This 14 days backpacking trip had been quite stressful...the planning was not easy either.
For Croatia, I was still able to plan my bus journeys since there is good bus website which gives information about buses going to Bosnia as well but there is constant worry whether the schedule online is the updated version. For Macedonia, it was really challenging because the bus website is in Macedonian language and I had to get a Bulgarian nurse to translate it for me. The best part was I had to ask her to call Skopje to confirm the timing...which was a wise thing to do because the schedule displayed online was not the updated version (off season buses are less frequent obviously). And another bombshell dropped was the fact that the Greek railways stopped their train service between Skopje and Thessaloniki in mid Feb and I only found out about it few days before I flew to Zagreb. I was tearing my my hair off thinking of a solution to get to Thessaloniki from Skopje. The bus from Skopje to Thessaloniki only runs on Mon, Wed, Fri 6am. Unfortunately, my journey was planned in a way that I would be in Macedonia on tuesday and had to catch a flight to Mykonos on wednesday morning...I was extremely distressed but things worked their ways out with God's divine help. Another problem I faced during off season travel in Eastern Europe is the lack of public toilet. All public toilets are closed. Even some museums do not have toilet for tourists which I think really unfair. Facilities for tourists in Eastern Europe really need to improve in order to compete with western Europe countries.
I had very little sleep few days prior to the travel day. In fact, I only slept for half an hour before catching the flight to Zagreb. The flight was slightly delayed but uneventful. On arrival to Zagreb airport, I was a bit shocked. It is unbelievably small and basic. There is only one room in the toilet before passing the custom checkpoint...and though it was during office hour, the tourist information counter was not manned (in fact, it was locked) and the money changer does not sell BAM notes in which I was surprised because Bosnia is a neighbouring country. I could not get information about the tram network nor buy a 24 hour Zagreb card. There are shops inside the airport that sells Zagreb card but only 72hours card are available...
Getting a bus from the airport to the central bus station (autobusni kolodvor) is easy though. The stop is just outside the exit point of the airport and bus fare is 30 kuna. However, once I reached the bus station, it was quite a headache. Fortunately, able to find direction from Croatian who speaks simple english. Found my way to the ticket counter and purchased bus ticket to Plitvice. It was extremely confusing..the counters are numbered but no signage present to inform customer which counter is designated to which destination...I was directed to 3 different counters before reaching the correct counter.
The worse was yet to come. Once outside the bus station, I was completely lost. I could not find the hostel that is near the bus station and decided to go the city centre. Standing at the tram stop, I was there for good ten minutes trying to figure out which tram goes where and which direction to go for...A tram map from tourist info centre in the airport would be extremely helpful. I gave up trying to figure out the tram network and asked a young Croatian girl about which tram to board to the Trg Josipa Jelacica. Most young generations in Croatia can speak decent or simple English. I boarded tram 6 happily just to find that driver did not have day tram pass! I had to get down and cross the road to nearest tissak to buy the tram pass (25 kuna, day pass only valid till 3 am next day, need to validate with ticket machine inside the tram). It is important to note that tourists should buy bus ticket or tram tickets from tissak because it is cheaper.
It was 2pm by the time I reach the famous square. Dolac market was still open but I did not have time to explore it. Fortunately, Fuhlir hostel was very easy to find. Checked in and dropped my rucksack in the room. With tram map from the hostel, I could navigate around the city with no problem. I am not really a city person so the first place I headed for was Medvenica mountain. Hopped into tram 14 till its last stop and changed to tram 15 till its last stop. Then, I was stuck. I assumed that there would be a funnicular to go up to the top. That was a foolish assumption. Off season, the funnicular was closed and the station is actually located about few miles away. At the tram stop, I met a Croatian lady who directed me to go through a tunnel. So, I walked on the off beaten track towards the tunnel (sign posted as tunnelum). There were few old folks chatting outside the tunnel and that gave me courage. The tunnel is very creepy, reminded me a lot of the tunnel in Kakashi, a Japanese horror movie. After the tunnel, it is few kilometre hike through the woods but with good trails. After about near half hour, I saw the funnicular station. Met a group of Croatian men who told me that it would be another 2 hours (return) to reach the top of the mountain where Medvedgrad (fortress) is. At that point, I had to give up going to the top because I am worried I might miss the last tram that descend to the city. Well, the hike up the mountain was refreshing so it was a good experience after all.
Back in Ban Jelacic Square, I walked towards Kaptol Square to board bus 106 to Mirogoj cemetery. It is reputed to be one of the most beautiful cemetry in Europe. Since visiting Necropolis in Glasgow, I was fascinated with western cemeteries so I knew I had to visit Mirogoj. Unlike Necropolis, Mirogoj is modern with very well designed layout. There are beautiful sculptures and a big cross in the centre dedicated to fallen soldiers in war. It is interesting to observe the Croatian culture in relation to death. Very peaceful place to contemplate about life and death...
Returned to Kaptol square to explore the Zagreb Cathedral. One of the spire is under repair. Then, I took tram 12 to Maksimir Park. I should have alighted at Bukovacka stop but I had to walk a bit because I got off at earlier stop. It is a very old public park and was inaugurated in 1794. Massive and lovely, it is at its best during sunset. I actually prefer this park than Hyde park in London. It was dark by the time I reached Ban Jelacic Square. I was very tired due to sleep deprivation. Explored part of Ilica and bought multiple berry flavour ice cream in Vincek ice cream shop. Yummy! Shopped for food and drinking water before heading back to hostel.
For Croatia, I was still able to plan my bus journeys since there is good bus website which gives information about buses going to Bosnia as well but there is constant worry whether the schedule online is the updated version. For Macedonia, it was really challenging because the bus website is in Macedonian language and I had to get a Bulgarian nurse to translate it for me. The best part was I had to ask her to call Skopje to confirm the timing...which was a wise thing to do because the schedule displayed online was not the updated version (off season buses are less frequent obviously). And another bombshell dropped was the fact that the Greek railways stopped their train service between Skopje and Thessaloniki in mid Feb and I only found out about it few days before I flew to Zagreb. I was tearing my my hair off thinking of a solution to get to Thessaloniki from Skopje. The bus from Skopje to Thessaloniki only runs on Mon, Wed, Fri 6am. Unfortunately, my journey was planned in a way that I would be in Macedonia on tuesday and had to catch a flight to Mykonos on wednesday morning...I was extremely distressed but things worked their ways out with God's divine help. Another problem I faced during off season travel in Eastern Europe is the lack of public toilet. All public toilets are closed. Even some museums do not have toilet for tourists which I think really unfair. Facilities for tourists in Eastern Europe really need to improve in order to compete with western Europe countries.
I had very little sleep few days prior to the travel day. In fact, I only slept for half an hour before catching the flight to Zagreb. The flight was slightly delayed but uneventful. On arrival to Zagreb airport, I was a bit shocked. It is unbelievably small and basic. There is only one room in the toilet before passing the custom checkpoint...and though it was during office hour, the tourist information counter was not manned (in fact, it was locked) and the money changer does not sell BAM notes in which I was surprised because Bosnia is a neighbouring country. I could not get information about the tram network nor buy a 24 hour Zagreb card. There are shops inside the airport that sells Zagreb card but only 72hours card are available...
Getting a bus from the airport to the central bus station (autobusni kolodvor) is easy though. The stop is just outside the exit point of the airport and bus fare is 30 kuna. However, once I reached the bus station, it was quite a headache. Fortunately, able to find direction from Croatian who speaks simple english. Found my way to the ticket counter and purchased bus ticket to Plitvice. It was extremely confusing..the counters are numbered but no signage present to inform customer which counter is designated to which destination...I was directed to 3 different counters before reaching the correct counter.
The worse was yet to come. Once outside the bus station, I was completely lost. I could not find the hostel that is near the bus station and decided to go the city centre. Standing at the tram stop, I was there for good ten minutes trying to figure out which tram goes where and which direction to go for...A tram map from tourist info centre in the airport would be extremely helpful. I gave up trying to figure out the tram network and asked a young Croatian girl about which tram to board to the Trg Josipa Jelacica. Most young generations in Croatia can speak decent or simple English. I boarded tram 6 happily just to find that driver did not have day tram pass! I had to get down and cross the road to nearest tissak to buy the tram pass (25 kuna, day pass only valid till 3 am next day, need to validate with ticket machine inside the tram). It is important to note that tourists should buy bus ticket or tram tickets from tissak because it is cheaper.
It was 2pm by the time I reach the famous square. Dolac market was still open but I did not have time to explore it. Fortunately, Fuhlir hostel was very easy to find. Checked in and dropped my rucksack in the room. With tram map from the hostel, I could navigate around the city with no problem. I am not really a city person so the first place I headed for was Medvenica mountain. Hopped into tram 14 till its last stop and changed to tram 15 till its last stop. Then, I was stuck. I assumed that there would be a funnicular to go up to the top. That was a foolish assumption. Off season, the funnicular was closed and the station is actually located about few miles away. At the tram stop, I met a Croatian lady who directed me to go through a tunnel. So, I walked on the off beaten track towards the tunnel (sign posted as tunnelum). There were few old folks chatting outside the tunnel and that gave me courage. The tunnel is very creepy, reminded me a lot of the tunnel in Kakashi, a Japanese horror movie. After the tunnel, it is few kilometre hike through the woods but with good trails. After about near half hour, I saw the funnicular station. Met a group of Croatian men who told me that it would be another 2 hours (return) to reach the top of the mountain where Medvedgrad (fortress) is. At that point, I had to give up going to the top because I am worried I might miss the last tram that descend to the city. Well, the hike up the mountain was refreshing so it was a good experience after all.
Back in Ban Jelacic Square, I walked towards Kaptol Square to board bus 106 to Mirogoj cemetery. It is reputed to be one of the most beautiful cemetry in Europe. Since visiting Necropolis in Glasgow, I was fascinated with western cemeteries so I knew I had to visit Mirogoj. Unlike Necropolis, Mirogoj is modern with very well designed layout. There are beautiful sculptures and a big cross in the centre dedicated to fallen soldiers in war. It is interesting to observe the Croatian culture in relation to death. Very peaceful place to contemplate about life and death...
Returned to Kaptol square to explore the Zagreb Cathedral. One of the spire is under repair. Then, I took tram 12 to Maksimir Park. I should have alighted at Bukovacka stop but I had to walk a bit because I got off at earlier stop. It is a very old public park and was inaugurated in 1794. Massive and lovely, it is at its best during sunset. I actually prefer this park than Hyde park in London. It was dark by the time I reached Ban Jelacic Square. I was very tired due to sleep deprivation. Explored part of Ilica and bought multiple berry flavour ice cream in Vincek ice cream shop. Yummy! Shopped for food and drinking water before heading back to hostel.
Ban Jelacica Square
Mirogoj cemetery
Maksimir Park at sunset
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