Just a note on the czechoslovakian tourists at the time. They would usually just park anywhere by the road and pitch a tent. The coast was littered with them, they were everywhere. Year 1967 was the international year of tourism, so they were allowed to come in larger numbers, and SFRY was considered not too west to be kosher, specially the next year when they had the big thaw and the Prague spring. Then in august many were stranded here, the tv was full of their faces cars and bundled tents and stuff.
This year, amazingly, they reappeared, not in such big numbers but still enough to make a presence. In Borik they had one block, something like 40x40m, pretty much a camp within a camp, where the whole collective (of what, I wonder) would arrive in a couple of buses, and while one shift would pack the other would unpack. The shifts were ten day, I'd say, though we never quite counted. The entrance flaps of their tents were always greasy, as they were using edible oil to protect themselves from the sun, and would then remember to take something from inside.
We even talked with a couple, had coffee - a neighbor is a neighbor, and their commissar/guide didn't quite care what happened, as long as the headcount stayed and no big damage, fight or injury happened on his watch. Heard a few nasty russian jokes, from the right source. I wish I could remember which language was in use, probably a mix of everything we could muster.
On twentieth, when they landed on the Moon, it was afternoon here, a lovely day. I'm returning from the beach and seeing many foreigners, specially those with trailers (but some with tents as well) having small portable television sets, and watching the live. I managed to spot a few scenes, but felt I'd be uncomfortable to stand and stare over anyone's shoulder, and the tents would make it awkward to approach much closer. So, there, I knew what it was and when.
In Đerdap, they started lifting Traian's table, aka Tabvla Traiana, 20m higher, so it'll be above water level when they start filling the lake. We saw it last year, across the river.
22-VII-2020 - 29-VIII-2025