I was on Skype with my mum this afternoon. We were chatting about the usual stuff and I was telling her about Croatia. She popped a question: "Why wasn't Croatia featured on Travel channel?" My mum subscribed to Channel16 on CableTV in Singapore. And her love for seeing new places is now satisfied through the tube temporarily till her next adventure. She was following the program .. I'm not sure which one as a matter of fact... the host travelled throughout Austria, Italy and then Hungary. In my mum's words, "Everywhere around this region except for Croatia!"
I found this a strange phenomenon that most TV programmes chose not to travel to Croatia. A relatively unexplored country with a gorgeous Adriatic coastline. Boasting one of the most hospitable people on earth. Not to mention the abundant Mediterranean sunshine!!
I'm not doing a commercial for Croatia Tourism. But I asked myself the same question :Why is there a lack of Singaporeans travelling to Croatia? I scratched my head and came up with a few conclusions.
First, Croatia is still not featured on one of the "Hip" travel destinations yet. No tour agencies in Singapore has Croatia on its itinerary. If one travelled here, he will not be able to "show off" his latest adventure as no one's been here.
Second, I guess it has to be the main reason..Croatia is relatively "unknown" or unfamiliar in the Far East. Many of my mates even my relatives questioned if it's safe to travel here alone. For goodness sake, I (who lived in London for 3 years) think that it's far safer than the English capital!
Last reason.. or before I could come up with another...the lack of knowledge means it's hard to figure out how to get around this country which is pretty huge as compared to Singapore. Frankly, my two mates did not have any difficulty getting around Rijeka town during their two weeks' stay on their own. Buses are pretty easy to find and on time. One can catch a coach to another town or city at one of the town's autobus station. Trains are well connected too. Well.. for the locals, we love our cars. Hop on one and we can go anywhere in a day!
So what's stopping you from visiting this country? Drop me an email and I'll gladly offer you travel advice anyday. Hope to see you around. Bok!
10 comments:
Pardon my ignorance, but do Croatians speak English?
Also, the impression that Croatia is still a hotbed of violence (its conflict with local Serbs) is preventing me from visiting the country.
Eh.. so do you speak Croatian?
Hello CK mate!
Of course we speak English. Croatians learn English in school since young!
I'm still learning my Croatian. Bit by bit.. day by day.. Po malo. :P
Nope. The war's over mate! Since 1992! Serbia and Croatia now are like SG and Malaysia. Squabbling.. that's all.
Drop me a line if you wish to visit. I'll be your local guide!
Hiya Lowlander! :)
We subscribed to travel channel back in Malaysia, but they didn't show any thing on Hungary then. Guess when you are looking for it you can never seem to find. :)
Syari sayang..
That seems to be the case... my mum told me about those programmes about Hungary!
I think Croatia is more of the Brit travel destination. It's been featured in newspapers. Maybe it's a matter of time...
bok!
its nice to know that i am not the only singaporean who have lived in croatia. i stayed in zagreb from feb to aug last year while on student exchange. croatia has nice weather, friendly people, beautiful buildings and of course the stunning coast. really don't understand why there are so few asian tourists and absolutely none from singapore. maybe most singaporeans prefer more prestigious destinations where they can take nice photos and show off.
I love your blog. I live in the US, but my grandmother was from Croatia. A little town called Bribir... I plan to travel there some day.
>>Hiya Yixuan!
Nice to know there are a couple of people who lived in Croatia before! :) It's all right that not many know how to appreciate the beauty of this country. At least I am! Do drop me a mail anytime if you wish to visit Croatia again!!!
>>Sarah!! Bok bok!!1
I've passed by Bribir on our way to Zadar! You should visit soon!
Well...being Portuguese, i also think the same happens with Portugal, whenever people talk about Western Europe.
Sometimes i get a bit frustrated when people think that Portugal is simply a non-official province of Spain.
I was in Hong-Kong before, and it seemed that Hk people only consider Italy, France, Spain, Germany and UK as Europe.
By the way, i enjoy reading your blog and it's really very brave of you to leave everything behind and come to a strange new place. Keep going ;-)
Hello Hugo!!
Thanks for commenting!!! Happy New year to you!
Hm.. I would love to visit Portugal one day. Love the food! Yummy!!! :) Used to have a good friend who's Portuguese ;)
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