After packing up and checking out of the hostel, we headed up to the tram stop to get to the train station. In our entire time in Zagreb, we'd never waited more than 5 minutes for a tram. Except this one - the #4 to the station took more than half an hour to come, but we made it in the end.
Getting our tickets and boarding the train was pretty painless. Or at least it was, until a backpacker sat down in front of us. It became inescapably apparent that he had been feasting on garlic and chilli, and had not washed either himself or his clothes for the last decade. The smell was enough to make your eyes water and your nose bleed - Karina's eyes and Simon's nose. After about 3 hours, we managed to move seats, and could breathe freely again.
The train was running 20 minutes late getting into Split, but we hoped we would have enough time to find the bus to Dubrovnik. Karina had pre-booked us bus tickets before we left Zagreb, but we discovered that the bus company didn't know anything about it. Fortunately there weren't many people on the bus, so there were lots of seats still free.
After nearly missing the bus because we were patiently waiting at a different platform, we were finally on the last leg of the journey and thought we could relax. Until we found ourselves being asked for our passports at a border-crossing! After everything, had we jumped on the wrong bus to Who Knows Which Eastern European Country?
But no, as we were surprised to learn, Bosnia and Herzegovina extends to the coast in a small section, cutting off the road to Dubrovnik from the rest of Croatia. So we found ourselves spending half an hour (including a 15 minute toilet break in the town of Neum) in yet another country, and made sure we had a photo to prove it!The bus finally pulled into Dubrovnik at 9:30pm, and after a brief trip with a smelly and somewhat dodgy taxi driver, we arrived at our beautiful beach apartment. Phew - what a way to spend our 8th anniversary!!!!
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