Abandoned

 What a whirlwind, a combination of culture shock and minimal sleep of our 30hr travel to Croatia from Cambodia, had us all sorts of messed up. Coming from the 3rd world Cambodia to 1st world Croatia had most people being able to understand us and finally we could trust any food and water to not make us deathly sick. Both has its pros and cons, cons mainly being the costs and more tourists. That being said we were happy for the next chapter of our trip. 

As stated above we left Cambodia at 330pm with a 2hr flight to Singapore where we had 7 hours to hang in the rooftop airport pool, quench Nicolette’s food cravings, and get our heads wrapped around the last 7 weeks in South East Asia. At least partly wrapped around. Then to Dubai on a 6hr flight where we landed at 430am for a 6hr layover. There were no chairs without armrests so we couldn’t lay down. Instead we walked around to get some leg movement all while both Nic and I weren’t feeling well likely because of the lack of  sleep. Last leg was another 7hrs to Zagreb where we were not sitting next to each other (Nic in aisle 12, me in 31) and landed at 2pm. Luckily we flew the budget airline so we had a ton of people coming on work visas which made the customs take over an hour…… We rented a car (awesome and brand new Fiat 500 hybrid) that only had 9km on it and drove the 30min into Zagreb to find our Airbnb. One thing we had spaced out was the one way roads they have in Europe that aren’t really present in SEASIA which extended our trip even a bit more. Finally at the Airbnb and we were able to relax and rest . Approx 4hrs of sleep over the last  48hrs. 

Lol yeah right, we dropped our bags and went for a walk around to try and squash the jetlag. We were right in Zagreb Old Town so the moment we stepped foot out the door we were surrounded by classic euro style buildings and of course Cathedrals. We attempted to get into St. Francis Cathedral but it was all closed, so we walked through a park saw some street art. Up the stairs to the Stone Gate built in 1360, around the corner was St. Marks, also closed. Weird where does everyone go to church??? Then to Lotrscka Tower which helped watch over the city, and  gave us a good perspective looking over Zagreb. We cruised through lower town, the major squares, saw lots of statues(including Nikola Tesla)and enjoyed the multiculture clash of Europe. In hopes to get lucky in entry of Zagreb Cathedral the cities pride and joy, it was also closed. Yikes, we are just bad luck as literally every cathedral was closed so far in our travels. At dinner we found Strukla which is a local dish made from cottage cheese and dumplings dough baked in the oven. It was super good and extremely rich. We were unable to finish it. However, at the restaurant in looking at a Croatian book i read that there was a 6.0magnitude earthquake that hit Zagreb in March 2020 that collapsed many of the towers of the local cathedrals. Hence why they were all closed. We finally closed our eyes before sundown at 8pm. 

With the lag still lingering we of course we’re up early. And went north of Zagreb about 20min to a spot Nic picked out for hiking. We parked at a castle that was not open yet, so we started hiking to the top, we seemed to get lost though because the trail dwindled to nothing. We found the road and walked the road to the top constantly looking for another trail. Before reaching the top we saw a little chapel off the road called St Jacob’s. Luckily there was someone there doing some work on it so we were able to wander around on the inside. He spoke decent English and we chatted with him for 30+min and he explained that they have been holding church outside since March 2020 due to the earthquake collapses and that he was voluntold(volunteer/told) to fix it up before July 31st which is St Jacob’s day and there was a huge gathering taking place at the tiny little chapel. He also explained that Bill Belicheck is Croatian and that he loves American football. We continued slogging to the top before finally coming to the top which was also the top of the local ski hill. Great views of the surrounding area. 

We had some time to kill before the castle opened so we decided to take 5 and grab a quick bite to eat since we hadn’t had breakfast. Upon entering the empty establishment a man was sitting (assuming the owner) drinking wine (11am) watching the show Friends in German. Nicolette loves Friends so without hesitation she said we must eat here. The man had little to no English so when I ordered 2 sausages and 2 beers we ended up with 4 sausages, potatoes, and 2 of the largest beers in the place. We couldn’t finish it all,obviously, so I used my best charades to ask him for a to-go box. Food, walking, hand to mouth, wave goodbye, you get the picture. It took longer then anticipated but we got it boxed up(in an old butter container) and down the hill we went. 

Being extremely full and a large beer deep we got a little lost, no worries though we finally found the path and to the castles we went. The Medvedgrad castles was originally built in 1249 as requested by the Pope at that time. It went through many rulers and families until 1699 when an earthquake caused its collapse. It has only  recently been redone in the last 5-10 years. The road was directional down so we found the directional up and went on an 1hr road cruise of winding roads and going a bit faster then needed (we were in a fiat for crying out loud) but not worrying about oncoming traffic when taking the inside line. Nic did have to say she wasn’t there to be in a race car or get sick so I did slow down. On our way back Into town we picked up a hitch hiker who was a 20yo girl from Slovakia. It was her first solo trip and ended up in Zagreb for 5 days because she found round trip tickets for 5euro(5usd), she was disappointed on how similar it was to her hometown, red roofs and in the mountains,,,,,it’s all perspective. 

Back in town we got fancied up and had a goal to stay out till 10pm to try and reset still from the jetlag. It’s not easy. We walked around town, found some walking tunnels under the city that I assume were built so you didn’t have to walk up and over the hills and enjoyed the sound of cars driving by on the cobblestone streets. As we were walking through the city center to have a glass of wine I saw a gal that I met in 2014 when traveling through Spain. Very small world and was good to briefly chat with her. During the glass of wine we flipped a coin for burgers or pizza for dinner, it landed on burgers, found a craft and burger joint just close to our Airbnb. It was a large restaurant and lots of outdoor seating and only 1 server and 1 bartender. I was blown away on how the server alone handled 30 plus tables so efficiently. He did an outstanding job and we chatted about how that would go over in the USA. We walked back to the main square to wait out the 10pm bed time and just watch and enjoy the locals and tourists mingle through the old town of Zagreb. 

We checked out of the airbnb and headed south towards the next destination. We set the Google maps directions to “skip tolls” so we could save some $$$ and enjoy the backroads. The first stop I found while scrolling Google maps for places to stop on the way. When we pulled up off the deserted gravel road we were blown away by the Monument to the Uprising (Petrova Gora) by its size and location. On the highest peak in the area is a monument that was built in the 80’s to celebrate the resistance of the local people to Nazi Facism. It had a full 360deg view and was at one time completely covered by stainless steel sheets but as you can see in the below pictures many have been stolen as well as all other items inside. It left us in awe of what was and what had become. Just a short walk up from the monument was a small castle called Petrovka, none of the signs were in English but one did have a date in the 1400’s so guessing that’s when it was built. 

From the monument we went south and found a small town full of waterfalls called Rastoke. 47 to be exact, and had mills built around them  in the 18th century to make flour. They used the natural water flow to turn wheels to ground up the wheat into flour. We were a little sour that it cost $10 to get in but we did get a discount by telling them we were students. Technically everyone is a student of life.  

While in Vietnam we met a kid from Germany and he mentioned that we had to stop at Zeljava Airbase with little info beyond that. We marked it on Google and pointed the fast and furious Fiat southward. The only thing he said was don’t go off a path or hiking trail as there are still thousands of land mines that haven’t been found. Once we arrived we understood the warning as we swerved trees growing through the overgrown airstrip, that was almost unrecognizable. We finally got out of the cobwebs and located the 200yd wide full blown runway that disappeared in the distance. Unsure if there were cops or other people taking the speed run I was a little hesitant my first time down the runway only getting the Fiat up to 110kmh, while also seeing a police station (container) with no car outside. Once on the far end, we saw another full runway (which is typical of an airport) so again we took the Fiat down this one, this strip was much more rough and bumpy and I thought for sure the fiat was going to scrape the ground so we kept the speed at a minimum. Again at the end of this strip was another strip this one however was almost completely overgrown and only had room for the Fiat to slither it’s way through the tall grass and trees. We made it back to the large open runway and noticed the large tunnels off the end going into the mountain. We drove back there and upon exiting the vehicle, there were so many Bees it sounded like there was a fully operational airport under our feet. I’m not kidding 1000’s of bees, the most I had ever seen but they disappeared quickly as we got to the tunnels over the piled high dirt barricade and the temperature dropped 30deg because of the large and deep hole in the side of the mountain. I had a headlight I had packed but of course the batteries were dead. So I walked into the pitch black darkness until I spooked myself. Out of the tunnel back in the Fiat out to the main crossroads and down the next “driveway” to the next tunnel, this one was not round as the previous one but was in the shape of an airplane. Again I walked in and saw there wasn’t just a tunnel but buildings built into the tunnel but again I ran out of light, but realized there were tire marks on the ground. This tunnel has no dirt barricade, so I ran out to nicolette and said we gotta drive the Fiat into the tunnel so we can see better, she was not keen on the idea, we drove in. We got towards the back and there were multiple tunnels, one man tunnel going towards the previous one I was just at and a large plane sized  one going each direction from where we were. Nicolette drew the line there and we backed out slowly hoping the mountain didnt collapse on us. We ended up finding two more tunnels one we had to drive around large concrete barriers because it was in Bosnia…. We made our way back out to the main run way and I took the Fiat to its limits, and I was shaking in my boots as I had it pinned going 135km/h, well not really, but we maxed her out before the end of the runway. Disappointed by the speed but I wasn’t surprised because of the hybrid mini car. It was amazing and an absolutely highlight being so close and witnessing history’s war. That night back on WIFI I did some research and below are the details of the Zeljava Airbase.

1. Built between 1948-1968 by Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
2. There are 3.5km of tunnels, that included housing for the men and a food hall that could feed 1000 troops, for 30days. 
3. It was built in secrecy but was based on being able to withstand a nuclear bomb similar to what was dropped on Nagasaki.
4. Each door to the entrance weighed more then 100tons
5. There were a total of 5 runways longest being 2500m(1.5miles)
6. It cost more then $6billion to construct and is the  largest and most expensive in Europe. 
7. It was heavily used in 1991, but in 1992 Serbia detonated 56tonnes of explosives to destroy it. Including placing land mines all over the property so it could not be used in the future. (Hence stay on the road)

Just outside of the airbase was an old plane that we climbed in and around, even felt more involved with the place, what a treat. 

We arrived into Plitvice Lakes National Park a bit late so we grabbed an amazing dinner of pizza and gnocchi (nic said it was the best gnocchi she had had in her entire life) and headed to the Airbnb for an early night. 

Up bright and early to beat the crowds we walked from our Airbnb to the main entrance 1 and followed path K around the park. A 14mile loop that supposed to take 6-8 hours. We were there before it opened but the ticket lady let us enter a bit early so we had the entire park to ourselves. We shuffled in saw the waterfalls and blue water glisten as the sun was rising. It was the bluest natural thing I have ever seen in my life. I can’t describe it, it was so clear and blue an ocean can’t rival it. We finally caught the crowds around 2 hours in but continued to enjoy the waterfalls and views. We finished the entire loop in about 5 hours and that included a 45min stop to eat a sandwich and play a game of cribbage. 

Due to the conservation effort you are not allowed to swim in the waters of Plitvice Lake so we drive 30min back to Rastoke where we had seen all the waterfalls the previous day for a local swimming hole. It was a great refreshing dip after the 5 hour hike in near 100deg temps. I even forced myself into a game of 3v3 sand volleyball with some locals who spoke minimal English. the sand was deathly hot so people were dancing like fairies between hits. I didn’t play my best and my team lost, but had a good smile during the process.

On our way back to the Airbnb we saw a view point for Villa Izvor on Google maps so we turned off the road and found a large abandoned building. The floors and roofs were collapsing so we didn’t go inside too much, but come to find out later that this was the summer retreat for The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Marshall Josep Broz “Tito” as well as other political and military elites. It was supposedly built from 1948-1953 and used 100’s of war prisoners to construct the building. It was known as Object 99 by the Employees to keep it secret, rumors state that it was 99 because of the 99 prisoners that died building it. It remained in the fully functional im until the early 90’s when it was taken over by the Serbian and Croats as they fought for independence from the Yugoslavian leader. It wasn’t until the 2000’s that it was fully ransacked and striped if it’s “potential” Treasures to its current state today. 

It was an absolute massive estate and was cool to experience it first hand. We even got to see the old pool table and bowling alley in the basement. 

We finished the evening eating our leftover pizza and drinking a Glass of wine with our feet up relaxing! 

We got up and checked out at 8am in hopes to hit Paklenica National Park which was about 2 hours south outside of Zadar. We arrived at 10am and during the drive we couldn’t decide how far we wanted to go, I said 2-3miles (got a massive blister the day before) and Nic wanted to do about 8. We checked the map and decided just to start hiking and we would go with the flow. There was some natural springs on the way up for fresh and cold drinking water which was well received as it was already almost 100deg. The sun high and minimal shade we plugged along passing a few mountain huts for people who are backpacking have a nice place to stay for $10 a night. After about 2.5 hours we came to what we thought was the top and had a sandwhich and water and decided we should go a bit further and just turn around. The bit further turned into a lollipop loop and massive views of the canyon and peaks surrounding the area. Because we had already made it this far we may as well keep going. The views got better but we didn’t seem to be going down, which had us concerned when finally we found a sign that pointed us in the direction we needed to go 3hrs —> direction for parking lot. Looking back at Nic I knew we had already been going that long but needed to mentally prepare that this was no longer going to be a 2-3mile or 8 mile hike. The way down was steep with 100+ switch backs we had to take frequent breaks as the temp now neared 110 and minimal shade. We had limited water so we saved what we had until we finally made it to the main path and stumbled our way to the fresh spring water we had had 4+ hours earlier. We gulped it down and took 5 and were happy to be almost done. Finally back to the car It ended up being around 12miles and about 3000 Vertical feet and our fun meter had pegged out long ago. 

We stretched, ate all the food we could find in the car and drove towards Split the next spot of our trip!