Another day and another coach trip, so we went to the supermarket to buy some snacks for the journey and I got my usual chilled coffee to start proceedings with. This had by now become an essential part of my transport infrastructure plans.
It was around a twenty-minute walk from our accommodation to the coach station and, as usual, we arrived in good time.
I was relieved to see that it was a proper coach that pulled up to take us to Split, which was going to take over three hours and I felt I’d enjoyed enough minibus journeys on this trip. It was unclear where we were supposed to sit on the coach and we were shuffled about until taking up the rear five seats between us.
The coach swept out of Mostar and I was pleased to discover that it had both air conditioning and Wi-Fi of sorts. I didn’t have roaming in Bosnia, but I did in Croatia, so this meant that I was able to breathe easily.
This is the border town of Čapljina in Bosnia and that’s the River Neretva. I didn’t take photos of the border crossing into Croatia, but the sedate arrangements in Bosnia were informal whilst it was very much Fortress EU when arriving into Croatia. Everyone’s passport was checked in person, the Entry/Exit System was in operation and it felt secure and well managed.
Many passengers seemed delighted when we stopped for half an hour. I’m not fond of these breaks, which usually appear designed to extract money from a captive audience through an overpriced café while making the journey longer. The driver presumably needed a rest, however, so I confined my protest to buying nothing and returning to the coach to sit by myself. This was unlikely to bring the business model crashing down, but my principles had been maintained.
Here I am back on the coach enjoying my alone time.
We then passed the Baćina Lakes, a group of remarkably beautiful freshwater lakes near Ploče. Taking photographs through a moving coach window did not entirely capture the scenery, although it did produce an extensive record of reflections, roadside barriers and occasional sections of lake.
This is Drvenik and the Adriatic was looking rather lovely. I’ve been to Dubrovnik many years ago, as well as Zagreb many years ago, but this was my first time travelling along the Croatian coastline.
The church in Makarska, photographed during one of the relatively brief moments when the coach, the building and my camera were all pointing in compatible directions without me appearing in the reflection of the window.
Located near the village of Dubci, the glorious views continued and I took several videos, which will make an appearance on this blog at some point.
I remember this coach trip fondly. The route delivered one coastal view after another and, unusually for a long coach journey, I was in no particular hurry for it to end.
This is Omiš and this stretch of coastline was more built-up and was evidently popular with tourists.
The harbour a couple of miles further along the coastline.
Then into the outskirts of Split and I liked the architecture of these buildings whilst noting that we had arrived on-time. We only had one evening in Split and I was keen to see what I could of the city.
This had been one of my favourite coach journeys, as it is rare to enjoy such consistently beautiful views for so much of a route. The proper coach, functioning air conditioning and absence of collapsing seats had also established an exceptionally high standard by this stage of the trip.