Morning came quick when my alarm went off at 6:30 this morning. Having checked the weather last night and the forecast being 72 and sunny, I quickly got threw on a pair of shorts and a tshirt, grabbed a light sweater, some yogurt & a banana and headed out the door to meet my tour guide and bus down the road for my adventure to Plitvice Lakes!
I walked 15 minutes through the streets and over the pedestrian bridge to our meeting spot at the Branimir plaza/area. When I arrived, they welcomed me then looked me up and down and asked me if I had any long pants. Of course I didn't bring anything else with me..
"you are going to freeze!!"
"oh noooo!!!"
Long story short, the owner ended up running home and grabbing a pair of his wife's yoga pants and a jacket for me. -- I swear Croatians are the nicest people in Europe (thus far)!
Myself, the super friendly female tour guide Dinka and another family boarded the small bus and left around 7:45am. We picked up a few other people and then headed on our way to Plitvička Jezera National Park.
We made a quick stop to meet another bus with the same tour company at a restaurant about 30 minutes out. At the restaurant they had a small "zoo" --- really just a large, large fenced in area with a few bears in it, and another with some deer. It was so neat to see a bear up close! I don't think I've ever really seen one so close!
Now I just need to see some lions & tigers to make this trip complete.. Haha :)
We got back in the bus, continued driving through the mountains of Croatia; going through a 6km-long tunnel and then made it to the park.
With our packed lunches and entrance tickets in hand, we set off on the trails through the park.
There are few words that I could use that could describe how unbelievably immaculate this national park was. I also feel no picture, could ever do it justice either (though I did get some reeeeaaallyyyyy good ones!)
The first part of our hike lasted an hour and a half. At the beginning of it, we hopped on a boat that brought us across a small lake to where the trails began. The trails all made of wooden planks, like low bridges over hundreds of small waterfalls, everywhere. The water sometimes running right beside your feet, and when strong enough, onto the pathway.
The sky blue and sun shining, we walked the hour and a half passing crystal clear water that you could see to the vey depths of every part of the lakes. We hopped on another boat that led us across the largest lake of the park. We quickly sat and ate out lunch in a wide open area filled with picnic benches, a souvenir shop, park attendants BBQing rotisserie chickens and tons of people - tourists and children & teenagers on school trips.
Following lunch we walked another hour and a half, to where we came to a large cave higher off the ground, steps carved out of the rock, leading up and into it. My amazing tour guide, who I made friends with since she was closer to my age, at 26, then anybody we were with, explained that if I went up into the cave and kept climbing the stairs there was a scenic viewpoint that looked down onto the main lake we were at. Of course I haaaaaad to go up!
I walked up and through the cave, avoiding drips and puddles from the roof of it, climbing the rocky stairs that winded back and forth till I was on top and out of the cave. I walked along the dirt pathway and was met by a guardrail and a bunch of other tourists. As I looked over the edge, I couldn't even believe how amazing the lake looked. From that height, you could see the clear turquoise blue and jade-colored water, with all the plant life in it. You could see the levels of waterfalls that went down to where it calmed and our little wooden-planked path crossed the lake. I probably took a hundred pictures from just up there and I don't think any of them will ever quite portray what it was really like, which was absolutely breathtaking.
I stayed up there for a few minutes then headed back down to continue our adventure to the largest waterfall in the park - "The Great Waterfall," unique name huh? Haha It's 78 meters high and it was amazing! I've seen Niagara Falls before, which is pretty great, but this entire park made Niagara Falls look like nothing special, what-so-ever! Parts of it crashed down into the water below, other parts of the waterfall just dribbled or streamed down along the rock and all the mist blowing around into our faces.
After The Great Waterfall, we had to continue along another pathway that overlooked a huge drop (another waterfall) and a big rainbow at the bottom, it was so pretty. We walked up a steep incline to view the Great Waterfall from afar and then reached the lower park entrance where our bus awaited. The whole experience was absolutely insane!
I don't think I did it justice in my explanation of it all, but I'm at a complete lack of words and can only say it just simply must be seen for yourself.
After what seemed like a very long bus ride back into town, I walked back to the hostel where I packed up my stuff, made a last minute salad and pasta then headed off to my ferry.
The sun was setting as I was walking over to the ferry. With sunsets lighting up the sky with oranges and pinks and purples, I swear they will never get old. I put my suitcase on one of the couches, went outside on deck to enjoy the last of Croatia, the sunset and the view of the Greeting to the Sun then embarked on another overnight trip across the Adriatic Sea back to Ancona.
Zzzz... What a successful and great adventure today! :)
Oh and I also tried Klarlovačko, the Croatian beer, for the first time and it was pretty great! :)
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