Classic Rhapsody Comes to an End.

Yikes. The morning after was not a pretty sight. I personally had the worst hangover of my trip (just because of the huge variety of drinks consumed), and the majority of people were looking slightly the worse for wear. Our bus was also a disaster. Vlad (our driver) apparently had to get it professionally cleaned while we were off in the park.

But yes, the park. We had actually camped just outside of Plitvice Lakes National Park so that we would be the first ones through the gate. If you're not familiar with Plitvice (which I definitely wasn't before), it's this series of lakes running through beautifully lush mountains (/hills). The water is an incredible colour though, and it changes depending on the time of day/year, the weather, et cetera. I spent the whole morning with Kim. We hiked all the way up to station four (the last one). I think we took a wrong turn though. Well not a wrong turn per se, but the route we took wasn't quite as stunning as the other one some people took. Either way, it's an incredibly beautiful place. Definitely try to go early though, as when we were leaving at noon, there were hundreds, maybe thousands, of people pouring into the park. It was a little rough with the hangover, but the physical activity helped things considerably after the first hour.

After our morning of hiking, it was back on the bus heading for Split. The woman who took us to all of our apartments was INSANE. She was drunk (and said so frequently). Loud. Obnoxious. And all over Dave. Funny maybe, but not when you've walked a few blocks in 30+ weather with a backpack on. Ugh. I was ready to kill her. Our apartment was quite nice though... I ended up with a room to myself, although it had the TV and kitchen in it as well. After a quick settle in, we went for a short orientation walk, stopping for smoothies at the crazy woman's juice bar (they were good...). I was pretty unimpressed with Split... it's dirty, smelly, expensive and brimming with tourists. After a rather unsatisfying pasta salad for dinner, we were given an hour or so before meeting up to go out. I headed for an Internet cafe with Sheryl... easily killed our time there. Then back to the group... there was this adorable little girl running around the main square. Adorable until Carlos stepped on her and she started crying. Bahaha.

Off we headed to the “Red Room”. A lot of people left quite early... either because they had to be up early or they were too tired from the night before. I had plans to go home early... but that rarely happens. So I waited until Dave headed home since we were in the same building. We Rubbed the toe of the Grgur Ninski statue for luck. And then finally I went upstairs and was able to close the door to MY room. You have no idea what a luxury that is after three and a half months of shared accommodation.

And so ends my first Eastern Trekker, the Classic Rhapsody. I would very highly recommend it! Carlos, our guide, was absolutely fantastic, as was our lovely driver Vlad. I had a great time. It was a fairly good group. Interesting stops (except Zakopane). All in all, totally worth it.