The plan last weekend was to go to a mountain range called Stara planina (the Old Mountain - sounds kind of exciting, doesn’t it?) in the south east of Serbia, just north of the town of Pirot, and do a few days’ cycling. This based on a number of trips already made by the likes of Aleksandar, chief organiser of the trip - Stara planina is very much on the mountain biking map.

Well, it seems it was not to be. After booting it down to Pirot and getting the key to the run-down hunting lodge we’d be staying in, in the town of Topli Do, which was another hour’s drive up into the mountains, we got up bright and early the following morning, ready for the first day’s cycling.

Fog stops play

It can’t be said that we didn’t try. You can

check out the route we took (Google Earth file), initially climbing up and up along a pretty tricky, rocky path, the surface having been washed away by bad storms recently. The higher we got, the more misty, cold and wet it got and we were glad to reach the mountain shelter on Babin zub (Grannie’s Tooth!) for a cup of tea, foregoing the even foggier and even colder climb to the peak of Midzor.

We decided that there was nothing for it but to head back down a different way and hit the tarmac as there was nothing to be gained from cycling around in the fog. It was absolutely freezing on the way down, and the frost was actually collecting on my clothes! That was one of those “What on earth am I doing here?” moments.

We continued round in a long 80km circle, which you can see on the map, ending in a final 20km climb, which is never what you want at the end of the first day of riding!

And that turned out to be the end of the cycling. That night it rained and rained, making the trails even more impassable, we knew and so we spent the second day doing some walking (less opportunity to get freezing cold and wet) and checked out some of the waterfalls that this area boasts. Then we decided to cut our visit short and come home a day early.

Check out the gallery of pictures from our Stara planina trip, where you can see some of the natural beauty of the area. Also, if you check out the route on Google Earth you can see some other people’s Panoramia pictures, taken on a clear day! You can also see some pictures of Topli do, the village where we stayed. The area around there is fascinating. A very impressive canyon takes you up there from the direction of Pirot, and one of the striking features is the very red earth. Sadly, Topli Do is a dying village, there is almost no-one there younger than 70, most of the houses are boarded up and probably the saddest sight is the gutted village school which has probably not seen any children in at least 15 years.

Salvation might lie in the fact that there are serious plans afoot to turn Stara planina into a tourist resort, though as always this sounds like a mixed blessing. We will have to take another trip down there soon and enjoy it while we can, before the hordes arrive.

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Posted on September 11th, 2007 by markowe
Filed under: MTB Serbia (All)