Croatia - Lakes
What kind of person makes the best travel companion?
Someone who shares the same hobbies, or someone whose pace matches yours?
I’m sure everyone has their own idea of what makes a good travel companion.
Personally, I love exploring historic sites and museums, wandering through towns to shop, and tasting delicious local food. On the other hand, the friend I traveled with this time has a deep love for nature and animals.
Since our interests were completely different, we each suggested places we wanted to visit. The journey began when my friend said, “I’d like to visit the national park in Plitvice.” If I had been traveling alone, it’s probably a place I would never have visited.
That park — Plitvice Lakes National Park — is located a few hours’ drive from the Croatian capital, Zagreb. Since it seemed a little difficult to reach by public transportation, we decided to join a local tour.
It was early summer, and the coolness of the morning still lingered in the air. We gathered at the hotel and headed toward the park with our guide driving. As we left the city behind and passed through industrial areas, the scenery gradually softened into peaceful countryside. We stopped briefly in a small village along the way, and the road slowly led us deeper into the mountains.
By the time we arrived, the park was already bustling with visitors. We collected our tickets, and finally entered.
Not long after we began walking behind our guide, the first breathtaking view appeared before us.
Countless lakes spread out in every direction. Their colors could not simply be described as blue or green — they looked as though paints had been delicately mixed together on a palette. The lakes farther away shimmered in deep emerald green, while the ones closer to us were a translucent pale blue, clear enough to reveal the lakebed beneath. The water surface swayed gently in the wind.
There are sixteen lakes here at different elevations, with water flowing softly from the higher lakes down to the lower ones, forming waterfalls along the way.
With the deep croaks of frogs echoing around us, we continued farther into the park.
A still lake surface.
A swiftly flowing stream.
A wide waterfall cascading gently downward.
Throughout the vast park, the water revealed countless different expressions.
The narrow wooden walkways, with no railings beside them, felt slightly precarious at times, but that closeness allowed us to feel nature right beside us.
Among everything we saw, the view from above the waterfall remains the most vivid in my memory.
Spread out below us were layers of lakes, while mist rising from the waterfalls dampened the air like a gentle rain. The droplets caught the sunlight and formed rainbows in the air. Around us, the mountains stood quietly, as though protecting this hidden treasure.
It was a place so beautiful that it made me painfully aware of how limited my vocabulary is.
If it were not for my friend, I would never have encountered this scenery. Traveling with someone whose passions are different from your own — perhaps that is how we discover something entirely unexpected.
Even though I took countless photographs, none of them could truly capture the atmosphere, the sound of the water, or the way the light shimmered before my eyes that day.
That is why I wanted to capture those feelings in this yarn.
I hope this yarn allows you to feel even a small piece of the air and scenery of Plitvice.
Someone who shares the same hobbies, or someone whose pace matches yours?
I’m sure everyone has their own idea of what makes a good travel companion.
Personally, I love exploring historic sites and museums, wandering through towns to shop, and tasting delicious local food. On the other hand, the friend I traveled with this time has a deep love for nature and animals.
Since our interests were completely different, we each suggested places we wanted to visit. The journey began when my friend said, “I’d like to visit the national park in Plitvice.” If I had been traveling alone, it’s probably a place I would never have visited.
That park — Plitvice Lakes National Park — is located a few hours’ drive from the Croatian capital, Zagreb. Since it seemed a little difficult to reach by public transportation, we decided to join a local tour.
It was early summer, and the coolness of the morning still lingered in the air. We gathered at the hotel and headed toward the park with our guide driving. As we left the city behind and passed through industrial areas, the scenery gradually softened into peaceful countryside. We stopped briefly in a small village along the way, and the road slowly led us deeper into the mountains.
By the time we arrived, the park was already bustling with visitors. We collected our tickets, and finally entered.
Not long after we began walking behind our guide, the first breathtaking view appeared before us.
Countless lakes spread out in every direction. Their colors could not simply be described as blue or green — they looked as though paints had been delicately mixed together on a palette. The lakes farther away shimmered in deep emerald green, while the ones closer to us were a translucent pale blue, clear enough to reveal the lakebed beneath. The water surface swayed gently in the wind.
There are sixteen lakes here at different elevations, with water flowing softly from the higher lakes down to the lower ones, forming waterfalls along the way.
With the deep croaks of frogs echoing around us, we continued farther into the park.
A still lake surface.
A swiftly flowing stream.
A wide waterfall cascading gently downward.
Throughout the vast park, the water revealed countless different expressions.
The narrow wooden walkways, with no railings beside them, felt slightly precarious at times, but that closeness allowed us to feel nature right beside us.
Among everything we saw, the view from above the waterfall remains the most vivid in my memory.
Spread out below us were layers of lakes, while mist rising from the waterfalls dampened the air like a gentle rain. The droplets caught the sunlight and formed rainbows in the air. Around us, the mountains stood quietly, as though protecting this hidden treasure.
It was a place so beautiful that it made me painfully aware of how limited my vocabulary is.
If it were not for my friend, I would never have encountered this scenery. Traveling with someone whose passions are different from your own — perhaps that is how we discover something entirely unexpected.
Even though I took countless photographs, none of them could truly capture the atmosphere, the sound of the water, or the way the light shimmered before my eyes that day.
That is why I wanted to capture those feelings in this yarn.
I hope this yarn allows you to feel even a small piece of the air and scenery of Plitvice.