2nd October, Dubrovnik Croatia
Trip Start
Oct 01, 2010
1
10
16
Trip End
Oct 01, 2012
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Sunday, October 2, 2011
From leaving our extended stay in Porec we travelled down the coast to Pula, which is famed for its roman amphitheatre and there is no doubt about it, it is very impressive and the 30 metre high outer wall is almost intact and contains two rows of 72 arches, but the stone spectator seats were removed for building materials in the middle ages. Pula also has a lovely old town which was nice to wander through.
From Pula we went up to the hill town of Labin and the description in the guide book is "Labin is the undisputed highlight of Istria's eastern coast" and this was certainly true, Labin has a great old town built on a steep hill and from the top there was superb views of the surrounding countryside and upon walking through the entrance gates it was a nice surprise to see that there were no big tour groups and we pretty much had the place to ourselves!!
Labin was a refreshing change in that the old town just seemed to be a place where people live and go about their daily business and it isn’t over run with tacky souvenir shops or tourist restaurants. From Labin we dropped down to the coast into Rabac and got a pitch very close to the sea on a nice quiet campsite, Rabac is a holiday resort but only relatively small with a lovely harbour and not too busy. Here in Rabac we had the wonderful news that Becky had a baby boy, and mother and Alfie both doing fine which was great.
We left Rabac and took the short 25 min ferry to the island of Cres. While waiting to set sail we were treated to a display of a pod of dolphins having great fun jumping around right in front of the boat which was great to see. Cres is only a small island and is also linked to another island called Losinj, by bridge. This is where we headed first and the drive really was something else. It was a really sunny day and quite high mountain roads with the most amazing views of all the surrounding islands it really was breath-taking stuff. Again we had a good camp pitch right on the sea (maybe 5 metres away), where we enjoyed the most amazing sunsets.
We went into the main town on the island, Mali Losinj which was very pretty but didn’t really have much to offer other than cafes and restaurants but was built around a nice harbour and some cool narrow cobbled streets to explore. When getting the ferry off the island we stopped off in the main town on Cres aptly named Cres town, this was similar to the town at Mali Losinj, built around a small harbour but a lot more cool narrow streets to explore and some lovely hidden churches and squares. We left the island by ferry to another island called KRK which was only a short 30 min ride but a lot more populated.
The main town on KRK is KRK town and from the campsite it was a short walk along the coast so we went in for the afternoon and dinner. KRK town has an old town which has a complete wall around and very well preserved but a wee bit too touristy which sort of spoils it. The whole town we noticed was overrun with cats and they didn’t look feral and seemed well looked after but as we are not cat lovers we tried to find a restaurant with no cats, having found one we sat down and no sooner had we ordered then we were surrounded by them and when we got the food the buggers were jumping up on our seat and trying to get up on the table.
KRK is linked to the mainland by a toll bridge which is only payable on entry so that was grand and we drove inland to the Plitvice National Park which is close to the Bosnia and Herzegovina border. The topography of the landscape changed dramatically as we drove through tunnel after tunnel, it was totally different from Istria and the islands. Driving up we were stopped at a road block and informed that the road was closed for 30 minute periods while they scanned the fields for mines, not sure whether this was prompted by a farmer finding a mine or just routine checking of unscanned land. Plitvice was where the civil war in former Yugoslavia actually began in 1991 when rebel Serbs from the Krajina region took control of the park headquarters. The Serbs held the area for the war’s duration, turning hotels into barracks.
We bought a two day ticket into the park and the first day we explored the upper lakes and then the lower the next day. Plitvice is a huge national park with the most amazing colours. There is a series of turquoise lakes and several waterfalls among mountains and forests. It is noted as Croatia’s most visited attraction so I think we timed it well, as the first day it wasn’t too busy and easy to get around but the next day it was a bit mad at times and as some of the trails are tight when the huge coach tours are there they just completely block the path and you have to fight your way past. The NP on the whole was well worth it and we really enjoyed taking our time and having a good look around and got some fab pictures.
Next we drove down to another NP called Krka where we stopped for the night but the next day we decided not to go in to the park mainly due to just missing the hourly boat (due to lack of information/directions on the road) which takes you into the park and decided to just head straight down to Dubrovnik as our van insurance is close to expiring and we need to leave the country.
The drive to Dubrovnik was filled with incredible scenery with luscious green mountains and then driving along the coast road it was spectacular. To get to Dub you have to go through a small section (about 10km) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, this was just a quick passport flash at the border and luckily we didn’t have to buy insurance. At the campsite we decided to get some laundry done and while waiting we were chatting to a Kiwi girl from the Top Deck bus (Top Deck is the Aussie and Kiwi backpacker bus) they were on a 34 day London to London, European tour and left 16 days ago barely spending a day in some countries…….. We left 3 months ago and could have easily spent a lot longer if we had the time and money.
We are both very impressed by Dub and the walled old town really has to be seen to be believed. Going in through the draw bridge we had to stop as the foot traffic was being held back for periods as they were filming movie scenes just at the main entrance. We were in town early as we wanted to see the IRL-Italy rugby and figured as there is plenty of Irish here then the Irish pub would be open and showing it, which it was and IRL had another spectacular win, we are hoping we can catch the next leg which is IRL- Wales…… interesting!!!
In the morning the old town was mad busy and when we went around to the harbour we realised why, there was a bloody huge cruise ship out at sea and all the punters were queuing up to get the boats to take them back on board. Once these guys were all gone the city suddenly changed and had a much more relaxed feel to it and was much more pleasurable to stroll around. We will be back in for another look around town tomorrow and then it is bye bye Croatia.
We have really enjoyed our time here and it is a top country but also it is a huge tourist destination. A lot of times it seemed a bit too touristy for us and we found it quite hard to get off the beaten track and experience the real Croatia. One thing to note which honestly speaking has really naffed us off about the country is the way the towns and cities treat camper vans, obviously it is a big destination for campers but they stop you from rough camping full stop and almost every time you park you get ripped off as campers are forced to pay up to 7 times the car parking price and can you believe they even have a different button upon entry for the special camper ticket and when you try to press the car one it doesn’t work (I tried!)……..Rant over
Next stop is the tiny country of Montenegro before crossing into Albania, let the kamikaze driving begin as reports are that they drive like drunken teenagers J
Comments
Hi Edward,
I'll be traveling to Zagreb, Plitvice lakes national park, and all the way down to Dubrovnik in the following 2 weeks, and i'm trying to figure out what to pack for the trip. I'd like to hear your suggestion if possible. What type of clothing is suitable? Say, Wool sweaters or cotton? Are short-sleeves still fine during the day?
Thank you.