We wake up early in the morning before the rest of the camp stirs so we have time to walk down to the beach. We head out and when we get there we have the whole beach to ourselves! The water was clear, and I could stand with it up to my waste and watch the little fish swim by. However, it was as clear as it was salty! I get out and no sooner then I start to dry off does my skin start to itch due to the salt!
We all head back to the camp, take showers, and pack up to head out to the town of Dobrovolnik, only about 10 km away. Now, this was my first time in Croatia, and as Radek is the “planner”, I did not know anything about Dubrovnik before heading there. However, on the very first view of this city I was impressed.
A true seaside town, well built and full of life. Of course, Radek immediately wanted a picture of one of the boats leaving the bay.
Little did I realize that this was a taste of what Dubrovnik’s old town had to offer.
We head to the busy down town and park somewhere on the sidewalk (following what the locals do, motorcycles and scooters can go where they wish and park on sidewalks if they wish 🙂
We buy breakfast and some reserves, and start off… not able to get very far, as someone seemed to have left their gas tank on reserve… so when it ran out of gas, the tank was completely empty!
So after pushing my way a few meters to the gas station, we are once more off! Radek leads us towards the old center. Now, living in Prague, I expect to be impressed, but never did I expect to be amazed!
We park our bikes, take off some of our gear (as it is hot!), and head town to the old center. As soon as I catch a glimps I want to start taking pictures!
The fort protects the old town as it has for centuries, and looks like it hasn’t changed a day since it was still built! The houses in the old town all look in great shape, and I just love the red roof-tops, making the fort wall stand out even more.
We reach the entrance of the fort, which would not be complete with a bridge and the Croatian flag flying proudly above it.
Close up the old town was just as amazing. Wonderful cathedrals…
Small alley ways…
I could have spent all day or weekend exploring this town, but alas, we have must continue our adventure! Even while leaving we see more of this fortress.
Sadly we leave, with thoughts that I must return to Dubrovnik with more than a few hours on my hand, so I can seriously explore every alley way and side streets in this town that seems to take you back in time.
We head out, and try to get off of the scenic freeway (that is full of cars) as soon as possible. We are excited and hope to reach Montenegro. My heart starts racing when we can no longer see the ocean and we start heading up the mountains, passing small towns in between. We follow the GPS, listening to its sound advice where to go. It tells us the border to Bosnia is not far, and we continue on a well paved road that seems oddly abandoned. Soon we start to see cow carcasses and huge boulders in the middle of the roadway.
Then the pavement stops, replaced with loose gravel that causes two of us to madly swerve. I think to myself, “How can there be a boarder crossing here?”, but we are already an hour down the road, so we continue.
Some times it is best to listen to your instinct. I suppose this is one of those times, as we reach the boarder to discover this:
The boarder is blocked, with warnings that it is illegal to pass, reminders of the war faught not to long ago. Radek goes around to check the other side, and see if it is possible to get the motorcycles across some how… but the real question remains… should we?