Mostar to Dubrovnik
Trip Start
Nov 09, 2007
1
38
92
Trip End
Feb 03, 2008
Dubrovnik,
Croatia
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
We had to order a taxi to take us from the Kriva Cuprija in the morning. The pick up from the bus station on check in (which was welcome) did not extend to taking us back. It's a shame, because our visit to Kriva Cuprija that had started so promisingly had turned a bit sour at the end. The quality of the breakfast was the worst we had encountered in any place we had stayed, including all those Turkish breakfasts. On our final day we were served watery cordial, yesterday's stale rolls and some cold eggs, also, we suspect, left over from yesterday but we can't confirm this
Georgie claims her bedroom, Dubrovnik
. Also, I had to go across to the other side of town for a working ATM to get some cash to pay the bill even though the brochure clearly says they take Visa. It struck me that the quality of a lodging is better gauged, not by the quality of the welcome, but by the quality of the farewell. In this regard Kriva Cuprija was a disappointment.Anyway, we got the taxi. The driver pushed some magic button on his meter that turned the fare from 7 KM to 15KM. I just laughed but he insisted this was the correct fare - we had travelled maybe 3 kilometres. I shook my head and gave him a ten mark note (still too much but it shut him up). He shook my hand - I guess it was all in good fun? We went to the bus company to buy the tickets for the 10am bus. She told us the bus wasn't till 12.30. I said that we had been told that there was a bus at 10am. She just looked blank. I said 'Is there another bus company that has a 10 o'clock bus?' She looked at me blankly even though earlier she had perfect English.
I walked out of the office and Jess asked a passer-by who said to try 'Auto Prevoz' so we went in there and sure enough they had a 10 o'clock bus. You have to double check everything. The ticket price totalled 57KM for the four if us (about $46) but for some reason she charged by 65KM - perhaps some 2km per person non-disclosed ticket issuing fee. I couldn't be bothered challenging it. When the bus finally arrived half an hour late the driver charged another 6KM for our bags
Our beautiful apartment, Dubrovnik
. To add insult to injury he didn't give us stickers for our bags, which meant that the money went straight into his pocket.The bus trip was fine, interesting but not in the same calibre as the ride from Sarajevo to Mostar. Still, the most interesting part for me was the land border crossing. As we reached the Croatian border the bus conductor took our passports and left to negotiate the crossing with border guards. We were sitting at the border for maybe 20 minutes then he got back on and gave our passports back. Two minutes later a Croatian official got on and stamped our passports. Now we were in Croatia! We headed on. The interesting thing is that Bosnia actually stretches down to the Adriatic for a small stretch and breaks Croatia into two parts. This meant that later in the journey we had to re-enter Bosnia then leave again and re-enter Croatia. So technically I got three land border crossings in one day! The last was a bit controversial. A Croatian official got on and checked our passports (again) and then started looking for something in the luggage racks and then in the baggage hold. He got one bag out (not one of ours thankfully) and started searching through it. He took something out in a shopping bag and carried it off. I don't know what it was but I don't think the hapless owner got it back. We speculated about what might pass for contraband in the trade between Bosnia and Croatia.
We arrived in Dubrovnik and found an ATM to get some kuna (about 4.3 kuna to $1) then took a cab ride to the 'Buza Gate' as instructed. We followed our instructions to reach our apartment. First lots of steps down, then lots of steps up. Then we got to dump the bags. Heavier now than when we had started. Our apartment is truly magnificent, stunning. Pictures soon.
