10/8 Day 10: Drove to Dreznik old town to see fortress and to find out that Korana river has dried out there. Visited Barac caves.
Cost
(1) Entrance fees Barac caves EUR14,40 (10% discount as we had Plitvice tickets)
Food
(1) Coffee stop at a random sport bar after the cave visit - EUR1,67 (cheapest I have ever had and I cannot find the name of the sports bar now.. sad. It serves only drinks and no food)
(2) Lunch at Degenija restaurant EUR20,50 - Pasta with chicken and mushroom sauce EUR16,50, Hidra 500ml EUR4
(3) Grocery from Tommy market - Hidra 500ml EUR1,09 (always cheaper in a grocery store. I have been paying 3 or 4x the price in restaurants)
(4) Dinner at Antonia Bistro EUR16 - Greek salad EUR12, radler 500ml EUR4
The Story
10082025: Today, we have no plans. Actually, I delegated the actvities to do in Plitvice to my travel companions as it is nature-filled area. So, I thought that we will be able to hike and they will find some hiking routes around the national park, similar to what we did in Tatra mountains in Zakopane. But I was very wrong to make that assumption and not research about the national park before delegating my planning to my travel companions. Although I did blame them (mentally) for not checking the information about the park and not even finding out the price of the ticket until I purchased it and gave me a shock, I take responsibility for delegating it to them. Lesson learnt is that I will delegate only once I have done my research. Hence, the 'no-plans' day today.
Breakfast is the same as yesterday. Our own breakfast compilation from the grocery store.
Impromptu activity - we found a place on the map that looks like a tourist attraction. Dreznik old town and it looks like there is a place to take a dip in Korana river here.
Drežnik Old Town is a defensive fortress from the 12th century that protected this part of Europe from the invasion of the Turks for 400 years. Due to its strategically important position, Drežnik often changed masters over the centuries, which left a mark on its walls. At the end of 2011, the large tower was restored, and since then the project of repairing the walls and roof of the large inner tower, as well as the remains of the defensive walls, has been underway. Source from Plitvice Valleys.
So, there is no actual town. We walked up the short flight of stairs to see what lays behind the tower. I am unsure if the project to repair has completed or was it suspended. It does not look complete from the top of the stairs.
There is a short path by the fortress that leads to Korana river. A sign says that. When we reached the bottom, the river was dried up. We were shocked to see it. I did not realise that a river can dry up. I thought Korana river's source was from Plitvice Lakes.
We gave up on finding a spot to dip in Dreznik and found a cave nearby. That is different for a change. Also, it is 9 degrees inside so it is very welcoming and an obvious choice when it is 37 degrees outside. We got a 10% discount on our entrance fees as we had tickets from Plitvice. The staff was shocked that we had a 2-day ticket as a 1-day is enough. I thought I would have received a 20% discount as we bought a 2-day ticket.
The toilet is very clean. But the internet network is very bad here. We even got a message welcoming us to Bosnia. Big mistake when one of us had our roaming switched on and got billed a significant amount for 3 minutes roaming, as Bosnia is not part of EU.
There are many bats sign and also on our entrance ticket but I did not see bats in the caves.
A tour started at 11.30am and we joined the group. We have a guide with us too. Barac caves has a lower and upper cave.
We were not allowed to enter Lower Barac Caves as the researchers found beetles endemic to the place. The beetles are blind and use their antenna to navigate themselves.
We are provided hair nets so that our hair don't get dirty by the helmets or maybe it is the other way round.
As I was afraid of the cold 9 degrees, one travel companion gave me a towel to use. It was not cold in the cave. In fact, we enjoyed being inside. The whole tour took us about 50 minutes because we asked questions. Without the question, it would have been 35 minutes.
The archaelogists found broken bowl pieces and knifes that were used during the Neanderthal times. The knife is the Museum Speleon which is nearby but we did not go. The bone is from an extinct animal - the hairy rhinoceros.
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A skeleton of a bear was found and rearranged to the structure we see today. The bear fell down the hole. It was too dark. We experienced the darkness too when the guide switched off the lights. It was pitch black. I could not even see my fingers.
At the end of the walk, the guide showed us that there is a hole down below that leads further in but still unexplored.
Back at the entrance, we took another route out and read some brief descriptions on the animals that existed during the ice age.
After the cave visit, we stopped at a random sports bar hoping that there is food but no, there were only drinks. So, we had coffee. It was so cheap. The owner just took EUR5 from us. There were no other customers. We continued our drive towards the direction of our accommodation. We looked for a restaurant that is opened for lunch as it was past 1pm. For lunch, I had pasta this time as I was tired of grilled meat and potatoes. There were many diners in the restaurant even though it was 2.20pm so I suppose the choice is approved. Probably people just want to seek refuge from the heat.
For dinner, we walked over to Antonio Bistro and I had greek salad. I wanted a break from meat. Plus, greek salad is cooling to the body.
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