t understand. Heavy rain caused traffic problems, and the driver was late – at first 10 minutes, then 15, etc., etc. I was concerned, knowing that missing my connection in Istanbul would start a chain reaction, messing up the travel schedule and creating delays.
The driver finally arrived, but he was confused about how to get out of Datça and back on the freeway. I wasn’t much help. Some areas of Datça are dead-end roundabouts, tricky for automobiles. Maybe it was the first time he’d been in Datça? Not sure where he came from – Marmaris or Bodrum? Of course, he spoke zero English. After driving around in circles several times, he figured it out, and we headed to Dalaman Airport – by now, 45 minutes late.
To make up for lost time, the driver drove like a maniac. Scenery along the twisty Datça Peninsula is spectacular, but the two-lane undivided highway is dizzying and wrought with treacherous curves. Traffic coming from the opposite direction often uses the middle of the road to make sharp turns – I had to look away several times. Only a few sections of the highway have passing lanes. The best point of comparison I can think of is the drive from San Francisco to Stinson Beach – if anyone knows that vertigo-inducing stretch of road, but I’m digressing….
Fantastic Serbian Taxi Driver – No-Show Apt. Manager
I was thankful that the airport pickup in Belgrade was perfect. I had an interesting conversation with the driver – Dejan – a pleasant, nice man. His English was certainly better than my non-Serbian, and he told me lots about what’s happening in Belgrade, including the effects of people escaping the Russia-Ukraine war by immigrating to Belgrade. He was a sincere person – no BS. After a lack of good conversation in Datça, it was great chatting with him.
My Turkish eSIM didn’t work, and there was no time to get a local number, so I asked Dejan to call the apartment manager to say we were on the way. The manager was at a soccer game and said it would be “about 30 minutes” before he could arrive to give me a key. That was disappointing, since I provided specific arrival details in advance and was assured someone would be waiting for me at the apartment. Luckily, Dejan was OK hanging out with me. He could have left me standing alone on the street in the dark, waiting for someone to provide a key to the apartment. I gladly gave him a well-deserved tip.
We stopped, so I could buy a SIM card and get local currency from an ATM. Dejan told me about his brother who immigrated to the US and had lived in Dallas but was now settled in Chicago. He showed me photos of his fifteen-year-old son and said he wanted him to attend a university in the US. He said he was an automobile rally driver in his younger years and told me a little about the process. I never realized that a road car rally can last for days!
Finally, the apartment manager showed up – a young guy in his 20s. The first thing he said was the apartment I booked online was damaged by a roof leak and unavailable – immediately making me leery of what was to come. Apartment drama in a foreign country is a bad scenario. He showed me two other apartments – neither as appealing as the one booked online. I selected the coziest looking one – smaller but with a nice view. This isn’t a great way to get started with an foreign apartment rental – but at that point (10 p.m.), it wasn’t realistic to object, so I went along with it – reluctantly.
The location of the apartment is fantastic, so I’ll stick with it for a month. I’m still pondering how to voice my dissatisfaction with the way things happened at check-in – doubt it will make any difference, so it might be a wasted effort.
Serbia is nothing like the US – people think differently, partly because of the effects of years of communist rule. Respecting cultural differences is important while traveling abroad. On the positive side, the bed is great and location is hard to beat.
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“During World War II and after, the communists killed many Belgrade civilians who didn’t support them. People were shot without trials, or following politically and ideologically motivated court rulings.” royalfamily.org
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Belgrade Apartment
My apartment building is old, and has the original cage elevator – looks like something out of a spy movie. Several “tweaks” are needed to make the antique elevator run properly – I’m learning them and trying not to be a sissy. Death in a fallen cage elevator would be unique, My apartment is on the fifth floor. During the Communist era, most buildings were taken over by the government, but eventually returned to their rightful owners.
Turkey and Serbia are countries I’ve visited before – this time, they’re noticeably different, or maybe years of travel have taught me to look deeper. Belgrade was the Capital of Serbia and Yugoslavia, and there’s no doubt that Communism had a major impact on the city. Serbia’s violent, complicated history is proof of that.
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“During World War II, most of the territory of modern Serbia was occupied by the German army and governed by the German Military Administration and Serbian puppet government under General Milan Nedic. The northern territories were annexed by Hungary, and the eastern and southern territories by Bulgaria. Kosovo and Metohija were annexed by Albania, which was sponsored by fascist Italy.” royalfamily.org
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A few random and mostly uncaptioned photos taken near my apartment are attached. Belgrade has a variety of comfortable cafés and restaurants – all reasonably priced. The streets are quietly busy and atmosphere mellow. More later…