Things just always seem to work out perfectly - Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The morning after our last night in Zagreb, Croatia, we packed up our things bright and early and caught a airport shuttle bus to the car rental place to pick up our vehicle. After papers were signed (luckily our friend Paige was the one to sign her life away), we picked up our 4 door hatchback and headed south out of Zagreb towards Plitvice National Park. We first stopped to have a bite in a small unknown city outside of Zagreb and Terrea finally found what she was looking for in all of Eastern Europe, "Pita", which she has eaten a million times at her friend Stela's house.She had been tricked because all of the bakeries call it "Burek" in most places. It is a fluffy, almost filo-like pastry stuffed with cheese, meat or spinach and let's just say it has become a staple food for all of us (costing only $1!!). Back on the road it was raining quite hard but our driver Paige, a 21-year-old solo backpacker from Edmonton, was able to navigate us 1 hour and 30 minutes and we made it to the park. We were one of only 3 cars in the many parking lots and therefore we almost had the 300 square kilometer park to ourselves!! Before we get into describing these lakes, do yourself a favour and google it...words cannot describe how beautiful it was.
As mentioned, the rain was coming down really hard but we threw on our rain jackets and prepared for 3-4 hours of walking in the rain. From the parking lot we walked through the main gates (after a $6 "student" entrance fee) and started walking down the zig-zag path down towards the lowest lake and the bottom of the giant waterfall. The first impressions of this stunning national park completely blew us away. While standing at the edge taking in the post card worthy view, the 4 of us were speechless. None of us had seen something so big, so beautiful, so untouched and pristine. Each lake would cascade into the next one which would cascade down even further into the next. The park had hand made wooden bridges that were built to just clear the water level so it felt as if we were walking on water across each lake. We made it to the giant waterfall and were able to view it from the bottom as well as from the top. We walked for about 2 hours taking in all the view points and finally making it to the 'ferry'. This ferry was used as a shuttle across one of the lakes to continue the tour through the rest of the park. After almost 4 hours we were all freezing cold and ready to warm up and head west for a place to sleep.
The idea was to drive to the coast to find a hostel and then head south the following day. That night we made it to Zadar and stayed in a 2 bedroom basement suite just outside of town. Sounds luxurious right? Well it felt pretty good until 3 of us ended up with some sort of bites on our bodies. Luckily, they weren't bedbugs (or so we think). That morning we had a few hours to walk through Zadar and experience our first taste of the coast since we started travelling. The both of us were excited to finally be standing by the ocean with a nice breeze. The sun ended up coming out for us which allowed some awesome pictures of Zadar. We read that there was an "ocean organ" built into the side of the waterfront boardwalk. We were so intrigued so we went to find it and were blown away! One section of the boardwalk has many holes drilled into it and openings on the ocean side which use the wind and waves to play sounds that resemble an organ. Since the ocean never stops moving there is a constant sounds of music for people to hear that is completely natural. Very cool!! We snapped some pictures and walked the rest of the main square before piling back into our car and continuing south down the coastal highway for Split.
We decided to take a stop in a town called Sibenek which was an hour or two south of Zadar. The sun was starting to go down so we opted to park the car and climb to the top of a rocky hill overlooking the city and horizon in behind it. The 4 of us sat back, took some pictures and enjoyed a relaxing moment watching the sun go down over the Croatian coast while listening to Van Morrison. It was a surreal moment not to be taken for granted. We knew we had some driving to do so we got back on the road towards Split.
In Split, we were staying about a 5 min walk from the main ocean front boardwalk. We had a 4 bed dorm with a TV and computer in it for ourselves which was a nice touch. Unfortunately, because of the low season and the weather, ferries weren't running very often between Split and Hvar (a popular island in the summer months). We had heard nothing but good things about it and wanted to see it but it just wasn't worth the time or money in the wet winter months. Terrea was very disappointed, as Hvar was a main focal point for Croatia for her. Instead we were able to explore the Old Town and the castle walls surrounding it.The town was beautiful and we could definitely understand how awesome it would be in the summer. After about an hour of being outside, there was a flash hail storm! We hid in the small local markets and the workers were nice enough to let us wait it out. After the hail we did one walk uphill for about 20 minutes in order to get a nice view of the city and the harbour. After 2 nights however, we were ready to move on and reach our final Croatian destination, Dubrovnik.
Originally, the 4 of us were going to drop the car off in Split and bus to Dubrovnik but we discovered it was going to be cheaper to extend the car rental and drive so it was an easy decision. It was about a 3-4 hour drive because we chose to cruise the coastal highway which was a lot slower but well worth it. Narrow roads built into the side of cliffs hundreds of feet up was quite an experience. If you ever find you wind up in Crotia, we 100% recommend to rent a car and take the long scenic drive. Stop and smell the fresh Adriatic Sea air and maybe catch a sunset or two! The odd thing about this highway was that a small sliver of Bosnia sticks out to the coast and interrupts the drive for about 20 km. What this means is that you go through a border crossing, drive through Bosnia for about 10 minutes and then go through another border and BOOM, you're back in Croatia once again. Very odd. (Not to mention the extra 4 stamps that you have to get in your passport.)
We finally made it to Dubrovnik and checked into our apartment. The accommodation in Dubrovnik was perfect for us. It was a 2 bedroom place with a kitchen and common area to ourselves for only $15 a night!! The next morning walked to the Old Town about 10 min away and paid way too much money ($18 is ridiculous) to walk the castle walls surrounding it. With tour buses everywhere and huge crowds of people, this was the first time we really felt like tourists. Luckily, not many of the cheap tourists wanted to pay to walk the walls so we got some awesome photos with not too many people surrounding us. After all, walking the castle walls of Dubrovnik is the thing to do so we couldn't pass up the opportunity. For all you Game of Thrones fans reading this, apparently a bunch of scenes were filmed in this castle! Our last night in Dubrovnik we sat around, had some wine and played cards before saying goodnight and goodbye to Paige as she had an early morning bus to catch.
That morning we woke up, Paige was gone and Sam was ready to spend yet another couple days with us. We walked about 30 minutes with our 40lb backpacks to the bus station and headed south for Kotor, Montenegro.
Two hours on the bus and once again we were into a new country along the coast. This was something different though, something special and we knew it right away. Backpackers intuition screaming "this place is a hidden gem|!!! We had yet to feet this type of vibe the whole trip but we knew we loved it. Kotor is situated deep inside the Bay of Kotor right at sea level. The beautiful part of this city was that even though it sits at sea level, it is surrounded by mountains up to 800 meters high. The Old Town of Kotor is very small, no cars are allowed and can be walked through in just minutes. Our hostel was right smack in the middle of it. The two guys who worked at the hostel were some of the best we had met and suggested a 'Montenegro Tour' with their friend the next day. We were able to find the required 4th member and were set to leave the following morning at 7am. That afternoon though, Sam and ourselves hiked up about 40min of stairs (like a mini grouse grind in Montenegro!!) to the top of the mountain directly behind the Old Town. This mountain has castle walls built all throughout it from the 16th century that were used to protect Kotor from the Ottoman Empire. At the top we had a picturesque view of all Kotor as well as the entire bay. After navigating our way through the back hills, through a locals yard, and down their goat trail, we ended up back in the town for a fresh grilled and fried squid dinner. We called it a night early in preparation for our 12 hour tour of Montenegro the next morning.
Waking up was tough but when we met our driver we had a good feeling it was going to be a good day. Our first stop was at the top of the mountain, even higher than we hiked to, for a spectacular view of the Bay of Kotor (Terrea's favorite part). After taking some pictures and learning a little about the surrounding mountains (our guide was super friendly and very knowledgeable) we ended up in a small mountain village for a quick breakfast. Our guides friend's family owned a little restaurant that baked their own bread, cured their own prosciutto and bought local cheese to make arguably the greatest ham and cheese sandwich ever. We even got to take a quick tour of their smoke house where they smoke and cure over 200 legs of ham every year as well as make their own liquor. After forcing us to take a shot of their local home made grape brandy called "rakija" we were back in the van to find out the battery was dead. With 4 of us pushing the van down the hill to jump start the car, we couldn't help but laugh our heads off! Back on the mountain road with the sun shining and bundled in our warmest clothes, we couldn't help to say out loud "this is the life".
The tour took us into the old city of Montenegro, Cetinje, and we were taken to a monastery and told stories of the famous Petrovich leader. Next on the agenda we were taken to what is known as the 2nd most holy place in all of Europe, Ostrog Monastery. It was built into the side of a cliff many centuries ago and holds the body of the first important saint. Once we pulled up to the place we were able to get the vibes that the guide had mentioned so much about. The locals kissed the wall entrances and did their respectful bows and praises. We were taken to the tiny holy room where the saint's body still lays and were told to bow and pray in front of the priest guarding the body. After some spectacular photos from the cliff side and enough holiness for one day, we drove back down the mountain and through the capital city, Podgorica. We had an unbelievable feast at our next stop, Skadar Lake, with red wine, bread, trout, fish soup, potatoes, salad and pomegranates off the tree beside us, while listening to Richard Cheese (an amazing artist who turns popular modern songs into jazz songs. Look him up!) We snapped more photos and drove through some small towns and windy mountainous roads. We were pooped after such a long but extremely knowledgeable 12 hour tour! We made our favorite dinner with Sam, stir fry and potatoes, and we were off to have an 11 hour snooze.
A new day and a new country to to come. On the road to Bosnia! We packed up our things, gazed at the new snow that had fallen on the nearby hill, and off to the bus station the 3 of us went. Once at the station, we were told that they only had 2 seats available for the 7 hour bus to Mostar, Bosnia. Feeling a bit disappointed but willing to let Sam take the place and us stay behind in Kotor for another night, the ticket attendant said in very broken English "wait one moment. I ask my boss to drive you". And sure enough, a beat up 1993 VW Golf pulled up in front of us and told us to "get in"! We were SHOCKED. How do we get all 4 of us and 3 HUGE backpacks in there?!?? But in Eastern Europe anything is possible. And once again, things just seem to work out perfectly.