Plitvice Lakes - 4 September

We awoke to quite steady rain, so the outlook was not the best.  Given our limited time in Zadar however, we opted to continue with our planned day trip to Plitvice Lakes.

We arrived to bright sunshine for the first couple of hours.  We took the "train shuttle" to the highest point and walked back down to connect with the boat.  Just after our descent began, so did the rain.  We encountered quite a few heavy downpours.  The paths and boards were already narrow and slippery without the rain, so we had added difficulty.  The dirt and stone paths quickly became very muddy so we were determined to get the the bottom before they became even worse with more rain and hundreds of foot passengers.  We both ended up with sandals full of wet gravel, making the experience even more interesting.  Sort of like masseur sandals for masochists.  It was so tempting to dip our sandals into the lovely rushing water however (a) due to the delicate algae in the lakes, entering the water is forbidden (b) no rails to hold on to for a knee squat and balance (c) a hoard of fellow wet, grumpy trekkers following who would not appreciate any delay.


The wooden paths were very tricky overall, the spacing between planks could be quite random, it was sometimes difficult to see when the path incorporated steps, there were no side barriers and decent drops in many places.  I even saw a dog get its paw momentarily stuck in a gap in the planks.  There were many many well behaved dogs on all the walks in the National Parks, which is a novelty.

There should be a special place in hell for tourist couples who continue to hold hands despite passing oncoming trekkers in a space for 2.5 people at best.  Also for those who barge past in very tight places, just to advance one spot ahead in the long line of trekkers and those with no awareness of or couldn't care less about potentially impaling others on umbrella spokes.  Hmm, seems I may have been a bit testy by the end of the walk ....

We were very lucky to get a number of great views and photos before the rain set in, and again got some sunshine for the boat ride and final 2.2km walk back to the entrance.  

View from the first look out spot

After the boat ride, we fortified ourselves with a beer and some chips before forging ahead with great determination, aiming for a quick proper meal before the bus departure at 4pm. 

We made it to the restaurant around 3.20pm, ordered, waited, waited then quickly feasted on meat and potatoes and made the bus on the dot.   My fitbit recorded over 10km and up 50 floors (it does not record down flights) for the day.  

The potatoes were SO good.