Adriatic coastline - on bus ride into Dubrovnik
Great sunset over coastel inlet
Mountains and hills surround the small towns that line the coast
Taken in Bosnia - very nice
Split, Croatia -- shipping port up the coastWednesday, October 20th
Long travel day today - but well worth it. I had an early start from Zagreb. I left via train at 7:50am - departing for Split, Croatia. It took 6-1/2 hours to reach my destination. The country of Croatia has a wide base on its northern front, but as you go south, the country narrows down along the western coastline.
The train ride itself was great. Croatia is a really scenic country with trees, mountains, and coastline. I arrived just after 2pm. Sunny day today - very nice. At this point of the day, I wasn't sure of my next move. I talked to a couple tourist companies, the train folks, and the bus schedulers. I decided that I would be best served to continue my journey further south to the town of Dubrovnik and end the day there.
I did get a chance to spend about 1-1/2 hours in Split. Neat port town. I stayed mostly around the harbor and train station area. Not sure how the town compares to others along the coast - but the scenery was spectacular. I next boarded a bus for Dubrovnik. I would take a 4-1/2 hour bus to my final destination of the day (told you it was a long travel day).
When I was looking into this area of the trip, people on the internet were very uncommitted to 'best travel means" or "how best to get places". Well, I can say with certainty, there are no trains that go from Split to Dubrovnik directly. Buses go just about every hour - and - the bus ride is absolutely worth it. Absolutely worth it!! Unreal scenery. The bus followed the coastline the entire way. We were either on a hill looking down on the blue Adriatic Sea or we were riding level with it. Some of the pictures I'm posting today were taken out my dirty window (with the right angle - you could still get the shot) "Take the shot Mav, take the shot". We had to go through a section of Bosnia at one point. Very easy border patrol. A guard came on the bus, looked at our passports for a second apiece, and then jumped off. Going back into Croatia from Bosnia was even easier - the guard did not even come on the bus. It was just like a stop sign.
Side note -- I forgot to mention the other day that when I was coming into Croatia from Slovenia on the train - there were about 10 armed guards that got on the train. They must have looked at my passport for 5 minutes. The lady asked me: "How long have you been in Europe?" My response: "Several months". She seeemed to be satisfied and didn't ask any further questions, although she did radio in to someone while looking through my passport. I thought this was interesting. This border check was the most thorough I've encountered on the entire trip - short of my entrance and exit from Russia.
I rolled into Dubrovnik around 8pm. I got a hotel very near the waterfront. One thing I noticed right away about this place (it really sticks out) - people speak English and they are friendly. It's measurably different than some areas I've been. Dubrovnik has a walled "Older City". It's arguably the most visited tourist destination along the western Adriatic coastline leading to Greece.
I look forward to exploring more of the area tomorrow and possible doing a couple day trips.
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