Plitvice

We woke up in Senj the next morning at about 6 AM. It was a little painful, I’m gonna be honest, but we had an aggressive plan for the day: Drive to Plitvice (Pleet-veet-chay), walk the National Park, and drive all the way to Dubrovnik in the southern tip of Croatia. And in order to beat the heat and the crowds (Think Yosemite in August) and make it all the way to Dubrovnik, we needed to head out early.

The drill was the usual, I drive, and Ben and Seth take turns being passed out in the back and doing their best to keep me from being passed out in the front. We put a few liters of petrol in our ride and hit the road. We followed mountain switchbacks in the dense morning fog most of the way from coastal Senj to Plitvice National Park, which is hidden in the central valley’s hills.

We probably passed through 50 small country towns on our way to Plitvice – most of them consisted of well kept stone houses, a few markets, flowers, and roadside merchants selling their homemade cheese, oils, and brandy.

I’m not sure what about us screamed “tourist” louder – our giant “Europe” backpacks, our ever-present cameras, or my “Hrvatska” t-shirt that I wore so proudly…which would be equivalent to a Japanese tourist walking around Yosemite taking pictures of everything, talking in Japanese and wearing a gaudy “America” t-shirt. Ok, so we stood out a little.

About 1 hour into our drive, we finally found coffee. We walked into a very local café in a small Croatian farming town and asked (in English, of course) for 3 espressos. I tried not to make eye contact, but across the bar, which I could barely see through the plume of early morning cigarette smoke, all eyes were on us. It was as if someone just walked into a cowboy bar in West Texas and ordered a diet sprite and a salad.

Escaping unscathed with our caffeine, we hit the road again, bound for Plitvice. We passed through more small towns and gorgeous countryside that I couldn’t help but think how California developers would be salivating over. The terrain got increasingly rugged until we finally arrived at Plitvice.

My two Croatia advisors – Danny Parker and my climbing friend Amy – had both dubbed Plitvice a “can’t miss”. We arrived at the park, walked into the welcome center and ordered more espresso and some pastries.

We started our journey. Taking a long bus type of car with a bunch of connected cars, they shuttled us to the top of the falls. Plitvice is essentially several miles of lakes that cascade down through a series of waterfalls and rivers. The water is an unbelievable blue color that is so striking, it’s hard to believe that it’s real and it’s equally hard to believe that fish actually live in the water. After reaching the top, we begin about a 5 mile walk on a mix of elevated boardwalk and trails, following the lakes and cascades all the way to the bottom.

The next few hours, there’s not a lot to say. I don’t know how to say it…words can’t capture it. Pictures can’t even capture it. Cotter said it was the most beautiful place he’d ever been. I said it was in my top 5, although I balked when challenged to provide a more beautiful place. I just said “I like rocks” – which I do…but as water goes – I’ve never seen anything like it.

We spent the next few hours walking, taking pictures, and just simply in awe…awe of the beauty of the country…but more importantly awe of its Creator. I can’t be in a place like that without it being a spiritual experience – Plitvice is place you just have to see to believe.

More than satisfied with the 90 Kuna entrance fee ($16), we ate cheeseburgers from the local concession stand and hit the road – bound for Dubrovnik. We had a long drive ahead of us, but we were determined to get to Dubrovnik, or maybe Briste, or maybe…the side of the road.