HIKING ACROSS ISLAND HVAR

A few weeks ago I went back to my beautiful island of Hvar. Since I was going there alone and only for one week, I decided that driving 1500km alone is against everything I believe in. So I bought a train ticket and went first to Bled, Slovenia to hang out with my friends for a day. A friend said she can pick me up from a train station, but she showed up on her motorbike. This trip was already heading to right direction.

After a train, bus and a ferry ride I made it to Hvar the next day. And after a week of doing very little and enjoying a lot, it was time to go home. And since I was there without a car and there is 1,5km of this between our side and civilization my options were hitchhiking or calling a friend to save my ass. 

Oh yeah, there is no bus if you though I didn´t think of that. I really didn´t want to wait for some weirdo to pick me up, or not pick me up and leave me next to the road for 3h because they think I´m the one that´s weird (this whole thig is debatable). So the only logical solution was, to walk to the other side.

Back in the days my grandparents, that were from a village Pitve located on the other side of the tunnel, used to walk over the island to get to our land, wineyards, beach and so on. So if my grandma could do it, so can I. I didn´t bring much, so my backpack was packet pretty fast. But still I didn´t really plan to walk with all my stuff further then to train station, so I had my laptop, camera, wetsuit and all the clothes in there.

I waited for the temperatures to drop under 30C, so it´s gonna be a nice and easy to walk, as if. So I started walking to the village Zavala around 7pm. From there I took the path that start´s behind the shop (only shop in the village so you can´t miss it). The path is marked with sign Sv.Ante in case you will be looking for it. After around 20-30min the path joined the rocky road that goes to the top of the island. I was really trying to walk as fast as possible, film amazing views and try not to dihadrate or faint from sweating. By the time I came to the top, the temperature dropped already, but so did the sun. A car stopped and 4 old-er nice people asked me what my plan was. I told them that I go to Jelsa (town on the other side), but they could recognised my amazing Slovenian-Croatian accent and said “Oh, Slovenian girl. Then it´s OK.” Meaning, Slovenians are not normal for them anywas because they come on vacation with all sports equipment, run, hike, bike,…. So thats why they were not worried about me anymore and we said goodbye. But, hey I´m basically Croatian so000 please some back 😛

I made it up to see the amazing sunset and since I didn´t wanna loose too much time/light I stated walking down to Pitve. And, Oh man it got dark fast. And not just dark, pitch black. But I was ready for anything and had a hand lamp. I don´t know what was more scarry, walking in the dark or trying to light-up everything that moves or makes a sound. At one point something big moved in the bushes, I started running for my life, but luckily it (probablly a small fluffy rabbit) didn´t follow. There are bunch of animals up in the woods, but the one that I really didn´t wanna meet at night is wild boar. So for the sake of the storry, let´s say it was that.

I put even more powet into my step and hoped I reach the village soon. The lights seamed so close, but the mountain road was going on and on. Still I couldn´t stop smiling, I was so happy I actually pulled this off, but I also  knew  this was not completely normal. I made it to Pitve completely dusty, wet and probably looking like, well … I guess like I just walked across the island. I met some nice old ladies in the village that asked me if I went for a evening walk. I sure did. It was around 10pm already and a friend checked if I´m alive and said she will pick me up. From Pitve down to Jelsa I would need to walk next the main road anyways, so nothing exciting. I said YES to my rescue car. She came and just said: “Why can´t I have normal friends?”. Normal is boring anyways. I washed out all the orange road dust, put on a dress and we went for pizza like true ladies do.

Next day I wen´t on a ferry back to Split and I met my crew from the top of the island. They were happy I made it and they were the nicest people. And not just them, I met so many amaizing strangers on this trip … on all the trains, buses, markets, shops. And I would never experience all this if I would sit in my car.

Here is a short and shaky clip that sums up my trip.

Thank you and please stay weird 🙂

Mateja