The next day we planned on catching the night bus (I was going to Olympos and he was going to Side) but it didn´t leave until 10:00 at night. So we faced a day of doing nothing because we had already walked all around the town and the outskirts of town the day before. I was kind of dreading it but to my surprise, it was a great day. We had a leisurely breakfast of fresh fruit from the market and picked up kebaps for lunch and then trekked up to the top of the valley. We found a large tree that provided sufficient shade and had picnic lunch. Knowing we had nothing of importance to do that day, we decided a long afternoon nap would be in order. So we literally just relaxed all day long. We each brought along iPods that we listened to...sometimes we talked, but mostly we just slept. After a good 6 hrs, we headed back down to the town, got more food, and then talked to the guy at the bus station until our bus rolled in.
I arrived in Olympos the next morning and got to my treehouse hostel. The town is set in the valley of mountains, right next to the Mediterranean Sea. It is also the site of a Lycian city dating back to 1000 BC so there are ruins everywhere. After getting situated in my room, I immediately headed for the beach. It was my first real time in the sun in a long time and it was lovely!!! I headed back in to the hostel in the early afternoon to nap and that evening met the people I would end up hanging out with during my time in Olympos. There were two very charismatic Aussie guys and two friends from England. In the dorm next to us were a group of guys from England. So that was pretty much the crew for the next few days.
During the days, we would head to the beach and swim, do some cliff jumping, and explore the ruins. There was usually a break for ice cream (or my favorite, fresh orange/pomegranate juice) mid-afternoon. In the evenings, we would hang out either in the dorm or go to different bars down the street.
The Beach:
Our Cliff-Jumping Cliffs:
Some Ruins:
On my last night in Olympos, Jack (one of the English guys) and I decided to walk to Chimera Flames. We could have paid 20 Lira and been driven there, but decided we were to cheap. So we set out on the journey which ended up taking about 6 hrs (round trip). The flames themselves have apparently been burning for millenea. They are the source of greek lenend and are really surprising to see. When we finally reached them, we thought there were just a bunch of campfires burning, but then realized there was no wood to fuel the fire. Instead, they remain lit from natural gas escaping from the earth.
The long, hot, and tiring trip was worth it, we decided, and we arrived back to the hostel in time to go out dancing to horrible techno music at the Bull Bar.
The next day I packed up and got ready for a few long days of travel ahead of me. I took a bus through Antalya back to Istanbul and then another bus to Sofia, Bulgaria. From there, I caught a night train to Budapest, Hungary that went through Serbia. The days of travel turned out to go by pretty quickly and my investment in a sleeper compartment for the night train was well worth it. During my first day in Budapest, I wandered around for a few hours and then went on a free walking tour of the city. Back at the hostel, we got FREE Hungarian goulash soup and FREE Hungarian red wine. People were going out to the clubs but I decided to opt out, given my very early arrival that morning (5:00 am). The next day was my day of relaxation at the Thermal Baths. The complex had at least 10 pools filled with natural thermal spring water of different temperatures. There were also steam rooms, scented steam rooms, and saunas. So for a few hours I just wandered in and out of these pools and treated myself to a massage from a very demanding/abrupt Hungarian woman. That night I went out with people in the hostel to a Reggae club, and then onto a couple different bars. As we were heading back to the hostel, the first light of the sunrise was in the sky and I knew that my bed had my name on it.
The Danube River that separates Buda and Pest:
I left Hungary via a train to Zagreb, Croatia the next morning with an American guy who was also heading in the same direction. We ended up staying at a hostel that looked great on the website but turned out to be filled with kids the day we were there. So it was kind of wierd to be woken up by 12 year old boys getting dressed and packing up at 6:00 in the morning. We caught the earliest bus out of Zagreb to Plitice Lakes National Park. It was stunning. There are about 5 lakes, all with different elevations so one lake flows to the next making about a million waterfalls. Footpaths are everywhere and you literally walk over top of rushing water. Included in the price of admission to the park is being able to take the boats across the lakes and the busses around the park. The water is unbelieveably clear. In the middle of the lakes you can look down and see the bottom completely clearly. After a few hours exploring the park, we needed to head back to the bus stop to go onwards.
I had plans of going to Zadar but the bus just never came. As I was waiting, a Canadian girl from PEI named Kayla showed up. We got to talking and had strikingly similar lives. Seriously. She was my doppleganger. So she was heading to Split, and because I had nothing booked in Zadar I decided to join up with her. That is the greatest thing about travelling by yourself and travelling without a plan: there is room for spontenaity. While in Split, we stopped by the market and picked up everything we would need for a picnic on the beach: bread, tomatoes, cheese, strawberries, oranges, and wine. Then we boarded a ferry over to the Island of Brac and caught a bus to the other side of the island to a town called Bol. We enjoyed our little picnic and although it was interupted once because of a light shower it was still great to be at the beach.
The town of Supertar on the island of Brač:
Back at the bus stop we met up with 4 other young travellers who were also staying in Split. That evening we all went out to dinner together where I had the most amazing seafood risotto. The others were going out to party that night but Kayla and I got ice cream for dessert, happened upon a dance competition in the old city walls that we watched for a little bit, and then headed back to the hostel.
The sunset on the way to dinner:
Kayla left early that morning to go to Bosnia and I headed up to Zadar. It seemed like the first time in a while that I had been alone, and I actually relished in the opportunity to be by myself. I stayed at a hostel outside of the city centre in a tourist resort-y place which was not my favorite. But I got caught up on some reading and journalling and went to bed early.
I left the hostel the next morning to catch a bus up to Pula in the Istria region of Croatia. There wasn´t a bus leaving until noon so I wandered around the old city of Zadar for a couple hours. I sat and listened to the Sea Organ for a while, which somehow makes music from the waves and tubes that are located underneath marble steps. My bus ride up to Pula was uneventful but long. Once again, I had nothing booked but met a woman at the bus station who was staying at a hostel I had read about previously that sounded nice. So I tagged along with her and luckilly, there was a bed available when I showed up. This place is like a little home. The woman is like a Grandma who made crepes for us when we arrived and apparently free homemade soup is a regular occurance too. I think it is a little more costly than other hostels, but I am willing to pay the price. This woman is a godsend.
It is 2 weeks from yesterday that I will be home. I can´t believe it...time flies.
I hope you are all well!
Love,
Kate
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