Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia (Lower Lakes)
Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia (Lower Lakes)
Today's itinerary is from Liubljana, because we stayed there for one night, today we are going to Plitvice Lakes National Park, the driving time is about two and a half hours to three hours, among which we will pass a scenic spot where you can come down to take pictures, called Rastoke, because the water flow directly passes through this small village, it is worth staying for a while, not only resting, taking pictures, it is a very worthwhile attraction.
Rastoke Watermill Village is part of the town of Slunj, located between the capital Zagreb and Plitvice Lakes National Park (accessible by bus from Zagreb), about 30 kilometers (20 minutes by car) from Lake 16. In the 17th century, Rastoke used water power from waterwheels to grind wheat and textile industry, but later the war caused the small village to be severely damaged, and the houses we see today could only be rebuilt in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
"Rastoke" itself means "watershed" in Croatian, referring to the village located at the confluence of the "Slunjčica River" and the "Korana River".
Rastoke is a village where residents live, and the houses are inseparable from the river, and the houses are built on top of the water, and the place for the water to pass through is reserved below, and the flowing water also creates a magnificent scene that is rare in the world for this village. Residents here said, "Even if our houses are built above the water, at most the water is a little stronger, but we have never encountered a flood.
Because they were wearing a tripod, they had the opportunity to take a group photo
With Weili helping to carry the tripod, the shoulders are much easier
This is the Toyota that has been working for us these days
This is a pizza lunch at Waterwheel Village
his village is full of waterfalls
After a short stop in Waterwheel Village, we went directly to Plitvice Lakes National Park, the park has two entrances, we entered the park from the entrance, because we were going to stay here for two days, so we bought a two-day ticket. Tickets need to be carried with you because when you need to take a boat or transportation, you need to check your ticket. When we arrived at the park around 5 pm, we took a few hours to swim in the lower lake area, because there are only four lakes in the lower lake area, so there was enough time to see it.
If you simply walk in the lake area, it will take 4~5 hours, and the national park viewing route is mainly located on the trails on both sides of the lake, if there is no direction, it is easier to miss some beautiful scenery. Therefore, I will organize the route I took this time for travelers who do not have much time to stay for reference.
There are two entrances to the entire national park, namely "No. 1" and the red circle in the center of the picture below, because I plan to walk the entire lake area, plus the entrance of "No. 1" is next to the road, which is obviously easy to find, and there is a parking lot (No. 2) opposite, so we parked the car in the parking lot from the lower lake area to the park, and bought a ticket from "No. 1" to enter the park.
The park is divided into "Upper Lake Area" and "Lower Lake Area" according to the boat boarding area (No. 3).
Lower Lake District (take a boat across the lake):
Entrance (No. 1) > (Follow the Red Line) > Largest Waterfall (No. 8) > Boat Boarding (No. 3) > Disembarkation (No. 4)
Shanghu District (take the bus down the mountain):
Disembarkation (No. 4) > (Choose to take the Purple Line or Orange Line) > Take the shuttle bus (No. 5) > Drop off (No. 6) > (Follow the Black Line) > Classic photo spot (No. 7) > Entrance (No. 1)
Plitvice Lakes National Park, located in Croatia in Eastern Europe, is the oldest national park in Southeast Europe, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. The terrain of Plitvice Lakes National Park is called "karst terrain", and the surface has become uneven due to limestone deposition, resulting in lakes. These lakes contain a lot of minerals and are unpolluted, so the water is a ruby green color and crystal clear. It takes about 7 to 8 hours to cover the entire Plitvice Lakes National Park. However, the park has planned different routes for you, varying in length, allowing you to estimate your own time and physical strength, and choose your favorite route to enjoy the scenery of different lakes.
You can go to the lake area by boat, before boarding the boat, you must stamp the ticket stub for the staff, so don't lose the ticket stub! As the boat sailed through the lake, admiring the verdant mountains on both sides, the embrace of the mountains, and the breeze, it is not an exaggeration to describe this place as a wonderland on earth.
The park is roughly divided into the "Upper Lake Area" and "Lower Lake Area", and most of the trails are built near the lake, so you can enjoy the emerald green water up close. There are no snack bars along the way, except for a few restaurants in Plitvice Lakes National Park, so be sure to bring dry food and water, and don't forget to take your trash with you when hiking.
The waterfall is 78m high and is the largest waterfall in the park, and the water source of this waterfall comes from another river, which is different from the main channel of Plitvice Lakes. The waterfall is not particularly towering, but the water flow is strong and rapid, and when you stand at the bottom of the waterfall and look up, you can feel the majestic momentum and the splashing water, which is very spectacular. There is a small house above the waterfall, and the photo on the left is taken from the side of the small house, which is usually not accessible from the park. (Only insiders know how to get there, sell it first)
Let's first look at the most famous attraction in the Lake District - the Great Waterfall (Croatian: Veliki slap) (No. 8), located at the bottom of the entire Plitvice Lakes (as shown by the arrow), when we walk through the entire park and look back at the Great Falls, we can see that the trail leading to the Great Waterfall is crowded with people, so if you go to Plitvice Lakes, it is recommended to enter the park early, because the big bus will bring a lot of people later, and there will be no people after six or seven o'clock in the afternoon, and the photos we took were taken at this time.
The trails in the Lower Lake area are built along the lake and the shade of the trees, and some of the lakes have boardwalks across the lake, making you feel like you are walking on the turquoise water.
There are 4 lakes in the Lower Lake area, the most famous being Lake Kaluđerovac and Lake Novakovića Brod, where the mountain scenery is reflected on the lake surface and there seems to be another mountain echoing the lake. On a windless day, the lake ripples like a mirror, and the sky and mountains are reflected on the lake, making it easy to take beautiful "sky mirror" photos.
(This photo was taken with a wide-angle lens, settings: AV/F10, ISO/100, Focal Lense/16mm, Tv/1/60), and the wide-angle lens has a three-dimensional depth and layering effect.
The water of Plitvice Lakes is ever-changing, from azure, turquoise blue to bright green, from dark blue to light gray, what color the lake water presents, depending on the depth of the lake, the ratio of minerals and organic substances in the water, and the angle of sunlight. What a wonder in the world
This time, in order to take pictures of the waterfall scenery of Plitvice Lakes, I specially used ND Filter 6 and 10 Stop to shoot the filamentous effect of the water flow, and bought some equipment before traveling, carrying a camera with various lenses, tripods, filters, and a lot of equipment, just to shoot this effect. This time I came here, and the weather was quite cooperative.
It is not easy to use filters to take long-exposure photos in Plyvy Lakes, because often the tripod has to be erected on the wooden bridge for framing, there are too many tourists, people walk around and even the wooden bridge will shake, this kind of photo requires a few seconds of exposure, the most feared is shaking, it is not easy to wait for a good time, the emperor pays off the hard work, the aspirant will do things, and finally use these idioms to cooperate with this shooting.
When we finished our trip to Lower Lake area, the next step was to report to our homestay, it was already half past seven in the afternoon, and the host was still waiting for us. We stayed at this B&B for one night and visited the Upper Lake area tomorrow.
Today's dinner is Restaurant Degenija, which is recommended by the owner of the homestay, which must be the most popular restaurant in the area! Let's go and have a meal.
Soup and wine are paired with elegantly arranged flowers
This plate is all meat, I don't know how many hundreds of thousands of steps I have walked so far ..... travel? Need to replenish your physical strength.