13 May – Krk

13 May – Krk

We made the ferry this morning after waking up a few times in the early morning hours and a very early start. It was raining for hours in the night and I had visions of us pushing the bikes down to the ferry in the rain and dark. However by the time we went out it was just about cleared up, with magical dawn light that made everything look fresh and new.

The ferry was so empty I can list the passengers- one car with two elderly German women passengers, one male foot passenger, us and three mountain bikers with their bikes. For once, bicycles outnumbered cars. I can see why they only run two a day out of season. We were told that in season you struggle to get a seat.

We got talking with the mountain bikers immediately – they are a group of male friends from Slovenia out on a weekend break. They were going to another island (not Krk, but taking a second ferry) to ride their bikes for the day. We sat and had coffee together and chatted for the entire trip (about an hour and a half). They were very friendly people, who could speak good English.

Once in the Valbiska port, we decided to circle the island – first visiting the town of Krk, and then taking an anti-clockwise route around Krk, past Vrbnik and then along the small roads on the east of the island to Čižići, heading north.

Krk

Many of the town that we traveled through seem to be missing a vowel or two!

Krk is quite different to Pag and Rab, it is much lusher and greener, with thick bush. We have been told that the soil has been blown off Pag and Rag by the wind, but Krk is more sheltered. We could see that there was fertile soil here, with some vegetables growing and a number of vineyards. The road around the island was hilly (lots of up and down) and pleasant, never far from the sea.

We stopped and ate an ice cream at Cizici next to a little bay.

Today was the second time we saw other cycle tourists – and the fist time we passed by a husband and wife couple (they greeted us in German).

We joined the big 102 road out of the island as late as possible so we only rode along it for a couple of kilometers before the bridge leaving the island. It was pretty unpleasant in terms of amount of traffic – this is the only road that enters and leaves the island over a huge bridge.
Going over the bridge was amazing. We stopped at a view point half way across and did the rest of the bridge on the footpath on the side. The traffic on the bridge was fast, but the footpath was also too narrow to cycle on, with a railing not high enough to catch you if you toppled. It was a long long way down. So we pushed our bikes along with our feet – tiring!

The other side was also tricky in terms of navigating the road. The traffic was so scary we walked our bicycles for a bit before we could get on a quieter road.

We then traversed the coast on secondary roads, going past Kraljevika – there are oil refineries on the other side of the bay and the whole place smells of oil. Then along a mountainous coastal road past Bakar down below (looks very pretty). We had quite a climb up into the outskirts of Rijeka, and then made our way into the city center. This was not a pleasant drive because of the roads and traffic and we were getting tired and overheated.

Rijeka struck us as an ugly and dirty city. It was Saturday afternoon and there was quite a lot of noise in the main promenade. We hadn’t booked our accommodation, but found a hostel that had been listed on booking.com. It looked terrible from the outside (tatty hand lettered sign, dingy entrance, noisy environment), so we moved on. We began to move westward on the coastal road out of the city, heading to the next town (after stopping at a bakery for some carbs).

Jenny saw a sign for a hostel accommodation on the side of the road about half way there and we stopped to investigate. This was just on the outskirts of the city and the environs were a little quieter. However our judgment may have been clouded by how tired we were at this stage (we did a hard 79km with lots of hills and heat). I guess the foyer was the best looking part of the whole place with a nice receptionist. It turned out to be the (second/third?) worst place we have stayed on our cycling travels. A working mans hostel, filled with men smoking outside. The only working lift was full of graffiti. The lift moved grindingly and slowly up and the lift door couldn’t open on our floor (had to go to level 6 and walk up a level past some potbellied men without shirts smoking in the stairwells. Everything was very worn and tatty and who knows how clean. The wifi connection kept dropping off. Two single beds in a row. It wasn’t even that cheap – only $5 less than the clean and spacious apartment we had the night before!

At least there was a Lidl supermarket nearby so we could get some good food and wine. After consuming these we dropped off very early. Kris woke up in the night to find he was sleeping on a slope (head down) – his bed was collapsing! He climbed in with me and we had a very snug sleep for the rest of the night.

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