Croatia

Picture: Split (taken from Imogen's apartment)
I took an eleven hour overnight bus from Ljubljana to Split, Croatia. It was pretty comfy as far as busses go: had the seat next to me free and the aircon even worked and could be turned off! I got about four hours solid sleep with two sleeping tablets and then dozed on and off for the rest of the time; we arrived at 5.45am at Split and the sun wasn't up yet.

I read in the bus station until the sun came up about 6.30am turning the harbour pink, and then set off to find my hostel in the bright, quiet marble esplanades. Cafes and market stalls were beginning to be set up, and the fish market flooded the street with my favourite smell :S

I'd arrived a day early in Split to recover from the bus ride and get myself in order before my Sail Croatia cruise started the next day. So I slept for a few hours in the hostel, and then met a Melbourne girl called Imogen in the street and ended up hanging out with her all day; exploring the old town of Split, buying beach towels and sunscreen (she was off on a cruise tomorrow too, but a different company to me) and hanging out in her separate apartment that her hostel had shifted her to. This seems quite common in Croatia; you book through a hostel and when you arrive they transfer you to a random apartment that they lease, far away from the actual hostel. I would be freaked out not knowing who else has a key, but this happened to lots of backpackers I met and nothing bad had happened.

Back in my dorm that night I met a Sydney girl called Flick who was heading off on Sail Croatia tomorrow too, but on a different boat to me. She's been nannying in the UK for two years and will be volunteering in Peru with the same company as me, at the same time! But she will be in Lima and I'll be in Cusco. So I think it's fate we met here.

I had to get up early on the Saturday to organise everything that I didn't do yesterday like booking important flights and Oktoberfest accomodation. (Flashforward to Munich and massive regret I rushed booking this outward flight.. you'll find out why later!) But then it was time for Sail Croatia! Flick and I went down to the harbour together and hopped on our separate boats, not knowing if we'd see each other again this week.

What an incredible week. I made some really great friends on my boat (Omladinac) and saw Flick every day too when our boats all pulled up together at harbours so I was friends with people on her boat too (Penelopa.) Our route was Split- Hvar- Trstenik- Dubrovnik- Korcula- Makarska- Split. Some of these are islands and some are spots on the mainland down the Adriatic/ Dalmation coast. The boats sailed in the mornings with swim stops where we could jump off the top deck, then anchored in the afternoons so we could explore, eat dinner and then go out on land.


The Adriatic sea was like glass (clearer water I have ever seen!) and so salty that we could stay afloat with our heads above water without paddling. It was so bizarre. The hills were hazy and dry with little villages and terraced vineyards and picturesque coves with pebbly beaches (it felt weird that we were in the ocean all week and there was no sand in our towels/ beds/ rooms!)


My highlights of the week were:
Dubrovnik with its marble old city surrounded by tall walls; we had enormous gelatis and had a swim in the most perfect water off the rocky walls.

Jumping off the boat into the refreshing (read Freezing) water to wake up every morning.

Seeing an incredible pink sunset over Makarska

Going out in a nightclub in a cave, then swimming in the sea out the front which was as clear as bath water, to cool down.

And just bonding with the same people for a whole week. I became so close with Flick that people thought we were friends from 'before', and others especially my cabin mate an english girl called Michelle, Oli from Sydney, Mark from NZ, Connor from Townsville, Francis and Mike from NZ. We had so much fun every day and night even when the weather turned and we were stuck inside the boat playing 500!

Picture: Flick & I

On the last day I took an optional day excursion to Bosnia, to a town called Mostar. I'm really glad I did it despite the early start after about 2 hours sleep. Bosnia was suddenly so Eastern and Turkish influenced with mosques, the blue evil eye symbol on everything, turkish delight and turkish coffee. This Yugoslavian history is so recent (10 years!) but I hadn't seen much evidence of it in Slovenia or Croatia. Mostar's buildings were absolutely riddled with bullet holes and half the city still needed to be rebuilt. The international community had chipped in to pay for the rebuilding of their main attraction- the old bridge- after it was bombed in 1993.

This is the famous bridge that young boys are trained for life to be able to swan-dive off (20 something metres) into a quickly flowing river with hidden caves and rocks in it. Tourists and untrained locals die every year trying to jump it! But the day I was there nobody was jumping.

Most of my friends were too tired to go out that last night back in Split so we just went out for a nice dinner (no more pizza was the general consensus.. we are very close to Italy and the menus reflect this.)
That night I got the full shivery fevery aching flu so that was fun but at least I made it til the end!

My luck had run out in Croatia. Had a horrible sick day shivering and sweating in a dorm after I got off the boat, then fell down a staircase, then got bothered by a creepy old man. But had dinner with Flick and a few others who were still around, then went straight back to bed before getting up at 4am for Travel Day of Death.

**lots more Croatia pics on Flickr**