Dubrovnik, Croatia

Amazingly, after a very late night, I woke up at 08:00 (with only about three hours of sleep) – it helped that others in the dorm room were up and packing their bags. I then showered, dressed, and packed my bags. I then checked out of the hostel and put my bags in the storage room. I decided to get some more sun today in a vain attempt to get a tan (my skin doesn’t tan and the best I can hope for is a healthy red glow) and left the hostel at 09:30 with my towel, sunglasses, and water. I considered heading to Banje Beach (a pebble beach) in Dubrovnik, but decided against it since laying on pebbles didn’t appeal to me and I rather lay on a relatively flat rock like I had done the past two days. So, I decided to fork up the cash and take the ferry to Lokrum Island again. I reached the Old Port at 09:50, bought a ticket, and took the 10:00 ferry to the island. Once at Lokrum Island, I walked to the “beach” and made my way to the same spot I was at yesterday. Once I laid out my towel, I stripped down and covered myself in sunscreen. I then laid out there for the next three hours, dipping in to the Adriatic Sea occasionally to invigorate my body. After 13:30, I figured I had had enough sun (even with reapplying sunscreen every hour to guard against burning); so I dressed and walked back to the pier on Lokrum Island. I then took the 14:15 ferry back to the Old Port of Dubrovnik. Once back on the mainland, I walked back to the hostel, where I reserved a bed in a hostel in Split. I then grabbed my bags and walked to the bus station by the main port in Dubrovnik, where I bought a 17:00 bus ticket to Split. I waited for the next hour and a half for the bus to arrive; I then loaded up in to the bus and at 17:00 we departed.

The bus drove northward through Croatia (I caught some sleep along the way) before coming to the Bosnian border at 17:52. A police officer working passport control walked through the bus and glanced at everyone’s passports. We then drove on to a rest stop in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where we stopped for a ten minute break. At 18:12, the bus continued on and at 18:18, we reached the Croatian border and were waved through. At 18:45, we stopped at the Ploče bus station for a break and to pick up more passengers. At 19:02, we continued on, driving along the Croatian coast as the sun was setting. At 20:07, we stopped at Makarska bus station to pick up more passengers (we picked up passengers at various bus stops along the route, as well). Finally, after nearly four and a half hours (at 21:28), we reached the bus station in Split.

Once the bus stopped at Split, I grabbed my bags and walked north, through the old town, to the hostel I had reserved a bed at. I reached the hostel, checked in, put my bags in the large locker provided, and then walked outside to eat a decent meal. I walked to a restaurant near the harbor and ate two grilled sea-bass with French fries and I drank a beer. I then returned to the hostel, took a shower (much needed after sweating in the sun earlier today), and drank some juice (also much needed to rehydrate my body). I then went to sleep after midnight.