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Published: August 2nd 2013
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Sunday July 28 – Another early day. Up before 6am, out before 7am. We had a bus to catch at 7:30 and weren’t sure when the tram would come. We also didn’t know where to buy a tram ticket so early, so we went on without one and hoped for the best. It worked out. We only had three stops. Two other Americans living abroad were there and told us which stop we needed. In the end, they were on the same bus, in the seats next to us! But there was a guy in their seat and he told them that people just sit wherever, so they sat behind us instead. The bus arrived at 9:45am and we never saw them again. We walked to our guesthouse and saw there was no a/c but we did have a fridge. Hmm, could this be used for a/c? Once we got settled we walked back to the National Park and decided on a one day ticket, even though we will be here for two days. The woman at the info office said we could do different hikes tomorrow and gave me a map, so we thought we’d do that. Before we walked
we ate a burger there, and looked at the hiking maps. But it seemed we would need to be inside the park for the hikes, so we went back and asked and we would indeed need a two day ticket. So much for “information” the first time around. We asked if we could change our ticket at the window where we bought it and he asked someone and she said no. So we kind of asked again and he asked her and eventually she said she would change it, which was great because it saved us some money, and these tickets were not cheap. Have I mentioned that nothing in Croatia is cheap? So we got our two day ticket and then had to choose a hike for today. We chose hike “C”, a 4-6 hour hike through the lakes. Plitvice NP is based all along these 16 lakes that are crystal clear and amazing to look at. They are beautiful blue and green colors and clear. We started the walk and loved it immediately. It was hot but it was bearable. One of the first things we saw was a water snake, underwater and fishing. It was amazing. Then
it stuck its head out. We saw another one swimming in the water a couple hours later, and it was still cool. We hiked on the trails and boardwalks for 3.5 hours, including a boat ride in one lake. We finished by laying under a tree in the shade for an hour at the end, napping and relaxing. Then we took the tram back to near the beginning and had to walk the rest of the way. On the way we saw three or four people who had IVs in their arms that other people were holding up, a strange sight for the woods. I wonder if they had heat stroke?
We came back to the guesthouse and then left for dinner a while little later. We thought we would just have another burger at the place outside the tickets office since there didn’t seem to be much choice. But we got there and they said it was finished. They were open for another hour, but maybe they ran out of food? So we asked where we could eat and she suggested a restaurant about 20 minutes walk away. She said there was a pizzeria, so that sounded appealing.
The only problem was that we would have to walk along the main road, and there was no sidewalk. We started out and didn’t get too far in before we saw a trail into the park from the road. We decided to walk in and use the walkways in the park, and then ask for directions from the second entrance, further down. We even took the tram for part of it. We actually bought ice creams for an appetizer while we waited for the tram since we were starving. We were just worried because we didn’t bring our park passes with us. Now we realized we didn’t even need to buy one, since we could just walk in from the street. We asked again at the other info office and the woman told us that for the pizzeria we would need a car, but the other restaurant was a self-service restaurant inside the park and nearby, so we went there. We both got beef goulash, and it was pretty tasty and not too expensive. Better than the burger for sure. We took the tram back and then had to walk another fifteen minutes back out of the park and then
another 10-15 to get back to the guesthouse. But instead of walking along the main road to get back to the guesthouse, as we had been doing, we realized we could walk across the street and through a parking lot most of the way, which was much safer.
My leg has been hurting a little bit for a few days and I realized that the sciatica I had so badly a few years ago is starting to flare up again, maybe from carrying my backpack? Tina gave me a bit of a massage to help with it and I took some advil for the inflammation. I think I’ll see my doctor when I get home to make sure it does not become a problem.
Monday July 29 – Today was a long day. We got up at 7am and made it to the bus stop at 8:45. We wanted to buy our bus ticket to Zadar for tomorrow morning to make sure we had a seat. The bus stop office opened at 8:30, but when we arrived the girl was not there yet, so we waited. She got there a little before 9am and we bought our tickets
and started the day in the park at 9am. We did not get home until 7pm. It was a good day but with a lot of walking. We walked for a while on the “C” path that we took yesterday. It really is beautiful. It was nice to see it again, and it was a little less crowded at that time of day. We took the boat ride and then walked along the “B” path to see something new. Then we were hungry, so we walked back on the “C” path to the boat and took the boat a new way, just across to where the restaurant was. We discovered it takes over 200 steps to get up to the restaurant, plus some extensive walking. I had roast chicken and vegetables and it was pretty good again.
After lunch we asked at information about what we should see next. She suggested the “K” route which had good look-outs, since it was much higher than where we had been walking. It was a lot of effort to get up there, but it was worth it. So beautiful. We walked along until we reached the boat again, and decided
to cross over there. This time the line for the boat was huge. Each boat held 100 passengers and it took about 5 boats before we made it on. There was a lot of pushing and shoving and it was generally unpleasant, but we made it. On the other side, we were going to take the tram to the end and lay under the trees from yesterday again. But just off the boat, we found another nice place to do it, so from 4-5pm we slept there under the trees by the water, with a waterfall view. From there we repeated the 200 steps to the restaurant and had dinner. I had the chicken again, with slightly different veggies. A cat we saw there last night was there again, and I gave him some of my chicken. Then his sister came around and she got a little, but there was not much left by this point. After dinner I got an ice cream and we waited for the tram to pick us up and take us back towards the first entrance. After a full day of walking, we again had to walk 15 minutes in the park and then another
10-15 to get back to the guesthouse, and we were tired by now. As I type this I am sitting in the garden as it has cooled off a bit, and there is some rain scheduled for the night. Tomorrow we’ll be on the 9:30am bus to Zadar, and with any luck tonight will involve True Blood.
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