Next Island: Pag (Make sure you bring a friend)
Trip Start
Apr 21, 2008
1
96
225
Trip End
Apr 20, 2009
Pag,
Island of Pag,
Croatia
Friday, July 25, 2008
I arrived at my destination in less than half an hour. The beach was a bit disappointing. Nothing special about it at all. I picked a spot with no one around and just continued reading my Middle East travel book and making some progress on the route I was going to take. Soon after, two young twenty somethings came by and sat close by. This was fine. I was just glad I didnt have any screaming kids around. But of course things changed 30 minutes later. These two young ladies were later joined by their entourage - mother, father and baby sister. It was as if a tornado just swept through the beach. All you heard was yelling and yelling. They werent mad at each other. It was just the way they talked amongst themselves. It reminded me of my family. Then the mom and dad decide to put up this tent between me and their 2 daughters - as if to say "Get away from us, young man". The dad would come 6 inches from me and bend down right in front of my face so he could set up his tent. It wasnt nice staring at his speedo covered ass for about 5 minutes. This pretty much forced me to move a bit further away from them. Then the mom decideds that dad does not know what he is doing and takes over. She comes by and also bends down right in front of me. Thankfully, she was able to get the tent up but again I wasnt to happy with the view. It made me wish for the dad to come back. After they were done putting up the tent, my view of the sea was obstructed. This forced me to move again. I think they realized why I had to move but at the same time I dont think they really cared.
I ended up only spending 3 hours at the beach. The whole time I was thinking about the Middle East. I was starting to get excited about this part of my trip. All this time spent on islands and beaches is nice but it is not why I took a year away from my family and from my job. I dont regret spending time in Europe. In fact, I think it was a smart move to come to Slovenia and Croatia because I dont think I could have handled going to the Middle East right after Africa. When I was planning my trip, I wanted to spend 4-5 weeks in a relaxed atmosphere in between my journeys through Africa and the Middle East. Croatia is definitely relaxing but too much relaxing just makes me a little stir crazy (and I tend to eat a lot more when I am not doing anything and this isnt good). It is too calm here and I am ready for a bit of a storm. I decided to set a date for my arrival in Istanbul. It will be August 15. My friend Franca arrives on August 1 and we will hang out in Croatia until the morning of August 7. I decided that I will go to Bosnia after all and spend 5 days seeing Mostar and Sarajevo. This will take me to August 12. I will give myself 3 days to get to Istanbul. It may take less if I decide to fly or find a direct train or bus to Istanbul from Sarajevo. I will figure it all out while I am in Sarajevo. I know I dont plan on going to Bulgaria or Serbia anymore.
When I arrived back at the center of the town, it was only 230 which meant I still had 4 hours to burn. I decided to look for a beach that was close to my guest house. I ended up finding a great one - one that I wished I found earlier as I would have spent the whole day there. The water was perfect and the crowd seemed friendly.
At 5 pm, I returned to my accomodations and retrieved my backpack. I was now off to Pag Island - more specifically Novalja. My ferry arrived at 7 and I was in Pag by 7:45. As soon as I got off the ferry, all I saw was young people. They were everywhere. Along the main road, there were many bars as well. I knew I would like this place more than Rab.
I went looking for the tourist office. It was a bit difficult to find but I eventually found it. They werent too helpful in finding a place for me to sleep. ALl they told me to do was walk up one of the streets close by and knock on any door that had a "Rooms Available" sign. So that is what I did. The first few places were either full or there was no answer. About 10 minutes into my door knocking adventure, I scored a decent place. An old lady led me to her neighbour who she knew had a single room available. I went into the backyard and that is where I met my host and hostess for the next 3 nights - Momma Boyana and Papa Slobodan. They are a retired couple who own a home in Pag. They spend their summers here and rent out their rooms occasionally. Both spoke perfect Italian and this is how we communicated with each other.
Momma Boyanna told me that she rented out a room to 3 young Belgian guys and promised them that the bathroom would only be used by them. Now that I came knoocking on their door, Momma Boyana said she could rent out the remaining room to me but was a bit concerned with what the Belgian guys would say if they saw me using the bathroom. After she found out that I spoke French, she asked that I go up to there room and ask them if it was ok that I share "their" bathroom. I didnt mind doing this at all. In fact, I was hoping these guys would be cool guys and that we would head out for drinks together. Unfortunately, they didnt seem too cool. They didnt really care to talk to me although they did say they didnt care if I used the bathroom. It was a very brief conversation. My Asshole Radar said that these guys were assholes. It was too bad as I wanted to go out for a few drinks tonight.
After I showered, I spoke with Boyana and Slobodan. They were interested in knowing about my trip. They both siad I was doing a horrible thing to my parents by putting them in a position to worry about me for a year. I said they had nothing to worry about. They were a nice couple. They offered me some wine (mixed with water) and after I was done with that I went for a night time stroll through the town. There was a lot of buzz during the night. People were getting ready for a night of clubbing. Young people were just walking around and checking out the scene. This was definitely a party island. It was obvious. It was a bit difficult to watch all these people squeeze themselves into one of the many bars around while I was there helpless without someone to go out with. I felt handcuffed. I didnt feel comfortable walking into these places alone. If it was a backpacker type bar, I most definitely could. Instead, I went back to my room and snuck into my bed at 1130 pm. Being so close to the strip, I could hear music playing and people having a good time. I went to sleep with one question in my head. That was "What is worse? Being trapped on an island filled with familes and couples or being on an party island with no wingman?" I may have an answer in a few days.
Dino Vagabond
