Blog NO. 286 - Exploring Split, Croatia: A Journey Along the Fractal Coast – Part 1 - 23 June 2025

Blog NO. 286 - Exploring Split, Croatia: A Journey Along the Fractal Coast – Part 1 - 23 June 2025

My purpose is to give hope to those who have lost hope. Without hope, we remain lost in the Shadow Lands.

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Like everywhere in Europe, the Croatian city of Split has a very long history.  One of its claims to fame is that it is the site of the palace of Roman Emperor Diocletian.  It is the second largest city in Croatia.  To reach Split, we had to twice cross the international border between Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina.    Bosnia Herzegovina is mostly enclosed by Croatia but there is a part of Bosnia Herzegovina that pushes its way through Croatia to give Bosnia direct access to the sea.

We got a bus from Dubrovnik to Split on Sunday 29 September 20013.

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Dubrovnik as seen from the Imperial Fort on top of Mount Srd.

John Hankin photo taken 28 September 2013.

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The mountains on the road from Dubrovnik to Split; this photo was taken while I was on the bus.  

John Hankin photos taken in Croatia, 28 September 2013.

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The us stopped for supplies after we entered Bosnia Herzegovina.  This poor bear was the main exhibit in the tourist trap where we stopped.

John Hankin photo taken 29 September 2013.

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More mountains on the road from Dubrovnik to Split

John Hankin photo taken 29 September 2013.

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Most of the coast between Dubrovnik and Split, as seen from the bus from was an expanse of very steep mountains.  

John Hankin photo taken on 29 September 2013.

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The coast between Dubrovnik and Split constantly reminded me of pictures I had seen of fractals – recurring images that seem to be the same as the keep recurring within each other.  The further you dive down intot he images, the more the images seem to recur with the exact same theme.

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Help yourself to heal Help others heal Give Love Always

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Entry Made at 5:18 pm on Sunday 29 September 2013 We are in the Cro Paradise Green Hostel in Split, Croatia.  It is a big room with 3 beds but there is no third occupant. Nicky took us to an eatery opposite the bus station at about 9:30 am where we had breakfast.  The bus to Split left at 11:00 am.  Although Split is only 209 kilometres from Dubrovnik, we didn't arrive in Split until 3:30 pm.  The bus followed the coast, giving us astonishing views over the sea.  Towering mountains were on our right.  It was an exceptionally winding road so the bus had to crawl. At about 12:00 noon we stopped at the border with Bosnia Herzegovina where passports were inspected.  After about 20 minutes of driving, plus a 20 minute stop, we crossed the border again and re-entered Croatia.  This caused another passport inspection. The bus station in Split is on the waterfront and the area up to the hostel is filled with tourist stalls. The local currency in Croatia is the Kuna.  There are between 6 and 7 Kuna to the Euro.

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I Am Somewhere Else (Sunday 29 September 2013 at 9:00 pm) Tonight I am in Split. Split is a port city. A tourist destination on the Adriatic coast. In Croatia. On the Mediterranean Sea. But you are not here. You are somewhere else. Thousands of kilometres away. In a different hemisphere. For you it is already tomorrow. For me it is only 9:30 pm. While I am on holiday, There is no holiday for you. For you there is patchy health. Health to be healed by the witch doctors’ potions; The incantations of modern medicine. In your time of need I am not with you. For you are somewhere else. Through multiple nights in cheap and often dismal hostels, I reach out to hold your hand; To seek the comfort of your presence. But you are not there. There is only empty space on the cheap mattress in the cheap room. You are somewhere else. I call you on my mobile. Your voice pings across vast oceans. It is really you. But it is not you. For I am here. While you are somewhere else. In my dreams we walk together. In my dreams, the distance has no meaning. Yet my dreams always end. Then I wake. The dreams of you become elusive phantoms. They flee from me. Laughing softly. For even my dreams know the truth. I miss you. While you are somewhere else, Needing me as much as I need you. But you are not with me. Because I am somewhere else. Unable to hold your hand. Except in my dreams. **** Fractal Coast (Sunday 29 September 2013 at 9:35 pm) The bus is packed as it lurches from the bus station. Dubrovnik to Split, A distance of 209 kilometres, Or so the sign says. A word of caution is necessary. Ignore the signs if your bus is travelling along the fractal coast. On the left, the sea looks calm. So it should. The sea is hundreds of metres below the bus. The drop to the sea is not quite vertical, But it might as well be. No seat belt would save you if the bus decided it was time for a swim. On the right, the mountains scratch at the doors of Heaven. They are very steep; Mostly bare of trees. They are inhabited by healthy rocks. These mountains belong to people with stout legs, Healthy hearts and a good head for heights. Those who suffer from vertigo will not survive long here. In this terrain of the brave, the bus chugs its way; Closely hugging the road, Torn between two competing imperatives. It must move; The passengers have paid their fares. But if the bus moves too fast, No one will arrive anywhere. So the bus balances the competing demands. It goes at exactly the correct speed. Round the curves the bus goes. There are so many curves. They are all the same, Yet all are different. These are fractal curves. Differences that are so nearly the same, Yet are not. Until at last 4.5 hours and 209 kilometres have disappeared. We have left Croatia. We have returned to Croatia. Now we are in Split. We have travelled along the fractal coast. Our journey has finished.

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Courage is the only way that we can ever create the Paradise that should be here on Earth.

Hatred only perpetuates the Hell we have already made for ourselves.