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Our Cosmos tour of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosniaer Herzegovina was described as ‘active’ which was pretty accurate. It was bookended by two natural wonders, the Postojna Caves in Slovenia and the Plitvice National Park in Croatia. Both visits were a sensory overload, with visual splendours so impressive you can’t quite grasp they are real and not some giant digitally enhanced 3D projection.
We’ve ignored cave tours in other countries as NZ’s Waitomo complex has a reputation for being world standard. Waitomo is wonderful, but Postojna is something else – 25km of cavernous sculptural wonderland. First you are taken on an open train through 5 km of the cave system, Indiana Jones style with minimal OSH warnings – we all ducked reflexively anyway as it raced around corners, overhangs and stalagmite formations at a speed and proximity to the cave ceiling which would remove your head if you were careless enough to try standing for a better photo opportunity.
Then we were led via a concrete paved labyrinth through cathedral sized caverns for a couple more kilometres of natural sculpture park. There was the added bonus of a close up view of the resident salamanders. At
the tourist-trap gift shops lining the exit I wondered if there would be a salamander fridge magnet. Sure enough there was, but it more resembled a plaster poo so I gave it a miss.
Suitably impressed by the subterranean splendours of Postojna, we continued through stunning Slovenian scenery onto the Croatian coast at Zadar where we viewed the remains of a Roman forum which was discovered when WW2 damage destroyed the villas built on its ruins.
Day 3 was a lunch stop in Split where we learnt that Roman Emperor Diocletian was a very nasty man and probably suffering from lead poisoning (they ate off lead plates) which in my book still doesn’t justify him killing his wife and daughter for practising Christianity. The similarities between Diocletian and Donald Trump became increasingly obvious during our visit – a view we shared with our new friends The Wisconsins, who we bonded with over a mutual dismay about the USA presidency, their need to visit New Zealand and a love of alcohol (the last two may be connected..)
It was obvious by now that Oki our tour director was going to do the
bare minimum with monotone potted histories on the bus and the use of local guides at every stop (who we had to tip separately).
We didn’t rate him as a guide but I’d give us passengers a 5 star Trip Advisor rating- a post colonial mix of pomms, Aussies, pomms living in Oz, a Canadian, a Singaporean Aussie, a couple of ladies from Oman, a couple of Indian ladies, the Wisconsins and us – again the only Kiwis on tour. With only one early exception where we lost the Indian lady in Zadar, we were on time for bags-out, breakfast and on-the-bus, scurried around hotels to be on time for buffet dinners, never forgot our passports for the 10 times we needed border checks and didn’t get lost on the guided tours.
We found out in Split that the Wisconsins had names (Cathy and Jeff) and although they’d travelled in South American and both had central European heritage, were first-time travellers to Europe. Also they enjoyed a drink or three so were excellent tour companions. Guys – I hope you’re planning your trip to New Zealand!
Day 4 was Dubrovnik –
twin columns
Postojna's star attraction a medieval Disneyland complete with themed buskers, a walk around the city walls so crowded you can only go one way, with the rest of the lovely gothic and renaissance architecture crammed with restaurants, ice cream bars, jewellery and souvenir shops. Simultaneously fascinating and overwhelming – particularly when huge cruise boats the size of floating hotels disgorge their human cargo inside the walls, blocking alleyways and filling the air with multi-lingual chatter.
Regularly destroyed by wars and natural disasters, the city has regenerated itself with a less Escher-esque street plan but retained its medieval-to-Baroque architecture and complete city walls which are a highlight to circumnavigate. The only problem with Dubrovnik is that if it gets any more popular it will be hell to visit.
Something we didn’t expect of the tour was how mountainous this area of Europe is. Driving up through the Neretva Gorge to Bosnia-Herzegovina the scenery was stunning with fast flowing rivers which formed trade routes from Roman times.
The beauty of the landscape made it even more shocking to arrive at Mostar then Sarajevo and see the still raw wounds of the civil war over 20 years
Zagreb
church on the remains of a Roman forum ago during the break up of Yugoslavia. Bombed out buildings, shops, houses, churches which have been abandoned because there is no body, money or will to re-build them.
Although all the guides we had were at great pains to say everyone now gets on famously, Sarajevo is still a city divided between East and West, so clearly that in the middle of the main pedestrianised shopping street the Austro-Hungarian architecture and bars abruptly come to an end and there is a paved line across the street – on the other side you could be in Istanbul with Turkish souvenirs, women in headscarves and courtyard cafes full of people smoking hookahs, drinking tea and coffee but NO alcohol.
Day 6 we endured more boring waits on the bus as we had our passports checked twice at border control going back into Croatia before driving through miles more of stunning scenery to arrive at the Plitvice National Park. Again, I’d seen plenty of photos of this Croatian tourist jewel, but walking round the glowing lakes, past thundering waterfalls, beside cascades and through wooded valleys on natural planked boardwalks was like walking through paradise. We arrived late
built using Roman rubble for foundationsin the afternoon so crowds were less – it wouldn’t be as much fun at the height of summer when the boardwalks are full of people jostling for the best photo opportunity.
Our room for the night looked out to the forest of the National Park and I wanted to stay longer to do more of the walks than the guided one included in our tour. But next day was our last on the bus – a guided tour of central Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, then farewell to our fellow passengers, a hug for the Wisconsins (making sure they kept our address for when they come to NZ!) then we were liberated to catch a flight to the Dalmatian coast and explore on our own.
Tours are perfect for ease of travelling around different countries, learning a bit of social history and to give you an introduction of how a place runs, but a week is enough for us.
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Margaret Stevens
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Loving the pics and blog Hillary
Nice the Wisconsin's have names