We woke up at 10 a.m. after a good night’s sleep, thanks to the pack of stray dogs protecting our van. In the morning, a cat with her kittens took over the guard so we felt very safe.
We looked at the map and decided to head to Batak lake and find a place to sleep there (Batak means chicken leg in Croatian so it sounded especially appealing to me).
We drove across a mountain and along very small roads until we reached the lake.
By then it had gotten really cloudy and rainy and in this context the lake looked generally depressing. We decided to give it a chance anyway so we drove to the water’s edge and parked.
After making lunch and deciding we definitely didn’t want to spend the night there, we got a little bit panicky when it turned out that our van was stuck in the muddy, marshy ground around the lake. Jay solved the problem by driving across the middle of a field and completely ignoring the road, once again proving that Camperissimo really can do anything.
We decided next to drive to Velingrad – it wasn’t too far and the guide book said it was famous for its thermal water and spas.
In actuality the town was pretty sad-looking and it didn’t inspire us to take any photos. Admittedly though it was raining hard and no town looks particularly nice in the pouring rain (unless you’re looking at it from a cosy, warm room).
We parked in the centre next to a canal, right in front of a hotel, and after a nice dinner, we retired to our cosy, warm room. A.k.a. our car.