Croatia 15/06 - 22/06

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15/06

With our money safely in our accounts now we officially started our trip! We drove to the capital of Croatia - Zagreb. We parked up and had a wonder around the city. There was evidence everywhere of the football World Cup (which we forgot was even happening) and there were screens and pop up bars around every corner. The city itself was lovely. The centre had a lot of shops and parks within it and we decided to soak in the atmosphere with a beer or 2 in one of the pop up spots that was there. We had a stroll to the cathedral and had a look inside. There was a great example outside of the refurbishment they were doing to keep all of the building ship shape and it showed. It was beautiful. We had a stroll and found ourselves in a smaller pedestrianised street that had old buildings with traditional architecture and cobbled streets with restaurants lined up all the way. We saw that Egypt were playing Uruguay on the tv in one of the pubs and as it had been over a year since one of us watched any kind of football, decided to park ourselves front and centre and get some World Cup atmosphere with a beer. (As much as Egypt and Uruguay can manage anyway!) We made our way back to the pop up place for some hot dogs and slept in a car park just outside of Zagreb which had a lake and some bars close to it.



16/06

That night was horrid. It was hot and stuffy and there was a club very close by that didn’t close until about 4am so safe to say we were shattered. Char was keen to have a jog around lake in the morning though as there was a cycling and running track that went all along the banks. Jack reluctantly agreed to join her! The run was around 6km in the end nice and steady and we were rewarded by immediately having a swim in the lake to cool off (which also doubled as morning shower). We headed back into Zagreb for a spot of browsing and culture. We parked up in a cheap car park and set off. We bought a much needed lonely planet travel guide for Eastern Europe and visited the “broken relationships museum”. This was an exhibition that toured all around the world before settling in Zagreb. It was made up of little trinkets and objects that were donated by the general public that represented end in relationships with a story attached to them. Some of the objects were pretty normal like photographs or letters, others were not so normal like an axe used to destroy a partners belongings and tablets of ecstasy and MD! We came away a bit flabbergasted at some of the naivety by some people and their “relationships” but all in all was pretty good. We also killed a bit of time looking for our wedding outfits at the many shops that were in the city. Char found a beautiful dress that looked awesome and Jack tried on a suit. It was so great and VERY weird seeing ourselves in formal dress wear again after so long and we kind of forgot how nice it was to put some proper clothes on! We didn’t decide to buy anything though as Char wasn’t 100% happy with her dress and a suit would be much cheaper somewhere else! We ended up having a gin and tonic watching the end of the Argentina game in the centre before heading back to Dobby..... uh oh..... why is the car park locked!? It turned out that they were only open in the morning on weekends and shut the place up until Monday. Thankfully a woman who had keys to the car park turned up just as we arranged for a guy to come out and open it for us as she used it for her rental cars. We thanked our lucky stars and hot footed it out of there! We planned on returning to a spot by the lake again but there was a ‘Race for life’ themed event on and the roads were all closed to where we wanted to go. We eventually found another packed car park not too far away from a bar that we wanted to watch the Croatia game that night that should hopefully do as a sleeping spot. We headed off and watched Croatia beat Nigeria which was a great atmosphere! Beers were flowing and songs were being sung. All finished off by some lads who, when the final whistle blew, ran into the lake and lit up some flares! We were a bit tipsy by this point and were looking forward to a nice sleep.......yet again car parks in a city are not made for this! We arrived to find (out of all the places) young guys and girls playing music out their car and drinking right next to our van. We hate cities! We decided that, due to our drunken state, the best we could do was move Dobby to the other side of the car park away from them and try and get some kip. It was ok but again - not the best!





17/06

That morning we got the hell out of there as quick as we could! The weather wasn’t the best and decided that we would just take a day to cover some ground and head to Plitvice national park a good few hours away. We ran some errands on the way. We got Jack some walking shoes (his from Nepal were long gone) and called friends and family for a catch up where we made camp in good old McDonald’s! After those boxes were ticked we made our way down towards within striking distance of the national park. On our way through we could see this gorgeous, quaint village with waterfalls and rivers running right through the ancient (still lived in) houses. To say it was picturesque would be an understatement! We discovered the town was called Slunj. Yep, that name does not do it justice! We had a walk around taking in the beautiful” old stone walls and small rivers that led to magnificent waterfalls and found a potential spot for Dobby for the night. Jack was sceptical that we would be allowed and Char plucked up the courage to ask the neighbouring house if it was ok, “yes of course, no problem” was the reply - GREAT! We drove Dobby down a narrow lane which opened up to a small green patch that was right on the river surrounded by grassy reeds and trees with vast amounts of fireflies showing themselves as the sun went down. There was a smaller waterfall just up the river from us and the water was clear as day - easily drinkable. We fell asleep listening to the water a frogs do their thing.



18/06

We woke up in our beautiful camping spot and enjoyed a sunny morning where we were not sat in a car park! Our plan for the lovely sunny day was to head to Plitvice National Park to see the waterfalls and turquoise lakes. Unfortunately, when we got there, every Tom dick and harry, and the whole of China had also had the same idea. We debated turning straight around but decided we were here now and hoped that the 18km of trails in the park would help to disperse the crowds. Initially we joined a conga line of tourists towards the biggest fall which was very frustrating. However, we soon realised that the main problem for the conga lines were the tours of the park which walked extremely slowly taking up most of the wooden walkways. Once we figured this out we were able to squeeze through and break out onto some empty paths. The tall waterfall was really amazing, the entire river falls 78m straight into the pool below sending up lots of spray. You get a really amazing view of this when you first walk into the park and can see part of the river before it falls. The park is very lush and green which makes the turquoise pools look even more magic. We walked some parts and took the free ferry boat for other parts across the biggest lake. There were 16 lakes in total and everyone was slightly different and beautiful for different reasons and all had amazing falls connecting them. We were definitely glad we stayed and battled the crowds but after the park we were even more desperate to go somewhere quiet. We looked on the map and found a tiny village with a reservoir so we headed there. After a bit of circling around the village roads we found our way in and discovered a perfect private spot right by the waters edge. We played some beach tennis and went skinny dipping when the sun was going down (obviously missing our nudist lake in Austria!).



19/06

The next day we were headed for the coast, at last, Croatia’s famous beaches! It was a really lovely hot day again and soon enough we had found a beautiful little village, 2 beers and the most inviting beach and sea straight off the postcards. We swam and sunbathed and had some lunch before deciding we should make tracks for Split. Both of us were feeling excited because Split was one of the places people had been telling us we would really enjoy. Yeh, no. We arrived through a mess of high rise apartment blocks and parked Dobby at the very overcrowded and ugly beach and walked into the centre to find out what all the fuss was about. We found the old town area which was pedestrianised and had nice stone floors, some ruins and a little Cathedral with fake roman guards taking selfies with millions of tourists. Meh, still not inspired we walked on and on, round and round in search of the real Split. After a few hours we decided that Split was deffo not for us, headed back to the car and got the hell out of there. We wanted to make the most of the evening by using our disposable BBQ and picked up all the necessities before finding another awesome spot for the night. It was an almost abandoned “eco-ethnic” village/ hamlet up on the side of one of the hills beyond Split. The houses were mostly empty and it seemed there had been a forest fire years ago which could have caused everyone to leave. We walked through the beautiful village and said hi to a few of the villagers who had rebuilt there homes. Everything was being renovated just as was and looked so quaint and traditional. That evening we had one of the most delicious BBQs ever, if we do say so ourselves. Big hunks of bread, chorizo sausages and normal sausages, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, sauce.. deeeellllicious!



20/06

That morning we awoke will full bellies and a beautiful view over the mountains. We also discovered that morning that the Dalai Lama was going to have a talk in Rotterdam in mid September that was too good an opportunity to miss! During our time in Nepal and reading a lot more about the dude, we agreed that it would be an awesome experience to try and see him at some point in the future if we get the chance. This seemed to be it! With this plan in place we sent off some enquiries and drove to Omis. What a place! It was a small town sandwiched between huge mountains with a beautiful river flowing right down into the turquoise seas. Split had nothing on this place! We had a wonderful beach day. We sat under a small tree where we spent time sunbathing, reading, relaxing and playing a bit of bat and ball. (This needed improving a lot as it’s safe to say we were rusty!) After sunning ourselves we decided that there was

no way we were staying in a car park and made a pact to just find our own spot somewhere and take the chance if we get told to move on. Thank goodness we did! We drove up the river that led into Omis and found a secluded track that led down to a few small fishing boats and an open green spot that we thought was used for bought storage. There was a perfect spot for a wash surrounded by reeds with frogs, dragonflies and birds all around - that’s more like it!





21/06

After such a lovely beach day in Omis we wanted to break up the journey down to Dubrovnik and decided to squeeze in another beach day! We pulled in at a place called Makarska where we had to share the beach with a few more people than anticipated. Luckily Jack went out for a scout and found that a short walk further down there was a much quieter spot with some beach bars so we headed there. Again it was a beautiful day and the sea was totally calm and still, people were floating about on lilos or out para sailing. We stayed in the sun until both of us were starting to wonder if we’d over done it and popped into the beach bar for some lunch. Later in the afternoon we decided to motor on to find another spot for the evening and somewhere to watch the Croatia game. We found some lakes on the map in Bacina and when we arrived it was absolutely beautiful but the bars were in the town 3km away. We decided to choose footy and pizza over a view that evening so parked up at the end of one of the streets, still overlooking the lake, but in a built up area. We got to a good bar and after talking with Jaap decided to book the flights and conference with the Dalai Lama we found online two days ago! So, feeling spiritual, it was also the day the applications for the 10 day Vipassana was opening and we sent those off too! If that all works out we will have a pretty hectic few days in late September. Meg’s and Joes wedding on the 15th, fly to Amsterdam on 16th, Dalai Lama on 17th, fly back to Leeds on 18th, start Vipassana on 19th in Herefordshire. Still, we can recover during the course, not going to be too hectic sitting on our butts for 10 days, well, at least not physically. Mentally however, it might just be the single hardest thing either of us have done. With our spiritual endeavours booked we sat back to eat pizza and watch Croatia’s crushing defeat on Argentina 3-0. Everyone was buzzing, car horns sounding up and down the street, everyone in their footy gear on the beers going crazy and every bar in the town was airing the match. That night we quickly realised the error of our ways, the place we had parked our car was a furnace even after the sun had gone down and the car was filled with mosquitos. We attempted to sleep for a few hours which was the worst decision ever as we both just got more and more agitated. Finally, Char gave up and drove the car in the middle of the night back to the other village and found a spot by a lake. Soooo much cooler and next to no mozzies, we both slept at last.



22/06

That morning we weren’t feeling the best for obvious reasons so we head straight down to a lake that was swimmable. We found the perfect spot by a camper park and we were straight in. It was SSOOO refreshing and much needed to wake us up and clean our dirty, stinky bodies. We got all refreshed and sorted, excited to finally see the picture postcard city of Dubrovnik. We started down the coastal road and in order to get through to the southern part of Croatia we had to go through Bosnia and Hercegovina. After all the shit that kicked off in the 1990s with the Balkans, B&H now had a tiny part of the Croatian coastline that they “owned”, and they definitely showed it! We drove up to the border in Dobby and were met by a fierce fat looking bald man who immediately started asking us the usual questions of “where are you going and for how long etc..” he then told us to hand any drugs over we had and if we didn’t, we will go to prison for a long time. Obviously, no other person was being asked these questions, just because we were 2 young English travellers they were looking for an easy result. We replied (a bit offended) that we had nothing and so the fat man then took our passports and told us to pull over as our car was going to be searched! Fortunately, the lady cop who searched our car was far more amenable to conversation and after having a good flicking through our bags, purse and Dobby himself, decided that they were not getting any drugs from us and we were told to go ahead on our journey. We drove about 5km and were then met by the other border back into Croatia (how pointless is this!) we had an easier time this way. The police lad did give us a sketchy look and asked if our car had been searched, we all knew that he already knew the answer to that anyway but we said “yep” and then we were back in Croatia! Possibly the silliest most pointless border that we’ve ever been to.



We snaked on through the coastal road and saw Dubrovnik. Finally we were here! We parked up Dobby and set off exploring. We parked on the west side of the city and there was a beautiful port and marina with some pretty flashy boats all lined up. Even though this part wasn’t the old town it was still great with few people and we could see that the city was full of green parks, steep climbs and walkways. We set off to find the old town where the Croats had built city walls back in the day in order to defend themselves from the neighbouring Turks in case of invasion. About 4km later (we didn’t walk the most direct route) we found ourselves outside of the old town and the city walls. Here was much busier! The city walls were classic medieval film material (probably why Game of Thrones had been filmed here) they were huge in height and the walls themselves were 3 or 4 metres thick at parts. There were battlements even with cannons dotted around just for the added effect. We entered inside and it was beautiful. The walls and alleyways were just as they would have been when it was built, except this time instead of locals living there and soldiers knocking around with horses there were restaurants, bars and souvenir shops. The windows had original looking wooden shutters and the doorways and archways were reminiscent of the time they were made. We had a stroll through the many steep alleyways and streets, visiting the ancient Cathedral, other churches with immaculate stain glass windows and paintwork that you could stare at for days. We found that their was an open air theatre production of “a midsummer nights dream” on at the time as as we had some spare Kuna to splash before heading into Montenegro we thought it would be perfect. Unfortunately though it was due to rain that night and so the show had been cancelled - gutted! By this point we were on our knees.... the sun was hot but I think we were feeling the effects of the horrid previous night. We decided that we needed a nap, so had an hour or so’s kip at a park. Feeling much better we headed back into the old town and decided to treat ourselves and do what the ‘normal tourists’ do and have a bottle of wine and some food at one of the restaurants. We saw the sun set and by nightfall the old town was looking marvellous. The uplighting of the walls and lanterns in the alleyways made everything look fantastic. We found a spot on the outskirts of Dubrovnik at the top of a mountain overlooking the city just as the foretold storm was hitting. My word what a storm! It was right on top of us and Dobby was swaying side to side with rain lashing from every angle - pretty awesome. This however wasn’t really subsiding and after Char awoke around 2am and still found the weather bad woke Jack up and decided that Dobby had had a good enough of a car wash and so drove down into a more sheltered spot to spend the rest of the night - I hope these middle of the night drives weren’t going to become habit!

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