I took the route through Krak and Kočevje to travel through the rest of Slovenia. It was a very nice road with some bends around all the rolling hills which cover the south-east of Slovenia. Upon arrival at the border to Croatia it was kind of weird to have to show the passport. I think this has been the first time since Switzerland implemented the Schengen agreement in 2008 that I had to show a document while traveling, excluding airports. The Slovenian border agent just checked the document and smiled and let me go to the Croatian agent, who couldn’t even be bothered to check anything.
The first few kilometers in Croatia were very similar to the last hour of driving with one exception: The numbers of motorcycles increased about tenfold. I took the highway towards Rijeka, which went into a tunnel. As I emerged on the other side everything was different. The vegetation was a lot less, the hills were replaced by rock, the city that came into view suddenly looked like a Mediterranean city. Everything was very bright and the sea was just beautiful. Sadly I couldn’t take any pictures of this scenery since I was on the highway.
I soon left the highway to join the coastal road however. On this road, there are about as many motorcycles as there are cars. But the driving style is very different. I was driving in a 60 zone. The truck in front of me was driving close to 90, so I settled behind him since he was driving fast enough already and there was a solid line. Just at this time, a motorcycle arrives from the back and zooms by at an estimated speed of 140. And he vanishes into a quite tight bend, never to be seen again. This was par for the course for this road.
In the city of Senj I made a quick stop for lunch. I sat down in a restaurant with about 30 bikers and ordered. I mean, how wrong can you go when the restaurant is packed with other people? Turns out a lot. The one time I go to a restaurant without checking the ratings first, I fell for a huge tourist trap. Most of the other people were only drinking, not eating. The stuff I got was about average, but had a price which would be considered expensive in Switzerland. Lesson learned, I guess…
In total I drove about 100km of windy road along the Adriatic coast. Absolute perfection. Astonishing views and very pleasant to drive with lots of chances to overtake the slower vehicles. The only way to make this route even better is to have someone to share the experience with hint hint. After a short ferry trip from Prizna and 20km of driving on the island of Pag, I was greeted by a beautiful sight of the town Pag in the afternoon sun.
A few minutes later I arrived at the hotel I picked. It turns out an overpriced lunch was not the worst part of my day. The receptionist tried to overcharge me for 20€ and wanted me to pay in cash, probably so he doesn’t leave behind any traces of the money he takes. I chose to go to a different hotel instead. It seems like I was a few weeks too early to come here though. Almost all the restaurants with good ratings were still closed. I did find a very one though and enjoyed a plate of local meat and cheese cuts as well as some fish for the main course.
