The first thing you want to look out for to get to Fruška Gora is the right bus. There are a couple of buses leaving from Novi Sad (Нови Сад) main station. However, none of the buses have the name Fruška Gora on them and most of the buses leave from stations with no signs and no plans. Therefore, we asked within the bus terminal for directions and were told that bus No 78 goes straight to the mountain area.
The ride is about 30-40 minutes until you reach the final station. From there, the mountain is in walking distance. WE just followed the road and then reached a remote monastery which also serve as the entry point for one of the hiking routes, possible the most well-known among tourists.
One of the main differences between hiking in Japan and hiking in Serbia is that whereas in Japan there is information everywhere about the hike, there is not so much there in Serbia. The only real information was a map we saw near the monastery that showed the area. Everything after that we tried to conclude from signs painted on trees.
Some of these signs are a bit weird, like this smiley. I guess it is supposed to signal the red hiking trail but using something different than the usual white-red-white bar. It's nice in a way but can also be a bit confusing. We saw a number of different signs along the way including a heart-shaped sign, triangles and other shapes. It makes you wonder if they try to signal different routes altogether.
Then, there is the actual hiking trail. While it started out with an actual trail shortly after we passed the monastery, it soon vanished and it seemed that most of the actual hiking trail has tobe discovered by the enthusiast hiker. This included following along a river where you sometimes have to try not to get wet feet. It feels more "of the beaten path" and therefore fells more adventurous and very enjoyable. But it is different from what I was used to from previous hiking experiences.
Along the way, we saw some street signs giving directions to different places in Serbia. The ones pictured above showed signs of bullets that went through. I wonder who or when was shot here.
When we finally reached the top, I was a bit disappointed though. I was expecting the top of one of the most famous mountain ranges near Belgrade to offer some nice view to everybody who dared to travel there. Instead, the very top hosted some kind of radio antenna and basically the whole summit was off limits to explorers. One of the motivations I have for climbing mountains is to get a nice view from the top.
However, what made up for it is what you can actually see along the hike. Serbia's countryside feels more raw than I expected and there were a lot of abandoned buildings even along one of the main roads up to Fruška Gora like the old villa as pictured above.
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