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Published: October 13th 2010
Dubrovnik
A gate to the old city.Bus Rides
The bus system in Croatia worked out pretty well as a quick way to move from place to place. At Drvenik we biked a short way from the ferry terminal to the main road, the E65. The bus station, which turned out to be a stop with a roof, was right at the top of the hill. The bus which ran from Split to Dubrovnik came by in about 15 minutes, another one of our lucky times. The driver and conductor loaded the bikes into the cargo area and we were off. The price was 60 kuna, which seemed much more reasonable than the ferries. Earlier in Trogir, we were able to toss the bikes into a bus, with the assistance of a driver willing to overlook the system. It was easy and convenient.
The view from the bus was almost as good as a bike. For some kilometers we were pretty sure we would have enjoyed the ride. As we got closer to Dubrovnik and traffic increased, I was glad I was not riding. In this stretch of E65 you cross into and out of Bosnia i Hercegovinia. At the border, a guard came on the bus
Dubrovnik
Dan in front of the Ploce Gate and checked passports. Then a few miles later, the bus stopped at a rest area and everyone got out to smoke cigarettes and buy stuff (pivo?) at a store. The rest area was filled with other tourist buses doing the same thing. Dan and I were bewildered by it, but everyone else seemed to expect it.
We would recommend bus transportation to move along the coast.
Finding a room
They are called SOBE or ROOM or ZIMMER or CAMERE. Most of the signs that greeted us at each ferry terminal and bus station read all four to cover the range of languages likely to be arriving.The sobe is the common place to stay in Croatia. It is a room or sometimes a studio apartment in a private home. It is the main accommodation we used in Croatia and for the most part, worked great. The hardest part was maneuvering through the maze of owners at the terminals. On the islands the owners were present, but not what I considered "in your face". They made eye contact, they approached politely, the pushed if you seemed interested but backed away if not.
Dubrovnik was another story all together.
Dubrovnik
The harbor from the fortress. It had the big city feel. We were being indecisive as we had no idea where we wanted to stay and how the city worked with regard to bikes or buses. Within minutes, we had four or five different owners surrounding us fighting over us. They would not even give me space to put my bags back on the bike. I finally moved to the side, leaving Dan alone. By the time I got back to him a minute later, the price had dropped by 100 kuna, but they were by now calling each other "liar!" and screaming at me "Lady, listen he lie!". That seemed to have something to do with how close a room was to the old town. As far as Dan and I could tell they were probably all lying. I apparently looked sufficiently annoyed that the price continued to drop.
We finally chose a young man who then took us on an insane ride around the end of the bay, past the yacht club into the hills. We ended up just about across from the ferry terminal, clearly pretty far inland, in a suburb called Babin Kuk. He seemed to forget two bicyclists were
Dubrovnik
Looking down from the wall following him. When we finally arrived, it turned out he had shown us pictures of an entirely different room. He wanted to put us in his father's den on a pull out couch with a hall bathroom shared by his father and another customer! I really looked ticked off then because I was. Although Dan and I were in a pretty lousy position, it being sundown in a city we did not know, we negotiated new mattresses on the pull-out sofa and an apartment for the next night at the same price (22 Euro). It turned out great and was a good location. Lesson here - Never take the first price offered even if only one person is at the station. Make really annoyed faces and shake your head "no" alot. The price will go down.
Dubrovnik
It is a truly beautiful city in a touristy way. We had been told it was a "must see". In retrospect on a biking holiday, we would have put a question mark next to it on the list. Once there, we explored the old town, complete with the walk around the wall. There is a fee and you go with huge
Dubrovnik Roofs
Most of the roofs were replaced after the 1991 siege. crowds, but it is a must to appreciate the city and its history including the 1991 bombing. Our pictures reflect much of what we wanted to understand. You have to be careful in busy times not to be caught in the big cruise ship groups. We had some difficulty and many times went to less well known or recommended spots to avoid the groups.
After we saw the old town, the Adriatic was calling us. We returned to our by now really nice 'apartmenti" and grabbed our bikes. For a couple of hours we explored Lapad and Babin Kuk. We found a swimming area that had us both speechless at the wonder of it. In a small cove, we let ourselves into the water not even waist high. From there you could step one rock at a time until you were deep enough to dive out to the sea between rocks about four feet apart. All this time you could see bottom even wehn it was twenty feet deep. At that point I wished I had carried goggles. After the swim, we rode around the area checking out hotels, beaches, rivas and whatever we wanted. Lesson learned - do
Dubrovnik
On the wall walk not worry about staying out in Lapad or Babin Kuk. You can get into the city pretty easily and if you are leaving by bus or ferry, it is very convenient.
It was not a high mileage day for us on the bikes, but the 'quads were tight from the steps in the old town.
Mljet
The island of Mljet was our next stop. It is about half national park and half open. We heard it should not be missed so we headed out early on a ferry for about a two hour ride. It was also the only island we could go to and continue our journey except by private boat. We wanted to get out of Dubrovnik by ferry, not bus and not biking the main road so Mljet it was.
This line was the D & V Line, a quasi-public postal ferry which turned out to be much more reasonable than Jadrolinjia. The ferry stops first at Sobra on Mljet, then Pomena at the easterly end where Nationale Park Mljet is. We biked the big lake in the park and much of the little lake. We did not get to the Benedictine Monestary out
Dubrovnik
It is a beautiful old town on an island. It seems like admission plus the boat ride is included in the park ticket price. Next time, I would do that. the roads on Mljet, especially in the park are gravel. I would not recommend road bikes there.
After lunch in Polace, we hit the road for Sobra. Do not try to eat in Govedari near the park. It is nice, but no food. For that matter, Polace really was not ready for hungry bikers. We had one of our only bad meals there. The overland trip out of Polace was up, then along the island ridge down to Sobra. The grades on Mljet were 9% and 10% instead of the 4%-8% we saw on other islands. Even with the grades, we liked the riding on the main roads more than the national park. Once again, we seemed to coast into the port just in time for the Jadrolinjia ferry to Prapratna on the Peljesac peninsula. The Peljesac is a long peninsula between Dubrovnik and Split. Coming off the ferry we encountered a group of 6 or 8 Scottish men getting on the ferry. They had cycled from Orebic at the other end of Peljesac to
Dubrovnik Bridge
We thought this was a Santiago Calatrava bridge Prapratna with a serious headwind all day. An Irish couple on road bikes also stopped to talk to us when they saw Dan's Irish bike shirt. Between the Scottish and the Irish we had renewed energy and a real belief that good roads were ahead of us with a tailwind!
Ending the day on the Peljesac Peninsula
When it was clear Prapratna was just a port, we asked a local fisherman who was at the port repairing nets where to stay for the night. It was approaching 17:00. He suggested Ston, a large town about 5 kilometers easterly from the port or Zuljana, a fishing village about 23 kilometers to the west, the direction we wanted to go. When we hit the main road, our plan to go to Ston changed quickly. The road was empty of trucks and the wind was pushing us west. We cruised into Zuljana just before sundown. The sunset over the Zaton Zuljana was beautiful and a perfect way to end a long day. We stayed and ate at the Family Magazin, owned by a German family. I recommend Zuljana to anyone who wants to experience a small Croatian fishing village.
The Irish
Mljet
the Benedictine Monestary in the Big Lake riders later told us Ston was a good stop for them - a vibrant, fun town. It reassured us, as we felt on the road when we chose between Ston and Zuljana, we had reached the point where there were only good choices.
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