CC Travel Blog

Mar, 2009

The drive from Split to Dubrovnik is scenic and beautiful.

We first stopped at Makarska for lunch. Makarska itself is a seaside resort town with palm trees planted at the water front restaurant areas. Travellers come here to relax and enjoy the view of the seashore.

The town itself is quiet probably because of low season. Nothing much opens and strolling around is peaceful yet lonely.

After lunch, we drove southbound. The wonderful sceneries convinced me why Croatians are so proud of their natural beauty. All beaches in Croatia are public properties; if a private residence has access to the beach and want their privacy, the residence has to provide an alternative public access to the beach. Hurray for all the beach goers.

Unknown to us, we had to cross Bosnia border to go to Dubrovik, which is in Croatia. The nearest town to the border is called Neum, which is an interesting place that belongs to Bosnia and cuts out the coastline ownership from Croatia. It is the only access for Bosnians to the coastline. As seen on the picture below, the village along the shore is Bosnia, but futher behind it is Croatia again.

Passed Neum, we stopped for a quick rest in a supermarket in Bosnia. The official currency is km (mark), which is the German Mark that no longer exist. The exchange rate was almost 1:4 in exchange to Kuna. However, we were told that the sales tax is a lot less in Bosnia than Croatia, hence we should take advantage of the shopping opportunity.

After three hours drive, we reached Dubrovnik. The next day we would explore this UNESCO listed beautiful fortified old town.