My much needed travels

I sometimes wish I had a job and a bit of money to just continue travelling, forever. 2 weeks of travel, every single time, is not just enough. I want to travel for months, or years, like the nice people I've had the opportunity to meet during most of my journeys around the world. It's a simple wish, and I hope I can achieve it, with time. For now, I'm back in Glasgow, feeling empty, a bit lost and re-adapting to the sudden cold and gloomy days. But whatever, make use of what I have, yes?! Time to start finding a job, and quick!

But regardless of my current internal struggles, I'd like to document my travels in Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina (which was really an amazing and relaxing trip, if you exclude our lack of luck with public transportation). Probably one of the best places to visit! Take some time away from the big, touristic cities for the islands and towns in Croatia and Bosnia. It's well worth the time and money.

So, we flew to Split, then headed to Hvar, Korcula, Dubrovnik, Mostar and then back to Split again. In that time, we probably went to like hundreds of places (I'm exaggerating, but it surely felt like that much) within 2 weeks. 

As usual, I'll just post up some photos that I like and talk about that moment. :)

When we arrive in Split, we only had an afternoon to wander around before going to Hvar. I believe that I'm the master at choosing the perfect hostels ever existed because LOOK at this VIEW. I was unbelievably excited after seeing this and being able to wake up to such gorgeousness for a few days! Surreal. Also, the owner of the hostel is a mega sweetheart. Super helpful and gave me like 3 cups of local wine to drink (which was delicious btw). Lovely place! If you're thinking of going to Hvar, look up Hostel Helvetia!

I had to highlight this adorable dog (there was another brown one too but she's too shy). They were the neighbourhood dogs that stayed outside our hostel! Too cute. We called this one Oreo.

Unfortunately for me, I was disappointed 50% of the time by the coffee I drank during my travels. I expected every cup of cappucino to be as good as the ones I had in Italy, but alas, I have to regrettably admit that the Italians are the only ones who can please my coffee palette (don't tell Gian. He will lansi and berlagak to da max). There were some delicious cappucinos though, don't get me wrong, but in total, not all were perfect and this makes me sad. )8

I think that Croatia is well-known for its rocky and pebble beaches, rather than sandy beaches like in Malaysia. Never have I ever considered a rocky area as a beach before going to Hvar! It's quite nice and new for me, though some swimming shoes would've made the experience a little less troubling (cut my big toe once and got stabbed by a sea urchin D:).

But look at the perks of being on a rocky beach! You can tan on a sun bed, right beside yachts, and it isn't a problem. One thing I love about these beaches are that, for sure, you will not get sand in your bikini or ass crack. In fact, I prefer dodging sharp rocks than having fine sand in ever nook and cranny of my body.

Also, you wouldn't be able to find little hidden pools of awesomeness within a sandy beach. This was a really pleasant spot to tan at! Though, on that day itself, it wasn't particularly sunny. However, the view and environment compensated for the lack of sun.

Here's Gian, pretending to be the captain of a big boat (when in actual fact, it was a tiny little sampan with a motor). He drove well though and didn't get us killed so I'm proud of him (haha). We rented our own small boat, so that we could have the freedom and flexibility of time to move around from Hvar to Palmiziana. It was a good decision! We didn't have to follow any tour schedules, which was great!

Here's Eun Bin, tanning with all her glory. This photo represents that whole day in a nutshell! We basically swam, sunbathed, slept and repeat.

I absolutely love this snapshot! Jumping into such turquoise crystal clear water! This exact spot was where we stayed for quite a bit of hours, doing nothing, and just relaxing. It was very very very nice. I miss the warmth already. I need sun in my life.

I'm pretty sure I was napping! And the reflection of the sun makes it look like I have fairy dust!

And this is our little sampan for the day! It ain't no yacht but it got us to where we wanted to go, and at an affordable price so, WIN!

This was the sunset from the boat. Beautiful! And the giant pirate-like yacht just completed the atmosphere perfectly! Gian was so excited about the yacht, he immediately sent a photo of it to his father and they both got excited like little boys getting new toys.

After Hvar, we headed over to Korcula for the night, before moving on the Dubrovnik. One thing I wish I could change is the fact that we only stayed in Korcula for practically a day. We should have been there for at least 3 days, just like Hvar! Hopefully, I get to go back and stay there much longer than before. 

The water here was also super blue and clear! In addition to the gorgeous view of the mountains, it's a perfect place for utter relaxation! Really wish we stayed there longer. I also found a really awesome hostel/guesthouse for us to stay in while there.

I'm putting this photo here because I really like it and the water is too amazing and yes.

I think this was our second time eating seafood in Croatia and well, look at how happy Gian looks. Hahahaha! I wouldn't say that the prices are dirt cheap (if you compare to Malaysia larh) but it's affordable and you can definitely survive eating out + the food was WONDERFUL. Really delightful!

This is actually the perfect photo to describe the accommodation I mentioned. The perfect view, with great facilities and another great host who picks you up from the port and brings you over to the guesthouse! The location is a bit tricky but since Helena (the host) will wait for your arrival at the port, you won't get lost for sure. It's comfortable, quiet and just great! Look up Accomodation Drasko.

After Korcula, we headed to Dubrovnik via bus. Took about 4 hours for us to reach our destination. The photo above is the view from the ferry on the way to Dubrovnik. Look at the layers and colours! I was having a jakun moment, trynna come up with a nice way to compose a photograph and then, voila! Probably one of my favourite photos to date!

To be perfectly honest, I like Dubrovnik but, I think I would've preferred to stay in Korcula for much longer. It was so crowded with tourists and selfie-sticks! It felt quite suffocating to be in the city! Despite the fact that it's a beautiful architectural and historical city, one/two hours would've been enough for me. The beaches and nearby islands were much more relaxing and peaceful compared to Old Town. The photo above is just Gian and my attempt at catching this creepy, bald, beer-bellied guy who likes to (very obviously) stare at people. He tried to hide it by wearing sunglasses but BRO, YOU STILL LOOKING IN MY DIRECTION K WHO YOU TRYNNA FOOL. He stared at us for quite a while before I pulled out my iPod! Creep!

This was at the nicest bar on a cliff side in Dubrovnik! It's small and well hidden (just the way I like it) and the bartender was a mega chilled out guy (probably high) who made the best cappucino! I was pleasantly surprised by that and also the Aperol Spritz that he made for Gian. Tasty! They didn't care about you bringing your drinks to the cliff either. They were just like "...whateveeeer", for real.

I don't know why but I adore this photo. Hahahahahaha. Hee Eun being Hee Eun.

On our last full day in Dubrovnik, we headed over to Lokrum Island which was about 10 minutes boat ride away from Old Town, and thank God we planned our time there wisely! On that day itself, about 4 cruise ships decided to drop off their sardines into Old Town Dubrovnik and it was SERIOUSLY. CROWDED. Imagine about 8000+ people, waiting to be picked up by boat taxis to be transported back into their giant sardine can. It's like the traffic jam in SS15 after students from Sri KL dah habis sekolah x 100. The harbour was packed with people. SOOO ANNOYING. We got outta there asap! It was a really good decision, s e r i o u s l y. And also, the crowd aside, Lokrum is definitely an island to visit when you're in Dubrovnik! Super nice for relaxing, swimming, a bit of nature and the view! Beautiful.

Also, perfect for some beginners cliff diving. Gian and I jumped off a cliff that was about 3+m high into waters that were relatively deep and safe enough for us to dive into. For me, this was already something super extreme! And having a fear of falling didn't help much. But I faced my fears and did it anyway! And I have a video to prove it!!1!!1!

The last day in Dubrovnik, before heading over to Mostar, we had a super delicious BBQ at our guesthouse. ERHMAHGERD. How can I express how much I love fresh vegetables and meat?! I just can't. I miss it so much. It's so difficult to get these things in the UK. It's either unavailable or expensive. WHY. Ok rant over.

Here we are in Mostar! To be perfectly honest, I had no knowledge of Mostar nor Bosnia Herzegovina before I actually entered the country. But I'm glad my impulsiveness benefited me immensely in this case because I learned so much about the history, war and culture of this city and also from my lovely hostel host, Miran. 

Here's one of my favourite photos from the whole trip, of course, it being of me and my hairy monkey partner. Also, I think this was my most decent look throughout the whole trip ... at least for me, because I certainly felt like I looked like a complete troll the rest of the time, with my dry lips, dirty hair, skin the shade of an orangutan (k too much info).

We ate so much meat while we were traveling, wow. Much more than we normally do, but hey, I kept telling myself that in Glasgow, we wouldn't be able to get fresh meat this delicious and this cheap. Just overload on the goods and face the consequences later! And FYI, I don't exaggerate about the food in the UK. There are a ton of jokes about how bad British food is and my friend, they're all true. I can only do so much with food from Tesco and the asian market. 

As I mentioned before, we stayed in a hostel owned by a man named Miran called Hostel Miran (well ain't it a straightforward name?!). He's a wonderful person, seriously. Though our opinions towards things clash, I admire that he as a person is so welcoming, warm, knowledgeable and overall kind. He treated everyone like we were a part of his family, and I think that he's just naturally that way. He seemed to really like me, possibly because I have a Muslim name, but regardless of our clashing beliefs, he really took care of me, Gian and Hee Eun.

Miran owns a hostel and also organizes tours for visitors and travelers. I'm quite glad we decided to go for the tour, albeit having a time constraint. But since we only had 2 full days to see Mostar, a tour only made sense for us. We got to see and learn more than I expected! Was well worth it.

Miran also shares his experiences through the Yugoslavia war in the 1990s, which I shamefully admit that I knew nothing about. But I'm happy to say that I've learned a lot from staying in Miran's hostel and from his tour. There are still buildings in Mostar with bullet holes from guns and tanks. It's really quite sad, but enlightening and comforting to know that the people there are growing, living decent lives at the moment and can still have such big smiles on their faces!

Miran brought us to the Kravice Falls, which is a really beautiful waterfall just outside of Mostar. As much as I wanted to jump into the water, I couldn't tolerate how cold it was. 12 degrees celsius is not a temperature I would allow my naked body to touch, sorry. My feet couldn't even handle it! Kudos to the Aussie bunch that dove right in.

Here we are at Blagaj, seeing the biggest and purest river/spring in East Europe, as well as the religious house built next to it. Others had a taste of Muslim culture, whereas I sat blankly while Miran told them about things I already knew.

One of my all-time dreams is to own a cafe as charming as this. I'll reach that dream one day!

Btw, the water was so clear, cold and clean that we could drink from it! It was super refreshing, wow.

At the end of the day, Miran took us to the war fields outside of Mostar. He wanted to show us the battle grounds that he fought in. It's a bit daunting, since most of the bunkers were still intact and you could easily find empty ammunition shells lying around the grass and bushes. We even drove passed small villages that weren't reconstructed and left abandoned. Knowing that hundreds of innocent people died during a war led by greedy leaders is just disheartening. I know it's wrong to say, but I'm grateful that I have an easy life and minimal struggles that can't even be compared to what Miran went through when he was my age. I fully understand how good I have it here in Glasgow, so ... I should the best of it.

Anyway, after such an eye-opening trip to Mostar, we returned to Split for another night, before heading back to Glasgow. We had the time to explore this touristic city and, to be honest, it's quite pretty. I absolutely love the ruins! But the Croats went through a war too, so we could easily spot buildings that were affected by the bullets. Regardless, the local are fighting through and doing a bit better now!

To end my massive photo spam, a photo of Gian's silhouette, gazing poetically into the distance whilst the sun sets behind him.

If you'd like to see a bit more of the highlights from our travels, here's a simple video I made! I think I should really practice editing videos. It's fun, but I really need better equipment. I only used my iPod 5 and a cheap fish eye lens to shoot this video (a lens that I LOST DURING THE TRIP AND I'M SO BUMMED ABOUT IT BUT IT'S OK IT WAS ONLY 5POUNDS, BUT STILL).


Anyway, time for me to head back into reality and become an adult. Someone, please give me a job.

Bye.