Sunday 20th October, Mostar, Bosnia
We left the campsite mid morning and drove to the border. Our green card did not cover Bosnia ( or any of the non EU balkans states) so we had to find out where to get the insurance for the van.
The border was not busy and we were out of Croatia in seconds. We then drove the 5 kms to the Bosnian side.
At the police check we were asked for the green card. We explained it did not cover Bosnia. So the officer told us to park and get that at a building. After that we went back to get our passports stamped. By then it was another guy there and I insisted that we had not been stamped in. The guy was happy to let us in without checking! But I had checked and I had no stamp. I always try to check all the documents, as borders officers at passport and customs tend to make plenty of mistakes, based on my experience of overlanding!
Then we were in Bosnia! We drove to Mostar and decided to check the campsite first and see if we could walk from there.
When we arrived the camping was deserted so we went in and parked. The place was small with a big flat gravel area for camping and a small shower block. We decided to have lunch there. The shower block was open so we could use the facilities. After lunch the owner arrived. A very young lad who had built the camping and business the year before. Still a work in progress I think. There was no shade and it was incredibly hot. I expected that being inland the weather would be cooler but it was not the case.
The camping was a good 3 or 4 kms from town and, with the dog, getting a taxi was tricky. We decided to drive to town. I found a guarded car park easy to get to with the van. It was in Park4night App. So we got there as in other free parking spots, there had been reported robberies on campervans.
Then we walk into town through the old narrow cobbled streets. It was beautiful and incredibly busy. We realised that the cruise ships must stop at Dubrovnik and bus people into Mostar for the day! There were lots of Americans!
We had a long walk into town, visiting the medieval bridge and taking photos before doing my favorite thing, sit at a bar in a terrace, local beer in hand and watch people walk past.
The visit was blighted by a dog that followed us through our entire exploration! He had a collar and was friendly enough but Scruffy was not happy with that.
Eventually we went back to the van and it is only when we drove off that the stalking dog left.
Back at the camping there was another campervan with a Swiss plate. It was a young couple on holiday.
We had dinner and watched a Shetland series video.
Sunday 21st October- Croatia, Dalmatian coast
We packed camp and left mid morning. We drove back to the same border. On the way we saw many big tourist buses going the opposite way, confirming our cruise shiip theory!
Our van was thoroughly searched by the Croatian police to check we did not have any illegal immigrant hidden somewhere. The dog was ignored.
Then we drove to the Bosnian border again, this time on the way to Dubrovnik’s zone. We then crossed the few miles of Bosnia that cut Croatia in two, and went back into Croatia, Dubrovnik side.
We selected a campsite in a big peninsula away from Dubrovnik, as the camping near Dubrovnik did not look that nice.
As this will be our last camping in Croatia we decided we would spend few days there to do some chores and some research on crossing Montenegro and Albania.
Monday 22d October to Thursday 24th – Croatia, Dalmatian coast
The campsite was set in terraces along the rocky hills, down to the pebble private beach. The facilities were amazing. Most campsites in Croatia have been extremely impressive, more glamping than camping!
The place was enormous and very peaceful with very few Germans campervans dotted around. Two massive ones, each the size of a bus, were not far to us. They had 3 cats and two dogs.
Scruffy was bullied by one of their cat, but he got his revenge the next day when he chased it and the cat got stuck up a tree! Just normal stuff between cats and dogs I guess.
The village was near and we had a big supermarket across the main road.
We did not expect that the weather would be so nice in October and had not packed that much summer clothes. Every day since we came to Croatia it has been very hot as soon as the sun is up and cooling down once it is gone. It has never been cold yet.
Perfect weather, so we wandered into the beach everyday and had a nice swim in the sea! The water was 21degree. The hardest bit was to walk through the pebbles bare feet.
Scruffy refused to swim but was happy to paddle along and play with the pebbles.
With so few guests, the beach ( private to the camping) was very quite. By some tacite accord, the far left side was left to the nudists, the middle attracted the dogs owners and the right side was left free with rare visitors venturing that far end or the main entrance. All guests others than us were germans.
So after few days rest, we are moving again tomorrow, to Montenegro!