Sibenik-Krka-Zadar

The next day, we avoid Sibenik to be as early as possible in Krka. We go through two tunnels and the road is pretty busy. This park has two main entrances. The woman at the till won't keep our stuff...and suggests we cycle the 10K to the other entrance, Skradin, and then take a small cycle route that leads to the waterfalls.

We can seem some large karsts on the way. These are cavities created by dissolution of the CaCO3 (such as in limestone) and common in the cretaceous chalk in Kent.

Though park is very nice. The falls are all in witdth. The water is transparent, and you go round the falls on small wooden platforms. After a sardine/sweetcorn/peas lunch, we cross a film/documentary scene, full of people dressed in typical clothes, probably from the period the watermills were built.




To avoid going back the same way, we decide to try to cycle to Zadar through the inland. The road is allegedly pretty flat. We cross Skradin, Barnacac. The weather is nice, and the road very quiet. People are very different from the coast. There are many abandoned/wild dogs and abandoned houses. Their roof has been bombed and their facades are full of bullet impacts.

We are very close to Knin, which was the centre of the Krajina Serbian rebellion during the 1991-1995 Croatian independance war. After Croatia declared its independance, the Yougoslav People's Army (JNA), primarily composed of Serbians and Montenegrins, severely bombarded major towns (Zagreb, Zadar, Dubrovnik, Split). After massacres in Bosnia, the NATO helped the Croatian army, which conquered Krajina...but this caused the exile of many Serbians.

Everywhere in Croatia, we saw many limping people. Cruel reminder of these dark years, obviously still very present in most minds.

We cycle really well, the landscape is desolate. People tend to build houses rather than trying to repair the bombed ones. Some villages are almost empty. The countryside is nice though.


We arrive in Zadar pretty early, cross the airport where we ask confirmation for the flight.
After dismissing a hotel suggested in the Lonely Planet, we take a very nice studio right in the centre of Zadar, recommended by the tourist info. There is a massive balcony and we loved the place.