Montenegro,here we come.

Since we have bit of a planning and want to be in Guca to meet Lorin, Marcel, Pj and Niko we spent the morning in Dubrovnik, as i said it is something different and except for the main street and the regularly arriving flood of people from the massive cruisers it is very enjoyable. After some picnic in a park, we catch the bus to Herzeg-Novi, we have just enough money to pay for it and an ice cream :)

Dubrovnik Fort.

and bay and other part of the fort

and an other beautiful Adriatic bay.


Leaving Dubrovnik.

In Herzeg Novi, we are welcome out of the bus by a middle aged man offering his room, I say maybe and he takes us to visit it. Judith is very skeptical and feels like a pigeon getting riped of. I am talking with the man about his family and keep kidding him about his notion of distances. He tells us his flat is 500 m from center and 100 m from the beach. As we get there Judith is not so keen to stay because we are in his home and would be sleeping on the couch. We go to the beach and keep our eyes opened for something else. Nothing to be found, we sit down and have an ice cream, a bit of sun and a swim. The place is a bit crowded but feels ok. We now really have to start looking for a room to stay in. After some failed trials at different places and walking around, we end up in the very same block we visited before (it is actually really 100 m from the beach and 500 from the center) and stay at a womans place. She already rented her room to two girls and now her living room to us. She sleeps in the kitchen on a camp bed.

Meeeeeeat

We go out for dinner. After a big week in Croatia eating salads, fish and sandwiches, we are beck in the country of grill and order a plate of mixed meat. 600 gr of meat, specialty of th house. As my mom whom i m speak to on the phone as we order says, this is more than what she uses for a meal for the 5 of us. It is a little to much... Herzeg-novi by night is quite nice, old town, church and view on the bay. Unfortunately we cannot get on the old castle, there is a open air cinema tonight.

Longest 50 km ever

Not much ill happen during the first art of this day. it takes us more than 6 hours to get past the 50 km separating us from the ferry port. We don't have much food and we fast on the way since we come across no food store... Th first ride drops us in a deserted village which drives Judith mad. All this quietness and no soul around is not for her. She sleeps in the shade by the road while i write my journal and hope for a car to get us out of here.
Most unlikely (hehe) a swiss couple drive us out of this, right to the ferry port. They are living in Arau and she is Bosnian and Croatian. They tell very interesting things about ex-Yugoslavia and explain us a little more the existing local tensions between to neighboring villages. They come from old family stories and also from difference in wealth. Some towns had big industry and most people in town owns share of it (remains from the socialist times). So when those are successful again (depends n field of activity), everybody in town is rich. Simple picture of complicated story. They also think everything is getting much better and that most people now wish Yugoslavia never split...
First thing as we get into this town is a nice fat, tasty and rich burek! The ferry ride too hot and too crowded but short.

mmm waiting for something???

We arrive just in time for the bus to Dubrovnik. We figure we lost enough time on Hvar today and that we should get further. We stop 5 kms before Dubrovnik to get a quiet and reasonably priced room. We find an excellent spot with small beach, everything refurnished, big kitchen and... a bathroom! Shower, dinner on the balcony with view on th bay. Wow that feels good!

In front of our house!

The beach

The floating tiered hitchhiker...

We decide to have a quick look into Dubrovnik by night and catch th bus. not enough money to pay but the driver is kind and he probably reminds us since we payed him back on our way back. Dubrovnik is beautiful, besides the main street in the old town, the bars are very warm and crowded, people sit outside on little cushions in the stairs. The town remembers Italy, it is beautiful and i most admit i am quit surprised, i expect the same thing again, like in Kurcula, Hvar, Kotor and so many other old towns around the Adriatic but this is truly something else i appreciated despite the numerous tourists running everywhere...
We catch the last bus home into our comfortable bed. So nice to sleep on something soft again!

The coast

Hvar, back to tourism

After this stay in Lastovo which was once again very satisfying and full of bests we have to get up real early to catch the only ferry for Hvar, at 7 am, And we are lucky it is Sunday, else it would have been 4...

Hvar, an other place i have been 2 years ago. It did not change and is actually the only place that is not more crowded than when i was there last time. It is still pretty packed and the coffee is still the most expensive. We get up to the fort and then go for some nice beach time and picnic.

Hvar streets

Harbur and Fort in Hvar.

Cactus!

In the late afternoon, it is not so hot anymore and we head for the other end of the island to catch a ferry, some 80 kms away, this should not be a problem.

Well it turns out to be, after rides and a short while in crazy fast driving bus we are still 50 kms from our goal. The sun is setting down and we decid to sleep outside, squatting a deserted part of the local campsite and giving up our dream of shower and bed after 5 nights outside. I forgot to mention but the past 4 nights, we have been under constant mosquito attack, especially Judith who seems to be sweeter than me... tonight is no exception, those tiny mosquitoes you can really feel every time they bit you won't let us sleep. At 2 am we just wish it would be later and cant wait for the day to start. It is incredibly hot, probably almost 30 degrees and we have to hide in our warm sleeping bag and cover our heads to get a rest from the mosquitoes who really don't seem to mind our repellent... It finally starts at 7 and we quickly get on the road. but this is another story.

I forgot to mention but this day, was the 100^th day of my travels!

One more time!

Again, same players, same field, same game. Chill, read, swim, eat etc... Today i swim a little longer along the cost and discover more aquatic beauties, sea stars, more fish, whole schools of them. and get close to the oldest lighthouse in the Adriatic sea. I wonder how many boats have crashed on these sharp rocky coasts...

Base camp.

Sharing again..

Walking back through the wild inland.

Chill out big time but i broke my hamac...

We get back to the camp, check out, the price is still so over reasonable. mere 50 euros for both of us, including last nights super. It is 5 pm, the sun is not o hot any more and we are back on the road hitching a ride. We have no choice since we missed the last bus. Judith is all but confident, thinking about what will happen if we don't get a ride. Manana Judith manana :) As the say in the Balkan, Opusteno! Relax! And we get a ride with the first car passing, ten minutes later. Back up in Lastova town, we eat the best ice cream i ever ate, not because it is so nice and tasty but because it is so hot and i am craving for something sweet :)
We get a couple rides until Ubli, the last on with a very talkative dutch tell us about his stay here 5 to 7 years ago... We move to a nice spot in the wild, not as close to the sea as expected because of the steep shore but close enough to get there in a couple minutes and watch the most beautiful sunset ever.

Company for tonight...

Massive Chilling

Once again, we chill :)
Nice deserted bay clear water, spot under the trees to protect us from the blazing sun, fresh water full of fish, urchins and other aquatic life (how do you call a bernard l‘hermite in English?? those crayfish walking around with their house). Under water pictures, reading, fresh salad and vine... What more do you want in such a beautiful place. Not a soul around to disturb us and not a car or other civilizations noise to be heard.

Our spot

My friend in cleaning action. Can you see him?

Underwater views...

What this guy might see.

Other friend sharing our lunch.

Tonight we reserved some fish and get a feast. Home made French fries, garden salad and fresh fish, 3 piece of them. Orada and Taninja. Succulent. finally i still love this place :) they manage to keep it familial and comfortable. Simple and fulfilling.
Tonights we sleep under the the same beautiful star full sky.

Sleeping under the stars

I will try to be more brief in my writings, i said this a thousands time but i hope i ill now stick to it and relate only events of interest and sometimes my mind state...
We finally slept a night out under the stars and Judith used her mat and sleeping bad :) looking back, I don't think she specially appreciated it. We get the morning ferry out of the tourist main roads and head to Lastovo, a more or less wild island i also visited 2 years ago.

Written updates.

Enjoying the ride
Summertime, the living is easy.

In Ubli, we catch a first bus ride to the main town, get down for a swim at the beach were we find pure real crystal clear water. It is said this island has the purest waters in Croatia and judging by its color it should be right. The Island and its surrounding were turned into a national park since last visited it.

Lastovo town cats, muscled agile, quite wild.

Lastovo roofs.

I remember very well the camping where i stayed a couple nights and had the best fish along with 100% local vegetables. I hope i wont be disappointed like in Korcula. Slightly sunburn, we catch the next bus ride to the camping. I realize i am not hitchhiking so much any more. Am I getting lazy and comfortable? It looks like it and it feels quite good. But might be slightly more boring to you readers, no more crazy drivers, improbable encounters and unexpected rafting rides.
The camping is more crowded and after a slight disappointment, we find a nice spot. Since we have no tent and count on good weather we get in the very back of the camping where we find a little privacy. A little higher, surrounded by the remaining of walls we have a nice flat spot under an olive tree. It is getting late and we are hungry and quite looking forward to the owners fresh fish! Unfortunately we will have to get the fish elsewhere since it is necessary to reserve because it is so frequented at this time of the year. Opusteno, We have a beer and head to the next restaurant.
There we have a massive fish and squid meal along with some prawns, salads and a bottle of surprising vine. Of course we are no longer in Serbia and the prices have changed quit a bit, from a 10 pp euro meal it jumped to almost 50. The walk back to the remote camp is beautiful, the stars are so bright. No light pollution on this island, the moon is not up and we can see the milk way and all those bright stars. We fall asleep under this beautiful stars vault.

Lombardi beach and Dalmatian concert

Despite being up and ready pretty early, we don't manage to get away soon, the check out is closed until 10 am... aah Zlatko i don't think i will be coming back in your backpacker or recommend it any one... We sort out a couple things, post, food, money and finally leave the place after paying for the night. It was as expensive as our nice apartment with space, kitchen and balcony...

Morning coffee...

Hitchhiking out of this tourisms mecca is not easy and when a car stops after 2 hours of patience, it so hot we accept to take it even though it does not take us the right direction at all. We find ourselves in a nice quiet village with a rocky beach and not many people around. Judith plays with crabs while i swim across the bay, a bit of exercise is more than welcome. After sitting in the sun for a while, reading and writing we have to deserve our dinner by walking an hour by the road in the sun to the next market...

On our way to Vela Luka, on the other side of the island, we meet an other couple of hitchhikers, they also want to get there to see tonights concert, a famous singer is performing. We decide to join in. I will be brief, there is nothing unusual here, nice ride with a French/Italian/English speaking Serb woman from Croatia, nice ice cream and quiet seated concert. There was an other concert and i think we did not go the the same as the Croatian couple. But we got to hear some very nice chorus and traditional music.



Writing all this i m afraid nobody except my parents and Judith will read this. It all seems so boring. Especially now with all the shit happening around me in Macedonia, it seems like only futile details of a privileged traveler...

Eating fish and getting to Kurcula.

As planed i get up around 6am to go buy some fresh fish, just brought in by the fishermen. A 800 gr. nice fish. Again the day, until lunch time is simple. Rest in the sun and swim in the clear waters of Croatia.


After eating the delicious fish is in great amounts, we check out. I realize my Serbian is not so good since i understood 30 a night and it was in fact 40... anyway it was a nice resting stay and the nice newly furnished flat was worth it, especially in Croatia in the highest peak of tourism.


We then easily get to our next ship that will take us to Korcula. The driver is another nice army guy. He is responsible for linkage between NATO and Croatian army. A dedicated swimmer he tells us about challenges to swim to islands and how great his sons are :) And according to him, Korcula is one of the greatest places in world for sure! Of course he speaks of the island not the main ctiy which has the same name and is overcrowded with tourists at this time of the year. It is a bit of a chock after quiet Trpanje.

Getting into Korcula town.

Windsurfers are well served with a nice wind today.

An other beautiful sunset!

We check into the backpacker i visited two years ago, the One Love Hostel. It was one of the great places i visited in Croatia and i thought i d check if the owner, Zlatko, winner of some south African Big Brother, would recall my face... And he did! What funny times i had there with Fran and Carlyn and the Aussie cook. We made a bit of a mess that night in one of the dorms and that is the reason he remembers us... So we check into the two last available beds. As we get into the dorm first surprise, the price has almost doubled, once about 70 or 80 Kn it is now 130kn ... As he said, business is running man! And the beers down in his small bar are the most expensive in town as well... The place remains packed, mostly with Aussies, Kiwis, Englishmen and girls and rare other backpackers... Whatever, we go for a walk and i realize it was much much nicer in the end of September... we ll get out of here tomorrow first hours.

A day of nothing in Trpanje

Today is THE day of nothing... except for burning on a quiet beach, swimming in crystal clear water, reading On the Road again (J. Kerouac, excellent book) not much happening today :) After being a little to much in the sun, i spend the afternoon blogging in an internet cafe.



As i get out, the sun is reasonably low and Judith is up for a cocktail :) The combination of nice setting, sun, sea and Long island Ice Tea gets me in an excellent mood in no time! We try to find a fish for dinner but of course this s done in the morning hours. I will wake up early tomorrow and get some fish! So tonight we content us with pasta with fresh self made tomato sauce and local vine.

Why it was easy to make the decision to stay...

decision making...