Belgrade, Serbia

We get the first stamps of the trip in our passports finally as we enter Serbia, which sends a ripple of mild excitement throughout the bus. It's a pleasant change when we have our first stop in Serbia as the temperature is noticeably higher.
As we drive into Belgrade there is still clear evidence of the recent troubles with several mangled structures, whilst others are just the shell of a building (but covered over in large sheets advertising various products to hide the history).
The recent ritual of trying to find the accommodation via satnav is finally broken, but only when the owner of the hostel is called on the phone to join us on the bus as we can't negotiate some of the narrow streets to get close enough to our bed for the night. The stop to get off the bus has to be as short as possible so everyone gets off quickly, we grab all the luggage from beneath the coach and then head for the hostels. These are new hostels to OzBus as the previous one was apparently so awful. The guys and girls are split into two hostels, except for David who stays with the ladies (a favorable ratio for him!!) .
The hostel is a bit cramped and hot – we have a double room (as a couple, we've payed more to be together where possible) but the other rooms accommodate four or six, with lockers in the corridors as the rooms are 'bijoux'. The owner goes out of his way to offer what he can (we get a warming welcome drink – it burns the throat as it goes down) which is appreciated as the facilities are limited. We later find out that the nine boys are all in one room together in the other hostel.
We wander up to the fort soon after we arrive and watch the sun slowly dropping across the river until it gets low enough to drop into the haze in the sky. On our way back we find something to eat along a row of upbeat shops and restaurants in the centre and between us try to use up our currency of the day. On our return journey, Kenneth is taking some pictures of one of the buildings when he is approached by a guard who gives him the option of deleting his images or being shot. Its not one of life's most difficult decisions as he stands there, shows the screen and duly discards the images he has just acquired – apparently it was the presidential building. Back at the accommodation we are also persuaded to hand over our passports so the owner can take the details (again the first time we've been asked). All the laptops come out and its an internet frenzy as all the girls check facebook and emails.
We are all up early in order to share the 3 showers between the 17 of us and get to the departure spot so that we can get back on the bus in record time to minimise the disruption to the morning rush hour in Belgrade.
Then we are on our way to Bulgaria and to find the first Eastern toilets of the trip - more to come...
more of the same....