On a lovely bright, warm summer’s morning (no rain, whoopee) I wake to the smell of fresh percolated coffee. Craig is already up and planning the day. “Come on chuck, its sun shining, lets make the most of it”. I hop off the bed and Mac n Tosh come darting over. Tails wagging with faces all ready for morning walks.  I take the grass path between the car wash and the bottle bank, the scenic route.  I stand warming my face in the sun whilst the dudes dolefully extruded four well baked frankfurters onto the path. “Cheers boys, would you like a poop bag or shall I do the honours”. 

Sunshine & Sunflowers

I returned to the motorhome and within a flash we were off.  We drove a few dozen miles along yet more slow but glorious roads to the outskirts of Vin Kova.  A town on a the river with a rather fetching football pitch. “Why are we stopping here?” I asked. To which Craig replied “You can do the washing here”. I refrain from swearing and burst in to song.  My falsetto resembles a donkey in pain but it gets Mac n Tosh howling.  Craig is about impressed as I am with his washing suggestion. 

As it turns out we have a great day. We do the washing (to which we need a football pitch),play ball with Mac n Tosh and enjoy sitting in the sun. We also have a go at fixing the mosquito door with black fishing line. It nearly breaks our patience but the sun is shining and nothing can make us happier. We manage to get it working, sort of, but not quite in harmony. Two hands to open and close the screen but at least it will keep the insects out. Perfect for an evening of long awaited warmth under the stars.

Our Bumble wild camping spot Vin Kova N045.284715, E018.798490

The following day, the sun shines even brighter.  The wellies are packed away and the flip flops are flopped. I take Mac n Tosh for a morning jog around the football pitch.  Until the point a flock of sheep appeared from behind the goal posts and decided to come and have a look at us. They were tatty and stupid. But of course as soon as they got near they became skittish and twitchy. Baaaar…woof…baaaar…woof. A stand off! Mac n Tosh were licking their lips and dreaming of a lamb shank dinner, but I didn’t fancy a dog fight with Dolly. I gracefully back down and let them escort us back to Vin.

On route, we stop at some random church for a quick morning coffee and to give Craig his church fix.

We head a short distance to Vukovar and park up right at the side of the river. Hugging the west bank of the Danube, Vukovar was until 1991 the second most prosperous town in Yugoslavia. It had an elaborate Baroque centre, a successful manufacturing industry, and an a ethnically mixed population of Serbs and Croats.  Today, the town centre is slowly being rebuild and still bears the scars of the siege of Vukovar.  

Our Bumble wild camping spot Vukovar N045.355970, E019.000616

Our walk along the new promenade allowed us to see the town from the waterfront.

Memorial Cross on the Danube

Parts of Vukovar have been restored and construction work is dotted around the town. Some would say there is little to see except for the remnants of war, but look beyond the bullet holes, wander around the streets, speak to locals and there is plenty to see.

The City Museum in the restored Palace and it is fantastic with objects from the town and information on the towns siege (click to enlarge photo’s).

Restored Palace & Museum

Seventeen years ago this town saw dreadful violence when tension between the towns Serbs and Croats flared.  Barricades went up, rockets launched, snipers shot and hundreds killed. The Yugoslav Peoples Army intervened, brought in tanks and set up barracks in the town. Five months later the Croatian National Guard surrounded the Army and in retaliation, the Serbs surrounded the National Guard. All hell broke out, the people of Vukovar were trapped in bomb shelters with little or no food.

Some seven months after the initial siege the town fell and folk fled to nearby hospital or across sniper ridden corn fields. Here the Yugoslav Army commenced the killing of Croatian people. They were either killed on site or captured and bundled away to be murdered.  

It’s estimated that several thousand died in the fighting, many unaccounted and still missing. The ceasefire prevailed in 1992, but it wasn’t until 1998 that the region was returned to Croatia as part of the Dayton peace agreement. The people slowly returned to their home town to find nothing standing but the gun shot water tower (which is now the town’s symbol). With their bare hands they built their town again, one house at a time. The population remains mixed but social contact and interaction in non existent.

Headstones

Such trauma seems almost inconceivable tonight as a setting sun turns the Danube, a warm chocolate colour. Locals fish, river cruises glide by and working tugs move floating platforms up and down the river. The river activity is our entertainment for the night and it keeps us captivated until just before midnight.