Death
I wake up at 10am feeling like death. Rico pops up from his bunk with his signature grin and laughs at the look of me. He knows I am a wreck and offers to help me find my bus (God, he is an angel). I pack in such a rush that I accidentally leave a bunch of my toiletries behind.
I make it to my 11:30am bus, and Rico hugs me goodbye. I wish him the best of times at Ultra and make him promise to tell me all about the experience. I’m still second-guessing my decision to leave as I hop onto the bus.
I’m not going to make it
Maybe it’s my distraught and dehydrated brain, but I cannot find my hostel. I almost start crying in the exasperating sun. It’s the worst feeling having so many people stare at you walking back and forth like a lost puppy yet be unable to help you.
I finally find my home up some steps and around the corner from a Kebab shop (so weird). Globo Hostel is honestly so cute and homey—definitely the nicest hostel I have been in on this trip so far, which is making it really hard for me to leave. I don’t want to get out of my bunk, explore, or talk to anyone. I know I only have one day here, though, so I force myself out the door.
Exploring Sibenik
I am so glad I did. Sibenik is a lot different than the mainstream, touristy places I have been to. It makes me feel like a pirate with its decrepit, worn-down buildings and seeing laundry drying on clotheslines and blowing in the wind. There are a lot fewer tourists here, too.
I end up doing a lot more walking than my exhausted body can handle, making the trek up to St. Michael’s Fortress. Every city I go to, I always try to get to the top of one vantage point to get a good view. There is a lot more to explore here, but I physically can’t keep going. After a few hours, I head back to my hostel with a bag of pasta for dinner.
Planning for Krka
There are multiple buses leaving from Sibenik to Krka National Park daily. I plan to continue onto Zadar after Krka and find a bus that leaves from there around 5pm. I do some research, trying to figure out what I can do with my bag while hiking in the national park because there is no way I am going to be able to carry it around with me or leave it somewhere safe. There are a few websites that say there are some travel agencies in the town of Skradin where I’ll be able to store it. Hopefully I can find them without service!
Skradin
I wake up the next day and have some yogurt and a banana for breakfast. I meet a few girls from Minnesota who are also going to Krka, and we catch an 11am bus that drops us in Skradin around noon. Skradin is the very, very small main town closest to the national park. You have to take a ferry from there to get to the main entrance.
On my walk to the ferry, I find the travel agency I discovered online that will store my backpack for 20 kuna. I pass a few other buildings with signs that say they have luggage storage. So if you are wondering, yes, there are many options available to you if you need to store your luggage before hiking at Krka!
Krka National Park
There’s a huge line when we get to the ferry (it’s peak season, baby). Apparently, you can hike all the way to the main entrance, but I didn’t think I had enough time. The ferry ticket costs 180 kuna round trip (125 if you have a student card). I flash the ticket agent my super-expired University of Illinois student ID card, and she gives me the discount! My friends and I take the 1pm ferry and arrive at the main entrance around 1:30.
Holy moly. The waterfalls are beautiful, but it’s so packed, we can hardly walk anywhere. My view is 75% tourists, 25% scenery. It’s super difficult to get out to a deep enough area to swim, dodging people and the huge, moss-covered rocks sticking up everywhere. I’m so thankful to have my Tevas because I definitely would not have made it without them. Seriously, look into getting a pair of these bad boys.
We get to a deeper spot and swim for a while before hitting the trails. It took us about an hour to go around the main trail, but there is definitely more to explore if you have time. The paths are either stone, rock, or gravel, and then switch to wooden boardwalks and bridges over the water. I can see straight through the crystal clear, blue water, watching dozens of fish swim by.
On to Zadar
After taking the ferry back to Skradin, picking up my backpack, and grabbing a quick lunch, I head to the bus stop. The bus station isn’t as distinct as I am used to. It’s just a glass box with a wooden building next to it for information. It takes an hour to get to Zadar.
In total, I only spent about two hours at Krka National Park. You could definitely spend an entire day there (and I recommend that you do if you can), but being the psychopath, must-see, must-do everything that I am, I was ready to explore the next city on my list ASAP.
Krka is extraordinarily beautiful though! It’s definitely a must-see in Croatia. If you have the time to stop in Sibenik, too, I think it’s worth it. It will be a completely different feel than the majority of the mainstream tourist destinations of Croatia.
Lessons Learned:
- Always ask if there’s a student discount and try to get it (even if your ID is expired).
- The pictures and scenes you have seen on the internet of the places you are traveling to will most likely be pounded with tourists (especially during peak season).
- Tevas will save your life.
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