Day-1 May 16

Ljubljana(Slovenia) to Plitvice(Croatia).

After a simple breakfast at the Atticus B&B, we load our bike, set the GPS, thumb the starter and start the ride on a cold day with heavy clouds.

Although Europe is best travelled on B-Roads, given today’s distance, to save on time, we charged down the A2 Motorway.

After some good blasting on the Motorway we exited to Zuzemberk after which the ride was on nice winding country roads southwards passing Crmosnjice & Crnomelj stopping for lunch along the way. But soon the rains caught up and for most of the remaining 200 odd kms we were being continuous pelted by rain in temps varying from 4-11 deg C.

At Vinica, our first International border crossing from Slovenia into Croatia was a simple affair with just stamping of passports at both respective border points (one out of Slovenia and one into Croatia) without even having to get off the bike.

Entering Croatia, we continued to Bosiljevo, Zdenac, & Slunj and a few kms later we checked into Apartments Poljanak located at the periphery of the Plitvice National Park.

After a quick wash we whisked along one of the narrow country roads to a nearby isolated camping part of the streams that flow off the main Plitvice National Park. It was a very soothing experience with just the sound of gushing water amongst an otherwise silent & heavily wooded area.

After returning from this brief jaunt, based on the suggestion of our host, we head to the local eatery Restoran Degenija which, is an upmarket restaurant serving excellent local cuisine. It was full and hence we had to settle on the sit-out dining area which was pretty cold.

We enjoyed a lovely & sumptuous dinner of the local dish Peke and grilled Trout fish. Finished the day at Plitvice drenched & frozen to the bone. Since entry to the park closes at 4pm, park exploration was pushed for early morning the next day.