Transportation Tantrum

last bus ride

At 7:00am we said goodbye to Komiza as we boarded the local bus to meet the car ferry from Vis back to Split. It was pretty non eventful overall aside from the slightly rocky 2.5 hour ferry ride. 

it's ferry time

Along the way I tried to catch a few zzzz and of course get a few last minute photos of Vis in the high winds...I swear I could have blown over from the top deck at one point!

goodbye vis

We arrived in Split on schedule at 10:00am, found some food for our lunch and relaxed for a bit over another delicious kava while we waited for our bus to Dubrovnick. We boarded the bus at about 11:45am ready for our 5 hour, 200+ km journey along the Dalmatian coastline. 

waiting for our bus

Our trip started off with a rude introduction to our "lovely" bus driver. After getting a tag put on our luggage, we were soon told in a very gruff voice that we each owed 7 kuna...which would have been fine had he not insulted us in Croatian when I handed him a 100 kuna. The two young boys in line started laughing while he grumbled about us and made change...nothing bothers me more than people like this and it took everything in me to bite my tongue. So Lisa and I heading to our preselected seats right up front on the bus, ready for an eventful few hours to say the least. 

let the adventure begin!

By the time we left the city limits the bus was entirely full...in fact at one point there were two passengers on drop down seats at the front, with the second bus driver sitting in the aisle. 

on our way

At the first major stop about half the passengers...all tourists...got off the bus for a break. Unfortunately they weren't supposed to and our driver started yelling in Croatian at them.  Quite a sight really, with the hands flying, his boisterous voice and no one having the faintest idea what he was actually saying...but we got the drift.

So after about 10 minutes we were back on the road.  The scenery over the next couple hours was beautiful. The drive followed the coastline...and I mean right on the edge!  There are steep cliffs and little communities dotted all along the way. 

the highway 

views along the way

We continued to stop and pick up/drop off people, and people continued to try and get off the bus...this only further irritated the driver and every time his little outbursts got louder and worse...what a lovely man. Eventually we headed inland, where the terrain drastically changed...less winding roads, less developed and touristy looking, with little fruit stands with lots of oranges for sale. 

heading inland

From here we started to go up in elevation and the vegetation became more dense and lush.

crops

About 3.5 hours into our trip...by this point with all the construction on the roads and our momentary pauses to let the bus driver vent on all the tourists, we were behind schedule. Suddenly we were told we were entering passport control. Too our surprise we actually had to enter Bosnia to get to Dubrovnick...and of course my passport was underneath with my luggage...this did not go over so well with the driver.

passport control

you are now entering Bosnia

Thankfully we made it through with ease and about five minutes after entering the country, we stopped for our "real" rest break.  

view of Bosnia from the rest stop

Right away I was abruptly told to come to the luggage compartment and get my passport… thank god my luggage happened to be easy to find or we may never had made it to Dubrovnik with all the attitude we were getting. 

From this point we all boarded the bus for the last time with one more hour to go. Our two drivers switched positions and we had a new driver...good thing, because our initial driver came back to the bus with 4 beer in a bag!  Gotta love it.  Since we were sitting up front, all we could hear for the next 15 minutes was him barking away at the Croatian lady sitting next to him about god knows what about "tourists"...that's the only word I could pick up. Thankfully he is not  a typical example of the people we have met throughout our time in Croatia. 

Bosnia

Just as we thought the saga was over, our new driver decided we needed to make up some time. This is when we really started to experience Croatian driving...tailgating and passing cars along a cliff hugging and winding road....oh yes while talking on the phone!! 

hold on!!!

I'm sure we experienced the worst of this because we were right up front and could see everything, but either way the next 30 minutes were not my favourite while in Croatia. 

By 4:45pm we started to enter the city limits of Dubrovnick...lovely views, as expected...but hard to capture through the window of a bus. 

Dubrovnik

We finally arrived at the bus terminal...I was definitely glad to move on to the next stage of our travels...and found a taxi who took us to our apartment in Lapad, just outside the old town. After settling in...and enjoying our welcome treat of fresh figs and almonds courtesy of our very friendly hosts...we heading out to familiarize ourselves with our new surroundings. 

Welcome!

Lapad is a touristy section where many accommodations are located...there are very little accommodations in old town Dubrovnik itself. I really missed the old feel of Vis, so it was certainly a change. We walked the entire length of the promenade in about 45 minutes, enjoying the rugged rock coastline, orange trees all around, and scouting out places to eat. 

yummy oranges

the promenade

rugged coastline

taking in the sights of Lapad

We finally stopped at the most unique bar I've ever seen, built right out of a natural cave...named appropriately Cave Bar More. It had about 4-5 levels that led to the hotel's main restaurant… seating about 60 people in total...with each level having its own private seating area.

cozy seating

why not enjoy a drink inside here

the inside

It was also right on the water with seating outside that you can actually jump off to go swimming....very cool, but it was very cool outside, so no swimming for us. 

Cheers!

We found a spot, had a drink and planned out a few things to do in Dubrovnick over the next few days. Too tired to eat, we headed home, picked up a few small things for breakfast and found our way back to the apartment. 

Today was an interesting day to say the least...including Lisa's evening adventure with the wash machine in our unit...the fun never ends!  We are looking forward to exploring this historic UNESCO World Heritage site over the next three days. 

Until tomorrow...

Lisa & Lisa