The woman sitting opposite me should not have been allowed to wear open-toed shoes. The big toe on her right foot snarled at me, its edges all jagged like sharp teeth.

We had been moving slowly since leaving Zagreb and finally, at 1515 hours, the train shuddered to a halt.

“Keine zug,” the snarly-toed woman said. No train.

All of the passengers began to grab their bags and get off.

“Autobus,” the woman said, and motioned for me to follow everyone else. We were piled onto a bus, bound to where I didn’t know. People pushed and shoved to find a spot. I stood in the stairwell until we arrived in Bedekovčina and were thrown off alongside another train. With no platform and laden with backpack, it proved a challenge to heave myself up the steps. A man wearing paint splattered overalls came to my aid, grabbed my hand and pulled me on board. He then tried to pull me into his carriage with his other laborer friends who were laughing and jeering.

“Hvala, thank you,” I said and escaped in the opposite direction.

According the train timetable, I was now 30 minutes late so had definitely missed my connection. I sat back and watched the greens and beiges of agricultural land pass by. Would I make it to Ormoz tonight? I’d find out what to do when I reached Čakovec.

Keine zug, keine autobus, keine taxi, keine centro, keine internet.

The men at the station in Čakovec were of little help and directed me to the hotel across the street. 35 Euros. Ouch.

I began to walk in what looked like the right direction, towards civilization.  As I passed through a large park, I came across a couple with a baby. They pointed in the direction of a motel. 40 Euros per night. I crossed the street and tried another. 45 Euros per night. And then another. 40 Euros per night. It was crazy.

I stopped for a glass of wine in a bar and looked at the map. I was only 25 km from where I needed to be. Philippe, the bartender, called the bus station for me.

“Nothing today or tomorrow,” he said. I would have to wait until the next train tomorrow evening. A taxi would be just as much, if not more, as an hotel. I walked around some more, hoping my previous good fortune at finding accommodation would return, a stranger who would rescue me, who would have knowledge of a room, but nothing.

“It is a business place,” Philippe had said. It was also the weekend and very quiet.

I bit the bullet and checked into Pansion kod Jape, which was 39 Euros per night. Expensive but I needed somewhere to stay. I was stuck in a sleepy business town with little going on.

Not even English television, except CNN. I listened to the same stories repeat over and over and over: space shuttle launch scrapped due to possible weather complications; Osama Bin Laden endorses the new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq Abu Hamza al-Muhajir; England out of the World Cup.

With no internet access available (what kind of business place is this?) I sent a text message to my father. He called within minutes of me hitting the send button.

“Is there someone you can get a ride with, perhaps on a farmer’s tractor?” he said. I smiled. Good old dad, I see where I get my sense of adventure from. We chatted for a while, catching up on things. It was good to hear his voice.

“I’m so proud of you and what you’re doing,” he said. “Just make sure you get what you’re paying for. Have several baths, use all of the soaps and shampoos, and take enough food at breakfast tomorrow to last you all day.”

According to the City Walks City Map I picked up from the tourist information office in Ban J. Jelac(ic’ Square, my self-guided tours of Zagreb (there are two in the pamphlet) would take me approximately two and a half hours. I set off from the hotel around 1030 hours.

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Macedonia has its ice-cream parlors on every corner, Istanbul has its rugs, all of the Balkans is overflowing with cafes and bars, and Croatia—Našice, at least—is full of bakery shops, even one bearing my name.

The zoo is actually one man who’s turned his home into a place for dozens of creatures, the majority of which should not be kept in cages. It broke my heart to see animals such as tigers, pumas, leopards and grizzly bears living in areas not even big enough for them to even scratch their asses in comfort. They all looked so bloody depressed from not doing anything, lying around in unbearable heat.

And the smell! Think side-street of New York City that numerous people have defecated in and then multiply by ten, maybe even 100. The water in the animal troughs was dirty and had flies and mosquitoes hovering on the surface.

We didn’t stay long. I didn’t want to be there but thought that since Bruno had gone out of his way to take me, it may be impolite not to take a look.

Definitely not one of the highlights of my travels.

Yesterday, after sitting on the balcony and joining Marina for coffee, I visited with Brother Ivan, one of the seven monks residing in the town’s Franciscan monastery (18th Century). He let me take a look inside St. Anthony’s church, even though it’s currently closed for renovations (their installing under-floor heating) until September. Mass is temporarily being held in a building out back, next to the vegetable garden full of cabbages, lettuces, leeks, onions, beetroot, potatoes and herbs.

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For Day Two I was in Osijek, the capital of the Slavonia region, which is 50 km from Našice, on the banks of the River Drava.

I walked around and took photographs, strolled through the old town and Trinity Square, passed the Citadel, the Tvr?a, and through the King Tomislav English gardens. One of the things I’d been interested in seeing was the Plague Statue which was erected in 1730, but it had unfortunately been covered for renovations or cleaning, as had other buildings in and around the square.

After lunch at The Old Stone Pub and before catching the bus back to Našice, I walked along the river and watched young boys climb up and jump from the top-most point of the cable suspension bridge.

A good reason to give up smoking: to climb first to the top of a hill to see a castle and then down to the bottom of a creek to see a waterfall with an exercise nut who doesn’t speak English.

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Našice is located in the Slovania region of Croatia. The capital of the region is Osijek. 

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Managed to catch up on some sleep on the overnight boat and then caught a bus to Zagreb where I have had a quick stroll and am now going to dash and catch the train the Nasice. Thanks to Nikola in Korcula, I have found some place to stay. The guy is meeting me at the station. Fingers crossed it will be ok.

My original reason for coming to Korcula was because I’d read  a travel article, in something like “Travel and Leisure” or National Geographic Traveller Magazine. It looked so picture-perfect. And it is. But up until I met and hung out with a couple of the local residents, I was disheartened and fed up. The hostel was a let down and all I wanted to do was get off the island.

Last night, Nikola Perucic took me to an amazing restaurant out of the town. Hidden away off the main road, approximately three kilometers from the old town, “Belin” is a family run restaurant (father, mother, two sons) with excellent food. and much less expensive than in the old town. It was great to get away from the hullabaloo and the hostel.

       

Have also found some excellent accommodation for future visits. A huge leap up in quality but not so much in price, Nikola (tel: 99 385 (0)91 572 2595/(0)20 711 458) has several apartments available (sleep 2-8 people) which are located minutes walk away from the center. From the balcony there are views to the old town. Apartments have full kitchens, dining/living area, sat TV, washing machine and outdoor grill area.

  

I will shortly add a separate page for the properties and will also include Nikola’s contact information, for anyone who is interested. Please just mention my name if you make a reservation.