Mountains and mating frogs 11 and 12 May

We leave Drobeta Turnu -Severin on a very busy road - HGVs pass us at high speed and sometimes towards us when they overtake one another coming the opposite direction. They all head towards Timisorea and we head left along the Gorge on the Romanian side. We then have to cycle up some serious climbs - I suppose we are going through the Carpathian mountains now so that's not surprising, but not what we expected! The next section along the Danube is spectacular, with Serbia just a stone throw away at times. Just for a change it's very hot and sunny. We've been hearing this incredible noise and were wondering what it was and it turns out to be mating frogs - the male letting out a loud croak as it leaps on the female and they then sink in the reedy recesses of the river. The road goes on and on and we get hotter and hotter and at times the surface is non-existent and just a rough dirt track - so just for a change progress is slow! Eventually we get to a remote place to stay on the shores of the river , mating frogs croaking away. We have beer before showering. We continue up the gorge on Saturday, passing a mixture of stunning scenery and some hideous towns. Before the big climb up the mountain to get across to Serbia the local doctor in a little village offers us coffee. He doesn't however know how to make coffee - his wife or his assistant do this for him! He gets water from a spring and we boil it up in a small pot with a heating element then pour over coffee grounds. fantastic. Then a very long, hot climb for an hour and a half before a cooling descent over the border , into Serbia where the customs official is very interested in our bikes and shows a picture of his on his mobile phone. Now we're in Serbia and Belgrade tomorrow. (Drobeta Turnu Severin to Bezasca - 63 miles) (Bezasca to Bela Crka - 47 miles)