Serbia...

...the scene of hip hop and electronic dance music, thousands of hippies, and a few good friends along for the ride. This past weekend I took an adventure of a different kind out of Bulgaria and into the neighboring country of Serbia. It was not a time for sightseeing and city exploration but rather a time to get down (boogie) and dirty (camp) as we enjoyed the festivities of the 8th annual Exit Festival in Novi Sad.

(Link and I on the train)

A few friends and I headed out on the night train, with beer and burgers in hand, and arrived in the early morning in Belgrade. From there we hoped on another train to Novi Sad where we waited for the fest to begin.

(Base Camp)

Upon arriving to the camp site we staked out some good ground and pitched our tents. I was bunking with Link who broke all the rules when it came to sharing a tent. He took up all the space and made our 2 person tent unbearably smelly with all his tooting. But in the end it didn't really matter much as we did very little sleeping in the tent. It was more of a baking oven with the sun beating down on it in the early hours of the morning.

(View of the fortress where it all happened.)

Night One Lineup: Tanya Stephens, Robert Plant & Strange Sensations, The Prodigy, and Groove Armada.

There were some serious logistical problems the first night and getting in was a long, slow process. We were in a mob of people not going anywhere. They had to check everyone's E-tickets one by one which caused a huge delay. Finally at one point, because the crowd was starting to get a bit too rowdy, they just let everyone in without even checking tickets. We missed Robert Plant, former singer for Led Zeppelin, and none us were fans of the Prodigy. We decided to avoid the huge crowds and watch the show from a distance. It was a dissapointing night and not a great way to start. Calling it a night early, we headed back to camp, anxiously waiting for the following day's lineup.