See the hot spots around The Balkans In 60 Days – Stop 10 Plitvice National Park, Croatia

17/8/2018. After Zagreb, my next destination was Plitvice Lakes National Park, a two-hour bus ride to the south. There, I took another two hours to secure the entrance ticket and part with USD 40.

Traffic bottlenecks after the entrance soon ground me to a halt. Everyone stopped and stared at the pools of water in stunning fashion and colors, encrusted like green and turquoise gemstones, surrounded by cliffs faces and green vegetation. My feet arrested, the beautiful water possessed everyone.

The waterfalls at Iguazú Brazil/Argentina were boisterous, violent. This, by contrast, was serene and hypnotic.

Plitvice is not just one beautiful lake, that admirers would, in a glance, be conquered and taken. This national park consists of 16 named and several unnamed, inter-connected, upper and lower lakes. 16 different looks, each with blue, green eyes. I could not take my eyes off her, followed in a trance-like state, gazing into the deep green eyes of this watery enchantress. I walked on and around the water for more than two hours, encore after encore, each time begging for more.

Boardwalks skimmed the surface and skirted the edges. The breezes whispered, the foliages gently stirred, but unruffled. The water was calm, with barely any ripples, and tinted with light gemstone color of utmost clarity. It was within touching distance, so tantalizingly close, yet not to be touched; it should not be defiled in the slightest. The setting was perfect – surrounded and obscured by natural forest, only the soothing sound of nature, the occasional flowing and trickle of water, provided the mood music.

17/8/2018 今早一早从萨格勒坐两小时多大巴南下到克罗地亚皮特维斯国家公园 (Pitvice National Park)。在入口大门又排了近两下时才买到入门票, 也不便宜，耗了大约四十美元。进门后第一眼就是清澈透底的一湖湖绿水，狭窄小桥如两只羊过独木桥，挤得水泄不通。

去过巴西和阿根廷的伊瓜苏瀑布，有如万马奔腾，争先恐后往低处奔。这国家公园恰恰相反，没那么嚣张，没那么多气焰。走了两下时多，一池又一池，一湖又一湖，每一个都是那么纯，那么绿，那么的平静；就一点点流水声，在丛林的遮掩和呵护中矜持抛媚眼诱人。随水边小路，入魔般被一幕又一幕诱惑带动，如痴如醉，又享受又养性。

今天，不止是看得美，感觉也美极了。