The start of today was not great – courtesy of torrential rain, a hotel where breakfast started at 6:30 (but I had to be at the bus station at 7am) and a ridiculous communication error regarding “paid” and “to pay”. Not to mention that my base of my leg has doubled in size. Thanks to some kind responses to whinge texts (Rich and Mum) I boarded the bus from Zagreb to Dubrovnik. 11 hours of solid bus trip…with no breakfast. After the quickest of Espresso’s and a Berry muffin my Croatiabus experience commenced in sleeting rain.
After a shortwhile I noticed a marked change in the landscape as we went from thickets of autumnal coloured forests into a rockier terrain market by low lying shrubs. About 3 hours out of Zagreb we were detoured off of Highway 1 onto a side road (due to some works on that section) via the township of Sveti Coc. This was a profound detour. The bus hurtled through the small streets like it was trying to escape an oncoming army but I could not escape the scarred landscape. I was struck by one town in particular where a Church had been burnt to the ground, its steeple missing replaced by a huge trunk of a fallen tree, opposite the rubble of what would have been thirty homes and next to it a dilapidated building marked with two letters UN. I cannot fathom what this place experienced. This is a country still very much recovering. As the bus moved from town to town the same scenario repeated abandoned farmhouses, ruins, desolation, destruction and then an apartment building with someone’s washing hanging from the 8th story.
Finally we arrive in Split for a half hour refreshment stop and a chance to use the toilet (horray!).
Tip # 1: The 11 hour bus ride will have about 4 stops – ensure you use the toilet at every opportunity
Once on the way to Dubrovnik the scenery transforms again as the bus winds the coast road. I’m so close to the Adriatic that I could almost reach out and touch. The water is ridiculously clear and even from the bus I can see the rocks at the bottom of the water. After 3 hours of winding road passing countless resortish towns that announce Pension or Apartmen we head inland for a final stop before Dubrovnik.
Fortunately my apartment, at Berkeley Hotel, is only a short walk from the bus terminal and the kind receptionist there provided me some ice for my leg. I’m on the 4th floor with a direct view of Dubrovnik Harbour (with a couple of Cruise Liners in town). My small balcony gives an excellent view…I can’t wait for the morning.
Tomorrow: Dubrovnik Old Town.
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