Day 235 – EU – Serbia/Croatia [Backa Palanka to Vukovar]

14/10/20

41km

  From Backa Palanka (Serbia) to Vukovar (Croatia)

Europe

Across the Danube and into Croatia – revisiting the country for the 2nd time into this European crossing

I left Backa Palanka early in the morning to cross the Danube River and ended up in Croatia. The Danube serves as a natural border between the two countries for about 100km until Batina. I spent nearly 3 weeks in Croatia this summer, running down the coast from Rijeka to Dubrovnik. It’s gonna be a different experience to run in the countryside and towards the capital, Zagreb – one that I am looking forward to.

I was subjected to two police controls by the side of the road once in Croatia. Each time it went well and the second time around the officer sent me off with a “Run Forest!” jovial goodbye. I passed by the village of Mohovo on the way to Vukovar and saw the straw mammoth which had been erected in 2016 to mark the earlier discovery, in this village, of mammoth bones. It was quite a peculiar sight!

I then reached my destination today. Vukovar is a town that has been heavily damaged during the Croatian war for independence. In fact the city is reputedly the most damaged in Europe. As I approached the city from afar, I saw the old water-tank, that still stands tall… riddled with bullets’ holes. Then I ran through the monument in honor of the dead (the city paid a very heavy price during the siege). And as I ran through the city, I witnessed many houses still bearing the marks of the war. It all happened 30 years ago, it is not very far away. I remember watching it on the news on tv.

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: