Travelogue | Croatia Part II

This part of entry is for pictures, just pictures :)

Split/Zadar

Plitvice 

Dubrovnik

Travelogue | Croatia Part I

During the trip to Croatia and Bosnia, I encountered quite a lot of first time experience. For example, when we first arrived in Zagreb airport for a transit, both Fiza and I were asked to remove our hijab when we were being checked at the security control. Since it was my first time, I honestly didn't really feel comfortable about it. Another first time experience would be being stared by the locals just because of our hijab. Again, it was uncomfortable but we had to ignore them (it's not like I can go scream and yell at them or whatever).

But despite all those things, I did find Croatia mesmerizing especially its national park. Plitvice Lakes National Park was so beautiful! My breath was taken away at the sight of the clear light green turquoise lakes shimmering in the presence of sunlight on its surface, watching the trees cast their reflections and hearing the sounds of water tumbling on the rocks. It was serene, calming, inviting and welcoming. Darn, I can't explain it with words (although I just did). You really have to go and see it with your own eyes. You. Have. To.

As for other cities, Dubrovnik needs to be on your list if you're planning to go to Croatia. Its Old Town is surrounded by Dubrovnik Walls (entrance fee is 100 kunas) which was built during the 12th to 17th centuries according to, well, wikipedia haha. And if you're a fan of Games of Thrones, you should know that Kings Landing was filmed here in the Dubrovnik's Old Town. Ilham was ecstatic to finally 'conquered' Kings Landing and I was like okay, I'm not a fan of GoT but okayy. Hehe. 

But all in all, I enjoyed Croatia as much as I did in Bosnia. And oh, the fee to enter Plitvice Lakes National Park varies according to months. I think the most expensive time to visit is during August/September (I think it's almost triple the price in March) since it's autumn and the park is the most beautiful at that time of year. Buttt good news is that you can use your student card and get a cheaper price. Hope that makes you feel a lot better :p

Bosnia & Herzegovina Part II

This part of entry is for pictures, just pictures. :)

Sarajevo

Mostar

Bosnia & Herzegovina Part I

So I decided to write a separate entry for Bosnia and Croatia just because it would be too much to cram everything in a single entry. Part I would be the part where I share typical things like our experience and stuffs. Part II would be the part where I put all the pictures of our trip. So, let's begin :)

When Hazim first mentioned that we were going to Bosnia & Herzegovina, I had the skeptical thought like some other people had which was "Why Bosnia?". I was looking forward to visit Croatia as it was on my top list of countries to visit, but not Bosnia. It was never on the list. But considering that these people was planning a roadtrip, I was torn in between. I love roadtrips and I think it's the best way to bond and get to know each other better. So I joined them and little did I know that it was one of the best decision I ever made. 

Bosnia was totally mesmerizing although we did encounter an unpleasant experience in Banja Luka. Being stared down by the locals with such hatred gave me quite a paranoia. But we forgot all about it when we reached Sarajevo (pronounced as sa-ra-ye-vo). It finally felt safer. One of the attraction that you should visit is Sebilj (no I don't know how to pronounce it). I just love the calm environment of the place. Mostar's Old Town however was my favorite of all the cities we visited. I am in love with every single thing about the city; from its archaic buildings to its bloody history and everything in between. Mostar was calming. The locals also seem ecstatic to see muslims visiting their city. We were told about the history of Bosnia including the war that happened 20 years ago.  

The people in both Sarajevo and Mostar were very welcoming although most of them in Sarajevo didn't know how to speak English. So we did have a bit of hard time communicating with locals especially when we needed to order foods. However, everything was cheap and because of that I spent a lot of money buying too many fridge magnets although I intended to buy only two. I think I ended up buying like five or six fridge magnets. I mean they were cheap. The most expensive one cost me just 4km which is around 2euros I think. So aha, you can't  blame me.

As for food, if you can't find halal restaurants, just go for the seafood. Go for the fish because they tasted so so fresh. I'm drooling right now as I type this. They serve the best grilled fish and our favorite was in Blagaj. It cost us just about £7 for two big fish. You're not gonna get that kind of price in England. What else could you ask for?

As for accomodation, we spent only £50 for six cities (Split, Zadar, Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Mostar, Dubrovnik) and we were satisfied with most of the accomodations. The best accomodation would be in Mostar where we spent the night at Elite Guesthouse. I would totally recommend it to whoever who wants to cisit Mostar in the future. But I didn't take any pictures of the accomodations. Sorry! :p