Vagabundo del Mundo

Travelling down the coast of the Adriatic and Island hopping your way from Split to Dubrovnik are the most common itineraries for Croatia vacationers. They seldomly get a chance to see the other side of the country that rest in the highlands of the dolomite and limestone mountains and the farmland of Slavonia.

After leaving Sibenik I set off for the city of Zadar to use it as a hub to visit the National Parks of Paklenica and Plitivice Lakes. I didnt intend to stay long but I made some friends the first night who introduced my to some fantastic nightlife, thus making it difficult to get an early start to Starigrad the next day. Zadar was charming and similar the the other coastal cities. A walled interior with old ports and marble streets. Particularly interesting were the different city gates constructed under the rule of different empires. Here is the Roman Gate.

Paklenica is accesible through a small town called Starigrad Paklenica. It is only about a 45 minute bus from Zadar, and the travel is beatiful as you pass through river gorges and over bridges connecting the islands to the mainland. Starigrad is usually a sleepy town, but I was there on the day before an international rock climbing competition, which filled the town and made for some interesting aquaintances.
The hiking in Paklenica is excellent and the park is extremely well preserved. I choose a 6KM hike that took a leisurely start throught canyon and then virtually straight up a long a switchback to the top of second highest peak. The day was a little cloudy but the views were magnificent, just not able to be captured well on film. Here is shot looking through the gorge to the Adriatic from the peak.

As a result of the climbing competition lodging was booked in Starigrad so I headed back to Zadar for the night. The next morning I was able to get an early start and headed for the Plitivice Lakes National Park. The lakes are famous for being fed by waterfalls created through erosion of the limestone rock core of the surrounding mountains. The changing composition of the mineral in the water creates shade variations from crystal clear blues, to dark green to turquoise. The Park is magnificent and includes several hiking trails that make it possible to see great panoramic views over the series of lakes and waterfalls. Unfortunately, my schedule was compressed and I didnt have enough time to spend multiple days.
Here is a shot of small waterfalls and the beautiful color of the lake water.

Plitivice is half way between Zadar and the capitol city of Zagreb. In Croatia you can pick up long distance buses on the side of the highway, you just have to flag them down and climb aboard. So I grabbed the next Zagreb bound bus and may my way to the city. On my way to the hostel I saw a bar called "Vagabund" I decided I would stop in for a beer the next day. After a day of sightseeing and walking tours I dropped in for a beer. The bartender was the son of the owner and a great guy. I wound up talking to him for hours, getting introduced to his friends and and invitation to go out and enjoy some Zagreb nightlife. After several beers and a Vagabund Pizza, I headed back to the hostel. My roommates were and Austrailian and an American that had just arrived. I invited them for the night out and we made the most of it. After a couple hours of sleep I rushed to the train station and grabbed the next train for Osijek.
One of the many beautiful parks in the "Green Horeshoe" of Zagreb

Osijek is known for being a major river port and formerly one of the most diverse towns in Croatia. Its proximity to Hungary, Bosnia, and Serbia led to an extremely mixed population which also included Austrians, Italians, and Germans. That is until 1991, when its proximity to Serbia and prime river location made it a major battle spot in the Homeland War. I met a nice girl in Osijek who was generous enough to take me out and show me around the town. Her family fled to the United States during the war. She later told me that she is Serbian, but everyone thinks she is Croatian. This is the way it has to be if she is to live in Osijek without the resentment and discrimination of her peers who believe that her relatives are responsible for the death of theirs. The city is mostly rebuilt but buildings everywhere show the pock marks and exterior damage of the street fighting that took place 10 years ago. These are constatnt reminders for the residents that keep the war fresh in their minds.
The exterior of a historic building in Osijek

The cuisine in Osijek is fantastic, much spicier than other parts of Croatia as a result of their locally grown Paprika and the Hungarian influence. The most impressive town monument is the St Peters and St Pauls cathedral shown here

Leaving Osijek I headed north to Pecs, Hungary then on to Budapest and Munich. I had schedule to keep and I didnt get to see much. Only enough to know that an Eastern European trip is my future.
The town square in Pecs

Well after a little relaxation in Brac, I realized that I would need to pick up the pace a bit I were to see the entire country in the remaining two weeks.
The bus trip from Split to Dubrovnik was even more incredible than the trip along the Amalfi coast in Italy. Almost the entire trip winds and curves around the rocks and cliffs that make up the Adriatic coastline of Croatia. From my window I couldnt see the road, and the shoulder must have been inches if anything at all. At one point there was road construction and they had created a new single lane for traffic to alternate passing. As the bus driver navigated this hairpin turn on an unpaved road I could see all of the rocks and gravel propelled from the bus tires and falling from the edge down into the ravine. Along the way I counted some 24 vechicles that had not been so lucky to navigate the difficult passes over some 200 km.
There are two places in the journey from Dubrovnik from Split where you have to cross through Bosnian territory. This would be my first taste of the tension between the people from seperate states of the former Yugoslavia. There was a definate sense of hostility between the Bosnian borbder control and the Croatian passengers on the bus. I would find out later that even though there are few problems between Bosnia and Croatia, there are hundreds of years of history between the two dating back long before Yugoslavia and the Homeland War.
Dubrovnik is famous worldwide as the walled city on the Adriatic. Three sides of the old town are bordered by the adriatic sea with only a drawbrdige entrance frm the land. The city has been written about in literature for hundreds of years, and is also rembered for the massive bombing at the hand of the Serbians during the Homeland war in December, 1991. There are still some remnants of the destruction in the form of walls in the process of resconstruction, and memorials of lost town jewels such as famous works of art, etc.. The houses and buildings mark the areas of the bombing by the distinctly different colored tile roofs on the areas they were hit. Other than that, the war is a memory that most Croatians want to forget, and when the topic arises its best to keep your opinions to yourself.

Unfortunately all of this attention has also attracted a wave of tourism. Even during the off season the streets are flooded by day with Cruisline stop overs, adnd tourist from all over the world. This caused the city to loose quite a bit of its appeal in my eyes. I did however, discover a great travellers bar full of backpackers and travellers from all over Europe and America. Met several great people, and enjoyed my fair share of the Dubrovnik nightlife experience.

After three days I decide to head north to Krka National Park which is located near a city called Šibenik. Famous for the Krka River Canyon and picturesque waterfalls, I decided it was time to start enjoying some of the inland territory as well.

I was equal parts impressed and disappointed by the National Park at Krka. The spectacular views of the falls and the rivers were spoiled a bit by the souvineer shops and cafe restaurants at every turn. I looked for opportunities to branch off on a trail or find some peace from the masses. I found a little trail leading over the side of a hill with a nice view of the more tranquill part of the river. Caught a nice break headed back to Šibenik and then on to Zadar.