28 September - 6 October 2017

Up, down, up and down again and again and again. I find a lot of hills in Croatia and that reminds me of a particular part of the Staff Skit we did at the International Campfires in Kandersteg: up, down, up, down, now I touch my toes. I don't know why ;p.

Thursday was a strange day. After a relaxed breakfast I said goodbye to Eva and started cycling. I cycled almost completely the same way as two days ago, but this time in the other direction. That never happens. But it was nice, because now I knew how many hills I would find and where they were. At Ilirska Bistrica I met with Marjan exactly at the same time at his house and we drank a cup of tea together and had very good and deep conversations. Very interesting!

So many hills today! They never seemed to end. After breakfast I reached the border with Croatia very soon and apparently I'm driving a car. Very confusing. The road to Rijeka was a lot of uphill, but a little while later I could race down. I like that. But then I had to climb up again from sealevel, what made me very tired. When it was time to search for a place to sleep, I saw a sign for a camping. So I followed it (to long in the wrong direction for my feeling), but found out that the camping was closed. But I didn't care and pitched my tent anyway, because I was to tired to cycle further.

Saturday was the 100st day of cycling. Not the best one, if you ask me, because there were a lot of hills, wind and cars. But the views are beautiful. There is not a lot to tell about today, because there was just one road to follow and the sun was nice. I pitched my tent on a field of grass and cooked pasta.

It took me some effort to get up, because it was cold outside my tent, but after breakfast I saw some sun behind the mountains. I packed everything up and followed the boring road again to the ferry that brought me to Pag (one of the islands). My GPS even send me to a smaller road, what was nice after all the car roads. The last bit was even more flat than I was used to and the camping I had planned was open, even though I was the only one staying there. I took a well deserved shower, cooked some noodles and rested in my tent.

I don't have to cycle that far today to Zadar, so I take my time packing up. I found a lot of hills again. Even one with a sign saying 9%!PPretty much and pretty long too. And I start to dislike how close the cars pass by here. So close! So I'm not going to hurry and take a ferry from Split to Dubrovnik, to meet Daan there and then I take a ferry to Greece, because I wouldn't like to get an accident. The hills and cars passing are worse, if I listen to the other cyclists and locals around. At Nino's place in Zadar we talked a bit during dinner with bread and I fell asleep in a nice bed.

Tuesday was another day to rest. It's the 3rd of October and actually I miss all the things that are a part of this day in Leiden. The people having a good time and a lot of fun. Another time next year... The morning was very relaxed and I booked tickets for the ferries. I lunched together with Nino a vega stew and squid rings, what was a strange combination in my eyes. But it tasted fine! In the afternoon I went on a walk through the city centre. Zadar has a pretty and beautiful, old centre, in contradiction to the seaside, what is more modern with a water organ. Sounds nice!

It was cloudy on Wednesday morning, but that couldn't stop my good mood, because the hills were way better as the last few days. The temperature was also nice and in the afternoon I even saw some sun. I found the camping fast, but three elder people told me it was closed. They discussed something I didn't understood, but they asked if I was alone and suddenly it was oké to pitch my tent. Very nice of them. The shower was cold and my pasta with tomato sauce turned into a soup, but it was a safe place.

Packing up the next day was fast and after I paid for the camping (what I think the elderly people will put in their own pockets) I went on a nice road, downhill. That never gets boring. On top of the next hill I met another cyclist from Switzerland and we talked a bit. I see a lot of cyclists on the coast here. Most of them going to Greece or even going to China. After I took one more, last big hill I found a camping. Open just for me and the mosquitoes. So after a nice hot shower I cooked inside the toiletblock and ate my dinner in the tent, away from those little b******s.

To my surprise, I didn't have to pay for the camping, only take a folder. Of course, no problem! The road today was also fine, with not to many hills and cars. The only dissapointing thing was that is started raining in the afternoon... In Split I had found the hostel pretty soon and after a shower I went fast into the city centre. Very old and beautiful. I even saw a dragon ;p. Back at the hostel I cooked some soup and went to bed early, because I will take the ferry to Dubrovnik tomorrow very early in the morning. Exciting!