8/9/2023: Plitvice Lakes

Split, Croatia

In Split we opted to try our luck at a hostel again, since it was reasonably priced and in the center of town. (Had we known how inexpensive Uber’s were, we may have chosen differently). Cool Hostel, as it was named, was new and eerily clean. It was clear that the rooms had all been recently outfitted with new furniture and we got a strong sense that the space had previously been a dentist office. The owners were particularly charismatic and looking for positive reinforcement on what looked to be a new business venture. They had two little boys who ran up and down the hallways from dawn until dusk, often times with plastic AK-74’s in their hands.

The hostel COULD have been fine. There were four other people in our room and they were super nice! It’s just that our room had this dang window. Let me explain. We were assigned an interior room, that had no exterior walls. So instead of having a real window, there was a small 2ft x 2ft window perched above the doorway, slightly open and suspended 10ft in the air. The issue was twofold. 1) The main hallway had spherical lights that one could angle, and there was one was angled directly into our room. 2) Our room, Room #2, happened to be right by the lobby.

Split, Croatia is known for being a party town, and had that been our objective I’m sure we could have gone clubbing all night long. Even though we didn’t, many folks at the hostel did. Kudos to you guys, it sounded like a blast. The issue is that the main hallway lights were motion censored and each time someone came back to the hostel, the light would shine directly into our room AND since the window was open, we could hear just exactly how the guest’s nights had gone. This would happen till about 4 am each night! And it was exclusively our room, since all of the other rooms had at least one exterior facing wall therefore didn’t have the 2ft x 2ft open window above the door. (Yes, we tried to close it and no we could not. Yes, we did semi-successfully cover the window by throwing a towel at it look a horseshoe.)

So, we proceed to wake up at 6 am after a night of minimal sleep. We get picked up by our tour guide at 6:45 am and after some administrative work with all of the various guests, we begin the 3 hr bus ride to Plitvice Lakes. Unlike our guide in Amsterdam, the MC for the bus gave us some interesting facts about Split and Croatia and then encouraged us to take a nap.

The weather was perfect when we arrived in Plitvice. The trees provided ample shade and a replenishing fragrance, similar to what you feel what you enter the evergreen forests at Lake Tahoe. We began our guided hike in a group of about 60 ppl and immediately took a ferry across one of the larger lakes. The clear water was nearly transparent. We could easily spot fish and couldn’t tell if the shallower parts of the lake were 5 ft or 25 ft deep.

Then we hiked the path from lake to lake and waterfall to waterfall. The path was made out of wooden planks just feet above the water resembling a never-ending bridge. This allowed us to walk directly across the lakes and marshland and close to the waterfalls. Not to mention, walking just above the crystal clear water had a surreal effect.

Our guide managed to tour us around half of the park, splitting it like one side of a hot dog bun. Impressively, she didn’t lose a single person! The park was absolutely jam packed and we had to walk single file in many areas. It was actually the first time that either of us had been on a hike in a national park where we regularly had to wait around. This was mostly caused by us going during peak hours in peak season, and then of course people (us included!) regularly stopping to take pictures.

After the hike, the bus stopped at a local diner to get some traditional Croatian food before heading back. Nearly everyone fell asleep on the bus ride back to Split. Day well spent.