Pero and his bike

petak, 18.10.2019.

Homeymoon 1987 part Two

You can come back on the first part of this travelogue here.

THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH DAY OF THE JOURNEY

You can see the map of the seventeenth day of the journey here.

Well, now that we have finally reached the sea, we have to swim in it. At least a little! That was the reason, the next day after arriving in Pag, we took the status of the common tourists on a summer vacation. In the swimwear, we felt the warmness of the Adriatic sea and after that, we were resting in the meagre shade of trees near the beach. At the end of the day, we toured the old part of town.

The town of Pag on the Island of Pag, filmed in 2006 - at the time of this journey, the campsite was in a forest near the beach

Entrance to the Old Town of Pag on the island of Pag (filmed in 2006)

The next day our goal was the Zadar town. We rode on the island road to the east which was a little bit narrow given the increased traffic (especially around the villages by the way) so we had to be extra careful when riding. Considering that we had been driving on roads with very little traffic by then, we were surprised by such heavy traffic on this road. We defended ourselves from it with carefulness and unwavering patience. Unlike those in motorized vehicles, we were in no hurry and always had time to stop, miss away and rest. So we stopped and rested at the water spring near the road. Finding a water spring on a rocky island was, for me, amazing and original. Because of this, I accepted the lukewarm and salty taste of water with less criticality. Still, the water from those water springs we encountered through Bosnia was something special and unattainable.
Crossing the Paški Bridge, we returned from the island of Pag to the mainland. The surrounding landscape was like the Moon - bare rock and stones itself. I suppose that weak soil and strong bora during the winter make exodus of any life form here.


About 20 kilometres after we came on the mainland, we turned south toward the Ravni Kotari region (Ravni Kotari = Straight Districts). The one who gave them their name either forgot their glasses or was some sort of prankster. More or less it was in the south-east-northwest direction as the undulations of the soil extended in that direction. Our road ran across those waves so we rode uphill, and then downhill, and again uphill, and again downhill, and again...
And finally, the sea! What we had to do at the end was descend a mild downhill into the town of Zadar. We were passing settlements at outskirts, traffic was at an enviable height. We just have to find some street where my wife's cousin lives, where we could get overnight accommodation. And while we were asking about the neighbourhood and the street, and while we were reading the names of the surrounding streets during the ride, I had the honour of a sudden encounter with the locally-patriotic wasp. It seemed to me that the wasp considered as intruders these men on a bike like I was, the intruder that its city did not need. It showed to me by stabbing me in the leg and injecting an enviable dose of its poison. It seemed to me that it's poison, stored in it, was waiting for me for all these days. Now what follows was what follows. First the pain and swelling, and tomorrow the unbearable itching. Well, that's cycling, too.
In spite of everything, we found the said cousin, settled down, and talked to each other at the end. Even in the evening, I managed to take my wife out for an evening tour to the town of Zadar.
The Zadar town by night




THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH DAY OF THE JOURNEY

You can see the map of the nineteenth day of the journey here.

The day after we arrived in Zadar, we planned to spend a swim at one of its beaches. But suddenly, it was raining that night, so the next day it was cloudy with a few drops of rain. Therefore, we spent the day touring those beaches, trying to remember them for some other future better times when we would be in the vicinity of that beaches during the sunny and warm summer day and take the opportunity for swimming. Afternoons and evenings we spent the night with the hosts, resting for tomorrow's journey.
The next morning we thanked the hosts and headed the southeast through the main Adriatic road. Our goal for today was the Vodice place. The main Adriatic road is a fairly wide road, with lines at the edges. Between the edge of the road and that line, we find about 20 - 30 centimetres space, exactly as we need it. So even though the traffic was heavy, they somehow felt relaxed, or at least we didn't worry too much. And when to our right was the sea, and when the road goes along it, the ride would be very interesting. That sea was close to us at least two-thirds of today journey. Only in larger places (eg the Biograd town), the road left it by a long uphill, bypassing the town, to return to the sea again by a downhill. Just behind the Pirovac place the road left the sea and went uphill inland. We saw the sea just at the campsite in the Vodice place.
The campsite in the Vodice place is located in a pine forest right by the sea

Dusk at the camp

The hallmark of today's ride was a strong wind in the back. The short-lived deterioration of the weather from two night ago quickly passed, leaving a classic consequence in this area - the wind called bora. It wasn't cold, it was anymore, at least for the coastal conditions, fresh, but the wind was very, very, very strong and it was blowing into our backs.
What a ride that was!
With stronger wind gusts, we hardly need to turn the pedals even though we are on the plain. The bike glided so nicely that everyone who rides in these driving conditions would fall in love with the bicycle. Even on milder uphills, despite the considerable baggage we carried with us, we rode with such ease that it was fantastic. I could call this episode of driving as "Unbearable easiness of biking with the wind in the back."
The wind blew when we needed to, and when we didn't need it - it stopped. As per the order! By entering Vodice in the late afternoon, and finding a car camp near the Imperial Hotel, the wind stopped and made the rest of the day as standard and comfortable as it can be during fine weather at sea. We had time to get some rest, take a shower, looked around the camp, and finally go to the Šibenik town for an evening out in the town. The Šibenik town is about 10 km away, so we did it by local public bus.
Cathedral of St. Jacob in the Šibenik town

The Šibenik's fortress at night

THE TWENTIETH AND TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF THE JOURNEY

You can see the map of the twentieth day of the journey here.

The next morning, we did everything slowly: we were slowly getting up, we were slowly having breakfast, we were slowly packing, and we were slowly starting our way to our next destination - the Krka River Falls. The reason for that pace was the mileage for the day - just 25.
First, we crossed the large bridge over the Krka River with the main Adriatic road.


In doing so, we observed a speedboat hurrying towards the town of Šibenik. In doing so he foamed the water well.


After the bridge, we continued on the Šibenik bypass, and approximately when the road got to its highest altitude, we turned left on the local road to the Drniš town. Traffic decreased dramatically, but unfortunately the quality of the road too. It was very narrow and the asphalt was of dubious quality. When driving, we often played hide and seek with small and larger holes. If I saw the hole, I rode around it, and if I didn't see it, then I rode straight on it. Fortunately, this game, very interesting to me from my childhood, lasted some 9 kilometres when we turned left following the signpost to the Skradin town.
Then we stopped in the shade, so I pulled out a road map and found a shortcut in it. Well, lest it is shorter by a shortcut, but faster by around, I went into the village post office (!) which was across the street from our shade. There I found two women clerks. I asked them for an opinion about my shortcut. First one said we could pass that shortcut and the other one that we couldn't. Then there was a heated debate between the two of them whether we could pass or not. The debate eventually ended with the compromise that we could pass by shortcut, given that we are on bikes. They were not very persuasive for me, but bearing in mind the heated debate, I thanked them and came out in fear that they would be angry again and this time I will be the cause of that anger.
God keeps the crazy man and the brave man!
And so we set off on the paved road which was with the beautiful environment but it was the sinister empty too. As we rode slowly, anxious that we would return, a dream scene suddenly appeared in front of us - a beautiful view from a height on the Lake Visovac.


The Krka river makes this lake, before descending through Skradinski buk (better known as Krka Waterfalls) into the lower Prokljan Lake. We have forgotten the doubts about the correctness of the road we take, enchanted and hypnotized by the beauty of the environment and the landscape. By the zigzag road, we descended to - the entrance to the Krka Waterfalls National Park. Closed. Working hours from 7 am to 3 pm. I looked at my watch - 5 pm. The asphalt road we were descending on, ended with large parking. All empty, no people, no vehicles.
What to do now !?
We didn't want to go back up the zigzag hill by which we were descending with that high feeling. Looking around, we saw a footpath beside the wooden house, which plays the role of the entrance to the national park. And we went on it. After a few minutes of walking (and pushing bicycles) down the hill through the forest, we saw a narrow wooden bridge over the Krka River. On the other side of the bridge, we saw our present destination - the Krka Waterfalls campsite. We stopped at the bridge because it gave a wonderful view of the gorgeous Krka waterfalls.
This was like in American movies. Exciting and uncertain until the end. And that end is breathtaking, shocking a person with beauty, so he forgets who he is and what he is and where he is. No thinking, no awareness of existence, just absorbing the scene by all the senses.
Heaven on the Earth

And I thought that downhill riding from the Velebit mountain was the most beautiful thing on this journey!? What a delusion! But I'm not sorry about that. On the contrary!
We pitched our tent three meters near some creek (which was probably part of the Krka river) that made a meter and a half high waterfall. This waterfall was about 10 meters away from the tent, so we spent this and the next night with the sound of a downpour. But, there was no rain.
Our tent, our bikes and I under a small waterfall (if you are sharp-eyed and in good vision, you will see my hands outside the waterfall)

Rested and cheerful after a night of good sleep in an extraordinary setting, we spent the next day swimming in not-too-cool, yet refreshing water, and also swimming under waterfalls and entering into small caves behind them, climbing and walking along with rocky barriers. Unforgettable!!!


Me

In 2016, I had the opportunity to visit this place again (not by bike). The following are some photos taken during that visit.
The road to the Krka Waterfalls (filmed in the opposite direction from the waterfalls)

The Lake Visovac

The wooden bridge which we crossed with bicycles

The Krka Waterfalls

The Krka Waterfalls - detail

The Krka Waterfalls - detail

The Krka River after the Krka Waterfalls

THE TWENTY-SECOND DAY OF THE JOURNEY

You can see the map of the twenty-second day of the journey here.

With the standard morning procedure, we started the last day of this journey. We did not want to go back the road we came but the longer one via the Skradin town. We drove to it by the road which was 4 km long, not asphalted, and therefore dusty. It would also be interesting if it were not for the regular camp guests who were constantly coming or leaving with their tin pets, raising a lot of dust. Finally, we reached the asphalt and turned left across the bridge. If we went straight, after a kilometre of driving we would have arrived in the Skradin town.
The Krka River, the town of Skradin and the road we went on its uphill

After the bridge, the road continued with bends and a long uphill. After about 10 kilometres, we came to that post office where we were two days ago. The weather became cloudy, a perfidious, cold wind began to blow. We had lunch sheltered by the drywall from the cold wind. Unfortunately, this time it blew in our face so we drove at a snail's speed. Three kilometres before the Drniš town, a railroad from the Split town joined to us. We were going together with the railway a little over a kilometre when we were presented with a view of the valley below us with the Drniš town in it. We, along the road, descended into this valley with a few zig-zag bends, while the railway left us because it needed a little more space to descend.
In the Drniš town, at its train station, we relieved. First, because we finally got rid of the wind (it kept on blowing with unabated fervour), and second, we ended this journey. By train the next morning we entered town we left three weeks ago - the Slavonski Brod town.
And now (2019) looking at all this from a distance, I still feel that it was fantastic, unforgettable and "just right". I acknowledge to her, to us and to myself that we were crazy enough, insolent, ruthless, selfish ( and the others epithets they have given to us) that we made the best Honeymoon of all Honeymoons.


Images from this journey can be viewed here.

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