Ex YU 2000
On 1st August 2000, after the Lou Reeds concert in Križanke, Nagla came home where Miki and I joined him and we slowly started our journey to Korčula, Croatia. But it turns out to be a road trip around Ex YU (2200 instead of 1000 km). We took Adriatic regional road with old VW Golf (no AC or working vent, no stereo, bumped on one side) AKA AutoBarH (driving, drinking, sleeping). We took a portable radio and one cassette (Portishead/Manu Chao). Driving overnight over Adriatic regional road and we arrived to Split around midday. We stopped in Zadar for a short break, not nice staff in the bar. While the ferry in Split was full we went for “a” beer. A few hours later we left bar where they overcharged us, so I gave them tip. Each of us took his own path, while we missed all the ferries. I meet some guys … On way to car (Viška street) older lady tried to rent me an apartment for a night, she accompanied me to the car, get into a verbal fight on the way with her neighbor. She was mad when we didn’t take the apartment.
In the morning we all gather at the car on Viška road (Nagla sleeping, Miki arriving later). After morning coffee and smoke, we went further south because we were told a ferry down the coast is cheaper. On arrival to Drvenik, we were in dilemma, should we go to Korčula with a ferry or continue to Dubrovnik because it was close and none was there yet. Dubrovnik was chosen. An hour later we were in Bosna and Herzegovina, in Neum. We ate some ćevapi and moved on. Police were in shadows and didn’t check anybody. An additional hour later we arrived in Dubrovnik, walked in the old part (Nagla bought the second book), went to the beach for a few hours. The next challenge was at hand, Montenegro was just 20 km away! We sent a message to people already at the destination that we are going to miss one more night. So we were on the road to Montenegro. On the border, we paid 50 DEM for some kind of insurance. We drove around Boka Kotorska to Budva. There we walked on the promenade, where women were beautiful and men were strong. On stands, we bought some pancakes and non-original CDs. We went to sleep in the car in the parking lot.
The next morning we moved back to Croatia. On the way there, we rested a bit in Herceg Novi, a nice old part of town. Soldiers stopped us, they were looking for guns. While driving over Peljašac peninsula trucks were faster than us. Our car was not in good shape, it was leaking oil. After a short ferry ride, we were finally in Korčula. We spent there a few days. Usual coastal activities, beaches and such. Most of the time there we were playing cards, Tarok. Sometimes even 12h. Each day one of us had a moment. We were short on cash and Nagla got some money from his relatives in Croatia. Last night we were drinking Brandy Zvečevo and bottled water.
We decided to go a few nights before others back. Our first stop was Mostar. The old part of town was still devasted by the recent war. The bridge was not rebuilt yet. One could feel tensions between different parts of the city. Again it was time to sleep in the car. It was hot so we opened a window and then a swarm of mosquitoes flew in. In the end, I slept on the bench in the park.
The next morning we moved to Sarajevo. We had a stroll around and ate a meal. We moved to Jajce, a bit of sightseeing. Somewhere on the road, I drunk Coca Cola from a bottle that was an ashtray (filled with cigarette buds). Most horrible taste in my life. We stopped at Plitvice. It was dark so we couldn’t see waterfalls but just hear them. We had dinner and got a handwritten bill. We finished our day in Rijeka, sleeping in the car again.
We met some friends in Premantura. In the evening we went to the Valkana beach party (130 HRK). My first electronic music party. Probably I was only that was just drunk there. On 13th August in the morning, we moved slowly home, while the car was not able to drive fast 🙂
