Dubrovnik, Croatia

Tues 22nd July

We've been carrying around an Eastern Europe Lonely Planet book from 2003. Perhaps we should have bought a newer book... It claims that Dubrovnik is the 'pearl of the Adriatic' and that Croatia is one of Eastern Europe's best kept secrets.

I can't deny that the city is stunning and walking around the city walls was definitely worth the €12 ticket price, but the entire coast was absolutely crawling with tourists. I guess it should have been expected since it's now mid-July but it was so bad that they even had local traffic cops steering tourists through the streets in an effort to relieve what must be a living hell for the locals. But I don't feel too sorry for them – the locals must be making an absolute fortune. Nearly every apartment in Dubrovnik is hired out to tourists in the summer, restaurants are packed and charge €15-20 for simple pasta dishes and a bottle of beer was the priciest we've seen so far. So much for the Eastern Europe secret.

The view from the bus ride to our camp site

After returning from Sarajevo – a relatively tourist free town- and being suddenly faced with such mayhem, we lasted one day in Dubrovnik before hitting the road for what we hoped would be greener and less travelled pastures: the wild beauty of Montenegro.