My first lift of the day took me about 7km along the coast. I found myself in a small farming and fishing village, with oxen working the fields, donkeys carrying things, and sheep with bells being tended by their shepherds. I felt as though I was miles from anywhere, and traffic was very light.
But luck was on my side. A VW van with three Americans picked me up after a short wait and took me as far as Split – where we did just that. It was around 16.00hrs at this time and I headed on the road towards Omis. It was a hard and depressing walk, uphill out of town, ugly buildings lining the road, workers in their blue uniforms heading home after their shifts.
After about half an hour, I picked up a lift that took me a little closer to Omis. I found myself in another small suburb, quite depressing, and I was starting to get hungry – I had not eaten anything for over 20 hours. Wearily, I trudged on until I found a seat beside a cemetery overlooking the sea. I took a swig of water which tasted like red wine and sour milk (the previous contents of my drinking container) and had a Boots’ barley sugar. Thus fortified, I got back on the road and picked up a lift to Makarska.
The driver, an older chap in a suit, kindly bought me a brandy and cup of lemon tea. Makarska around 19.30hrs, he helped me find a cheap place to stay the night, bargaining with several people in the process. My hosts were very kind and provided a nice supper of pilchards, peppers, bread and a glass of Dalmatian red wine.
Some thoughts from the day as recorded in my travelogue (which started life as an empty notebook):
Huddled old women in black, gathering vegetables from coastal gardens; young girl washing them by the roadside; dead fish floating on black water; limping fisherman thinking of days when catches were large.
Hitch-hiking is like a flower; there’s constant flourishing and withering; from despondency and gloom, when the road seems even longer; the scenery alien; friends so distant; when you feel what it’s like to be a foreigner, to be lonely, even though there may be people around…there comes from nowhere, something; a warm car, company, your destination coming ever-more closer; and then nothingness again…dropped between here and nowhere; hungry, thirsty, weary, cold, wet (as the night) and where to spend it?
Well, that’s lifted my mood! Where will this cheerful chappy find himself kipping down tomorrow night?
Clues: City in southern Dalmatia, famed for the massive stone walls surrounding the Old Town.
Psychologist on the Move 