Gornji Karin – Pag 67.90km cycling 🚴♀️ 3.54.29 ⏱ 17.4km/hr ⬆️ 490m ⬇️ 525m 🌡 30C
We were both pretty excited to get back on the bike 🚲 after a good day of rest. Breakfast 🍌 was as much of a struggle as every early morning. Nothing tastes good and it makes us a little nauseous 🤢 every time, but we have to eat. Once packed and on the bikes we felt a bit better. We started with a climb since we had to go back up to the intersection where we’d taken the exit to Gornji Karin two days ago. It was still in the shade which helped us in our daily struggle with the sun ☀️.
We cycled along the ocean 🌊 ‘lake’ for about 20 kilometres. It was a lovely road, there wasn’t much traffic and the wind was still pretty stormy, but at least it gave us a good chill. We very much enjoyed the surrounding, the nice view and vine yards all around us.
We stopped for coffee ☕️ in Posedarje together with some local men 👨🏻🧔🏻👴🏼. Again, we really stood out on the terrace in this cute little place. Not only because we’re girls, but mainly because we were the only ones not drinking beer 🍻. At 8.30 in the morning. We don’t judge, it’s weekend after all. Actually Suuz was kinda jealous 🙈.
After Posedarje we headed straight to the Pag peninsula. Together with lots of cars 🚙, caravans and campers 🚐. The road was busy, there was no shoulder, traffic was mostly considerate except for a few dickheads 🏎 making it difficult for us to enjoy the insane landscape we were cycling in. What made it more difficult, and dangerous, was the strong side wind 💨. Even with all the weight we are carrying we had to pay real good attention not to be blown onto the road. Pag is known for its really strong ‘bura’, a strong wind from the Northeast.
We stopped a couple of times to take a picture 📷 and catch our breath. At the bridge leading onto the island 🌴 we stopped at a small road cafe for a cold drink 🍹. Except their power was down so there weren’t any cold drinks. We did meet a friendly Croatian man 🧔🏻 who told us there would be a huge party 🎉 at that same bridge tonight. Pag is not just known for its wind 💨 , but also for being the Croatian Ibiza, with the Northern part of the island being home to numerous huge festivals and beach clubs.
About 8km before Pag city we took the exit to a B-road. We were the only ones there, probably because it was all gravel and rocks . It did cost a lot more energy this way, but it was really nice to get off the main road. We cycled past some salt fields and Mas added a little of her own by whipping it off her face. She is always very salty in this weather. Great for giving some taste to our food on the road.
The Pag landscape is so different from all the other places we’ve passed through. The island is almost completely made of rock with hardly any vegetation as a result of the strong wind 💨 from the East blowing salt across the island. With its rocky pale landscape its almost like cycling on the moon 🌚. The island does have sheep 🐑 . They are small, give only little milk, but the milk 🥛 is made into amazing cheese 🧀 called Patski Sir. Due to the salty grounds, the cheeses are naturally salty and taste like the herbs 🌿 that the sheep eat 🐑, in particular sage. To accompany the cheese, Pag people also produce fantastic olive oil and wines 🍷.
We arrived at the apartment just outside of Pag town around noon and enjoyed our home-made lunch of boiled eggs 🥚 with mayonnaise, fresh bread 🍞 and a bowl of noodles 🍜. We didn’t really feel like going to the beach 🏖 , so we hung out at the apartment for a bit, watched women’s soccer ⚽️ and went into town to go to a wine 🍷 and cheese 🧀 bar to try some Patski Sir, Gegic white wine and olive oil: the Holy Trinity 👌🏻. We’d like to take some cheese home, but Suuz’s parents tried this once and their car 🚗 still carries the odor of Pag cheese 🧀, so we decided not to.
Cause it was so extremely hot ☀️ all of a sudden we went to the beach 🏖 anyway to cool off. On our way there we saw local people taking a mud bath 🛀. We’ve been told the Pag mud has healing powers and the locals take a smear in it on a daily basis. It looked kind of strange, but might be a good way to cool off as well. After our swim 🏊♂️, Suuz got us food and we ate it on our shady balcony. We leave the island again tomorrow to hop over to another one. We do have to go back on the busy coastal road number 8, something we are not looking forward to.
