December 11, 2013
Here I Split
I checked into the Goli & Bosi Hostel in Split's medieval old town. The hostel net page referred to it as Split's best hostel. More like a prison. No, to be fair the bed couldn't be more comfortable and the dormitory offers a high degree of privacy because each bed is in a curtained off compartment. There's only me there to begin with anyway. So it is like a hotel room. Quiet. Then the door opens and in comes an Asian in cycling gear weighted-down with a handful of Ortlieb panniers in each hand. Hi. You are a cyclist too. He introduces himself and tells me he's Joshi from Japan. We small talk about the cold. He's come from Montenegro, through the mountains and is glad to be here in Split where it is considerably warmer.
Later Mike from Australia checks in. Traveling by train, he began in Georgia and will finish in Scotland where his parents originate from. He says Bulgaria is shit. Why? I ask. Its ugly and dirty, he replies. If you're going to Bulgaria, cycle through it as fast as possible, he adds. He doesn't like Macedonia either, saying their government has spent an absolute fortune on a huge statue of Alexander The Great, among a whole lot of other stupid monuments while neglecting public services. You walk round Skopje looking up at these monuments and fall into holes in the pavement. He liked Kosovo. Saying it's got good government because of which, they've received a lot of aid from the West. He also recommends I follow the coast south to Montenegro and Albania.
Split has a great name and a good place to finish a cycle-tour with a journal. Can't you see the page could be titled "Here We Split" in which the journal is wound-up with text on what I've learnt. Instead, I Split, as tomorrow, I'm back on the road and I'm glad to report the weather forecast is for fine sunny weather all over the region with highs of seventeen.
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