The adventure in Croatia continue. I am now in front of the Adriatic sea. After more than 2000 km, it gives chills to be in front of this amazing view. 360° view, sea in front of me, mountains in my back. I find the sun as well. With a big smile on my face, now I can enjoy the next 20 km good down to the coast. At Karlobag, I go North, I want to go to Pag Island so I have to ride 17km to take the ferry from Prizna. 10 minutes on board and I am on the planet Mars. Mars with lots of ads. Very impressive to ride in the middle of rocks, nothing else. It is climbing in the blazing sun, it is almost 2pm and I am starving. It is impossible to have a break here, there is no shadow. I am going on the other side of the island to find a beach. As soon as I put my bike under a tree, I went for a swim ! The water was very nice, I enjoyed my first dip. But my day is not finished, I have to find a campersite. The bad thing about this island is that there is only one main road and it is still busy even at the end of August. It is hard for me to enjoy the view and keep straight at the right side of the road… still 20 or so kilometers and I find a nice family camping, cheap and just around the corner of the sea. It’s perfect, I take advantage of the place to have a rest and stay there two nights. I think I got a cold in the mountains. And I ride almost every day, my legs need rest as well.
Swimming at night, swimming in the morning, the sea water is the best remedy. But I can’t stay in one place too long, so I take my bike even on my day off. Only 15km for the round trip to Pag. Nice little town with little streets. I can enjoy my first ice-cream of my adventure because today is a special day : I celebrated 2500km ! Pag is famous for its lace and also for its cheese which is apparently the best in Croatia because of the vegetation and the salt which is eaten by the goats in this island. So I have to try it. I am a little bit disappointed, I was thinking it would be more tasty.
After this gourmet break, I rode again to Obrovac and Zrmanja river. Tonight, I slept in the garden of the unknown. They were not there, they were friends of someone I met at a campersite three days ago. Funny.
The next day, I wanted to leave early. I planned lots of things: swimming along the Zrmanja river and then going to the National Park of Krka, famous for its waterfalls. More than 60km with some elevation. But this was before I stuck my chain when I changed the gear. I try to fix it by myself, but I only succeed in getting black fingers. SOS Dad ! He gives me advice which I try to apply but I am afraid to break my chain. I started to cry. The tiredness, the frustration, the loneliness in front of my troubles make me cry. Ridiculous because I just have to go asking for help. After calming down, it is what I am doing. I go to the café in the corner, the waitress understands my problem and calls friends. After 10 minutes, a Croatian came to help me, at the same time an Australian travelling by bike stopped to help us. And another Croatian. So 2 Croatians and 1 Australian are trying to do their best to fix my bike. I help on my way. They pull on my chain, I feel sorry to make their hands full of grease but, thank God, they fix it !! I feel relieved. I offer something to drink to Roger, the Tasmanian (the Croatian don’t want anything). We had a good chat. He has been traveling since the 90’s by bike, I have a lot to learn from him. It is 1.30pm and he still has a few kilometers to go, he is going back on the road. Me, I give up my plans. I just went to the next campersite along the river. After this testing morning, I am relaxing in the river, getting a massage on my back from the little waterfalls.
The next day, I was more motivated than ever to go to the National Park of Krka. It didn’t start very well, for the first time, following the GPS was a mistake. It was not a sealed road like it was thinking but a gravel road with lots of sand. It was skidding on the climbing and on the way down. But I am stubborn, thinking it will be better so I don’t turn back. Big mistake. Long road. Luckily, I can take a shortcut to stop the suffering. Go back to the bitumen after an hour to do 3kms… but after only a few more kilometers to ride, I am in the middle of a village festival. There are few people in front of the church. Onlooker and starving, I go to the food side. Two seconds after I put my feet in the middle of the tables, someone hailed me. Straight away, I have a glass in one hand, a piece of lamb in the other hand. I am very well welcomed by a group of men. Few of them speak English and explain to me that every year on the 29th of August in Medviđa, there is a party for Saint Jean (I am not sure about the Saint). I drink the local drink, Gemist, which is white wine mixed with sparkling water. I try to drink slowly, the glasses here fill very quickly. I spent à very good afternoon. The ambiance is so cool between good humour, Croatian songs a capella or with an accordion. There are mostly men, not a lot of women. Uncles, nephews, cousins, friends, all are very nice to me. They are all from Paljuv, a village 30km from here. In the evening, they offered me to go to the restaurant at Novigrad, near Paljuv, along the sea. Rocco put my bike in the back of his car. Amazing night: terrasse with sea view, seafood and risotto with Gemist and Croatian songs. And to finish the evening very well, Milo, à man with a big heart, called on his friend and found me a bed for the night in a very cosy apartment. Welcomed as a princess, and it is not finished.
I spent the next day with them. I met Ana, the same age as me, the daughter of the family who offered me a bed. With a huge breakfast and a Turkish coffee, we learn about each other. She speaks about Paljuv, Croatia, the war – her parents had to run away from their home which was destroyed. Then we went to the beach where I meet everyone again. It is their basement, nice little paradise, their own kitchen, drinkable water and a beautiful view over the mountains. I help a little bit to cook the goulash, cutting onions and carrots. And while it is cooking, I go to swim with Ana who shows me a cave. I really enjoyed the meal, we had soup for starters, it was the first time for me to eat soup on the beach. Very good goulash. Hvala everyone for these very good moments and everything you give to me. I am lucky to meet these people along my way. I would love to spend more time with them, but I have a date on Sunday in Dubrovnik. So I have 4 days to do more than 350km.
So I leave early this Wednesday morning to do as much as I can. At 7am, I start to ride. But as soon as I had a break for breakfast, a very nice couple from Croatia and Germany offered me a coffee and à Croatian breakfast, apples Burek. I spent a very nice moment with them, but I still have lots of kilometers to go. Luckily, it is very flat along the coast. With a nice view all the way, kilometers are scrolling quickly. Already 80km, and I stopped laughing. 200m of elevation to go now. So the day finished as it started, sweating. It was hot all day. But no shower tonight, wild camping in the middle of olives trees.
The shower will be for the next day. 60km to ride under the rain. I am now in a very big city, Split, totally wet. It is Thursday and I am still far away from Dubrovnik. So I cheated a little bit to go further. I don’t have the same energy as at the beginning, so it would be hard to ride 100km everyday with elevation. So I decided, especially with this weather, to take the ferry to Korčula, an island in the South. I won a hundred kilometres approximately. But it is not a ferry but a catamaran. At the counter, the guy said to me “ok,ok” for my bike but when it’s time to get inside the catamaran, they started to tell me no ! After speaking with the captain, they did me a “favor” – favor at 20€ – I don’t have the choice. The note straight in his pocket, I feel stupid to get scammed like this. I am learning, not everybody is honest. It take 3 hours to go to the island, I am dry, I sleep soon as I am on board. I arrive by night to Korčula, I won’t see too much of this island.
Because the next day, I take an early ferry to the Pelješac peninsula, 15 minutes on board. I met only grumpy people this morning. Tourist places sometimes bring bad moods. But lucky me, I quickly forgot these unpleasant meetings when, during my breakfast along the sea, I saw a dolphin. It was quick, but it gave me a big smile. Hop, let’s go, now I have to climb. The peninsula is not flat. But I am not complaining, in the top of every climb, there is an amazing view. Between wineries, climbing and the coast, the day on this peninsula offered me beautiful sensations. At this moment, there are lots of works on the peninsula. New highway. Because since this summer, a new bridge of Pelješac has been opened, allowing it to connect Croatia to Dubrovnik. Until now, people had to take a ferry or cross the Bosnia Herzegovina borders. So I rode along the highway until a campsite along the sea. I don’t have time to swim tonight but I enjoyed the sunset on the beach.
But after a night straight on the floor, at 7am the next morning, I am in the water looking for the bloody hole in my mattress. Luckily, the sea is very flat this morning, perfect to find the hole and make a repair. I can take the road. I only have 50kms to Dubrovnik. Today I can take the time to swim. At lunch time, a little break on a rock beach, a beautiful place, clear warm water, perfect. I ride slowly to the next campsite. I slept 15km before Dubrovnik. It was the most expensive campsite of Croatia, I paid the same amount as cars and camping-cars, it is a shame but I pay for the location I suppose. The good thing is, below, there is a beach. I enjoyed this beautiful end of the afternoon to celebrate my 3000 kms !
And this 3000 Kms couldn’t start any better because I won’t be alone for the next four weeks ! A person who is dear to me is crazy enough to join me in this beautiful adventure. Two of us will be riding along the Balkans. And I arrived on time at the airport of Dubrovnik to meet him !!
Voilà, my three weeks in Croatia are concluded perfectly. This country didn’t leave me indifferent, I know I will be back there. Between countryside and seaside, Croatia has a lot to offer !! A thousand kilometers around the country gave me a first beautiful glimpse !
Hvala Hrvatska !
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