This looks promising

At last, we are in Croatia, a country which we anxiously wanted to visit for a long time.

Come late September, Dora is up for sale.   If you or anyone you know is looking for a reasonably priced motorhome then please check out the following link; https://www.2wanderers.com/dora-for-sale/ or if you have any questions email us at; info@2wanderers.com Thanks

 

Croatia has developed fast since the last Balkan war. Factors such as being on the coast, far away from Serbia and close to West Europe may have contributed to this rapid modernization. We wanted to see this change and, of course, the 1778km-long coast and some of its staggering 1244 islands. The timing could not have been more perfect. We planned to be here by summer and we did it right. At 38°C in the shade, the beach is the right place to be.

So what is the plan for Croatia? swim, snorkelling, more swimming, more snorkelling. Maybe, if I am brave enough, I will try scuba diving again. I did it, ten years ago and I panicked. Who knows. There may be a chance that my psych had forgotten that fear and I could finally enjoy the sport.

Before we get to the coast, we have to drive through the Plitvice National Park.

The road looks busy. There is not a layby that it is not occupied by people photographing the landscape. This place is popular. How come it is not mentioned in our guide? Lonely planet seems to have focused on the Croatian coast, leaving out stunning places like this. Quite frankly, finding out places by yourself is much more fun and they look much more beautiful, precisely, because you don’t expect to come across them.

We finally find a layby for Dora.

and take a photo of that green emerald colour of the river which crosses the park.

The drive across the park is quite slow. Numerous ticket offices, full car parks, trekkers, quite a lot of families… There must be a hell of a lot to do here. Should we stop or carry on? We are so eager to see the sea, we decide to carry on.

The road opens up, as we get closer to the coast.

The times when the wheat was ready for harvesting in Czech Republic seem now so far away. The harvest season has now ended.

The landscape changes rapidly, delighting us with a set of hills in the background.

which disappears quickly to give way to the first hints of the sea.

Sea, coast, beach means more motorhomes around. Motor homers love the coast, especially those coming from Northern Europe.

Suddenly, the road bends to the right and there it is, the knockout image of the sea, extraordinary.

This is not really open sea, it is just a massive bay, which the highway crosses several times. Making the whole driving experience absolutely stunning.

This is a picture we will come across many, many times in Croatia. Hundred of boats sailing along the Croatian coasts; holidaymakers, fisherman, locals, everybody escapes to enjoy those sapphire waters.

We want to be part of it and we commit to stop at the first sea spot we see. However, the one we have found is not that great but nonetheless good enough to freshen up, have a quick lunch and more importantly, do a bit of IT. This time, the IT session won’t be about updating the blog but about preparing our next trip. What do I mean by our next trip? You’ve just got here, you may say!! Let’s me explain.

We have allowed 15 days for Croatia but between them, we have planned to travel to Montenegro for one week. However, we could not take Dora with us, again, insurance issues. So the plan was to drive down to the far end of Croatia and leave Dora at Dubrovnik, the closest town to the border, as we did when we went to Albania, Macedonia and Moldova. Although this time, we had decided to hire a car rather than use public transport. When we looked into it a couple of months ago, it was much cheaper to do the former.

But due to the high season, car rental prices have rocketed. Renting a car for a week it would now cost us €300 compared to €100 a couple of months ago, then add petrol, parking fees, etc. Frustratingly, we could not have booked it in advanced as we would never known the precise dates until we got closer to the time of travel.  So, we have to change our strategy and quickly arrange the logistics, we are only a couple of days away from Montenegro.

There was another factor that made us change our original plan of leaving Dora at Dubrovnik. Bosnia has a way out to the sea, annoyingly, through Croatia because to leave Dora at Dubrovnik, we have to go through Bosnia and, guess what, Dora is not covered by the insurance in this country either.

So finally we come up with this plan:

Leave Dora at Split

Get the ferry to visit a couple of Croatian islands

Get back to the mainland by ferry and visit Dubrovnik

Get the bus from Dubrovnik to Montenegro

Visit the Montenegro coast and get a bus to Durmitor National Park, north of the country, to do some trekking

Cross the Bosnian border and visit Sarajevo

Back down to Split and stop in Mostar on the way

I must say, we never thought of visiting Bosnia. But now we will be so close to the border from the national park, we might as well. In this way, we would have done the complete tour around the Balkan countries.

It also makes a nice little loop so we don’t have to back track. GDR

Our loop around the three countries will last 10 days and it starts tomorrow, we will make the most of Split today. We have different opinions about how much these ten days will cost. Gary estimates €700, I’d say €1,000. Accountants tend to be conservative. Who will be right?

So, we split the tasks: Gary looks into buses and I look into the accommodation. When we realise, it is already 17.00, and we still have to get to Split, which is 80 kms away. But we are quite pleased with ourselves. We have managed to book everything at very reasonable prices.

We continue to drive. As we get closer to the south, the coast gets better and better. We are going to have such a lovely time. Croatia looks promising.

10 kms from Split we find a nice car park for Dora, with nice views over the sea.

There is one another thing to arrange: where to leave Dora for those ten days. There is only one secured car park close to the docks, but it has a height limit of 2m, Dora is 2.9m high. The other secured car park is at the airport, 10 kms away from the ferry. Our ferry departs at 9.00am. Logistically, it will be a hassle to get there in time.

So, we arrive at Split in the morning hoping to find parking. It is quite common for people to come here and go off sailing for days or weeks. So there must be parking facilities.

And we find one. We look hard for signs banning motorhomes. Nothing. The car park is almost full of cars. There is also another motorhome which happened to be Spanish! Do you think she will be okay here? Gary asks. I feel quite apprehensive about leaving her for the first time under no supervision. But we have no choice. There is no parking available for her anywhere. We will secure her well and hope that with so many people around, opportunists will be deterred from trying to do anything naughty.

Ready to go swimming?

Let’s get out that snorkelling stuff, I cannot wait to see what’s under those turquoise waters.

The water is incredibly warm. The current is strong, it is hard to swim but it is easy to snorkel, just float and let the water do the work.

We forgot to bring the GoPro to record our diving. A bit annoying!

This place is madness. We had not seen many Brits around this part of Europe, they are all here sunbathing! These ones have a long way to get brown, or I should say, nicely purple, like cooked lobster.

Brilliant plan lads, first day on the beach strip off and lay there for several hours, spend the next days in casualty or indoors! GDR

We go back to Dora to have some lunch. Opposite her, there is a shaded park, perfect spot. We can also have a quick siesta. The sightseeing around Split will have to wait until late in the day, when the temperature cools down a bit.

After the siesta, we take a few more dips in the sea and we walk to the town centre.

Hang on, what the hell is this? We get closer. It is a restaurant! Yes, it is called “Dine in the sky”. How does this work?

We get a bit closer. They have three menu options at different times of the day:

Light dinner – between 15.00 and 19.00 – €35

Dinner – between 19.00 and 21.00 – €70

Cocktail – between 21.00 to midnight – €35

Interestingly, all menus offer the same stuff; canapés and drinks. The most expensive menu is the combination of the other two.

So you book, you get there in time, you sit, you get secured with all sort of seatbelts. Such a shame, you come prepared with your best evening outfit and get all strapped in as if you were going to jump out of a plane.

How does it sound? Like everything you see the first time, it sounded exciting and quirky “Imagine when I tell my friends””!! But when you apply reason and working out the value for money, it just sounds crazy. The price is astronomical for just canapés and a few drinks. You are basically paying for being up there half an hour. I guess, in practical terms, they cannot hold you there much longer. What do you do when you need to go to the toilet?

Okay, the views may be quite nice. But I climb mountains, I am sure I have seen better. So the verdict? Stupidly indulgent and incredibly overpriced.

So what else does Split have to offer?

The Old Town, a vast open air museum mainly of Roman ruins, and we thought we were done with them after leaving Greece!

It makes sense finding Roman ruins in Split. Croatia has strong cultural ties to Italy being so close. This is one of the reasons why I love travelling. It makes you think, infer, arrive at your own conclusions. This is the best way to learn, the best way to remember.

Some sort of function going on tonight?

We have repeatedly come across these colourful flowers. They lack a distinct smell but their colours are striking.

The cathedral of St Domnius stands majestically in the middle of the square. Its tower is climbable. We don’t think twice.

Although it could be a while to get up there. There is a backlog at the base of the stairs, people going up don’t wait for people to come down first. So they get jammed in the staircase. All sort of friction may be going on there trying to pass each other. Some people just don’t think.

We are half way through and still have a couple of more floors to go.

The top of the tower is busy. You have to wait your turn to get the panorama.

Split is a big town.

The modern area extends beyond my eye sight.

The views of the harbour are fantastic. Round that far corner is where we swam earlier.

that is where our ferry will depart tomorrow.

From here, people look tiny.

It has even a green area.

I now understand why we like climbing so much. Looking at places from the far distance makes you aware, comprehend, realise, appreciate.

What is going on here? A group of teenagers posing in a Beverly Hills 90210 style. The photographer, an Asian-American girl, seems to enjoy playing the top model photographer: “Now like this, now from this corner, now wet your lips…” Incredibly irritating, incredibly rude. This place is tiny, we have all paid to see the views, they could not have found a better place for the Hello magazine session. Suddenly, the teenagers leave the tower without even saying good-bye to her. We cannot work out what the connection was between the two parties. Very bizarre.

Anyway, time to go down.

We forgot to photograph the bells on the way up.

Back to the old town. It is close to 20.00 and it is still boiling. We stop in a cafe for a cool drink and abuse the free WIFI. The cafe has one of these stupid cooling systems which expels a cold water mist. It still makes your stuff wet, including your glasses. Gary seems to enjoy it. I drink my juice quickly and wait for him outside the bar sitting area.

You could have drenched me with ice cold water and I wouldn’t have minded. GDR

Slowly, we go back to Dora. We have lots of things to do: finishing a couple of posts, packing and eating!

A strong sulphur smell hits our nose when we pass this corner. Where does it come from? Is there any thermal fountain around here? The smell brings memories of the volcanoes in Italy. Those times seem so far away.

Stands offering day trips to the closest islands are lined up along the promenade within 10 metres from each other. They promise you a visit to a couple of islands and a free lunch for €100! There is no such a thing as a free lunch. One of them does a day trip to see the lakes at the National Park we drove across yesterday. That was what all the fuss was about, we missed it! Perhaps we will go back. This is the beauty of having the freedom to change plans.

Gary is temping to go for a quick paddle before locking up ourselves in Dora.

It will be a nice sunset

Good night. Sleep well. Keep nice and cool in Dora.

SM.