February’s partial lifting of the flight ban on Serbia came too late for my visit, making for a gruelling twelve-hour trip. By the time my train from Budapest reached the Serb border it was virtually empty. If visitors to Serbia are rare these days, Serbs with money to travel are an endangered species.
The only man left in my carriage is intrigued and asks politely if he can practise his English. He has worked out that I’m a journalist and wants to tell me a thing or two about life in Serbia and pass messages through me to Prime Minister Tony Blair.