Thursday Aug 5th: Brac
Woke up and made it to the ferry over to the 1st island off the coast (about 1 hour away). I wasn’t planning on going here but all the hostels were booked up on Hvar (a more popular island). After getting lost in the crazy streets for 30 minutes and following the shitty directions on the hostel website I finally found my way to the FunkyDonkey. These streets are all 1 car width, curved and on hills with endless dead ends and occassionally a street would have step so cars would just stop and go in reverse because they had no idea there was loads of steps in the middle of the road. Perfect for walking or riding a moped, but there are actual cars that drive down them both directions…when they come across each other there is a bit of a standoff to see who has to back up to the nearest driveway all while people are standing and mopeds are trying to go around them. Basically a mess, but overall not too crowded.
The FunkyDonkey is the way all hostels should be. Ocean views, a big patio to chill out on, a big BBQ to cook some meat on every night, beers, free computers/internet, loads of movies and games (good for drinking games like drunk jenga), water guns and you don’t even need a key to get in. You just walk up and go to your room…there are lockers, but it was nice and chill. Definitely the best hostel experience I’ve had…possibly ever. The staff is very difficult to tell from the people staying there. I think the manager had a Tshirt on but otherwise people were hanging out drinking beers and by the time I left I realized like 5 of them worked there. I’m pretty sure they were just travelers that made a deal to stay for the summer and just have to do laundry and clean. Every night they take the entire hostel to the bars and basically made our own party. The best part is that there is this shitty little carnival down by the water with video games, pinball, air hockey, bumper cars, trampolines, etc. So after getting properly drunk, everyone drives bumper cars drunk (while drinking in fact) at 2 in the morning. I’m pretty certain this happens like every night there. Got drunk, danced a bit, headed home around 3am after making plans to go around the island the next day with a few people from the hostel.
Friday: woke up at 10am, only minor hangover, though drinking is certainly taking its toll while sitting in the sun all day. Met up with 3 British girls on holiday and we went down to rent a car. All they had left was a minivan so we took it and were off. One of the British girls asked me if I could drive because I guess they don’t really drive where she is from and she didn’t realize I’m a old man. I told her I had been driving for 17 years and she was confused because she was like 20 years old or something. Anyways, signed all the forms, laid down my credit card as usual for a rental car place. We looked at getting mopeds or 4 wheelers but in the end figured it would be easier to get 1 car since it was about 20 miles and sort of mountainous roads. The 3 things were were set to do were go to the top of the island, then hit Bol beach which is this awesome little peninsula with super clear water, and find the cliff jumping that the hostel staff told us about. We didn’t bring a proper map because it seems there are main roads. I did the driving because I was the one that rented the car and because they all drive on the opposite side of the road (though a lot of these roads don’t have lanes). Anyways, drove around, saw the little church that had a tree growing out of the top of the roof (no soil), then made it up to the top of the mountain for a few pictures before heading for Bol. All of this went really well and I would say that this beach (though pebble and not sand) was better than the others I had been to earlier this week. Hung out a few hours then went to the supermarket to get some food for a picnic. Ate lunch overlooking the ocean from a cliff. On to our last destination. We were going to find the cliffs to jump off of that the hostel staff had recommended. They circled it on the map. The thing about this map was that it was a cartoon map and not a proper map with details. This had a simple view of the main roads and none of the little off roads and trails…so we thought. There was a road that connected from where we were back to the main interchange which appeared to be about half the distance of going back the way we came. When we got to the road, it was not paved, but rather dirt and gravel and one lane. It fit with the one on the map as it road right along the coast. We went for a while and hit a small town with paved roads so figured we were going in the right direction….back onto gravel roads shortly thereafter. There were people here and there along the road, some hikers, some people parked and were down at the water. Several vinyards, basically a little off the beaten path and the occassional scary moment as the minivan did not have a lot of traction as we were going up and down curved hills. We found another little resturant then went turned to go up the next hill which was fitting according to our map. We soon hit some dead ends and that meant going further up this steep hill. We finally asked some people and they said that yes there is a road that connects, but you bascially need a 4 wheel drive to get there and that we should turn around to go back the way we came….which was at least 30 minutes just to get back to the paved road. We ended up stopping at the resturant and having a swim before continuing our journey. About an hour later we were back on the other side of the island near the town that had the cliffs…only thing is that the cliffs were near there and not in fact in the town. Absolutely no clue where we were going. We asked and found someone who pointed us to the road and gave the name of the village which wasn’t even on our map. We followed some signs and some 1 way roads and eventually just ended up in a little cluster of houses in the middle of the woods. We asked a few more people and they pointed behind their house where the cliffs were. Success! We had spent about 4 hours trying to find this little cove and we just happened upon it in the minivan. We tried to drive down the hill but soon realized it was a dead end as well. The locals were all kind of staring at us as we went in reverse up this 30degree incline. We parked in someone’s driveway and walked down this set of steps to the water. We were destined to cliff jump. It was getting close to dusk (about another hour) and the water was a bit cold. Super cool cove that you could see like 20 feet down in. We swam out and climbed up some jagged rocks. I was the first to go of course because I was the guy. In the pictures I was a bit sun burned mixed with my normal pasty skin as I stood about 20 feet above the water. I finally jumped after some hesitation and of course sea water went straight up my nose but I survived. After me, 2 of the girls went, then I had one more do from the highest cliff about 5 feet above where I had just jumped from. Definitely worth it, I just regret that we had not found the cove earlier in the day as it was a great place to hang out regardless of the cliffs. There was an old local couple fishing in the cove with just a line and hooks…no pole. They kept yelling at us because we were scaring away all the fish. Fuck them. Anyways, we got back in the van and headed home while the sun was setting in the background. Basically a great day. Made it back home, turned in the minivan and of course there were some scratches and dents on the running board from where had been off roading. We argued with them, but in the end we had to pay about 100euros in damage. They were nice, but it still sucked. Lesson learned…get a proper map when driving around an island. At this point I was exhausted, we just made it to the store before it closed and I bought some pasta to make. Everyone at the hostel was going out again, but I just didn’t have it in me so I sat at home and watched Resevoir Dogs and did some internetting for a few hours before going to bed.
