Korean Wave

I arrived in Dubrovnik with mixed feelings. By all accounts, I've just arrived in Croatia's most expensive city. But as my bus stopped in front of Pile Gate, entrance to the famed walled city, one couldn't help but be excited to be exploring this UNESCO World Heritage site.

I knew that Dubrovnik is one of Europe's hottest vacation spots. But what I didn't expect was the Korean Wave. Granted, there were quite a number of Korean tourists in Plitvice Lakes, and in Split as well. But here within the old walled city, the Korean tourists were swarming the streets. I've noticed too that Samsung mobiles were quite popular with the Croatians, but then again, I think Samsung has penetrated quite abit of the European market. And so, I've met with many "acknowledging" nods from fellow tourists, who somehow think I look like a Korean.

Tourism culture in recent years have evolved with the advancement and convergence of digital photography and mobile technology. Not only is the mobile phone the dominant snapshot device of tourists, the recent popularity of "selfies" have somewhat created a different "travel phenomenon". Add that to a mass of (female) Korean tourists, and all selfie-hell breaks loose. While waiting for the cable-car to arrive to bring us up to Mount Srd for a stupendous view of Dubrovnik, 2 pairs of Korean gals were selfie-ing non-stop for 10 minutes with varying postures of the "2-finger salute" (also known as the Victory sign). And I can bet all my travel budget that these selfies could not even show the ticket counter behind them, let alone the sight that is the Dubrovnik walls. There were about 12-13 people in the cable-car. A pair of European tourists, me, and the rest were Koreans.

View of Dubrovnik from top of Mt Srd

I blew my budget for the Croatia leg of my Balkans trip. But truly, I could see why Dubrovnik is Croatia's top draw (although being a scenery sort of guy, my highlight was Plitvice lakes). Especially the walk atop the city walls, it is easily the best part of its attractions. The views of the Adriatic Sea beyond the walls, and the chaotic yet pretty roofs of the houses in the old town within, makes for a delightfully idyllic walk. And when confronted with such sparkling turquoise waters of the bay, the inevitable is bound to happen.

I held my compact cam towards myself and took a selfie.

Sight of daily life atop the walls

Commanding view of the walled city and the Adriatic Sea

Super clear waters on the bay

Postcard perfect

Into Plitvice Lakes National Park

Staying in/near national parks certainly has its advantages, especially for photography. You could stay till the later hours, catch better light, avoid the crowds etc etc. So I made it a point to find accommodation near Plitvice Lakes National Park.

There are hotels within the park, but prices were out of my budget. So I stayed in a family-run guesthouse in a village 800 metres from the entrance of the park. As I lumbered into the tiny village of Rastovaca, I counted like a total of 11 house, all sitting pretty with Zimmer(Rooms)/Coffee/CableTV signs outside. But as I went knocking, I found most were not in operations (yet)! Apparently, official visiting season starts 1 April, and many prefer to enjoy their own leisure time before they get busy with the tourists! In fact, the park fees double from 55 kunas to 110 kunas on 1 Apr and I'm 3 days short of paying twice the amount.

I did find a family who accepted my business. But found out that they don't prepare meals (outside of season). Neither did the whole village. And not a supermarket or restaurant in sight.

The family did sent me 3 pieces of freshly baked bread and homemade jam though. And happily enlightened me that the park entrance has a cafe and a mart. Great!

The mart was tiny. They stocked bread, and some canned food. The cafe's food variety consists all of apple strudel and cheese/ham sandwich. It was already 4pm and I did some simple hike outside the park. At 6pm, the ticketing guys called it a day and I wandered into the park for an hour of photography.

So dinner was that wonderful 3 pieces of bread. Luckily, I had bought a big loaf of pumpkin bread and a big slab of smoked cheese in Zagreb for breakfast and there were quite abit left. So my breakfast next day consisted of pumpkin bread with smoked cheese.

Plitvice Lakes National Park was an absolute pleasure. The only unfortunate thing was, it's too early spring and the trees were still brown and bare. Nothing like the lush green or winter white in the postcards. Still the turquoise lakes were just mersmerising! The trails and boardwalks and signs were simple to follow. I took my time and the whole excursion was a whole 9 hours in the park. There were 2 cafes in the circuit I took, and well, they served only apple strudels and cheese sandwiches. I just ate my muesli bars which I brought from Singapore.

It was almost 7pm when I exited the park. The closest restaurant was in the hotel in the park that was in another entrance several kilometers away. I was too tired and went back to my room for a sumptuous meal of pumpkin bread with smoked cheese.

Next day I woke up to a breakfast of good old pumpkin bread and smoked cheese. The very last of it. I thought I had ample time to catch my bus to Split, until I noticed my mobile phone's time and my watch was different. Damn Daylight Savings (again)! Luckily my phone's time auto adjusted! And that I realized it in time!

The bus took 6 hours to Split, and the lunch stop places doesn't look particularly appetising. When I reached Split, it was 4pm. It was not too long when I found myself sitting in a restaurant. There was a look of absolute glee when my order of grilled sea-bass came in two mouth-watering pieces. The grilled vegetables was just sweet, and washed down with simple white wine, it was pure pleasure!