If nature was a living human being, he/she would be so proud for being the most fierce and magnificent and yet at the same time rugged and ravishing. Nature defines versatility, frightening an harsh as a roaring sea but also breathtaking with snow capped mountains and turquoise waters.
Croatia is one place where you see nature in its most gorgeous form, whether it's the coast and the beaches or mountains covered in forests and majestic waterfalls. Our road trip to Croatia began with a visit to picture perfect Plitvic lakes and waterfalls. having hiked in the tropical Indian western ghats, Waterfalls are nothing new for me. It's always thrilling to see a river change it's nature all of a sudden when it meets an edge and the water gushes through layers of rocks and valleys. Plitvic is different for so many reasons, it's not just lake or forest or waterfall but a divine combination of all these in a complex and heavenly setup spread across endless greenery.
Plitvice lakes is the largest national park in Croatia and ensemble of 16 lakes. It has many small or big water falls. There are 2 parts of it “lower lakes” and “upper lakes”. Upper lakes are denser, more natural, beautiful and less explored. There are 2 entrance to the lakes and 8 different hiking trails that lasts from two and a half hour to about 8 hours.
Here you can find more details - https://www.plitvice-lakes.info/walking/
After spending a day in Zagreb, we had some off-route places to tick off our checklist and Plitvice lakes was first among them. Zagreb to Plitvice is about 130 kms which is about 2 hours drive. We couldn’t leave very early to Plitvice because car rental shop doesn’t open before 8. Since Croatia is so full of nature, places are remote, road trips are the best way to see and feel this beautiful country. Zagreb to Plitvice lakes drive was so beautiful and serene. It was 10 by the time, we reached Plitvice lakes. Well, we couldn’t remain happy for long after seeing the crowd at Plitvice lakes because of Easter holidays. It was crazy atmosphere packed with cars and tourist buses, finding a car parking was a challenge. We regretted our decision of visiting lakes on this day.
It was a long queue on the ticket counter and we got a slot for 1 o’clock Since, we had almost 2 hours to kill, we headed to our car parking to have our lunch that we were carrying.
We entered from Entrance 1 and decided to follow trail C. Great water fall(Veliki Slap) welcomed us. It was a beautiful sight, water fall standing at 80 meters high situated at the very end of lower lakes. We headed towards the foot of great waterfall for some nice pictures. It was mostly downhill and plain wooden boardwalk from there. Board walks are very narrow and can be clogged when there are lots of people walking. Please be very careful while walking.
Apart from boardwalks, one thing you would regret missing is view of lakes from view points. So, when you are at great waterfall, before waterfall, take left and climb the staircase to reach view points. Its steep stair case but views are worth it. There are several view points but make sure to come down and join trail C after having covered all the view points otherwise you will miss lower lakes. View is amazing from the height and you will be frozen in time won’t move an inch without having them enough.
Views are so tempting and yet different from each view point, without realizing, we were at the last view point and now it was too late to go back, so we continued forward direction only and reached ferry station to reach upper lakes. So now, we skipped lower lakes but we decided , if time permits, we can cover in the evening. It took us 40 mins to get on to boat because of crowd. It was 10 mins ride to starting point of upper lakes. After getting down, we followed trail C.
There are 12 lakes in upper lakes, it was a sun lit blue sky day which made lakes look even more beautiful and perfect day for clicking pictures. Upper lakes are more wild, natural with lot more greenery and lots of water. We followed Trail C throughout, there were lots of big , small water falls though out and numerous viewpoints. Try to absorb as much as you can.
After almost walking for 2 hours we were at bus station which which is near to Entrance 2 and would drop us at Entrance 1. Bus is a weird combination of train and bus with different coaches in it, so Don’t get confused you are at the right spot.
Car parking is around on 10 mins walk from bus dropping point. As I said, we skipped lower lakes in the morning, so we went for a quick round in the evening. We Went up to a point and covered around 1-1.5 kms and took u-turn. It was getting dark however good thing was that there were less number of people, I wish I could also complete lower lakes but anyway I got feel of it. You never know, time may come, when I find myself at Plitvice lakes again.
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