Balkans (2018): Zagreb, My Last Leg Of Croatia

Zagreb is our final and last leg of our trip in Croatia, before I went back to Istanbul and my friend Jeff continue with his journey to Slovenia. Besides being the capital city of the nation, Zagreb is also the largest city which has almost thousand year-old history of its old town. From Plitvices Lakes National Park, it takes approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes by bus to Zagreb.

ARRIVED ZAGREB BUS STATION (AUTOBUSNI KOLODVOR)

Zagreb Bus Station is situated to the south-east of the old town and it takes nearly 30 minutes to walk to the old town. Guess what, we indeed walked from here to our hostel carrying our backpacks. Luckily for me, I used to walk a lot during travelling. But in case if you are unfit to walk so far, don't worry cause you can take tram just outside the bus station. Take tram #6 towards Crnomerec and get off at Trg J. Jelacica - this is Zagreb's main square (5 stops, cost 4 kuna). Don't forget to validate your ticket in the little yellow machine once enter the tram. 

THE HOSTEL WE STAYED IN ZAGREB

Chillout Hostel is the hostel we stayed for two good nights here. This colourful mixed hostel is located just within the old town making it is very convenient to walk to those tourist attractions. The hostel even features an unpretentious restaurant and bar. However, there are few things which we dislike about this hostel; the dormitory room is quite small and it's hard for us to move around. The air-conditioner within the room was not working well during our stay.

Chillout Hostel Zagreb
Date Stayed: 24 May to 26 May 2018 (2 nights)
Room Rate: 169 kuna for a single bed in 4-bed mixed dormitory room (Booked via Booking.com)

PLACES OF INTEREST IN ZAGREB
Zagreb City is divided into two distinctive parts; the thousand-year old Gornji grad (Upper Town) which consists the Presidential Palace, the iconic St Mark's Church, the Croatian Parliament and museums and galleries which are all set in cobbled streets lit by gas lamps and the other is 19th century Donki grad (Lower Town) with countless of shops, restaurants, cafes, theatres and parks.

So many places of interest. Which should I go? Left or right?

1) Ban Jelacic Square - A charming medieval central square of the city with architecture and cobbled streets resembles of Budapest, Vienna, Prague and other Central European capitals. This Austro-Hungarian styled square is the most popular meeting points and a place where Croats gather for huge events especially major football matches or concerts. 

2) Dolac Market - It is the main open-air farmer's market in Zagreb. This is where the local buy fresh products such as vegetables and fruits for the past 80 years under the notable red umbrellas. If you are looking for typical tourist souvenirs like fridge magnets, keychains, T-shirts and more, you can consider to visit here. Open everyday as early as 7 am till 2pm.

3) Zagreb Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - That's one pretty long name there. It is the most significant landmark of Zagreb. As a matter of fact, this cathedral is not just the tallest building in Croatia but it is also the most monumental sacral building in Neo-Gothic style southeast of the Alps. 

4) St. Mark's Church - It is the parish church of old Zagreb and it is easily recognised for its uniquely colourful tiled roof which attract both local and foreign tourists to visit it. St. Mark's Church is one of the most well-known iconic of Zagreb and it's highly recommend to visit when one visit Zagreb. We didn't manage to enter into the church but by just looking out the exterior, we're totally absolute intrigued by it.  

5) Museum of Broken Relationships - First of all, we never intended to visit this museum initially but because it was raining heavily in St. Mark Square where the St. Mark's Church located, we ran into this museum thereafter. Secondly, we thought this museum is relating to history of two countriess decided to break up their nations' friendship but both of us were totally wrong. Museum of Broken Relationships is actually a museum dedicated to failed love relationships and this is where they displayed their personal items from former lovers along with brief synopses. Frankly speaking, I'm not a history buff but I found this museum is quite interesting and fascinating - one of a kind and unique museum, I should say. 

Entrance Fee: 40 kuna (approx. to RM27)

6) Mirogoj Cemetery - Alright, probably many of you would not ever consider to visit cemetery but this cemetery is not like what you think. Mirogo Cemetery is claimed to be one of the most beautiful cemeteries in Europe and it is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. Besides being a burial place, it also consists an open art gallery and a beautiful green park. So if you are looking for Instagram-worthy spot, do consider here. Trust me! Your followers won't believe this is a cemetery place. By the way, this rarely visit spot is located out from the old town. So we took bus #106 from Zagreb Cathedral to here. 

Other Sights We Bumped Into:

Apart from the above, we stumbled upon few buildings with fascinating and impressive architecture that caught my attention. Guess I am an archilover. 

Zagreb Art Pavilion


Croatian National Theatre

Zagreb Train Station (Glavni Kolodvor) - This is a railway hub which has direct services to major European cities like Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, Ljubljana and Sarajevo.

A random building which I don't know what it is but I love this pic anyway. #nofilter


A few shots for the sake of the Instagram

My newly bought dress from Croatia's H&M and my 10 years old sling bag from France's H&M

Never leave a city without sending at least a postcard #thetravellingnails

THE FOOD WE ATE IN ZAGREB


Kicked off our second day with a cup of hot coffee and pastries at Pan-Pek


Lunch at Bombay Grill. We're kinda craving for something spicy and Asian food, so we settled our lunch here. It's so delicious that we finished almost everything served on the table.

Before leaving Croatia, don't forget to try Croatian Vanilla Custard Cake - Kremsnita.
In Zagreb, try the one in Vincek which is not far away from Ban Jelacic Square.

HOW TO GET TO ZAGREB INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 

After staying for two days and two nights here, it's time to bid goodbye to Zagreb which marks my last city in Croatia. As my flight back to Istanbul is scheduled to depart at 9am, I have to leave the city at least by 5 am. From Chillout Hostel, I walked to Ban Jelacic Square to take tram #6 heading to Zagreb Bus Station (Autobusni Kolodvor). And from there, I took airport shuttle operated by Croatia Airlines which opens to the public. It takes about an hour journey from the bus station to the international airport and that explain why I need to leave the city early. One way costs 30 kuna and can be purchased on the bus. 

First time flying with Turkish Airlines and this is one freaking expensive one-way ticket I ever bought.

TOTAL SPENDING FOR 2D2N IN ZAGREB

PARTICULARS	AMOUNT
	HRK/€	RM
Accommodation Chillout Hostel – 2 nights Transportation Plitvice Lakes to Zagreb by bus Bus #106 from Mirogoj Cemetery Tram #6 to Zagreb Bus Station Croatia Airlines Bus Admission Fee Museum of Broken Relationships Food & Drinks First Day Lunch – McD First Night Dinner - Groceries  Second Day Breakfast – Pan-Pek Second Day Lunch – Bombay Grill Second Night Dinner – Wrap Grill Pork Coffee & cake at Zagreb Airport Others Magnet Postcards Stamps Souvenirs & snacks	HRK169 HRK80 HRK4 HRK4 HRK30 HRK40 HRK36 HRK16 HRK25 HRK79 HRK16 HRK43 HRK50 HRK9 HRK20 HRK93	114 52 3 3 20 27 24 10 17 53 11 29 34 6 13 63
TOTAL (RM)		479

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
• 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

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Balkans (2018): The Breathtaking View of Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

"Am I in heaven now?"

That's what I asked myself when I entered Plitvice Lakes National Park. I knew this place is beautiful and amazing but I never thought it could be so extraordinary and absolutely mind-blowing. This national place is totally exceeded my expectations. 

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Foodie Friday: Hello Stranger Cafe, Kota Kinabalu

READ HERE: List of Lifestyle Cafes in Kota Kinabalu

One thing I'm looking forward for a cafe nowadays is not just a cup of good and hot coffee but also the one that serves variety of food to choose from the menu. Especially when I'm looking for my late lunch after passing the lunch hour time and need coffee so badly. Kinda addicted to coffee lately. Seems like can't survive my day without a single cup of hot coffee. 

And that's where I found Hello Strangers Cafe which turns out to be one of my favourite cafes in Kota Kinabalu recently.



Situated at the ground floor of The Riverson which is not far away from KKians favourite mall of Imago, it serves an interesting Asian fusion cuisines which inspired from Japanese, Vietnamese and Western foods.

Without waiting any longer, here are some of the food which I savour before from my countless visits to Hello Strangers cafe:

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Trip To Wuhan & Wudang Mountain From Kota Kinabalu

Pack. Unpack. Pack. Unpack. And keep repeating.

That's what I did for the past few months. It would be a lie if I said I'm not exhausted but then, this is the fun part of the travelling process.

So right after I came back from UK & Europe, I went to China a week later. It's a short trip with my boyfriend in conjunction of his birthday celebration. And we picked Wuhan as our destination.

Why Wuhan? Simple, cause there's a direct flight from Kota Kinabalu to there. The boyfriend is kinda lazy to transit in Kuala Lumpur lately, hence we chosen those route that fly directly from Kota Kinabalu.

To date, not just one but there are two non-stop flights from Kota Kinabalu to Wuhan directly; you can travel with AirAsia or Malindo. And to my surprise, Kota Kinabalu is the one and only city in Malaysia having this route currently cause the one from Kuala Lumpur has been ceased permanently.


The flight duration from Kota Kinabalu to Wuhan takes 4 hours.

Since it was just a short trip, I think it's best for me to do a full post with complete itinerary instead of another sneak peek one. Bear with me cause it's going to be a lengthy post.

FLIGHT DETAILS

Airlines	From	To	ETD	ETA
AirAsia (Daily except Tuesday)	Kota Kinabalu	Wuhan	6:40pm	10:45pm
	Wuhan	Kota Kinabalu	11:45pm	3:55am (+1)
AirAsia (Tuesday only)	Kota Kinabalu	Wuhan	4:55pm	9:05pm
	Wuhan	Kota Kinabalu	10:05pm	2:15am (+1)
Malindo Air (Wed, Fri & Sun)	Kota Kinabalu	Wuhan	6:45pm	10:50pm
	Wuhan	Kota Kinabalu	11:50pm	3:20am (+1)

We flew with AirAsia and since our flight was on Wednesday, by the time we arrived at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, it was almost close to midnight. We decided to stay somewhere nearby to the airport since we need to catch another flight on the following day. For this trip, I don't have the full details like the hotel's name, the room rate and etc cause the boyfriend planned the whole trip. Finally I took a break from becoming the trip planner/organiser.

As I'm pretty much illiterate and can't read/write in Chinese, the boyfriend booked all the hotels from Chinese website which were slightly cheaper. And our first night stay even included free transfer from/to hotel too. Oh well, the hotel was kinda so-so only but it's pretty sufficient for us to have a quick nap, shower before woke up at 5am to catch the next flight. Therefore, I'm gonna skip this part.

FROM WUHAN TO WUDANG MOUNTAIN武当山
Early morning with the free shuttle provided, we back to the airport again. The boyfriend decided to begin our trip by going to Wudang Mountain (武当山). From what he told me, there are 3 available options to travel to here; via plane, train or bus. If possible, I would prefer to travel with the high-speed rail but it would be quite costly. Hence we ended up taking flight instead.



Even it's just a short flight which takes an hour only, but I'm so excited cause going to experience new airlines which is the China Southern Airlines. Besides entitled to a baggage allowance up 23 kg per passenger, we're given snack and drinks. Although there are no in-flight meal and entertainment provided, but I already pretty satisfied with the baggage allowance cause I don't have to carry my 6kg backpack around the airport.

Upon arrival at Shiyan Wudangshan Airport which is the official airport for Wudangshan, we took a mini bus which located just outside the airport to Wudangshan National Park that cost 15 yuan per person.

2D1N IN WUDANG MOUNTAIN武当山


So what's so special about this mountain causing the boyfriend to make the trip here? Situated in the northwestern corner of the Hubei Province, this mountain range is the birthplace of Taichi martial art and being listed as part of UNESCO World Heritage Site. Not just quite number of Chinese films have been shooting, even The Karate Kid (2010 Hollywood movie) by Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith (Will Smith's son) has been taken place here.



To enter into Wudang Mountain National Park, one has to park an entrance fee of 248 yuan which I found it's one of the most overpriced parks in China. However, the ticket is valid for the entire duration of your stay and there is no time limitation. The ticket even included all the shuttle bus from the entrance to any temples within the park.

After got off from the local bus, we took the free shuttle bus straight to Nanyan with a short interchange. And after reaching Nanyan, we decided to have lunch first before tackling the mountain. You know, no eat no energy then. From what we've been through, it wasn't a difficult hike but it wasn't easy too cause it requires tons of energy to walk through all the never-ending ups and downs stone steps. Plus, both of us were carrying our backpack along the hike.



It was low season when we were there but we absolutely loved it cause it was less crowd and not many people walking around the man-made stone hiking trail. We can stop at anytime we want and continue once we had quick-and-short breaks. In between the hike, we visited quite number of Taoist temples, monasteries and palaces before checking-in into our lodge.



The boyfriend suggested to overnight in the small village of Nanyan before we proceed to conquer the Golden Submit, which is the highest peak in the region on the next morning. I don't know what's the English name of the hotel that boyfriend booked but what I know, I pretty love this hotel. At least there was a hot shower provided since it was freaking cold in the mountain area, especially during the night time.



Once again, we woke up as early as 4am to continue with our hike up to the Golden Submit. It was pitch dark and we relied on our handphone's torch all along the hike. After 3 hours of strenuous walk, glad that we made it to the top for the sake of witness the perfect and magnificent golden egg yolk, I mean golden sunrise. It was indeed true that the best view comes after the hardest climb but I told boyfriend, no more next time after this. Seriously, I feel like dying while climbing up lots of very steep uphills. By the way in order to reach the Golden Submit, one is required to pay entrance fee of 27 yuan.



Done with the Golden Submit, we continue to walk back to our hotel, immediately packed our backpacks and checking-out in order to catch the train going back to Wuhan. It was last minute decision cause the train ticket sold out initially not until the boyfriend received notification that the train ticket is open for sale again. It was one way long journey to get to Shiyan Railway Station all the way from Nanyan Town; from taking the free shuttle bus to entrance park, then continue with an hour local bus #202 to the railway station (it costs 4 yuan only per passenger, damn so cheap).



Just like what I expected, it wasn't a pleasant ride at all. It's not the train problem but the people inside the train. During the four hours train ride, the Chinese citizens keep talking on the phone with loud noise and they tend to like to argue with each other. Quite number of them purposely sat on the wrong seat and there you go with all the drama inside the train. Oh my goodness!

3D3N IN WUHAN
You can't imagine how happy I was when I heard the train announced that we had arrived Hankou Railway Station of Wuhan. And this is where our hotel located too. Out from the station, I spotted McDonald's in front of me, KFC on my left and not forgetting Burger King underneath the station. Cool, I'm trying my best to love this place.



So what we did and where we went when in Wuhan? Basically, just eat, play and shop. Of course, with a bit of sightseeing.

1) Hubuxiang - A famous breakfast alley in Wuhan where you can find all sorts of Wuhan's popular breakfast dishes. I noticed that this street resembles those like the one in Taiwan. Both boyfriend and I managed to try few breakfast food such as "reganmian" which means hot dry noodle and "doupi", rice fried into a cake with tofu skin and some pickled veggies.

2) Yellow Crane Tower - The most iconic landmark of Wuhan. It is considered one of the four great towers in China. Sits atop of the Snake Hill with the fascinating view facing the Yangtze River, its cultural significance led to its being made the symbol of the city.

Entrance Fee: 70 yuan
Opening Hours: 8am to 6pm (Apr to Oct); 8am to 5pm (Nov to Mar)
How To Get There: Bus #10, 61, 401 and 402

3) East Lake Scenic Area - The largest lake in Wuhan. Boyfriend bought the package to enter Yellow Crane Tower along with the boat ride, we got visited few parks within the lake. However from my honest opinion, the ride was quite dull and boring. 

4) Optics Valley Walking Street - This 1,350 m long walking street is the longest commercial walking street connected up to date. It combines shopping, dining and entertainment, business office, hotel service as a whole, with integrated, multi-functional, all-format, complex commercial style. Adopting the essence of the buildings in all over the countries, here you can feel like travel around the world in a day - one building with warmly Spain architecture, the next building with classic Italian design and then, Germany's Octoberfest on the other side. This reminds me of Terminal 21 of Bangkok, Thailand. 

If you are searching for Insta-worthy spots, then this is the right place for you.

5) Jianghan Road & Hankow Custom House - A pedestrian mall looks alike Shanghai's popular East Nanjing Road. It's recommended to come here at night where thousand of little stalls selling variety of goods such as clothing, housewares, beauty products, souvenirs, food and etc. At the end of the road, there is where the Hankow Custom House situated with its famous clock tower which has been part of Wuhan's landmark. 

6) Starbucks Reserve - For Starbucks coffee lover, don't forget to visit the one in Chu River and Han Street for its handpicked and premium coffee-brewing.

Almost every night, we went to shopping malls for window shopping. Trust me when I said window shopping cause the price of the items there were quite premium and not cheap like I expected. Oh yeah! We even went Walmart Supermarket twice to stock up snacks before leaving the city. 

HOW TO GET AROUND WUHAN
Majority of the attractions and shopping streets can be reached via metro and by the time when we're there, the metro network consists of 9 lines in operation so far. We did take local bus too but only once and I personally don't recommend to take bus in case you don't understand Chinese like me. Before embarking trip around Wuhan, it is best to apply for Wuhan Tong card where you can use on metro, bus, light rail stations and certain supermarkets. A deposit of 15 yuan is required and you can top-up at any metro stations.



You can ever reach Wuhan Tianhe International Airport under Line 2. However do take note that the metro in Wuhan tend to close earlier than most of the cities around the world. Hence to play safe, it is advisable to get back to your hotel by 10pm, at least.

EXTRA INFO
1) Visa is required for Malaysian. For Sabahan, you can apply at Kota Kinabalu's Consulate General of the People's Republic of China which located opposite of CityMall. For more details about fees, processing time and payments, check out here.
2) There is no time difference between Malaysia and Wuhan. It's same-same.
3) Do bring along extra foldable tote bag cause many shops apply no plastic bag policy.

THE END

And that's sum up my short trip to Wuhan including an overnight stay in Wudang Mountain. Would I be back again? Frankly speaking, probably nope in this shorter term but who knows what the future may bring, right? 

If only I can bring you back to KK, Mr Brown


Anyone love postcards like I do? Prefer the phototaking or painting type?

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