Land of waterfalls!

My next stop was Plitvice Lakes, one of the largest national parks in Croatia and one of the oldest in this part of Europe. It was easy enough to get a tram to the bus station in Zagreb and I had already purchased my ticket the day before. I found my bus and off we went on the 2 hour journey. I had rented an "apartment" (they are called that when they are rooms and not official hotels), and the guy said he would pick me up at the bus stop. This was very handy since it was literally a shack on the side of the road. I guarantee I would have doubted whether this was my proper stop, had he not been waiting there. The outside of the building was pretty, but man oh man was the inside shady looking. Luckily the actual room was beautiful. There was no kitchen but there was a minibar and utensils and dishes. There was also a washing machine! Which after walking one of the trails, I definitely needed! I got my stuff in the room and set off right away to the park. It was a beautiful (downhill which seemed great at the time) trail through a forest, which came out at the top of the entrance.

A short hill down and I was there. I decided to purchase the 2 day pass as I wanted to come back in the morning before my bus came at 1:50.

The people who worked at the park were amazing and gave me perfect directions. There were waterfalls everywhere. And in fact, on the bus we drove past a village and one of the houses was built on top of a waterfall, man I wish I could have gotten a picture of that! Here's someone else's picture from Google:

So once you go through the entrance, there is a short downhill climb and then you take a boat across the lake. That's where the trail starts. And then you can take a bus at the end, back to the entrance. The man said it was 1.5 hours so I meandered along. Here's what I found:

At one point, a butterfly landed on my shoe. It didn't fly off, even when I moved my foot. It even flew after me for a little bit. It was so cool! 

It was a beautiful hike, and even though it was all uphill, it was so gradual that it wasn't really that bad. What was bad though? The climb back through the forest to my room. I literally thought I was going to die. I considered calling a taxi despite not having cell service or, I'm guessing, any actual taxis. And let me tell you, my legs and butt felt that walk for a few days! 

The town I was staying in is literally a village. It has a market and a restaurant. That's all. So I bought some stuff for breakfast at the market, and for lunch the next day. I decided I deserved dinner at a restaurant. Since I didn't actually have a kitchen, my only choice for dinner would have been a sandwich. Did I mention that Croatians eat a lot of bread!?!? I showered and put my laundry on, and once I had hung it to dry, I headed...downhill, to the restaurant. It actually turned out to be the lodge at a ski hill....a very small ski hill. There was no snow or anything but they had signs up for skiing. I ordered the pasta with cheese sauce...I wasn't really feeling the pizza and nothing else really appealed to me. Plus I had just climbed uphill for like 2 hours, I figured I deserved it! It was pretty tasty! I walked back up hill (yep, uphill again) to my room and was in for the night. I enjoyed a cider that I had purchased at the market and got myself ready for an early morning.

A picture from a place near the restaurant. 

The next day, I got up fairly early so I'd have enough time to walk the second trail AND catch my bus. Luckily, the park has a place to lock your luggage so I wouldn't have to do that insane climb back up the hill to my room again. I could catch the bus at the park. There was no one else there at 9am except me, a teacher and some students, and a girl with her parents. This time, we caught the boat to the other entrance which was quite a bit farther. It was beautiful on the water.

I love the pathways..made of wood rounds.

Once we were off the boat it was pretty easy to follow the path. This time, downhill! Phew!

Can I just say how much I love that they didn't cut the rock!!!

That beautiful hike was supposed to take 3 hours, but took 1.5 since I didn't have to wait for the boat or the bus as it arrived when I was ready. I still had almost 4 hours until my bus! I decided to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and sit and read on a picnic table. I ate my lunch. And then, at about 1pm, when my bus was due at 1:50, I figured I should head to the stop. Well as all my adventures go, I couldn't find it. And I slowly watched my clock, thinking I could have sat at the bus stop and read. But don't fret, I did find it...with 20 minutes to spare! Now I was all sweaty from panicking and speed walking and I had to go to the bathroom, but once again I was at a shack on the side of the road! Well, luckily we had a rest stop. Why are those places always so weird?

On to new adventures! Leaving those stuffed bears where they are!