Travnik

After an early start and a pleasant 50km drive we arrived in the town of Travnik. Parking in a secure parking area we left the “Bunyip” to explore the sights. After a short walk through the lower part of town it was time to venture up and up to the Fortress on the hill. A small entrance fee gave us access and we climbed the stairs to the top vantage point to admire the view, along with a large group of Turkish people who had arrived at the same time. The place was a selfie mecca with the young Turks not only taking selfies but plenty of posed shots at all the vantage points of the fortress. It was an interesting place, you could see why it was built in its position as you had uninterrupted views down the valley along the river. A good strategic position for defense of the valley.

 

Back down in the town again we spotted a café that looked like a local eatery so we sat down and tried to order. This was not a tourist spot as the waitress spoke no English and there was no English menu to read. We managed with a bit a sign language to order a meal with a salad and drinks. No alcohol was served in the place so it was a soft drink for a change. Again for less than $20 we had a great meal in the old town, we keep reminding ourselves these prices will not last as we start heading more into Western Europe.

Jajce

The time had come to once again wash the bedding and do some more maintenance on the “Bunyip”. We went to the town of Jajce where we stayed at the campsite for two days. The facilities were average but the redeeming factor was the washing machine only cost 1 euro per load. We took advantage of this and did two loads, washing bedding, clothes and towels.
The tool box came out and a range of small jobs were carried out. A joint in the cupboard was glued and brackets screwed in, installed a covered box on the side door we bought last year at Ikea, screwed a loose railing in, glued a bracket to the outdoor table and made a new bracket for the Samsung tablet to sit on in front of Jenny so she can navigate as we drive along. In between these hard jobs we also had to do some cleaning inside as the dust had infiltrated again and then we had a bit of time to have decent showers, talk to a few other travellers and just chill out. We find that being on the go every day is interesting and stimulating but there comes a point when a few days in one place is needed.

Keep our Passports “no way”

We haven’t stayed in many campgrounds this year so far, wild camping where possible and when we arrived at the campsite I was surprise that the person at the reception desk asked for our passports and when I showed them to him, then he said he would keep them in the office. My reply as “no way” as I could see the other passports sitting in pigeon holes at the back of the counter. “We have cameras in the reception area” he said. My reply was “how can a camera stop someone from taking the passports?” They can only assist after they have disappeared and then it is too late. He took a photocopy of the passports and was happy to have my camping card as security. In Croatia one year I saw a box of passports in a reception office which was unattended and the door left open. Our policy is to never leave a passport in the campsite as a camping card has the same information on it and we could be in a bit of trouble trying to replace it when travelling in these foreign parts.

We left the campsite and drove along the river where the water was clear and blue, passing waterfalls and swimming holes. In the centre of town it was very busy, we parked up to see the saw to main attraction of the waterfall in the centre, so took photos along with everyone else and headed north to Banja Luka.

Banja Luka

This is a large town near to the border of Croatia. We only stopped there to do some shopping and ended up having lunch in a shopping mall, which was cleverly disguised. It was a large black building with hardly any signage, it was only because I went looking for a café did I find it. Our small lunch turned into a main meal as the small pizza I ordered and the sandwich Jenny ordered turned out to be a large pizza and the sandwich a large calzone. That night we didn’t feel very hungry so only had crackers with cheese for tea.

Into Croatia

We crossed over the border easily and drove along the motorway for a while until we realized that finding an overnight spot on the motorway would be difficult and also the motorway was a bit dull.
Off the motorway to the back roads we passed many interesting small villages until we finally found a spot for the night on a side road in a forest. We soon found out that we were not alone, plenty of flies and mosquitoes were also there and we soon closed all the flywire screens to keep them out.

Sisak

The drive on the back road were full of interesting sights especially the wooden houses, the condition of these houses ranged from excellent to almost falling down. We stopped to take photos of some and took a few out of the window as we drove by, many looked like they should have been in a cultural museum.

In the morning we drove through the town of Sisak which showed signs to a fortress a few kilometres out of our way. The fortress was in a triangular shape and situated next to the river. It was still quite early so it was not open, after walking the outside, taking a few photos we continued our drive on to Zagreb.