In search of Daenerys - Klis and Dubrovnik

Our first chunk of Croatian motorway (autocesta, or more commonly ‘highway’ here) was a very easy and pleasant experience – a simple pay-as-you-go entry and exit model and for our short trip, fair prices. From Šibenik to Split (60km) it was only HRK 40 (about £4.73) for our class II camper. We plan to take the motorway on our way back from near Ploče (north of the Bosnian border) to Novigrad (south of the Slovenian border) – that’s about 600km so we’ll update on our value for money views then!

This portion of the trip is a section we weren’t sure we’d do, as it seemed a long way and required a transit through Bosnia/Herzegovina. However, as we’d arranged green card cover and had come to realise nowhere is very far in Croatia, we thought we’d give it a go. Unsure of how long the border crossing might take, (we’d read tales of long delays) we decided to break the journey near Split – giving us the chance to explore the fortress at Klis, one of the locations for Game of Thrones (Meereen, the slaver city, for any fellow fans!)

The fortress is visible from the Split road down from the motorway and before long we were parked up in the small carpark and working out how many litres of water might be required for the ascent! The views from just outside the fortress were reward enough though, and although we had been advised by some British travellers we’d met in the car park that it wasn’t worth the fee (HKR40 pp – double the usual fortress rate and no doubt a GoT premium) we decided to stump up, given our love of GoT – and Croatian fortresses!

Once through the gate, and without any CGI enhancement, we struggled just a little bit to see how the fortress had been used in the filming, but Mr B was sufficiently awestruck that he might be treading the same cobbles as Daenerys, we gave it the now customary thorough going over, enjoying the amazing views down to the coast and across Split.

Started by the Romans and expanded by Croatian Kings before falling to the Ottoman empire in the 16^th C, like most other fortresses we’ve visited, it was updated by Venetians and Austro-Hungarians before falling into disrepair in the 20^th C. Klis fortress is perhaps more in the style of English Heritage in that much of it is unrestored and indeed, a bit tatty and by Croatian standards, in need of a bit of TLC, in spite of its GoT heritage. It still managed to wow us though and certainly provided some amazing views.

With lunch calling and a short hop down the coast to our next site at Zaostrog, we headed off on the Jadranka magistrala again and were soon being wowed by a steady succession of incredible views as the road hugged the mountainous coast.

Arriving at Camp Viter we were immediately struck by the lovely low key nature of the site, its multinational guests in a range of older and more quirky campers, and the local feel of the village itself, nestling under the impressive mountains that provided an almost surreal backdrop. At certain times of day/in different light conditions, they looked like they had been superimposed.

Booking in for a couple of nights as we wanted to do some proper planning before heading for Dubrovnik, Mr B’s Hrvatski won some smiles from Monika and Katja at reception, with Katja commenting subsequently that he must have swallowed a Croatian language pill. Perhaps they’d probably just had fewer foreigners having a go this far south - but they were both very kind and patient in helping him learn a little bit more.

There are some good coastal walks out of Zaostrog and we took an early evening stroll to Drvenik up the coast, uncertain of the purpose of this isolated chair in one cove, but guessing it wasn’t for the same reason as we’ve seen them on Spanish roadsides…

After a couple of restful nights (we’d read that the adjacent monastery bells rang throughout the night – they actually stop at 7.00pm and start at 8.00am – phew!) and a very nice pizza from a wood fired oven in the little pizzeria next door to the campsite, we headed off for our next campsite that would allow us to get a bus into Dubrovnik.

The route towards the Bosnian border skirts the Neretva delta, a dramatically different landscape from anything we’ve seen to date in Croatia, with the fertile patchwork of irrigation canals producing citrus fruits and melons – as well as frogs and eels as a local delicacy. Apparently, the large number of houses we saw with boats moored outside reflects the main mode of transport to and from work for many locals.

Deciding that exploration of this stretch of coast all the way down from and including Split would have to wait for another visit, we approached the Bosnian border with some trepidation…

20 minutes later though we were on our way and like many first experiences, we decided that it wasn’t such a big deal and that maybe BiH itself might get included in a subsequent trip.

Arriving at our chosen campsite north of Dubrovnik, Pod Maslimom, we were offered a pitch in the shade (it was touching 32c), or one with an uninterrupted view of the sea and the Pelješac peninsular…

So this is what we ended up with…

And this was the view from our window in the morning…

And at sundown…

We had imagined that as the sea is only 300m from the campsite we might stay for a bit – but after a very hot and sweaty walk to and from the small beach via an incline that goats would have been wary of, we stuck to the original plan to use it just as a base for Dubrovnik!

With a good bus timetable and map of the city (both provided unprompted by the reception staff) we set off for a day of adventure. We got chatting to a lovely British couple on the bus, Doug and Jude, who like us, were travelling around by camper without a fixed itinerary. They were off to Italy/Sicily the next day and we were heading further south in Dalmatia – maybe our paths will cross again another day as it’s great to meet like-minded travellers.

Passing the city’s port just before the entrance to the old town, we were alarmed but not surprised to see three ‘super-cruisers’ moored up and no sign of any disembarkation in process. Each the size of a giant hotel, they dwarfed the boat we had seen at Šibenik, and sure enough, as we neared the entrance to the old town, we were greeted by a sea of humanity that, by the sound of the voices, probably represented visitors from all continents of the planet…

Even though we had been forewarned of the scale of visitor numbers, especially when cruise ships were docked, we did experience a momentary wobble and doubt about the wisdom of our timing… However, are we not Brits and possessed of stiff upper lips? So, teeth gritted and elbows at the ready, we wove our way between the organised groups and other bemused individuals and fought our way to the ticket booth for walking the old town walls..

At HRK150 pp it seems relatively pricey – but to experience such an iconic monument, it’s worth every Kuna!  The views of the city are quite simply stunning from up here and once we had slotted ourselves into the human escalator that was slowly climbing the staircase and emerged onto the wall itself, it wasn’t so bad at all, and we were able to pace ourselves as we navigated our way around the 25m high and 2km long ancient walls.

Struck by the combination of incredible views looking out as well as inside the walls, our eyes were soon drawn to the rich tapestry of roofing tiles that were set out before us. We’d read about the damage done to the city in the homeland war, and the difficulty the restorers had in finding tiles that would match the colour and patina of the remaining old ones, and sure enough, it was easy to see where newer tiles had been used. Cleverly, the remaining old tiles had been gathered and used to roof significant buildings, leaving houses and less important roofs to be bedecked in the much brighter, newer ones.

Dubrovnik was also a filming location for GoT, and tours were on offer everywhere, but we preferred to just soak up the atmosphere of the old city, although fibreglass Tyrions did pop up more than once!

After a welcome lunch break in one of the many narrow alleys that offered food and shade (and fresh sardines, yum), we steeled ourselves for the next part of our adventure in Dubrovnik – the ascent to Mount Srđ – towering above the city 412m above sea level. Famous for its resistance to the Serbian/Montenegrin siege in 1991 and the resupply of the troops in the old Napoleonic fort on its summit by donkey, we of course took the cable car! (130HRK pp return).

This is a fabulous way to see the city from above, and although it only took a few minutes, we were glad we took this way up as we looked down on the steep and zigzag nature of the donkey path!

There is a restaurant at the top where the outdoor area was being set up for a wedding ceremony – what an amazing venue, with the views across the coast as well as into the mountainous interior just breathtaking.

As regular readers of the blog will have come to learn, we love a visit to a homeland war museum and the one in Fort Imperial was calling us for its portrayal of the siege of Dubrovnik. Under siege from October ’91 until July ’92, and shelled for a considerable amount of time, the civilian population that had been swollen by refugees from the surrounding countryside, took refuge in the mediaeval fortifications.

The museum is a mixture of military detail and civilian experiences, with a good set of English language translations. The most harrowing bit for us though, was an old video clip of a then live broadcast by ITN of the shelling of the old city. Watching shells explode inside the walls – that we had just been walking, really brought home the horror of war on the one hand, and the embarrassing lack of a meaningful response from the European and International community in the early stages of the war.

Still mulling over the experiences of ordinary Dubrovniki as we walked out of the museum, we were immediately brought back into the present as a huge number of bikers raced up the hillside to gather outside the fort. We’d seen trestle tables being set up outside the museum as we left and as all the bikes had Dubrovnik plates, we guessed that this was very much a local gig and we made our way back to the cable car for the return trip.

Returning to the campsite in time to catch another lovely sunset, we rustled up some supper and admired our own private balcony view of the Pelješac peninsula – also on our list of places and famed for its wines and gastronomy.  Before the peninsula though, Mrs B had decided it was time for a different type of cultural experience, so our departure from the campsite had us heading back past Dubrovnik and heading for the small town of Cavtat and its famous Vlaho Bukovac exhibition…

S&J.