Dubrovnik - Lokrum - Split [21-06-08]

It was a nice sleep till it became pretty noisy in the morning. Both Jeremy and I woke up earlier than expected time due to the din. After a simple fare of breakfast, we went to the nearby internet shop to find accomodation for the 5 of them. After that, the 5 of them proceeded on to their new apartments while i made my way down to the main bus station to buy a 1900 bus ticket to Split, and some groceries from Komvum. We met up later on at the fountain in the old town and took a ferry to Lokrum, and island off the coast of Dubrovnik.

Jeremy and I on the ferry
Onward to Lokrum
On arrival
I have to keep explaining to people that i'm NOT taking that woman...i'm taking shot of the peacock.
We found ourselves an area by the sea to sunbathe and swim. The water was crystal clear and i could see fishes in them.

Crystal clear water...but beware of urchins
After sunbathing, we went for a walk and discovered a beautiful lagoon (as shown in photo below). So we jumped in and swam again. Haha.

Interesting rock formation by the coast

You jump i jump

Jeremy checking out the height

The lagoon i was talking about
There was a rope tied to a tree on top for people to swing and plunge into the lagoon. Sallie trevassed across the rock surface to take the plunge. I on the other hand climbed the rope to the top. Everyone in the vicinity was 'oohing' and 'aahing' in wonder at the feat. Gosh... so paiseh. Didn't expect myself to get that much attention. But i did cut my fingers because of the slippery rope. After showering and a short chat with Jeremy, we took the boat back to Dubrovnik.

We had pasta at a local restaurant for lunch and it was time for me to leave really soon. We sat down at an internet pub/cafe to use the internet. At around 1740, after hugs and kisses and handshakes and pats, i left the Balkan family, headed back to the apartment, grabbed my barang barang, and walked to the bus station to take my bus to Split.

Evening view of Dubrovnik

It was a 5 hour journey and the scenery along the way was just stunning. Especially the part passing by Mljet National Park, i just dropped jaw at what was presented in front of me. To see mountain ridges emerging out of the center of the ocean. To see the shadowy sillouette of the mountains with orange dusk sunset sky and the sun casting its glittering reflections on the water. The different shades of orange that painted the scenery. It's gorgeous beyond words can describe.
I reached Split at around 12 midnight. Got off the bus and immediately i was swarmed by many locals offering accomodations. I had to keep on rejecting them and sometimes it could turned out to be pretty intimidating. But i did felt kind of sad that most of these people were elderly people who needed money for their pension funds. I bought a 30 kuna phonecard from the kiosk and tried to call my guesthouse from the public phone. The phone just didn't put through and suddenly there was this group of dodgy guys who walked past me and one of them threw chips at me. Thankfully they just passed me by and I do have to say that thrower was kind of poor in his accuracy anyway. In the end, I decided to wak to Palmina from the bus station relying on a map.

It was Saturday night which might be the reason to the amount of people sitting by the bay of the moonlit town. I passed by these guys and they shouted to me "Japanese?" I picked up my pace knowing that nothing good can come out of conversation with dodgy characters at 12 midnight. The lanes leading to the guesthouse was dodgy beyond description. Dead town atmosphere with part of Palmina lane in complete darkness devoid of street lights. But i did arrived at the guesthouse and was greeted by this cute little terrier "Sonny" at the main door. The room was great, with a double-bed and a balcony that has a sea view. One annoying thing was that there was a night club nearby and it was pretty noisy. But i did have a good sleep that night.

My room

The night view out of my room

I came to a realisation that backpacking travelling is not about going to various exotic places and taking snapshots of the place. To me, the best part of the trip is to get to internet and travel with fellow backpacking travellers and it's amazing how each and every one of them could make such great difference to the experience of the tour. My best part of this 3-week stint would definitely be the Balkan trek and I really enjoyed the times the 7 (inc Mustafa) of us had together. Even as travellers with a tight budget, we shared out stuff, looked out for each other, and had so much fun. When i left the Balkan family, i suffered an emotional turmoil of missing them so badly on the bus already. It's definitely more than remembering the scenery of the beautiful places, but the times we spent and things we did at these places. To go through the bad times and the good times really helped bond us in a way that's unimaginable. I think this is the thing about backpacking --> to embrace the good and the bad experiences with an open attitude and savour every experience and people that comes your way. I wonder if i'll ever get a chance to do it again. A big muchas gracias to Mustafa, Tamy, Esther, Sallie, Tiffany and Jeremy. =)