June 24, 2009 – Day 181 – Dubrovnik, Croatia

Had an enjoyable experience in the “pod” but had to leave on our delayed flight at 5:30pm. Got to Dubrovnik rather late, a major problem since we had no lodging. It is always a real issue trying to find a decent place for a decent price in the dark!

Our awesome apartment at Sasha's

We had a pretty miserable couple of hours trying to find a hostel or guest house. When we were at our wits end and it was nearly midnight, an old man came skittering across the street toward us speaking Croatian. A bit of charades told us he wanted to offer us a place to sleep and with no other prospects besides sleeping outdoors, we followed him up the street to his room for rent. It was a small apartment that is usually rented by the week by since it is low season, we got a great price ($12pp; included a kitchen and full bath in a room large enough to be considered a studio apartment). We were very lucky to have been found by old Sasha at such an unlikely hour!

Travel Tip:

Croatia has essentially no hostels but rather private rooms for rent and guest houses or large hotels. These rooms can be a bit tricky to find despite the multitudinous signs on gates and buildings resembling small apartment buildings. Best thing to do is arrive to your city/town in the daylight so you can walk around and find yourself a nice, budget appropriate room. The people tend to be very friendly and very helpful, even when they do not speak a word of English.