Having missed Plitvice Lakes national park the first time by, we took an early bus back towards Zagreb today. The attraction of this park is the lakes that formed uniquely due to a mix of porous limestone and vegetation creating boundary walls for multiple small lakes, the water from each cascading down into the next with deep blue water from the highlands.
The crowds here on this Sunday were huge. We queued to get tickets and then joined the procession that wound its way along the paths towards the first of the lakes. Stopping for photos was almost harrowing as people jostled by in both directions and it was hard to breath, let alone enjoy the views. We knew the only way we would enjoy this would be to choose to hike the longest most remote trail even though we originally thought this would be too long for us. We set out and the crowds fell away as we hiked the steep steps past a spectacular water fall and we began to enjoy ourselves again.
The walk included wooden walkways across the lake boundaries, through forests, right along lake shores and up to scenic viewpoints in the hills overlooking the lakes. We stopped for a picnic lunch along the way in a forest clearing and got to see every lake there was to see along the way. The water is a deep blue colour and everywhere the hills are covered in dense forest and the lake shores packed with flowers and smaller trees. It is definitely worth the fuss and attention it was getting this day.
Our feet beat, we took the panoramic bus ride back to the entrance gate and had time to catch the bus back to Zadar where we booked into a guest house in Zadar's Old Town. We were delighted to see the place had wi-fi having missed it for the past few days and lo! a forgotten old friend - the washing machine.After washing everything we had including ourselves we headed out to give Zadar Old Town another chance.
The crowds of yesterday had eased and we enjoyed a much more enjoyable night out. Finally the character of the old buildings grew on us and after dinner we had a repeat of our Pina Colada night caps.
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