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Published: November 9th 2006
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Dubrovnik and the island
Same photo on the front of our 'Lonely Planet' In my last blog, I left off where we had returned to Athens having decided to give Turkey the cut and meet Andrea and Ro in Croatia. We estimated they were probably in Split by this time and proceeded to make plans to meet them there. However, there were massive problems finding a good route between Athens and Split (Croatia) without blowing the budget on flights. What ensued was the most epic segment of travel I have undertaken in my life.
The first leg was to go to Thesaloniki in the north of Greece. This itself took around 8 hours and we found ourselves in Thesaloniki (AKA 'The Cess', short for cesspool) late at night with no connecting train 'til the next morning. We found a dingy hostel and bought supplies for the long journey to come. The second leg was a 20 hour train from Thesaloniki to Zagreb (Croatia) via Belgrade (Serbia). We met some Aussies heading the same way and spent the day on the train playing cards, drinking vodka, reading and whatever else we could do to occupy our time. This trip involved a stint though Macedonia where we were stung with a $50 visa fee to pass
through the country. Later, after falling asleep in the evening, we awoke several hours later to an unpleasant surpise. We found ourselves alone in a dark train which was not moving. Further investigation established that we were in a single carriage, detached from all other carriages and the engine, sitting motionless in the pitch black, 500 metres from Belgrade central station. To this day we have no idea why and no one working at the station could explain what happened. Four hours later, we got on the next train headed to Zagreb and perhaps 8 hours later we arrived. Here, we had several hours to kill before boarding another train to take us south to Split, our final destination. This final leg took another 7 or so hours. All told, from our doorstep in Athens to the apartment Ro and Andy found us in Split, the whole journey took 55 hours (or 2 days and 7 hours). Andy and Ro were nice enough to meet us as our train pulled up and it was straight to the bar. We had one drink and were on our arses and went back home for a well deserved sleep.
Split is a beautiful
old coastal city contained within a citadel and certainly one of the nicest places I have ever been. The two and a half days we spent there consisted of swimming and reading at the beach, drinking at the cafe/bar strip down by the harbour, eating excellent food- both local and international, walking around the city, checking out the trendy night life, swapping stories from our travels with the girls, and just generally enjoying a care-free, slow paced, leisurely few days.
After Split we took a ferry to Bol, a town on the island of Brac, off the coast of Croatia. Here, we found ourselves a nice, inexpensive apartment reasonably close to the beach and town centre. The pace of life here was quite slow but there were nice beaches and some nice bars and restaurants by the main harbour where we spent most of our time. Ro and I took the opportunity to do some SCUBA diving, both of us not having been for several years. Poor Ro was unable to equalise her ears so couldn't go down and ended up sunbaking on the boat. A little cautious at first, I ended up doing a long dive down 26 metres,
Luke, Andy and Ro
Having a beer on the harbour in Split much deeper than I am qualified to do. The water was clear, reasonably warm and the marine life spectacular. The other day in Bol was completely spent lying on the beach, reading, swimming and sleeping.
After this quiet few days in Bol, we continued on to Hvar- an island with a reputation for a lively night life- which is what we found. After spending the first day exploring the town, cooking a nice pesto pasta dinner and having a couple drinks, we went into town to see what the night had to offer. While drinking at a harbour-side bar and talking to some of the staff, we learned that it was a full moon and that a nearby island was having a big party. Luke, Ro and I blagged our way onto a boat for free and arrived at a single bar on an otherwise uninhabited island whose sole purpose must have been to hold these parties once a month. Ended up a fantastic but extremely messy night. I had a plugger blow-out which almost ended my night early.
Next day was again spent swimming and eating followed by pre-drinks in the evening at the apartment. It turned out our
timing was excellent and there was a Miss Universe contest in the town square, presumably to determine who would represent Croatia in the ultimate final. We spent three hours watching beautiful women strut their stuff, drinking beers by one of the most picturesque harbours we'd seen. The night was topped off afterwards when we went to a disco in a fortress on top of a hill by the harbour.
We had another two day in Hvar, doing much of the same, until it was time to catch a ferry to Dubrovnik- from which the girls would fly out of and head to Greece, while Luke and I would get the 15 hour 'Bus of Doom' to Italy. Here, we spent the only full day wandering around Dubrovnik's old town, right on the coast and surrounded by very high walls, which in the old days were obviously needed to guard against attackers and troublemakers. The walk around the town on the wall took around one and a half hours, from which you could take in all the breathtaking scenery and Luke and I had a happy-snap competition. We also spent the evening in old-town Dubrovnik at a place which served beer
Me and Andy
At one of the trendy little bars in Split and cocktails in yard glasses with taps at the bottom and served great wraps and fun was had by all.
The following day, the boys made their way for Trieste (Italy) by bus and the girls caught a flight to the Greek islands.
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Ryan
non-member comment
man, what an incredible time it seems you had! Croatia looks amazing, i've heard so many good stories. very envious, i'm in serious need of partying with you guys again soon. luke told me you have cancelled Japan - don't do it!! you may not have an opportunity to party in Japan again. sleep in the snow if you have to. Rowena - please stop falling asleep at bars, thank you.