Daniel's Microcosm

1) You’re broke and have hit 30 years old. You can no longer buy the Rolling Venice Card (currently costs only 4 euros in 2012), which gives substantial discounts for sights, transport, and shopping (valid for the whole calendar year) in Venice.

2) You’re allergic to pigeons. Unless you don’t intend to step into St Mark’s Square. In which case, why are you going to Venice in the first place?

3) You hate walking in crowded, narrow alleyways. I’m talking about the major walkways here.

4) You want to keep believing that all roads lead to Rome. In Venice, many lead to dead ends.

5) You dislike pizza, gelato, pastries, pasta, and seafood.

6) You can’t stop once you start drinking Prosecco, the *much* cheaper cousin of Champagne.

7) You have just got out of prison and will go into hysterics when you see a jailbird in every gondola.

8) You make it a point to visit all the historical churches in the city you travel to. According to one source, Venice has 149 churches.

9) You prefer to wait till there’s no restoration works ongoing at the key sights.

10) You only want to see the “local” way of life. Unfortunately, Venice is all about Tourism.

Corfu – Kum Quat; stifling weather; Old Fort; well-presented Asian art collection (in Greece); Byzantine art and architecture

Santorini – Golden sunset; white-washed buildings with blue roofs; slippery and smelly donkey trail; Oia [ee-yah]; long cable-car queue; breathtaking cliff views

Mykonos – Delos; Paradise beach; white-washed buildings with blue/red/pink/yellow/green roofs/shutters/doors; row of windmills; strong winds and choppy waves; “churches” galore

If there is one thing you need to do in Slovenia, it is to visit the caves of Postojna and Škocjan. Ok, that’s two. But they are close enough you could do them both in a day, even with public transport (plus a manageable dose of walking). And they are both different, worthy of the hefty ~45 euros entrance fees in total.

The visit to Postojna Cave is like a Disney theme park ride, and feels entirely magical. It begins with a train ride inside the cave – a good 5 min where you are literally transported into another world: deep underground caverns where rich treasures in the form of stalactites and stalagmites abound, with droplets and pools of waters glimmering with life. So precious and priceless are these natural formations (some of which date back hundreds of thousands of years) that an accidental touch could be the finger of death. Shades of white, yellow, red, brown – depending on the mineral content – it’s really difficult to describe the vastness of space that can exist below the surface of the earth. Perhaps trying to picture a 60m-high hill inside one of the caverns will help. And then you wonder, what’s supporting all that ceiling? The audio guide in English greatly enriches the guided walk inside the caves. No photography is permitted sadly but then again photos will fail to capture the grandeur and magnificence of the caves. (Yeah, sour grapes, I know…) The adventure concludes with the train ride back to the entrance, which you don’t want it to ever end. It’s cold inside with temperatures below 10 degree Celsius, so have something warm to wear.

The visit to Škocjan caves has a lot more walking, is a lot less magical, but you feel a lot closer to nature. What is unique is the significant underground river that flows right through the caves. You even get to cross a (concrete) bridge that’s 45m above the murmuring river (“rushing” river would have been a lot more dramatic but likely only during the wetter seasons). It’s not a fairy tale adventure, but more like exploring an earth within the earth. The guided tour wasn’t as spectacular as the Postojna one in terms of stalactite and stalagmite formations, but the unguided route (separate ticket) through a more open-air kind of cave is surreal, breathtaking (pun intended; it was a long route), and feels like a completely different world. Best of all, very few tourists take this added option and the tranquil, undisturbed surroundings, makes you feel so small, yet so one with nature. I say again, be prepared for lots of walking.

I will rate Postojna Caves higher as a tourist attraction, hands down. But the Škocjan Caves are not to be missed as well, especially the unguided route where you are left alone to take it all in at your own pace. Both caves are still in the midst of being explored, and who knows? Maybe one day one of them will really lead us to the centre of the earth!

0530 – Wake up from deep slumber. Sun is already shining outside. But it’s still early. Go back to bed. Mmm.
0630 – Alarm goes off. Snooze for 10 min.
0640 – Alarm goes off. Snooze for another 10 min. This is a holiday!
0650 – Alarm goes off. Ok ok, I have a bus heading for Plitvice Lakes to catch. Crawl out of bed reluctantly.
0700 – Wash up and shower. Why does it take me forever to adjust the water temperature? If it is not too hot it is too cold. Grumble. Ah, that’s it finally.
0730 – Pack pack pack.
0750 – Ready, get set, go. Bus station is a good 20 min walk away.
0800 – Stop to buy water. Read that 1 litre of water costs 3 euros at the lakes. It’s just 0.70 euros for 1.5 litres here in Split. No time to stop at bakery. Hopefully the bus stops over at some place with one.
0820 – Arrive at bus station. Queue to put luggage in bus. 1 bag costs 1 euro on top of 22 euro ticket.
0840 – Bus leaves about 10 min late. Not too bad. Start of 4.5 hr journey. Ask bus conductor if the bus stops at Mukinje bus stop where the Plitvice accommodation is located. Bus conductor nods and says yes.
1045 – 5 min stop at Knin. I spy a bakery and make a dash for it. Pizza and chocolate bread for 1.70 euros! Yum.
1215 – Bus stops at some random restaurant for 25 min lunch break. Drinks at the attached mini mart are indeed expensive. Food is not over-priced fortunately.
1245 – Bus journey continues. Almost there! Overhear another passenger inform bus conductor to stop at Mukinje bus stop.
1315 – Bus speeds past Mukinje bus stop. !?!?!? Observe several other passengers watch the stop disappear forlornly. Subsequent stares at bus conductor useless. Bus stops instead at Plitvice Lakes entrance 1.5 km away. Ugh.
1320 – Walking back the highway to Mukinje not a good idea the way the vehicles are speeding. Look for alternative route.
1335 – Alternative route found! Up-hill, stepped gravel path. No fun half-dragging half-carrying trolley bag. No other choice. At least the path is shaded by trees.
1400 – Finally. Arrive at accommodation at Mukinje. It’s homestay like in most of Croatia, and the old lady owner frowns in sympathy as I recount the bus-not-stopping incident. She assures that the 0640 bus tomorrow morning to Zagreb will stop at Mukinje bus stop nearby. Sigh of relief that there’s no need to drag luggage through that path again.
1415 – Walk back to Plitvice Lakes entrance to buy ticket. For 1 day it costs 11.50 euros for students. ;p Yeah, we’re all still learning aren’t we?
1445 – “Panaromic train” ride to top of upper lakes. It’s actually just a tram and I can barely see the lakes through the trees. Oh well. I read in Lonely Planet that the lakes are sometimes turquoise blue, sometimes jade green, sometimes steely grey. Wonder what colours of the lakes I will see today.
1515 – Walking begins on wooden planked path. On Park Itinerary H which takes 4-6 hours to complete.
1520 – Path leads to first of the lakes and the clarity and colour of the water makes me forget in an instance the effort it took to finally get here. A gradient from colourless to turquoise to sky blue, water sparkling in the sunlight. A group of ducks flap and flutter across the surface. Flowing waters teeming with fish. Golden cattails swaying in the breeze. Luminescent mayflies buzzing around.
1525 – I put my new camera to good use. Oh how I love its 20x optical zoom. 🙂
1545 – A short stretch of water rapids lead to a small waterfall. Video time!
1630 – More waterfalls and more lake views. The path runs just beside the lakes.
1700 – Spectacular waterfall over a dome-shaped hill! Snap snap snap. 1730 – Postcard shot of a seemingly still patch of the lakes. Simply breathtaking.
1800 – 15 min boat ride across one of the lakes. Oh look in the distance! A line of baby ducklings swimming behind a duck. Power zoom kicks in.
1815 – Itinerary H continues around the lower lakes. Need to walk a little faster.
1830 – More lake views, more rapids, more waterfalls. Turquoise blue, jade green, steely grey — check, check, check, and even more colours. This is nice but the walk is getting slightly tiring.
1900 – Veliki Slap! The highest waterfall in Croatia at 78 metres. The surrounding lush area looks like a scene from The Land Before Time.
1920 – An uphill climb for more aerial shots of the lakes. A pity the sun is not at a good angle. In fact I would say that Plitvice Lakes is best done in the early morning. Not just for the lighting, but also to avoid the crowds that will start to come in by mid-morning.
1940 – End of walking part of Itinerary H. Ample time to catch the last tram to the entrance at 2000.
1955 – Tram arrives and leaves before 2000! Good thing I’m there early. 2010 – Dinner at a self-service cafeteria at the entrance. 4 euros for roast chicken (just a thigh) with potatoes.
2030 – Walk back to Mukinje before it gets dark.
2100 – A treat of a 250 ml bottle of chilled Sprite at 1.50 euros at the end of a long day.
2200 – Sweet dreams after a relaxing shower. Have to wake at 0500 to catch the bus to Zagreb.

Dubrovnik presents a dilemma for a travel recommendation, for it blows hot and cold. And when I say hot, I literally mean burning hot, with the merciless sun roasting the endless stream of tourists on a July early afternoon. A typical tourist-targeted walled city, there are enough sights, shops and eateries to satisfy most, but one can get jaded easily after a day or two, especially when the sun seems to sap out the energy rather than give it. Small enough to walk around (no other choice), yet large enough to get surreally lost in time wandering the alleyways.

But when the sun begins to set, and the walled city begins to glow an orange hue, and when darkness falls, and the marble streets and walls glisten a bright yellowish white, Dubrovnik will not fail to captivate even the most wearied traveller. And as the temperatures drop and the air cools, the city bustles alive as people start to emerge from their afternoon siestas. Wining and dining and enjoying the live music. The atmosphere can be a truly unforgettable experience.

With great views of blue skies and sparkling clear waters, and walls surrounding a city chock full of history and architecture that is sometimes overshadowed by modern-day tourism, what’s there not to like about Dubrovnik? Moreover, it is a great base for excursions to nearby Croatian islands and cities, as well as across the border to Montenegro in addition to Bosnia and Herzegovina. But be prepared that prices are very much like Western Europe, and don’t go without staying a night at least. May/June and September/October are probably much better times to visit.