Plitvice - the Waterfall park!
When I was a child in Indonesia, there's this drink-product called "Adem Sari", it's sort of like a medicine in a sachet that one can take when you start to feel like you're having a sore throat. We Indonesians call the illness "Panas Dalam" - Literal translation will be "Heat Inside". And the remedies is this medicine. Adem Sari itself is quite tricky to be translated into english. 'Adem' means cool, breezy, fresh all combine into one, while 'Sari' is more like nutrients? oh well... hahaha
Anyhow, the advertising of this meds (or remedy?), is always with someone rather feeling unwell and after drinking this Adem Sari, her throat is better and she feels cool visualized with a huge waterfall behind her. Which brings me to.... why I think this park is like the perfect shooting location for the brand hahahhaa...
I took a tour to go to Plitvice, it is a good decision, normally I'd like to just take the public transport and then buy the ticket at the park, but since I was too late to buy it, the only option is to go with a tour. The tour cost me 80 euro and it came with a mini bus to transport you to and from Plitvice + the entry cost to the park. Since it didn't came with a tour guide, the participants are free to roam around the park.
There are plenty of trails that you can do in the park, I decided to do the long one LOL as I'm a walking fanatic (trail C), it includes walking through the lower lakes (trail A), and then the big lake where you'll take a boat to cross it (trail B), and then should you still want to continue walking through the upper lakes, you'll take another ferry to cross to the other point which is exactly what I did. It definitely didn't disappoint!
I enter from point A where the 'lower lakes' are. Upon entering the gate, You'll be faced with this HUGE waterfall (they call it the Great Waterfall) that immediately reminds me of the Adem Sari ads. It's so big, majestic, and beautiful! Also because it was raining, there are plenty of water to fall (get it? :P). The view is just really breathtaking, and healing too! I came with a headache, and it just went away! With the view of this waterfall, I go through the trail A where you basically go down the cliff, and walk beside the lake! Ohhhh, I love how the walk make you 'one' with nature! Also I love the fact that I wore my rubber boots, it's perfect for this! I continue to walk until a point very you see a ferry to cross the lake and get to point B.
From here, there's a resting area with where you can sit, eat, use the toilet, or even go back to the main gate with a 'train'. I want to go further, so I took another ferry to cross the lake, and continue with trail C, going through the 'upper lakes'. Here's is where I feel the farther I walk, the more beauty I get to discover. Words alone can not paint the magnificent view I experience. The turquoise clear lake that is so alluring for you to just jump and swim into (can't swim in the lake! it's protected), the therapeutic sound of water cascading down through the stones, and despite your feet starting to cry, your face couldn't help but keep having a big smile capturing all the landscapes. Pictures couldn't do justice to portray the real view, but alas, one must capture the memories at least. Trail C is so beautiful that when I finished, I still wanted more, so I continue with trail H, which is basically walking back to point B through the upper lakes. I'm loving it because it felt like I was given another chance to experience the view one more time. Honestly, despite quite a long walk, I didn't feel tired much, because the view is just soooo beautiful! At this point, I'm a bit worry that I might miss my bus back, so I hurry a bit.
Back at point B, I took the train back to the other station near point A, and from there, I still need to walk back to entrance A where the bus wait. In Plitvice, there's no boring walking experience! even the short walk back from the train station to entrance A, you get to see the Great Waterfall again, but this time from a different angle. I can't catch a breath anymore! Those trails that I walk through in trail A, I get to see from bird eye view, they are SO pretty. I wish to see more national park like these!!!!
Before going back, I went to the souvenir shop. They have a lot of lavender products, so I bought myself a lavender balm, and some other stuff that I forgot hahaha.
Back in the bus, in total I walked for 5 hours (with very short pause) - I do feel like I'm walking on steroids LOL. On the way back, I talked with 2 couples in the bus about the experience, I think we couldn't help but to start a conversation after seeing the view! One couple is from Singapore and they're on their honeymoon, the other is from Malaysia, and me being from Indonesia, southeast Asian represented! We talked a lot from Europe trip to politics in SEA during the 2 hours journey back to Zadar. It is truly a memorable lovely experience. Also, at the end of this day I walked 22 km! I've broken my personal walking record!
