(3) From Split to Dubrovnik

Camping in the olive grove

7 October - 10 October 2012, Croatia

I left Split on the afternoon of the 7 October and I spent the following three nights on the island of Korcula and on the peninsula of Peljesac. I arrived in Vela Luka, one of the main towns of Korcula island, and walked alongside the coastline to find a spot to put up my tent.

I asked a man on an olive grove about a safe place to camp. He offered me to do it in his olive grove that is almost directly at the sea. After setting up the tent, I swam and spent the time before dusk on the cliffs watching the fishermen going out for the night catch. Thoughts were storming in my mind and feelings in my heart. I realised that past insecurities and suppressed tensions were emerging inside my self and I found myself chasing each of them aimlessy. With this spirit I went back to my tent and finally found sleep.

The morning after I woke up and jumped into the sea from the cliffs. The water was crystal clear and the sea completely flat. Swimming was a good start of the day. That day I traveled little by little southward through the small towns of the island. Finally, I ended up passing the night on a campsite in one of them - Lumbarda - where I could enjoy its sandy beach before sunset. I spent the evening reading and writing while sipping a tea in one of the central bar of the town.

Swimming at sunset in Vela Luka

The 9th October I took a ferry from Korcula to Orebic. From there I got two rides to the small cozy town of Ston, around 60 kilometers southward direction Dubrovnick. I decided to pamper myself with a proper meal at restaurant. After two days of biscuits, fruits and bread and cheese the feeling of a good warm meal was powerful. I felt really relaxed and serene.

With the good night sleep of the night before, my stomach full and feeling somehow protected in this small town, I strolled aimlessly around its small stony streets. I realised that probably also the distance from the frenetic life of the city and from the internet was contributing to my serenity. In the late afternoon I found my self sitting on a bench beside the local bus station going on reading my never-ending book Shantaram.

I did not care about where I was going to spend the night. I did not want to haste to find an accommodation and I was surprised that I was not worried about it. I just felt fine on the bench going on with the book. Notwithstanding the clear physical and psychological benefits of one month at the sea, I realised that I did not want to continue with the relaxed touristic life of the Croatian coast and that this travel ought to be more than that. With this thought I lied down on the external pavement of a closed bar and waited for the first light of the morning to come.

The following morning just after sunrise I hitchhiked the remaining 60 kilometers to Dubrovnick and so managed to get there when it was still early in the morning...

Dobro Jutro Dubrovnick!