19-20 August 2023, Szeged, 43.34km
Horthy Csonakház 5,000Ft [R271]

It took 9 hours and over 45km to achieve absolutely nothing. Luckily the accommodation we had pre-booked in Mokrin (Мокрин), Serbia, agreed to make an exception to their cancellation policy and not charge us for the night...
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I thought I had researched all we needed to know about crossing into Serbia and then Kosovo. I knew that Serbia would accept us on a valid Schengen visa, and I knew we could in theory travel to Kosovo on quiet Serbian back roads before the visa expired. I also had written confirmation from the Kosovo embassy in Budapest that we would be allowed to enter Kosovo visa-free. All good, I thought.
It had not occurred to me to check whether we would be allowed to cross into Serbia at our chosen border crossing: Kübekháza-Rábé.
We cycled the 21km there from Szeged, arriving around midday (despite three punctures), with another 40km to go to Mokrin. To be told that only Hungarians, Serbians and EU citizens could cross there. Unbelievable. Just 50m away we could see Serbia. Once over the line, it would make no difference to anyone at which border post we had crossed. But no amount of cajoling or appeals that the officials call someone who could perhaps make an exception earned us anything more than an explanation ("protocol") and a really bad proposal (to cycle almost 100km through Romania to Mokrin). A more sensible option was to cycle to another Hungary/Serbia border post that processes everyone, forego our booked bed, and re-route Kosovo.
As there are no bridges over the Tisza river south of Szeged, this latter option meant cycling all the way back to Szeged, crossing the river and then heading south again.
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Unfortunately our puncture problems were not over and when my back tyre went flat again, we found ourselves, now out of fresh tubes, making repairs on the hot and humid roadside. Which simply would not hold. It took well over an hour to get ourselves back on the road with a slow leak that required us to repump the tyre at regular intervals.
I use "us" rather freely; in fact it is Charl who does the bulk of the bike maintenance! So frustrated was he, that he barely noticed a scantily-clad woman cycle past us. She was dressed in short shorts and a top that barely covered her lush breasts. Had she hit a bump in the road, out they would have popped. Her cycle companian did not seem to mind.
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In the end we returned to our campsite in Szeged and are spending two nights so we can visit a bike place Monday morning before heading again for Serbia.
It is so weird, but the big supermarkets (Tesco and Spar) are closed on Sundays. We found an open "family market" with an aisle so narrow that shoppers shop in a slow row, unable to pass each other. When someone stops to investigate a shelf of goodies, you wait behind them! So, it is cheap viennas for dinner with pasta and sauce!
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To top our weekend off, I was stung by a wasp last night.
And today it is 34° and humid!