We moved on to Virpazar and headed to the hotel “13 of July”, overlooking Skadar Lake. We were deeply disappointed when we noticed the hotel was closed for renovations. Out of nowhere came a woman who informed us she that she was renting a guest house nearby. We followed her and after a five minute walk on the road right by the hotel we discovered that indeed, there is a Sobe overlooking the lake for €25 a night, breakfast not included.

Before we reached Makarska we stopped by Makarska Bay at Zivogosce, where Adrian and Lucia rented us a small apartment with a spacious room and kitchen and a huge balcony overlooking the bay and the beautiful mountains for the price of €40 including breakfast. When Adrian found out we were from Israel he gave us a bottle of red wine from his father's winery which suited our dinner. They both spoke fluent English and were very pleasant.

www.ivop- apartmani.com

We drove in the direction of Biograd and found a tiny apartment for €20, breakfast not included. Although the official currency is the Croatian Kuna, everybody asks for and pays with Euros.

We got to Jezerce Village which is actually closer to the other entrance. We found a pleasant and cozy place to stay with “Ivanisevic Velinka” (Jezerce 20/1) which cost us €35 a couple including a good breakfast. We spent 2 nights here.

The next morning we tried buying ticket to Mossal Bay using Compu Ticket, but no success. Desperately, we chose the Baz Bus option again. The Baz Bus was scheduled for 14:00.  

He dropped us at Gansbaai Caravan Park (70 rand per night for a tent).

We arrived to the Paititi hostel, a known place to every Israeli but me. At first glance we saw an old building, as if it were about to collapse, with a sheltered backyard and  welcoming staff.

The wooden door of the room made some squeaks when we got inside, pushing our way between large backpacks and sleeping people. We also wanted to take a nap, around noon we all began to lazily wake up with surprising coordination of timing. In that cheerful group there was an old childhood friend of my friend's, and several other people whom they met while traveling.

Everyone was already traveling for more than my planned three months,  which were dictated by work/school constraints. 

On my first days in Cusco, my friend told me everything a backpacker needs to know - where's the best ATM, what the traveling agencies can do for me, and the way around Paititi:

• Hot water from 5am till 11pm. After that, no water at all, not even in the public toilets. 
• Breakfast from the morning (which isn't defined at a specific hour) and until the Seniora gets tired of preparing pancakes. 
• Ping pong, pool and DVD marathons ("Prison Break") always postpone food and sleep. 
• And of course, there are the "stuck ones" - those guys who stuck around from the last trek, lost in a haze of a smoke of a joint, who just live their life day by day, between the hostel yard and the room. The food they order from near by restaurants who have take away delivery services. 

We continued to Novigrad, where we decided to spend the night. It seemed pretty interesting on the map, and an interesting bridge leads to it and divides the sea to 2 parts. We found a flat in a villa on the water, but the landlord was in Vienna and she couldn’t locate her husband. We settled for a villa on the second line from the water, and a flat which cost us an extra €90. We took the car for a drive in the lovely town and then we relaxed on the promenade until the flat was ready.

I found my way to the hostel with the help of a nice elder Peruvian, with a completely western name, like Richard. I started wondering if the people living here have special hostility for the Spanish.  In Chacha it's recommended to sleep at Plaza De Armes - prices are similar to what you'll find in the inner streets, but the hostels are much prettier and include a bath and a shower inside the room. 

In Tolmin we found the apartment of Teodora Blazetik, which everyone calls Dora. It’s located on 36 Brunov Drevoired Street, and costs 16€ a night per person, breakfast not included. Dora greeted us with homemade cherry filled cookies, and put at our disposal coffee and tea, which we drank in the garden. Dora was a lovely warmhearted woman.