Summary of My 17D Balkans Travelogue (2018) Covering Istanbul, Bosnia & Herzegovina & Croatia

And here comes the end of another travelogue of mine - like, finally! This year I managed to complete at least 5 travelogues before year-end; Solo Trip To Europe (2017), 9D8N Australia Melbourne & Sydney (2017), 6D5N Central Vietnam (2018), 6D5N Kyushu Japan (2018) and now this one - 17D of my Balkans trip covering Turkey, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia. Feeling accomplished cause my motivation for blogging is finally back on track! I almost lost my interest and passion not just in blogging, but in travelling too dating back 2 years ago.

SUMMARY OF MY 17D BALKANS TRIP COVERING ISTANBUL, BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA AND CROATIA

Here is the compilation of my Balkans travelogue at a glance (obviously I'm lazy to summarise everything 😜):

• 2018 Istanbul, Bosmia & Herzegovina and Croatia (Sneak Peek)
• 48 Hours in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Sarajevo to Mostar By Train and Stari Most
• A Day Trip To Blagaj Tekija, Pocitelj, Kravice Falls & War Tour
• Can't Help Falling In Love With Dubrovnik
• Old City Walls of Dubrovnik
• From Dubrovnik to Split
• A Day Trip To Sibenik From Split
• A Short Layover To Zadar
• The Breathtaking View of Plitvice Lakes National Park
• Zagreb, My Last Leg of Croatia
• Istanbul, Turkey - My Starting and Ending Point of My Balkans Trip

(Just click each of them and it will link you to the individual blogpost)

For this post also, I would like to share not comprehensive one but a brief and basic travel guide based my own first hand experience to Turkey (Istanbul), Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia.

VISA

For Malaysian, visa is NOT required to enter into these three countries. Therefore don't have to worry about applying any visa at all. That's show how powerful our Malaysian passport are, right? However if you are intended to stay more than 90 days for each respective country, then you have to go and apply for the visa. I don't have experience for this cause normally, I only stay one or two weeks for each country. 

CURRENCY EXCHANGE

Before embarking for this trip, I exchanged Euros and some Turkish lira (I changed in KL Nu Sentral). You can bring along US dollar, British Pound or even Singapore Dollar cause these currencies are also widely accepted in most of the European countries.

• Turkey's national currency is Turkish lira. It can be found in Malaysia. But in case you don't have the time to change, no worries cause you can exchange in Istanbul. TRY100 = RM102
• Convertible mark (KM/BAM) is the only legal tender in Bosnia & Herzegovina. I exchanged in Sarajevo International Airport - the first Bosnia's airport I landed. €1.00 = 1.95KM on average*. But because there is 1% commission being charged, hence I got €1.00 = 1.93KM
• The official currency for Croatia is Croatian kuna. €1.00 = HRK7.13 on average*

*The rate I exchanged in May 2018

Top: Bosnia & Herzegovina's convertible mark

Bottom: Croatian kuna 

PURCHASING TRANSPORTATION TICKET

The most frequently asked travel questions - where to buy all these transportation tickets and when? Being "kiasu" in me, I always prefer to buy all my buses and trains ticket prior to my trip in order to secure the seats, especially when the bus and train schedules are quite limited. Except for my train ticket from Sarajevo to Mostar and a-return day trip between Split and Sibenik, I booked all my bus tickets from GetByBus (click here). It's a legit and reliable website, so don't have to worry cause it's really pretty save and secure buying bus tickets from this website. 

The only downside of this website is that you have to print out your tickets. They don't accept mobile ticket. And another thing you have to take note is that for all intercity buses, there is an extra fee of €1-2 charge for luggage fee. Remember to keep some small change.

SIM CARD

Because I was travelling alone, hence it's freaking costly to rent a pocket WiFi by my own. Besides that, for your information Bosnia & Herzegovina is actually doesn't consider to be part of European coverage even for both pocket WiFi and travel sim card. What I did is I bought my travel sim card from Hello1010 (click here) and purchased another one for Bosnia & Herzegovina in Sarajevo Airport. 

There you go! Hopefully I don't miss out any important travel tips and info relating my trip to these Balkans countries. In case you have any queries or doubt, feel free to leave a comment or email me. 

TOTAL SPENDING

As usual, I simplify everything for easy reference - which include means of transportation, hostels, entrance fees, food but excluding my shopping spending throughout my trip around 17 days. 

PARTICULARS	AMOUNT
	€/KM/CZK	RM
Air Fares Singapore Airlines (Return fare Kota Kinabalu to Istanbul) Pegasus Airlines (One-way Istanbul to Sarajevo) Turkish Airways (One-way Zagreb to Istanbul) Cities Sarajevo – 2 days Mostar – 2 days Dubrovnik – 2days Split – 2 days A Day Trip to Split Zadar – 1 day Plitvice Lakes National Park – 1 day Zagreb – 2 days Istanbul – 2 days Ground Tour Herzegovina Tour Others 4GB Travel Prepaid Sim Card - Bought from Hello1010	- - - - - - - - - - - - 60KM -	2,190 293 955 301 188 782 419 149 289 300 363 250 150 103
	TOTAL:	6,732

Exchange rate  €1.00 = RM4.84 as at May 2018

Curious about my souvenir travel haul? There are two items I die-die must buy whenever I visit different country or city which are the fridge magnet and postcard. Besides these two, another one would be the stamps. Sometimes I would spend up to RM100 by just buying these three things. As for this trip, my total spending for souvenir and shopping is RM1,026 including numerous of fridge magnets, postcards, stamps, a T-shirt, a skirt and a dress when I was in Croatia. 

A hardcore collector for fridge magnets.

Souvenirs from Croatia including tea towels, liquid soap dispense and a T-shirt for my nephew.

Pouch and fridge magnets from Istanbul.

Turkish ceramic bowls in various sizes.

AIRLINES EXPERIENCE & THEIR IN-FLIGHT MEALS
For this trip, I flew and experienced 4 different type of airlines:

1) Silk Air for my journey between Kota Kinabalu to Singapore. I even blogged about this airline before (click here).

In-flight meal for Silk Air. I like their fresh fruits but not their main meal. Feel like eating thick flour instead of fish meats.

2) Singapore Airlines for the trip from Singapore to Istanbul as well as for the return. Finally I got to fly with the World's Best Airline. However, I'm quite disappointed with the fleet for the flight to Istanbul cause it's one old aircraft being used. The in-flight entertainment wasn't fascinating and not many options were given. Even for the in-flight meals, I found out it's just so-so and nothing to shout. 

For the route Singapore to Istanbul, their meals are quite acceptable. 

But for the route from Istanbul to Singapore, the meals look kinda sad and unappetising. Luckily there's an ice-cream to cheer me up

3) Pegasus Airlines for one-way journey from Istanbul to Sarajevo. Pegasus Airlines is a Turkish low-cost airlines with no-frills, similar to AirAsia where the fare doesn't include free baggage allowance, in-flight meal and entertainment. 

4) Turkish Airlines for a trip from Zagreb to Istanbul. Turkish Airlines is a national carrier airline of Turkey and it's full-fledged airlines. This is one of the most expensive fares I ever bought in my life just for a single trip. 

Never thought this is going to be a lengthy post but I'm glad that finally this is the end. Now I'm going to have a cup of nice hot coffee and at same time, thinking which travelogue should I blog next.

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Balkans (2018): Old City Walls of Dubrovnik

When my friend and I were in Dubrovnik for two days, we went nowhere except casually strolling in and out of the Old City only. Two days might seem long but it's actually sufficient to cover major attractions including walking around the old city walls of Dubrovnik - that's what we did on the second day. 

#1

A walk along this prominent ancient medieval walls that encircles the Old Town is one truly unique and amazing experience. A visit to Dubrovnik is incomplete without a walk around this mighty city wall and it's absolutely must-do-thing when one visiting this "Pearl of the Adriatic" city. With the entrance fee of HRK150 (approx. to RM104), it's really worth to pay a visit as we're rewarded with awe-inspiring views over the deep blue Adriatic sea and inwards over the orange rooftops of the Old Town buildings from the top. 

#2

There are three entrances leads to the old city walls of Dubrovnik; from near the Pile Gate, the Ploce Gate and the Maritime Museum. The Pile Gate entrance which closer to Onofrio's Fountain tends to be the most famous choice among the visitors and therefore the busiest one. From here, we climbed up towards Fort Bokar, the key point in the defense of the Pile Gate. 

#3

From Fort Bokar, we sighted another magnificent fortress across us and it's known as Fort Lovrijenac or St. Lawrence Fortress. One interesting thing about this fort is that it has a triangular layoout with three terraces. The entrance fee we paid earlier not just a visit to the old city walls but it also included a visit to this fort too - thanks to my friend who notice about this, or else it's really a waste.  

#4: Fort Lovrijenac or St. Lawrence Fortress


#6


#7


#8


#9


#10: Somehow we feel like we're in Santorini, Greece


#11


#12


#13


#14


#15

The walls run uninterrupted for about 2km long surrounding the city and we took about 3 to 4 hours to walk all the way around them. It's best to start your visit as early as possible - not just to beat the crowd but to avoid the scorching hot sun up in the afternoon. And in case you are feeling tired and thirsty, don't worry cause there are few cafes available for you to have a sit and order a cup of drink to cool down yourself. You can even grab an ice-cream too! 

#16


#17: Everyday ice-cream+ing in Croatia


#18: This looks alike The Hobbit Village

Old City Walls of Dubrovnik
Admission Fee: HRK150
Opening Hours: 8:00am to 7:30pm daily

TOTAL SPENDING ON SECOND DAY IN DUBROVNIK
My total damages on the second day in this expensive city:

PARTICULARS	AMOUNT
	€/KN	RM
Accommodation Hostel Angelina Old Town – 1 night Food & Drinks Second Day in Dubrovnik Admission Fee Old City Walls Others Magnet	€30 221 kn 150 kn 21 kn	145 153 104 15
TOTAL (RM)		417

Exchange Rate: €1.00 (RM4.84) = 7.13 kuna on average 

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Balkans (2018): Can't Help Falling In Love With Dubrovnik, Croatia

After spending 4 days in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2 days in Sarajevo and 2 days in Mostar), from there I move on to another new destination, Croatia - the 44th country I visited to date. Just like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia is a country positioned in the Western Balkans. It is to the east side of Adriatic Sea with bordered by Bosnia and Herzegovina to the southeast. I picked Dubrovnik to be the first city I'm going to step my foot on Croatian soils.

GOODBYE MOSTAR, HELLO DUBROVNIK

There are no trains travel between Mostar and Dubrovnik due to some diplomatic dispute, as what I heard from the local but don't worry as one can still travel by bus. Almost all my bus tickets travel from one city to another city around Croatia bought directly from Get By Bus website. I chosen the earliest bus departed from Mostar so that I can arrive Dubrovnik at least before the lunch hour in order to meet my travel buddy. To be more precise, I wasn't travel alone throughout my Croatia trip then. 

Do take note that in Mostar, there are two different bus stations; Bus Station East and Bus Station West. If you are staying within the Old Town, then pick Mostar Bus Station East as the latter one is 20 minutes walk away. Another thing you need to take note is that on all intercity buses, you need to pay extra fee of €1-2 to the driver if you intend to place your luggage underneath. So keep some change ready.

#1: Always be prepared your passport by your side as there would be border checkpoints. 

Since travelling across the border, always be prepared your passport by your side cause the bus will stop at border check points, and the police officers would board the bus and request for a valid identity documents. There would also at some point where all the passengers are required to get off the bus, carrying their own luggage and queue up for custom inspection. Therefore, do expect for longer bus ride from what as per scheduled earlier due to these document validation and custom inspections.

#2: Despite all the hassle of crossing the border, I was rewarded with exquisite Croatian coast. Reserve the seat on the right-hand side for this spectacular view.

ARRIVED DUBROVNIK BUS STATION

After 5 hours and 30 minutes bus ride (which was an hour and 30 minutes behind the schedule), I glad finally I could took off my butt from the seat. The first thing I did once I arrived Dubrovnik Main Bus Station (Autobusni Kolodvor) was to exchange some Croatian kuna. Of course, this is not an ideal place to get the best rate but I need some local money to grab the local bus to the old town cause it is quite distance away - about 20 minutes ride. The bus stop heading to the Old Town (Pile) is located just in front of the main bus station and from there, one can take buses #1A, 1B or 1C and a single journey cost 15 kn if purchase directly from the driver (10 kn if purchase from the kiosk, but I can't find the kiosk nearby). 

#3

A WALK THROUGH THE OLD TOWN OF DUBROVNIK
I wasn't aware that the local bus stopped right outside the main gate, Pile Gate until I spotted all the passengers inside the bus got off from the bus. Immediately I did the same thing when one of the beautiful and friendly passengers told me this is the final and last stop. Initially I thought that one need to pay entrance fee in order to get into the Old Town but I was totally wrong. It's absolutely free and you can enter and exit anytime as you like.

#4: The main gate of Dubrovnik, Pile Gate 

The first thing that caught my attention right after I entered through Pile Gate is Stradun, the main shopping street and gathering spot in the city of Dubrovnik in Croatia. Along the street, you will find countless of souvenir stores, galleries, restaurants, cafe, money changers and etc on your left and right side. Besides that, you will be entertained by the performances of numerous street entertainers while making your way through the crowd. It's like Stradun is one street that never sleep at all.


#5: Stradun, the central street of Dubrovnik old town


#6: Onofrio's Fountain, one of the ancient fountains of this city where you can directly drink the fresh water from.

We continued to discover more of this historical city right after done with quick check-in into the hostel we booked prior our arrival and also feasted our hungry tummy with burger for lunch break. Both of my friend and I wandered aimlessly and getting ourselves lost walking up and down through the pathway, lanes and small alleys in the maze of narrow city streets. Each and every corner of Dubrovnik is an unrivaled beauty waiting to be admired.


#7: Getting lost by discovering the small passage


#8


#9: Old Port - This is where visitors waiting to board on the boats depart to nearby island such as Lokrum, Cavtat, Mlini and more.


#10: Romantic baroque staircase modeled on the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy leads to Church of St. Ignatius

Do you know that Dubrovnik is also known as King's Landing? This is because the HBO mega-hit drama series Game of Thrones (GOT) is almost completely filmed in this awe-inspiring UNESCO World Heritage site. No surprise to spot quite number of shops around Dubrovnik selling assorted GOT merchandise. There are even GOT guided walking tours available to those die-hard fans. Unfortunately both of my friend and I never interested with any of these cause we never watch any single episode at all.


#11: Anyone fan of Game of Thrones here?


#12: Besides Game of Thrones, only to find out that even Star Wars: The Last Jedi was filmed here as well.


#13: We went for sunset tour organised by the hostel

On its other end, Stradun finishes in an attractive square surrounded by few of its most prominent historical sights of Dubrovnik such as the City Cathedral, the Church of St. Blaise, the Sponza Palace, the Rector's Palace, the bell towers and the Orlando's Column. All these enchanting monuments are the finest and most harmonious examples of the late medieval and early renaissance architecture. Dubrovnik Old Town doesn't lose its vividness after dark. Numerous musical and theater performances on the city square and variety of happenings in the countless city venues preserve the dynamic of the city life long after sunset.


#14: Bell Tower on the left side, Rector's Palace in the middle and the Church of St. Blaise on the right side after the sunset.


#15: Stradun doesn't lose its vividness even after dark


#16: Food we had on the first day in Dubrovnik. Eating in Dubrovnik is quite pricey


#17: Magnets are my biggest weakness when comes to shop for souvenirs

HOSTEL WITHIN OLD TOWN
One thing I can't deny is that living expenses in Dubrovnik is relatively higher than the rest of the cities of Croatia I visited, especially in terms of accommodations, food and even transportations. While doing research looking for hostel within the old town, I came across few but because of the negative comments, hence we ended up staying with Hostel Angelina Old Town instead. Although it cost €30 per night which is way more from our tentative budget but it's definitely worth the pay particularly for its convenient location, fairly clean for both dorm and bathroom.


#18: Each bed is equipped with socket and lamp. And private locker is given to each guest.


#19

Hostel Angelina Old Town

Date Stayed: 18 May to 20 May 2018 (2 nights)

Room Rate: €30 per night for a bunk bed in 12-bed mixed dormitory room without breakfast (Booked via Booking.com)

TOTAL SPENDING ON FIRST DAY IN DUBROVNIK
For this post, I would only share how much I spent on my first day in Dubrovnik. As for the second day, I will share on the following post.

PARTICULARS	AMOUNT
	€/KN	RM
Transportation Mostar to Dubrovnik via bus City bus to Pile Gate Accommodation Hostel Angelina Old Town – 1 night Food & Drinks First Day in Dubrovnik Others Postcards	- 15 kn €30 211 kn 9 kn	79 10 145 146 6
TOTAL (RM)		386

Exchange Rate: €1.00 (RM4.84) = 7.13 kuna on average 

Previous Post on My 2018 Balkans Trip

• 48 Hours in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Sarajevo to Mostar By Train and Stari Most
• A Day Trip To Blagaj Tekija, Pocitelj, Kravice Falls & War Tour

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