Friday July the 23nd
Total distance driven: 2.475 Km
Today’s distance: 319 Km in 5:33h
Walked distance: 5Km
Today I’m heading to Romania and to the spot that made me change my route through Serbia.
Just outside Belgrade, in the east direction the roads get hilly and the driving fun is back. Very rural landscapes and encounters.
Just ten seconds after I took the last photo above, a fox came out on the left side running in my direction and disappearing on my right. I had all the time to look at it, as I thought it was a dog but the orange color and the tail didn’t lie. It’s the second fox that I encountered by daylight in this tour. The other one was in Hungary.
Close to the border between Serbia and Romania, I found a bbq restaurant and had a drink. Soon later I reached the town of Goulubac, where the Danube makes a kind of lake.
In Golubac
The sat nav was telling me that the border to Romania was just few kilometres away. The border line follows the mid of the Danube. I finally got there and it was closed… it turns out, this border crossing was operated via boat and is no longer open.
The next border was 110 Km away. Too bad? On the contrary: great! You see, the road follows the Danube with natural curves and great landscapes! Plus the next border is the famous iron gate and is close to our destination for today.
In the 1960’s, the government built a massive lock and dam called the iron gate to help control the speed of the Danube and make navigation safer. Before the Danube River was dammed, commercial boats transferring goods dreaded navigating the rapids of the narrow Iron Gates section of the river. After completion of the dam project, the river flowing through the Iron Gates calmed and the water rose about 35 meters / 130 feet higher than before the dam and power station were built.
Few kilometres down the road I pass by the fortress of Golubac. Already a nice addition due to the new route
The iron gate approached with the river getting narrower. Imagine how it was when the water level was 35 meters deeper.
Then I saw it…
A 55 meters tall statue of King Decebalus carved into the rock! It’s so surreal, you have to see it to believe it. That’s the spot I wanted to visit. It’s in Romania but can be seen also from Serbia.
Heading there!
I crossed the iron gate and got foot and wheels in Romania and rode the 30Kms with much anticipation.
The iron gate, a massive statue of a king… if this is not Lord of the rings 😆
What an experience. I parked and locked the motorcycle, changed clothes on the go and hopped on a boat tour. We saw the statue from the river, visited two caves and saw a village, which has been moved 35m higher when the dam was built. The original one is underwater now.
Tabula Traiana
The last picture is of the Tabula Traiana on the Serbian side. This had also to be moved 35 meters higher. The Romans were here and Decebalus, king of Dacia fought three wars and defeated the Roman invasion. When Traiano came to the power as the new Roman emperor, he succeeded in invading Dacia. King Decebalus committed suicide to avoid capture.
The statue of King Decebalus is only 17 years old and was commissioned by a Romanian business man called Dragan. The work began in 1994 and ended in 2004. It is only 70% completed but none the less impressive.
Time to head to the nearby camping Mala, managed by Christian and his mom. I had a fantastic stay and even got offered watermelon 🍉
My dinner 
The tent spot
