What I didn't realise was that the bus route isn't offered every day - maybe because of covid, the route is only offered on some days, so when I had already made plans to be in Prague and tried to book a connection to get to Ljubljana, I realised the direct option is no longer available.
One of the only options available is to take a 14.5hr overnight bus ride, which includes a 2.5hr transit time in Zagreb, Croatia.
I am not a fan of overnight travel, as I usually struggle to get sleep, and this bus route was no exception.
Furthermore, because I was travelling between EU and non-EU country (Croatia), I was required to go through customs first at Austria border into Croatia, getting off the bus twice at each side of the country to do immigration clearance, and then again from Croatia into Slovenia.
Thankfully each time round we do not need to lug our luggage with us, and the process was really quick and smooth, though it also meant that we had to stand in the cold for a while to complete the process.
With 2.5hr to spare in Zagreb, and arriving just before 7am, the city of Zagreb is still just waking up.
Prior to my bus trip, noting that I would need to be in Croatia again after Slovenia and Croatia not having yet to adopt the Euro currency, I made a point to look for a money changer to get some currency changed before hand.
Found a café not too far from the bus station and just a couple mins away from the currency exchange (which only opens at 8am), I settled into the café. It was strange that it doesn't serve any food, as I was hoping to have some breakfast, but it was an interesting couple hours as I got to have a quick idea of life in Croatia.
People can pop in and order a drink and then can sit for hours reading newspaper, use the café as a meeting point with friends and stay to chit chat, or just a respite for the day. I've had the best hot chocolate here, since day 1 when I started Big Trip 3!
I've also seen people bringing in their own food, such as bread or pastry that had been purchased from a nearby bakery, and thus I felt more comfortable taking out my own stash of food to eat in the café.
Smoking also seemed to be highly encouraged, as many people were smoking indoors.
Staff doesn't seem to really bother you, and I was even able to pop out for a few minutes to go to the currency exchange, while I had my luggage left in the café.
Didn't get to see much of Zagreb other than what I saw on the bus and the route to the café, but that's OK as I got to do what I needed to do, and was tired from the bus ride and wasn't keen to lug my luggage around town to sight see.
Arriving into Ljubljana, it was the first time I really experienced continuous rain that lasted the whole day!
I tried to do some sight seeing, but gave up the idea after a short while as it was way too wet and no fun.
Popped into a kebab shop to get a late lunch and got a shocked as the staff correctly guess on the 1st try that I was from Singapore. No one would usually guess that on the 1st attempt! But it also gave me the impression that people here seemed to hold Singapore in high regard.
Tried popping out again in the evening, but weather was still wet and it looked like it was starting to rain ice too! So just made a quick stop to the supermarket which thankfully was just across the road, and picked up a Korean spicy pork rice bowl (it was soooo AMAZING!) for dinner.
Gonna take an early night and hope for better weather the next few days to explore. One thing for sure, Ljubljana looks really small and should be able to cover key sights very quickly!
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