Pula, Croatia

Leaving Slovenia, we ended up taking the taxi a bit further to a bigger town, Umag in Croatia. From there it was an hour wait and we were on a bus to Pula. It was a huge double decker bus, Patrick & I sat up top, at the very front. Wow what a view! It was a little unnerving as the bus took some corners. From our point of view the lamp posts and vehicles looked a lot closer. The scenery changed as we went along the winding roads, more pine trees and many olive groves, a lot drier terrain!  The soil was a rich red color, a sharp contrast to the olive trees. We passed some areas of water where blue heron & white? heron were feeding. Houses were built in differnt style as those in Slovenia. A while later the terrain was more rocky and low shrubs hugged the hillside.

Patrick knew of a hostel which was located on the beach. It was on the outskirts, in Borik.  These are some photos of the sunsets. Beautiful!!

The next day we wandered into the town of Pula.

After speaking with some Brits we decided that the next day we would rent bikes and cycle down to Kamenjak National Park. Oh, if I had only known how the trails were! There were a couple of trails to choose from, whether you wanted to hug the coastline or travel inward. As I was soon to find out, neither was any easier! The trails consisted of smooth asphalt, pebbles, other times rocks and large boulders. Various degress of steepness was also very present. Patrick, a lot younger and very fit cycled along no problem!  We hadn't been far under way when Patrick had a flat. He went back to the shop for another bike. Unfortunately this bike was smaller for his frame. 

Off we went, up, down, rocks etc. Great scenery but my muscles were aching and screaming! I could not of done this route even in my younger years. To boot the gears on my bike started slipping, did whatever they felt like. What had I got myself into. After stopping for lunch I insisted Patrick carry on, I didn't want to hold him up. I would slowly continue and eventually arrive at the park.

As Patrick disappeared over the hillside I was wondering if I had made the right decision. I had no phone, nobody else was around and I was way up the mountain. The trail was marked every so often, but there were branches off the road, one could take the wrong turn. That would be be! Not even sure how long it would take me to get down to the town of Primavendura. I walked up the steep sections and finally made it down the mountain. The park was one kilometre from there so I headed in. I had no intention of cycling the whole park. My body was suffering as it was!

After viewing a bit of the park I headed back to bus stop to wait for a bus back to Pula. The bus soon arrived however the driver flatly refused to let me take the bike on board. There were side doors and the bus was completely empty. Next option was a taxi...no...he wanted an outrageous amount. I started cycling, walking the trek back to Pula, hoping to get off roadway before dark. I even tried hitchiking but no one stopped.  At one point I stopped to look around and there was Patrick headed towards me. He had gone through most of the park and...his bike had a flat tire again! A little while later the Brits caught up, the gal was beat but they forged ahead. Patrick saw a fellow with a small flatbed truck and spoke with him. This nice driver gave us a lift back into town. I was extremly happy about that! I didn't get to see much of Pula, missed the ampitheatre which is supposed to rival the one in Rome. But I sure did get a lot of excercise, more than I had wanted!

Kamenjak Park

Kamenjak Park