We took a minibus to go to Makarska, the next region to hike, where we stayed six days.The coastal town was picturesque and quiet. We took a boat from here to the island of Brac, pronounced Brash. Croatia has 125 islands. We docked in a harbor after more than an hour. A fishing town greeted us. We took a bus ride to the mountain and we hiked to the top; it was not a bad hike. The mountains are big, rocky and rugged. On the way up we passed many cyclists on the road, some of whom were struggling but nevertheless still going, and not all of them were wearing helmets. We also passed hikers. On top of the mountain there were tall microwave towers and a restaurant, where we had a spaghetti lunch, which was not the best meal we had on this trip.
 

Going down the mountain back to the boat we split into two groups, five of us, (the toughs) chose to hike down and the others, (the wimps), went by bus. More than two hours later we met at the dock. The hike was very strenuous. The path was covered with loose small rocks which I soon began to feel through my boots. The path was a continuous switch back. We met a few hikers on the way. We made it down going through the village of Bol. We passed by a house which has a most beautiful pomegranate tree with a large load of fruit. There were also lots of olive trees in the yards. The trees were heavily loaded with very plump olives. The shingles on a few of the old roofs were not the usual red tile, but stone slates.
 

We met with the rest of the group and took the boat back to Makarska. The captain made us a nice snack of bread, olives, cheese and fatty meat. He served us water and wine and more wine and we finally docked at 6:30 after a long and hard day.
 

Croatia seems to be all mountains, rocky and rugged. All of our hikes have been on rocks. We took a bus for an hour's ride through nice looking villages. When we stopped to begin our hike there was a gorge ahead of us. We started walking on a rocky narrow path. I am glad no one slipped, because an accident would have been deadly. One would have plunged hundreds of feet down with no rescue possible. The path was switchbacks with sharp turns. At the bottom of the gorge was a small lake. After a rest stop half of us took a wrong turn and we were lost and separated from the rest of the group. Our leaders used cell phones to communicate with one another. Five miles later, in this rugged terrain, the two groups met and continued walking on what looked like a small but long earthen dam. Then we walked in a huge meadow until we met our bus at the edge of a village. We were very happy to see it since we were very tired by then.
 

We went to a farm house where they prepared walnut brandy for us, which was not bad considering I don’t care for brandy. They also had a large bowl of fresh figs and I had a bunch of them. They showed us how they cooked for us a special meal of meat and potatoes in a clay oven covered with charcoal. This was similar to what we had back home years ago, (taboon). We sat outdoors at a nice long table with wines, water and tasty home made bread. The first thing we had was the usual cabbage salad which I liked. Then they brought trays of food and it was heavenly.
 

We continued walking and arrived at a deep cone shaped gorge at the bottom of which is what they call Blue Lake. There was something built in the shape of a pulpit used as a lookout at the lake or for blessing the visitors. From there we saw another lake called the Red Lake because of the reddish rocks around it. It was hard to throw a pebble into the water because it was so deep and had a conical shape. The pebble would land on the side before it reached the water. Only one person, a local young man, was able to throw a rock in the lake.
 

The Blue lake	The Red lake

It was rainy one day and the program was therefore changed. The bus later took us up the mountain on a very steep one lane road. We met a minibus coming down followed by another. They both had to back up until there was a spot for us to pass. It was tricky maneuver for a bus on a winding road. Along the way, we passed by horses in a field which were brown, black and white, an usual combination of colors. Finally we came to a hut, staffed by a woman who looked to be very cold. It is too far up the mountain to have electric power for lights and heat. She only had a gas heater. I asked her about what was she doing and she said she was receiving tourists. She gave us literature about the mountain.
 

Cooks

As we tried to continue our treck, the bus refused to start, so we pushed it until it fired up. We resumed our travel and came to another and bigger hut. Three men there cooked lunch for us. We started with cabbage and tomoato slices, home made bread and lots of wine. The main dish was goulash.

One day we hiked up a mountain covered with thick trees then came down in light rain. The rocky path, as we seem to walk always on rocks, was wet, Two and a half hours later we were at the bottom of the mountain, where there was a winding river in a beautiful valley. To cross the water, we took a boat, which was tricky to get on, and the old engine chugged along to the other side of the river. Getting off was just as tricky because there were no docks, only the dirt enbankment. We met our minibus, which drove us for the next hour to a village. Its alleys were narrow with just enough room for a bus and nothing else, not even a cat. It was funny to watch the driver negotiate the road.
 

Fishing

We went to a quaint restaurant, in which one dining room was in a cave. We visited the kitchen where they cooked the food on coal. They gave us the usual brandy drink they call Grappa, pronounced gra pa. It is made me a little dizzy after a while. The salad we got was the usual cabbage with tomotos, red pepper and onions. The main dish came from the oven and was a platter of chicken and potatoes. It was cooked very slowly. The meal was a treat.
 

Omic

Locals

We took the bus once again back to the river and the same blooming boat ferried us to the village; Omic (omich). It was a very beautiful place with narrow stone streets and alleys. We walked around, had refreshnments in the open door cafes, and observed the locals as they observed us. We rode the bus back, but a few of us (the toughs) got off three miles before reaching the hotel and walked all the way back along the beach.
 

Dubrovnik:

We transferred by bus to the Dubrovnik area, the last of our three destinations. The road stayed within close proximity to the Adriatic Sea. All coastal communities have red roofs, and big mountains behind them. They were very picturesque. Croatia has two land masses separated by a small stretch of Bosnia. The border police just waved our bus on. We stopped in a small border resort town of Neum for rest. The first town we stopped in when we entered Croatia again was famous for producing sea salt. The city of Ston is surrounded by a big wall, second in size to the Chinese wall. It was difficult to climb because it is all steps, but the view from above was lovely with the red-roofed houses of the town below. The wall was built in the 14th century to protect the city from the Ottomans. The renovation work on the old wall was immaculate.
 

Last summer, fires swept through parts of Croatia close to Dubrovnik.  It is amazing how close the fires came to the houses, but they were not harmed, partly because the houses were built of stones. The house building material was decreed by law centuries ago. We reached our destination at a Dubrovnik suburb of Cavtat. Later in the day we walked around the peninsula of Rat. The town had old alleys lined by houses with large courtyards. It is also the birthplace of the necktie. In the past people wore bright scarves around their necks and these were tied in a special way. The fashion traveled to Paris and the Cravat (necktie) was born and spread.
 

The country is famous for its beaches but I did not see any to speak of. In most settings, the mountains came to the water's edge. Beaches are very clean, water is clear and there were no big hotels right on the beaches. Swimmers lay around on rocks. When there is a space between the rocks, they poured cement to make platform like patios, no bigger than the regular backyard variety. Someone would then put up chairs for rent at these patios.
 

Our first hike in this region was six easy miles with a slight elevation in wooded areas. I seem to be repeating myself. We hiked and hiked. We arrived at a town which reminded me of my home town Palestine. People had fruit trees in their yards, like pomegranate, lemon, orange, quince,figs, olives and vegetables.
 

We continued our hike to a place where there was a folk dance group. Our leader could not find it and stopped a passing car to ask. The driver turned out to be a Japanese American who asked our guide for direction to a vineyard. Our guide then asked a woman  watching us in front of her house. We finally got to the place and there were lots of people waiting to see the show. I sat among the French visitors and they seem to resent my presence. The two women on either side of me kept looking at me as if I came from Venus.
 

The show was beautiful. The men wore baggy pants which the Turks wore. The Palestinians did too. I even had one. The baggier the pants the better. The dance was similar to Greek dances and so was the music. The dancers held one another’s hands forming a line and trotted around with fancy footwork.

Our minibus drove us to a mountain top in the boonies and we came to an old house that was renovated into an outdoor restaurant. I did not like the lunch today unlike the other surprise lunches we have had every day. It was a salad (the usual) and a plate consisting of an assortment of cheese, olives, wine and good bread. That was only an appetizer to me.
 

To go back to the hotel, we split into two groups, the wimps who rode the bus back and the seven tough ones who hiked down the mountain in two hours. The path was rocky as usual, with rugged switchbacks through the area where the fire took place last summer. When we got to the town of Cavtat, we stopped by a coffee shop and had drinks.

There was no hiking on our last day here. We were scheduled to take a boat to Dubrovnik. It took about an hour to get there on a 50 foot boat negotiating a rough sea, but the scenery was gorgeous. Coastal towns were beautiful with red roofed houses by the deep blue water and surrounded by high mountains. The bottom half of the mountains were green and the top, rocky and steep. It was sunny and warm but pleasant. The first thing we did was to walk on top of the protecting wall. It was very high and it was a wonder how it was built. It had many steps which we climbed including the towers. The view of the city was fascinating with all red roofs, alleys and the blue sea.
  The name, Dubrovnik, was derived from oak tree. The wooden houses suffered frequent fires, and therefore, it was then decided that all buildings must be built with stones, as was the case in all the towns and villages we visited. They are not short of stones. Even the stones for the Whitehouse in Washington came from there.

The city’s inhabitants were the rich merchants, and they built Dubrovnik on a grid, which was not the norm for the old world. They also believed that the north wind coming down the alleys protected them from malaria by blowing the germs away.
 

Dubrovnik has an interesting history by not going to war with the invaders of the past. They made treaties with the Romans, Ottomans, Venetians and Napoleon. The Serbs did however, bomb the city in 1991. The Ottomans, though were not the rulers of the town, received an annual tax from the city, which spared it from destruction. In the middle of the city there is a Jewish district. While the Ottomans did not rule the city, the Sultan supported the Jewish immigrants from Spain. This support negates all the western perceptions that the Turks mistreated the non Muslims.

Food:

Our daily breakfasts and dinners were generally western cuisine with few variations. Lunches were however, pleasant surprises everyday. We hiked the mountains away from the major population centers. Then, we were pleasntly surprised when we landed at an old house where an excellent treat was prepared for us. On a few occasions cooking was done on coal in old fashioned ovens. Portions were reasonable, not the American size on 13 inch plates.
 

Often we ate outdoors and always were first served Grappa, a liqueur made from the skin of the grape after exctracting the wine. I enjoyed the roasted vegetables which were nicely prepared. Fruits were good. Protein was mainly from veal and to my disappointment was not fish. The government taxes fishing heavily because of the over harvesting. One evening I invited our Croatian guide for a fish dinner at a local restuarant of his choice. We had Grappa every day before lunch, It was surprising not to see corn as a cooking ingredient. People there, as in most of Europe, use corn for animal feed.
 

Conclusion:

The hiking program was confined to the Dalmation coast of Croatia.The coastal area is very pictursque with the blue waters of the Adriatic Sea overlooked by imposing mountains and villages nestled in bays. I liked my travel group, some of whom were good hikers and they generally had a good sense of humor. Food was tasty, but lunches were fantastic especially, the home made bread. I was disappointed in not having more fish being so close to the sea.

We had two guides, Rolf, a Swiss and a young Croatian man, Ivan, pronounced evon, who lived in New York when he was young. My biggest disappointment in the program was the lack of lectures about the country that we all were expecting, and is normally a part of Elderhostel policy. Ivan knew about the country as any young man would, but without the nuances of history, culture, economics, government, or relations to the EU.

During our hikes in the isolated areas or far from towns, it is impressive that Ivan had a cell phone connection without exception. The government here does not issue an operating license unless the provider can guarantee full coverage all over the country. That is impressive, and is obviously possible.
 

Acknowledgements:

The author wishes to thank Barbara Staggs for some of the pictures appearing in this document, which were chosen from her collections with  permission. The author thanks Jo Ferrando for her editing and improving the readability of the report.

For information, please contact the author: Ned Audeh