The blur of Dubrovnik

The last 10 days has flown. It seems like only yesterday we were leaving Montenegro, with my excitement boiling over at the arrival of the beautiful Miss brown.

Since her arrival, the town of Dubrovnik had become our own. The old town with all it's charisma and romantic charm hasn't failed to produce a gem or two of an evening, that which rings loudly in my mind was mine and Sarah's dance under the old town clock, showing the middle aged cruise couples how it was done I say!

This is not to mention the long, sunny days on the beach and in the immaculate sea (Sarah even had a splosh, and WASN'T attacked by any sharks!!) as well as kayaking, wall walking and mountain hiking.

The town itself is undeniable in its character. Nestling between mount srd and the Adriatic, it isn't difficult to reach high ground and enjoy the views across the harbour, lapad peninsular, the old town (of course) and the Dalmatian coastline off towards Montenegro. In fact, from the top of the cable car (or the walk should you not be so frivolous) of mount srd, it is possible to bask in the panorama of said landmarks, over a Dubrovnik-priced cup of coffee.

After what felt like a day, Sarah departed (gutting), overlapped by the presence of his royal dudeness, and just today Sam departed after 6 weeks of travelling with the snores of yours truly.

So a couple more days under the relentless sunshine of dubrovnik (don't mistake this sentence for any sort of complaint) and I'm back. Spending sterling and eating british rump steak.

Hard life.

Zabijak and the Tara canyon

Zabijak is higher than ben Nevis, and still surrounded by towering peaks in every direction. In the north of Montenegro and a comfortable 6 hours on old buses from kotor where we stayed at the beginning of the week, the town lies on the very edge of the durmitor national park.

After an 8 hour hike yesterday around the national park and on the magnificent babotov kuk (2,500m) we set out today in search of the Tara canyon; 2nd largest in the world only to the grand canyon, thinking it best to take a taxi there and walk back (due mainly to lessons learnt from the previous day of walking).

The taxi driver stopped on the side of the road, told us to get out and pointed toward a footpath. We begun to walk, having been told it was 40 minutes from the 'town' we would be dropped in. With nothing but the endless forests of durmitor around, we made haste along the footpath, wondering if this would another goose chase, similar to that we were on the previous day in such of the peak of the almighty babotov.

Not 20 minutes after setting off we came to a clearing. The views were spectacular, but we continued along our path, until the word spectacular was truly given definition.

With a panorama unlike any that either of us had ever been able to comprehend until this instance, and the glorious power of nature on full view, we both stood speechless, attempting fruitlessly to capture what we were witnessing on numerous digital cameras.

Equally fruitless would be human destruction of such a place. Many beautiful places have been industrialised or in some way manipulated by human endeavour? And this trip has shown some fine examples, the bay of kotor or lake Zug for instance.

This jaw dropping landscape strikes you as mother nature herself using her ice, rock and many shades of blue and green to show to gigantic fingers to man and it's conquest to destroy every beautiful thing on her planet.

But I thought Croatia was the pearl of the Adriatic?

Ok, so from the experience I had, croatia was like a stephen king novel. Starts off good, if a little slow, getting very exciting part way through and then maintaining its undeniable brilliance to the end.

Montenegro on the other hand, has begun like a Tarantino film. There isn't blood and guts everywhere but from the second you find yourself here, you're wonderfully shocked and undeniably excited at the same time.

When we crossed the border(s) we found lush green mountain ranges and Mediterranean villages. As the bus took us round the largest fjord in southern Europe we found ourselves hopping off in a place called kotor, a picturesque port town, watched over by an almighty fort perched on the mountains above.

The hostel is cheaper than any in croatia and slapped in the middle of the old town. Accomodating hosts and a wonderful atmosphere. The view from the fort, although a tiring one, is worth the walk, and we're licking our lips at what the rest of this place has to offer.

We're told that the second largest canyon in the world, only shades smaller than the grand canyon in America, lies a bus journey away in the national park, so thats a definite must.

I'm thinking this experience will continue in a pulp fiction-esque way, without the skipping from present to past perhaps.

Korcula

This island seems to be the pinnacle of our island hopping adventures. And quite rightly too as its the last island we are visiting before a trip into Montenegro and then a couple of weeks in Dubrovnik and the mainland.

The ferry trip yesterday turned out to be a very relaxed affair, having a snooze in the sun whilst listening to Bon Marley and wondering what the island of korcula has to offer. We haven't had an easier arrival yet on this trip, hopping straight off the ferry only to be greeted by a sea taxi charging a whole £1 to take us directly to our campsite.

As we arrived, we felt the relaxed nature of this island in all it's glory. "pitch up and go and pay later, reception is closed" said the hotel concierge, and within 15 minutes of being off the boat we were floating around in the sea, fish swimming around our ankles, and basking in the afternoon sun.

We had a stroll into the town of korcula in the evening, which is a beautiful town, geared around the tourist
Yachts with a very French feel to it. In fact the whole island feels much more French than croatian, with pine forest covering the majority of land, and smal terracotta villages littering the island.

However the layed back croatian ways die hard, and the towns and people move more slowly than the three-decade old taxi boats. Ideal for a last few days of relaxation before another trip into the unknown..

Split 11/09

Cool day in a super cool place today.

Arrived in split yesterday on the bus, all a bit sticky and uncomfortable, but having found a hostel close to the old town and enjoying the first bed in a week we headed out early this morning to check out the town.

Although it seems a little rough around the edges coming into town by land, the old town and the docks are just a little bit special. Even an adventure man such as myself was a little taken aback by the purity of the roman ruins as we wandered around, and some of the views from the hill that overlook the town ALMOST took the words out of nicks mouth of all people.

What has made me love this town so much is the mixture of ordinary people and sheer beauty, right in town is yet another fantastic crystal clear sea, only five minutes walk from the markets and housing blocks.

Never do you feel threatened, and the place is dirt cheap. Tomorrow we're off on a boat trip to the blue lagoon before saying goodbye to nick on Thursday. After our final bed-sleep before the arrival of miss brown!

On the road again..

Sat at the ferry port after a couple of wet days at hvar Island. Had I written this yesterday I would have been talking about how uninspiring this place has been, mostly due to the recurrent thunderstorms and lack of rustic charm that has greeted us at many other islands we have visited.

But the general opinion that the island is the most beautiful in croatia became believable this morning as we sit at the ferry port with the first sun of our time here. When kissed by the sun, the greenery of this island and the perfect sea becomes apparent; the roofs look vibrant in their terracotta colour and the fishing boats in the bay add to the picturesque nature of this place.

So a 2 hour wait for a ferry and a 6 o clock wake up have saved the island from my innate negativity caused by poor weather it seems.

The surprises keep coming it seems. On to korcula today then. And perhaps some sun?!