A visit to Croatia

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt - 8 July 2017: Entering Croatia, I paid a visit to famous Dubrovnik! The citadel inside the ramparts is stunning, but so touristy that I even met more than a few Greeks there! Dubrovnik was established by refugees from the nearby Greek colony of Epidauros in 7th century AD.

I moved towards the peninsula where Orebić is situated. I took a dirt road and found myself in a small fishing village. From the other side of the peninsula there was tarmac all the way to the village, but the problem was that the dirt road I followed did not connect to the main road.

I walked to the village to see whether I could find a way to pass the motorcycle through. I had to go down some 20 to 30 wide steps. I shook the serenity of the village a little bit, but finally it was quite easy to get the motorcycle down and reach the main road!
Then, I took a ferry-boat to visit the Korčula Island. From there, after a three-hour trip by ship, I arrived in Split, the second-largest city of Croatia. There, I was a guest of Branka, who was kind enough to show me around. Diocletian’s Palace is considered to be one of the most majestic Roman buildings, and not for nothing. Branka borrowed a helmet from a friend of hers and we went on motorcycle around some interesting places in the outskirts of the city, like the seafront town of Omiš, the castle of Klis and the Roman ruins in Solin.

Heading north, I visited the old town of Zadar, where I spent the night as a guest of Rafael. It was there where I got fed up with old cities (how, on earth, do they preserve so many of them here?) and headed off to the mountains! I entered in Plitvice Lakes National Park, where I made a four-hour hiking, enjoying the beauty of the landscape, with the formations of numerous lakes and cascades.

I wild-camped into the forest, but the next morning it was rain that woke me up, which lasted almost the entire day. I had to come up with a plan, in order to protect my tent and all my stuff from getting wet. First, I put on my rain suit and packed everything carefully inside my panniers. Finally, I packed my tent without removing the exterior cover. I just removed the poles and folded the tent, so it did not get wet inside. That was essential, if I wanted to have a dry place to sleep the next night. Through narrow paths, going up and down lush or rocky mountains, I entered Slovenia, crossing some remote border, north of the town of Buzet.

This article was originally published by madnomad


5-Travelling in mountainous Croatia, far away from the crowds…


4-I was surprised to discover that Automatix is alive and still working for Asterix and Obelix!


2- That’s the house where Marco Polo is considered to have been born in 1254 at Korčula Island.


1- Dubrovnik looks great from a distant and from inside the town too