Plitvice Lakes National Park

So again, I first heard about Plitvička Lakes (or Plitvice in English) National Park almost two years ago from a Couch Surfer of mine from Switzerland. He showed me a photo from there and I was immediately sold. I think it went on my bucket list for this Euro trip even before seeing the Colosseum in Rome or sleeping under the stars in Portugal.


The websites told me it was closest to Zagreb, but not reachable by train so I settled on visiting it as a day trip from Zagreb by bus. I was watching the forecast religiously and it wasn't looking good. There was a high probability of rain for both Monday and Tuesday, but Tuesday looked like there was at least a small chance of some sun so I delayed the trip until my last full day in Croatia and it worked out beautifully.

It actually did pretty nearly pour for almost the first two hours I was there, but since I had the entire day and was told the entire track around all 16 lakes took only 4-5 hours, I wasn't in a rush, so I went into a cafe to have a cup of tea and read. I actually feel I have grown already with just that simple decision and perspective because the "younger" me would have been pretty put out and miserable, but I immediately eyed the cafe and I knew right where I could go to wait out the rain. It was definitely the right choice too, because the sun came out in not too long and I got to enjoy a spectacular day.

















It is a special and delicate bacteria that exists in the water of these 16 interconnected lakes and makes it the stunning teal green color - swimming in the water is strictly forbidden so as to protect this ecosystem that makes it on the UNESCO list.

















I ended up approaching another young girl who I had seen board the bus with me back in Zagreb who also appeared to be traveling alone. Hyeseong was from South Korea and had finished up a three month English language program in Ireland and was touring around Europe at an even faster pace than me for 30 days. We ended up doing our route around the lakes together and it was nice to have a companion for the day!








Upon completion of the trails, Hyeseong had to wait just about 30 minutes for her bus to Split. However, the first of the only three buses that could take me back to Zagreb was not to come for another 2.5 hours. And then each of the next buses were spaced 30 minutes apart. However, with my research into accessing this National Park, I found mention on several blogs/travel forum boards that often these buses running from Split to Zagreb were full (I could believe it!) and when that was the case, the buses would not stop for new passengers. This did not warm my heart and so I had asked Marko ahead of time about my other options and his reply had only been 'hitchhiking.' Oh boy!

So I suppose I had 24 hours to warm up to the idea and possibility that hitchhiking could become necessary, but when the time came to wait for my odds at catching a bus, I decided to be proactive. Why wait 2.5 or more hours to only then learn that I would need to resort to hitchhiking? So I told Hyeseong my plan (she was really worried for me!!) and walked up the road a bit to what I thought would be a good and safe place off to the side of the road to catch a ride. Admittedly I was quite nervous. I stood far back from the road and watched several cars pass as I looked in the other direction pretending I had a purpose other than hitching a ride. But after a little self talk, I approached the road and looked for my ride. The first vehicle coming was a larger truck and I wasn't so interested in riding in one of those with an older gentleman for 2+ hours so I didn't put out my arm. I decided to let the truck and the black sedan that was tailgating it pass. But I did start to extend it right after the truck passed and I couldn't believe it but the black BMW that had been tailgating had already begun to slow and we had a chance to make brief eye contact. He reversed the car back towards me and I took a deep breath with both nerves and excitement at getting picked up so quickly and I walked up to the passenger window. I had prepared two questions to ask ahead of time and well after my first question, the second one was kind of unnecessary (I.e. do you speak English?) But my first question after hello was "where are you going?" and when he said Zagreb I had to grin. I got into the car and after we exchanged names and I spoke a bit about where I was coming from, I learned that he wasn't just going to Zagreb - but in fact to the same neighborhood that Marko lived in... Only about 7-8 blocks away! (Although I have learned that NO ONE talks about distances in terms of blocks in Europe. It is always, always in meters!) Ekrem, who owns a stone quarry in Bosnia, was on his way to have dinner with a friend who lives in Zagreb. We enjoyed a very nice drive talking about his family, my travels, music, etc. There were certainly periods of quiet which were nice and not awkward and he speedily drove getting home in far less than the bus ride that morning took... I think he about halved the 2.5 hour (with stops) bus ride. When we were near and he had already called his friend who wasn't yet ready to meet and then offered to go for a drink, I didn't think I could or should say no. It wasn't even 4pm yet and I hadn't thought I would be home before 8pm!

And it was great - I ended up being introduced to what was my favorite (there have now been many other since favorite) drink! They mix beer and sparkling lemonade in Europe! It's 2.5% in alcohol and tastes much better than most wine coolers! A great end to a great day!!


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