Horvaatia/ Croatia 🇭🇷

Meie päev Horvaatiasse hääletades osutus üheks väga joppamise, kuid samas ka palju jamaga päevaks

Siiani tagasimõeldes tundub nagu too 25.juuni oleks kestnud terve nädala. Närvikõdi jagus ja see hostelisse saabumine oli eriti magus.

Nimelt päev algas siis meie Sloveenia raadio seiklustega, lõputu ootamise ja eraldi rekkatega. Nagu eelmise postituse lõpus mainisin, siis just enne Horvaatia piiri võttis meid üks naine peale, kes taaskord ei rääkind sõnagi inglise keelt, õnneks rääkis ta puhtalt saksa keelt, et suheldud me saime. Naljatilk oli ta ka küsides politseilt tollis, et kus meil oleks hea koht Zadari poole hääletada. Me Annikaga vahetasime pilke, et mis ta teeb nalja või? Tahab meile kohe trahvid kaela saada. Igatahes oli ta väga tore, kuigi hakkas oma abieluprobleeme kurtma peale seda kui me olime 10min autos istunud aga hea küll, sõidu eest võin ma veidi aega ka psühholoogi mängida. Ütlesime talle mitu korda, et meie esimeseks sihtkohakss Horvaatias on Zadari nimeline linnake lõunapool ning näitasin mapsist kohta kus me maha peaks minema. Sinna ristmikule jõudes ta ütles, et seal on liiga ohtlik ning pole bensukat ja sõitis edasi. Mul oli, et suva see bensukas, meil on vaja maha saada, ta aga hakkas paanitsema, et me ei saa seal hääletada (ilmselgelt ei tea ta kui sihikindlad me omadega oleme) ja kuna vihma hakkas ka sadama, siis sõitis ta edasi. Mingi hetk me juba ei teadnud kas nutta või naerda, sest me olime päris pikalt sõitnud kiirteel täiesti teises suunas ning no way, et me oleks õigele ristmikule tagasi saanud kõndida. Peale 20 minutilist sõitu tuli väike kõrvaltee ja ma juba suht kurjalt ütlesin, et meil on vaja kohe maha minna, sest me liigume vastassuunas. Ta ise oli ka veits ehmunud, et nii valesti läks ja vabandas, aga no elu läheb edasi, meil oli lihtsalt vaja õigesse suunda saada. Läksime siis maha taaskord keset kiirteed, padukat sadas ning mõtlesime, et hea küll lähme üle tee ja siis hääletame oma ristini tagasi. Esimene probleem ilmnes teed ületades. Nimelt oli liiklus tagasi täiesti kreisi ning vahepeal oli tunne, et jäämegi kahe kiirtee vahel olevale muruplatsile ööbima, õnneks peale mõnda minutit saime ikka üle tee, olles läbimärjad ning väga ausalt öeldes oli supper kopp ees sellest päevast juba. Õnneks jäi rekka suht kohe seisma ning sees olid kaks väga toredat horvaatia tüüpi, kellega saime 100km kaugusele Zadarist. Kõht oli väääga tühi selleks hetkeks ning tegime bensukas söögipausi. Sealt saime oma fun tuju tagasi ning loivasime juba oma lamekate saatel tee äärde tagasi, mõeldes, et oleme ainult 100km oma kohast. AGA nagu mainitud, siis see päev ei olnud päris meie päev ning me seisime ja seisime ja seisime ja esimest korda reisi jooksul oli tunne, et me ei jõua vist oma sihtkohta ning peame öö seal samas bensukas veetma. Lõpuks pärast väga pikka ootamist jäi üks minivan seisma ja need inimesed seal oli lihtsalt supppppppper toredad. Terve tee chattisime Horvaatia kohta ja saime palju soovitusi. A la 10 min peale autole saamist oli täiesti kottpime ning tekkis suur torm. Vihma peksis jubedalt ja äikest lõi nii et taevas oli valge. Annikaga sosistasime vist 8x sõidu jooksul, et meil ikka nii joppas selle autoga ja et ei pidanud selle tormiga tee ääres olema. Nad tegelikud sõitsid Spliti ja pidid meid linna ääres maha panema, aga hakkas vist kahju ja viisid hosteli ette ära. Lõpp hea kõik hea, aga ausalt see päev mis algas öösel üksi läbi Ljubljana pipragaas käes koju kõndides ja lõppes seal minibussis äiksetormi ajal istudes oli ikka vääääga pikk.

Aga meie esimene sihtkoht ehk Zadar on pisike linnake väga armas. Olime seal 2 ööd megamõnusas hostelis, käisime ujumas (vesi on seal niiiii ilus sinine ja saab igalt poolt sisse hüpata, aga liivarandu pole, et suht kivide peal on päevitamine) jalutasime linnapeal ringi ja lihtsalt olime, sest ausalt öeldes, siis meie jaanipäeva tähistamised Sloveenias väsitasid suht ära ning energiavarud olid otsakorral.

Peale kahte tsillipäeva seadsime end Spliti poole teele. Seda kohta saime soovituseks igalt poolt, kui Horvaatiat mainisime. Ka sinna jäime kaheks ööks ning OI kui ilus linn see on. Ma arvan, et ma olen tee leidmisega päris osav aga seal ei leidnud ma meie vanalinna hostelit ka peale 2.päeva üles. Lihtsalt nii palju pisikesi tänavaid, osad tupikud ka veel ning kõik nii sarnased

 Aga ausalt väga, väga ilus linn. Split on tuntud ka peosihtkohana ning ka meie otsustasime mõlemad päevad kohalikku ööelu uurida. Taaskord sai tantsitud varavalgeni ning tutvutud lahedate inimestega. Teisel ööl tutvusin ühe aussi koomikuga ja pole ammu nii palju naernud, et mu põsed olid valusad. 

Teise päeva hommikul tahtsime olla kultuursed ning taaskord üle 30 kraadise kuumaga mõtlesime minna ühe künka otsa linnavaadet nautima, sealt aga läks väike teeke ning mõtlesime, et lähme siis ringiga alla. Kaarti me ei hakanud vaatama eelnevalt kuna aega meil ju oli. “Väike teeke” osutus aga 9km ringiks ning see kuumus ka kergelt tappis.

Järgmine hommik ärkasime vara ning seadsime sammud praami poole, sest meie järgmiseks sihtkohaks oli Hvar, mis on pisike saareke 1-2 h (olenevalt transpordist) Splitist. Kuna kätte oli jõudnud 29. Juuni, siis vaatamata faktile, et meil kohe üldse ei olnud energiat ega suurt peotuju, ajasime ilusad riided selga ja vedasime end linna. Annika, väike krutski, mõtles, et jube äge oleks terve tänava tähelepanu mulle tõmmata. Nimelt asusime ühel pisikesel kitsal tänaval, kus baarid asusid mõlemal pool. Enne südaööd hakkas ta ringi käima ja mulle laulukoori otsima ning kui kell lõi 00, hakkas terve see võõraid täis tänav ühtäkki mulle sünnipäevalaulu laulma, siis tõsteti mind kellegi õlgadele, ulatati mojito ning säraküünlad. Alguses ma tahtsin sealt tänavalt põgeneda, aga tegelt oli see ikka suppppppper äge algus 27.ks 😊

Ka 30.juuni möödus väga tsillilt ja hästi. Läksime paadiga Palmizana saarele, päevitasime ja tsillisime seal, hostelisse jõudes tegime korraliku junki õhtusöögi ning läksime pubirallile, aga seekord paadiga. Ehk tsillasime paadiga üle tunni mere peal, kus oli tasuta jook, läksime korra Hvari ühte baari, aga meile seal ei meeldinud ning otsisime selleks ajaks endale uue seltskonna, läksime paadile tagasi ja siis sõitsime Carpe Diem nimelisse kluppi, mis asub pisikesel saarel, kus peale selle vabaõhu klubi ei olegi mitte midagi muud.

Ühesõnaga sünnipäev oli supppper tore, päikseline, soe ja kindlasti meeldejääv.

Järgmine päev oli motivatsiooni suur null, aga meid ootas ees tripp Pulasse, väikesesse linna põhja Horvaatias. Ja ka see päev kestis nagu nädala. Kõigepealt meil oli suuri raskusi, et üldse Splitist (kuhu me pidime Hvarilt kõigepealt tagasi minema) välja saada, mingi hetk olime jälle kiirteel, kust saime suure joppamisega ühe mehe peale, kes tahtis meile rannikuvaateid näidata ja minna mööda väikseid käänulisi teid, mitte väga hea idee, sest mul seal taga istudes küll hea neid vaateid nautida polnud, pigem oli süda paha terve tee. Aga Rijeka juurde me kohale temaga saime ning minna oli vaid 96km ehk mott oli laes, võtsime burksid, vantsisime rõõmsalt tee äärde ja sinna me jäimegi, kuskil 45ks minutiks, mille jooksul oli päike jõudnud loojuda ning hakkas hämarduma. Meie naljad asendusid üpris kiiresti vaikusega, ning kuna Pula oli esimene koht, kus meil oli vaja aja peale kohal olla siis olukord kiskus kriitiliseks. Lõpuks jäi üks auto seisma ning kui terve reis oli meil autode ja juhtidega ikka väga näkanud, siis mitte seekord. Omavahel tegime veel nalja, et milline au järgmisele autole osaks saab, et nad on meie hääletustripi viimane auto, aga pigem oli see viimane ots pärit hoiatavatest lugudest, miks mitte hääletada. 99l juhul 100st oleksime me sellisele autole “ei” öelnud, aga kahjuks oli see 1x 100st käes, kus väljas oli hämar, me olime seisnud seal juba pikka aega ning oli vaja kiiresti kohale jõuda.

Auto oli pann, supper pann. Kui nad seisma jäid ei olnud taga istmeidki, mingi katkine autouks oli pagassis, turvavööd ei töödanud, auto oli supppper räpane, juhid suitsetasid kordamööda non-stop, et meil juba jälle süda pahaks läks. Juhtimisoskus oli null, igakord kui juht pead pööras siis auto kaldus kõrvale, sõidu kiirus selle panniga oli 90 alas 140km/h. Juhid ise olid ka väga veidrad. Annika sosistas mingi hetk, et ta pipragaasi igaks juhuks kätte võtab. Hea idee, mõtlesin sama teha, siis meenus, et suurte joppamiste peale oli mu valvsus, mida me enne trippi kokku leppisime, täiesti hajunud ning pipragaas asus meigikotis, mis asus seljakotis kuskil. Hea küll, hakkasin seda gaasi sealt välja kaevama.Siis mõtlen, et aga kui midagi siin peaks nihu minema ja peaks jooksma, siis mul on varbavaheplätud, nendega ma kaugele küll ei jookse. Tenkusid ma enam kaevama ei hakanud, jäin lootma adrenaliinilaksule kui miskit peaks juhtuma. Ning kõigele lisaks sai poole tee peal mu telefoni aku täiesti tühjaks ja telefon viskas pildi tasku. Annikal oli akut 3%. Väljas oli pime, tüübid ja see sõitmine muutus järjest kahtlasemaks, eriti kui nad pöörasid enne peateed ära. Inglise keelt nad ei rääkind, kõrvalistuja saksa keeles purssis miskit ja siis temaga ma veits suhtlesin, proovides ise maailmarahuna näida, kuigi pulss oli laes ja never ever pole ma nii hullult kilomeetreid lugenud. Ta ütles, et teevad shortcuti. Telefon oli tühi, kontrollida ei saanud, jäin teemärke ootama. Õnneks viisid nad meid ikka Pulasse, kuhu jõudsime ikka ühes tükis. Kohale jõudes tuli välja, et tagauks käib ainult väljaspoolt lahti ka. Ütleme nii, et päris pingeline sõit oli see viimane meil. Taavi ütles sellepeale, hea, et esimene auto selline ei olnud, muidu oleks kohe alguses moti ära kaotanud. Ja oligi aeg veeta meie viimane öö Horvaatis, väga supper sihtkoht. Mul jätkub ainult häid sõnu, kuigi hinnatase on suht kallis ning hääletama ma sinna enam ei läheks, vähemalt meie jaoks osutus Horvaatias autole saamine kordades raskemaks ja pikemaks, kui kuskil mujal.

Ma ei mäletagi, miks me just Horvaaatis oma hääletamise lõppkohaks valisime, aga mul on hea meel, et me seda tegime ja et ma sain oma sünnipäeva nii meeldejäävalt tähistada. ( siinkohal ka SUUUUURED TÄNUD KÕIGILE ÕNNESOOVIJATELE!!!väga armas, et meeles pidasite ja head soovid teele saatsite 😊 )

Plaane tegime me ümber päris palju, sest esialgu pidine veetma Horvaatias vaid 3 ööd ja põhjas, kuid lõpetasime 7 ööga ja lõunas. Kindlasti tahaks sinna tagasi minna ja veel rohkem avastada, aga hetkel tunnen, et tegime ja nägime ka selle nädalaga väga palju.

Leaving for Croatia was one of the longest days and seemed like this 25^th of June had lasted for a week. We were lucky at the end, but throughout the whole day we had quite a bit of challenges. As I mentioned at the end of my last post then after the trucks dropped us of in the petrol station and a woman stopped to took us over the border, she started to ask the police, if they know any good spots in direction Zadar, where she can drop us off and we can hitchhike from. Our faces were pale, thinking if she wants us to get fined straight away or smth, we just heard we can get 300 euros fine and now she asks an officer for an advise. Joke! Thankfully they did not care much. This woman was very friendly, but spoke no English at all. Thankfully her german was very good, so we could communicate easily, but after 10 minutes sitting in a car, she started to talk about her marriage problems. My german is quite good, but my vocabulary in marriage problems, is hardly excisting, so I tried to lead the conversation to anything else at all quite fast. When we reached to point, where we had to go to another direction I told her in advance that in 20km, we have to go right, so whenever she can, we would go out. But she was a worrying mother and since there was no petrol station she kept driving. I said it doesn’t matter, we can hitchhike on an highway as well and we have done that quite a lot, but she still said it is not safe and kept driving while we missed the turn. Then it started to rain as well and she kept driving. We saw that there is no way we can walk back to that road so we looked at the maps and about 20km further we saw a little road and asked her to stop. She still wanted to drive on, but I already said it with a higher voice, that we have gone to the totally wrong direction and we need to get out NOW, it doesn’t matter the rain or the highway, we are just moving the wrong way at the moment. She was bit freaked out herself as well, that she took us to the wrong way, but it doesn’t matter, we just needed to go back. When we got out of the car it was pissing down rain and we quickly realized that the fastest way to get to the right road is to go on the other side of the road and hitchhike back, BUT the traffic was crazy, so for a good while we were stuck in the grass area between the two highways in rain. We were just not able to cross the road. Finally, when we managed to do it, quite quickly a truck with already two guys inside stopped and they took us 100km away from Zadar. We were so happy that they saved us from the highway and rain, and since we had no food that day we made a stop in a petrol station. Walking out we were very optimistic and made our lame jokes when we got back to the road, but we stood there forever. I think we were there around 45 minutes and no one stopped. That was the first time when we thought we will not make it to our destination and maybe have to sleep in a petrol station. It got darker and darker with every minute. Finally, a minivan with really cool people stopped and 10 minutes after, it was pitch black outside and a thunderstorm started. Me and Annika whispered at least 8 times to each other, how lucky we were to get into that van. They were actually going to Split, but I think they felt sorry for us, and dropped us of in front of our hostel. That was the sweetest arriving so far. As mentioned this day had lasted toooooo long, starting with me walking home alone with a pepper spray in my hand in Ljubljana and ended in that minivan during a thunderstorm.

Next two days we spent in Zadar, walking around the town, chilling by the sea and just relaxing since our energy level was zero. Fun fact- there are hardly any sand beaches in Croatia, mostly just rocks, but the water is so blue and nice.

After two nights in Zadar we made our way to Split, which was recommended by almost everyone when we mentioned Croatia. And I understand why, such a beautiful city with an amazing oldtown and awesome nightlife. I think I am quite good at directions, but even after two days I had to look for my hostel with a google maps, because all the old town streets are so narrow, tiny and look the same, but it is like an old maze throughout the city, very very beautiful. One day we decided to go to a viewing platform and there was a tiny road leaving this place, so we thought we are going to go down on the other side, since we had time and it was a nice day. Little did we know that this tiny road takes us to 9km track in a 33C heath. But yeah, Split was awesome, we were dancing until the early hours of morning and met some awesome people over there.

And suddenly 29^th of June had arrived. For that we woke up early and went to a ferry, to go to a Hvar island (which is 1-2 hours, depending on a transport). And although we had no energy and were not in a mood of party, then we still dressed up and made our way to the town, sinceeeeee after midnight it was my birthday!! We were hanging out in a narrow street with bars on both sides, when at midnight the whole street full of strangers started to sing me happy birthday and suddenly I was on someone’s shoulders and was handed a mojito and sparkling candles. At first, I wanted to escape, but to be honest it was such an awesome way to start my 27^th year. And many kisses to Annika, who organized the whole thing! 😊

My birthday was great as well, we went to a Palmizana island, where we just sunbathed and relaxed. In the evening we took part of the pub crawl, but it wasn’t a usual one. Instead we were having an open bar on a boat, while sailing in the sea for the first hour and then we went back to Hvar, to a bar, but me and Annika didn’t like it there, so we left and hanged out with some other people so long. Went back to the boat and then they took us to Carpe Diem club, which is an open-air club in a tiny island, and there is nothing else there at all besides that club. So safe to say, that I am more than happy with my birthday, it was filled with sunshine, heath, drinks and good company.

Next day we had no motivation, but somehow we had to hitchhike up to north Croatia to Pula. And once again this day seemed to last forever. It took us forever to get out of Split (we had to go back there from Hvar first) and we were so wrecked and so not in a mood of carring our bags that day. Finally, we got out of there and the second car dropped us off in a highway, where an older man with a sportscar picked us up. He thought it is such a good idea to show us the coastal route, but me in a backseat did not agree with it at all. I just felt so sick and could not enjoy the views at all (although they were amazing, as much as I opened my eyes). He dropped us off in Rijeka in a right road to Pula. We were only 96km away, so happy, motivated and talking that whoever picks us up now, is a lucky car, since they will be our last car in this hitchhiking trip. 45 minutes passed and no one picked us up. The sun had set and it got darker. Our jokes were quickly replaced by silence. We looked at our watches and realized we only have 10-15 minutes left before it gets totally dark and then a car stopped. 99 times out of 100 we would have said no, but now it was this 1 time, since we had been waiting there for ages already. This was a horrible ride, something from a book “Why should you not hitchhike”. Firstly, when they stopped, there were no seats in the back. I thought they stopped to be funny or smth, but somehow he managed to get the seats up. Then there was a broken car door right behind me, the seatbelts were not working and in general, I am surprised the car itself was functioning. It stank and was so dirty. The men smoked non-stop, so we both felt bit sick after a while. Driving skills were non- existing, since every time he turned his head, the car turned as well. He drove 140km/h in a 90 zone and one time when he tried to overtake, we almost crashed with another car. Safe to say we both had a little nervous breakdown during that ride. And not to mention the guys were proper weird as well, spoke no English, thankfully one of them spoke a little german, so I was able to communicate with him a little bit, to ask wtf is happening. Quite at the beginning Annika whispered that she took her pepper spray out, since this whole thing was too weird. Good idea, I thought, I should do the same. And then I realized I totally lost my alertness, since we were always so lucky with the cars and drivers, and my pepper spray was on the bottom of my make-up bag, which was somewhere in my luggage. Okay, since it was a weird ride I started to look for it. Then I thought that if something should go very wrong, I am wearing my flip-flops, so I won’t be even able to run. And if that wasn’t enough stupidity for one evening then my phone died, since my battery was empty and Annika had 3% left. Sweet, that was the situation the the darkness. I have never ever counted the kilometers so badly. One point they turned away from the highway, although the signs showed that Pula is straight. I tried to stay as cool as ice, tho my pulse was up high and asked why did we turned and they said it is a shortcut. Honestly, I had like 10 different horror movie scripts running through my mind. Thankfully they took us to Pula and then it came out that the back door can only be opened from outside. Getting out of that car was one of the happiest moment of my trip. When I told my brother the story, he said lucky that it was our last, not first car, otherweise we would have stopped our trip already in Estonia 😃

But okay. Everything ended well and now thinking back to it, I just start to laugh.

Croatia itself was amazing and at first we planned to stay three night in north, but ended up staying altogether 7 nights and 6 of them in south. I am beyond happy that we left our trip so loose and were able to play around with the places and dates since Split and Hvar were amazing. Although Croatia is not cheap at all, I am so happy we chose this as our final destination and that I was able to celebrate my birthday there. I would love to go back one day and discover more of it, but I also think we saw quite a bit of Croatia in one week.