Croatia was proper backpacking. I booked the flight a few days ahead when snow was forecast for Austria where I had planned to go hiking. I didn´t get the chance to buy a guide book for Croatia so I arrived knowing only what I had been told at the pub buy a Slovakian girl who worked organising tour guides near Split that summer (and the maps she drew on an envelope). True to form I arrived at night not knowing where I would sleep.
The view from the window of the plane as it descended into Dalmatia at dusk was possibly the best thing I´ve seen. Coastline and islands in shades of blue and purple that would never have occurred to me (and some orange, but I´d seen that one before).
Waiting for the bus from the airport to Trogir I got talking to a couple of German backpackers on the other side of the road. They were friendly and very cool so I went to Split with them. Sadly their hostel in Split was fully booked so I headed to the train station hoping someone would offer me cheap accommodation. My Slovakian friend had told me that in Croatia it is best to stay in private rooms that are informally rented out. I was only briefly worried, on my second pass of the station I met a funny old lady with a room - I even haggled a bit. In the morning she woke me at 7 because she had lost her front door key and needed to borrow mine - very strange.
The first night in Split, sitting in a courtyard at the palace listening to a duo playing brilliantly selected covers sipping on bad coffee I thought if I got any happier I would burst. I think it was the feeling of freedom as I realised unplanned travel was going to work. I saw Split and Hvar island. Then headed North to see 3 national parks in 3 days: waterfalls, hiking and lakes respectively. The best bit was finding rooms each night and exploring by bus - not knowing if connections would get me as far as I wanted to go each day. By fluking some connections (eg. being told buses leave every 4 hours and one leaves in a couple of minutes) and getting up at 5 one morning I managed to see everything I wanted to. My light backpack (12kgs) came in handy time and again because I could take it with me or drop it at luggage rooms at bus stations whenever I needed.
One night I stayed with a funny old, very lovely lady who cooked me the worst breakfast I can remember. I could not help thinking what a lovely old lady and how ungrateful I am. I wondered why she could not speak English when she rented out 3 rooms near a national park. What a terrible thing to think! I later heard her speaking Italian and then German (most tourists were from those places). But the coffee with breakfast was something, more lumpy than runny and I couldn´t help wondering if maybe there was some bone ground up with the coffee beans.
Either side of my hiking day I scored a great room (from, by contrast, a very normal host). I tried to haggle, out of habit and because it was more expensive, without success. As I settled in to the room I felt silly for trying because for 20 Euros a 2 bedroom apartment with kitchen and balcony (ocean views, sunset and all) would be cheap at 5 times the price.
Lastly, Zagreb, the capital, comma, where I stayed at the funnest hostel yet. The guy running it was mad, handing out free alcohol indiscriminately and also swearing at people telling them to shut up because he thought it was funny. There were no must-see sights so I was happy to befriend travellers and the hostel and head out for the vibrant night life - just what I felt like after a few days in National parks.
Now I am in Vienna for Lisa´s party (she lived in Brisbane for a year). On Monday I am going to Greece, or maybe Slovenia...
