Day 12 - Pag to Lopar.

Day 12: Pag to Lopar, Rab Island. 82 Km, 6hrs.

We were expecting rain, but luckily it rained during the night and that was the end of it. Our morning started with a good climb out of Pag, this was the order of the day - hills, hills and more hills. We had a good two and a half hour cycle, 32 km to the ferry at Zigljen which took us to Prizna on the mainland. We had a 3 km climb to get onto the road which we  took for 13 km to the turn off and steep 4km descent to Stinica where we took the next ferry to Misnjak on Rab Island. If cycling with panniers, one needs 5 hours to reach this ferry in time. Again we had a feast of different flowers on the side note road.

Then cycled along rolling hills from Misnjak to Rab town. We decided to have a picnic lunch and look around the old town of Rab and then move on to Lopar 13 km further on, as the ferry to Krk was leaving at 05:15 the next morning.

The old town of Rab is charming with beautiful churches in the Romanesque style. One of them, the Church of St John the Evangelist, dates back to the 5th century. 

After a short climb out of Rab town, we pedaled along a fairly flat road through sheep farming area to Lopar. By staying in Lopar we will catch up a day.

All the rooms to rent in Lopar were closed as the season here only starts on 1June. As we were cycling along we saw a lady on her balcony and fortunately she had an apartment available for the night. She was very kind to accommodate us as she was still preparing her apartments. We had an interesting discussion over a glass over rakija (a local herbed grappa) with her son about the state of Croatian politics.

A greener part of Pag.

Looking towards Rab Island from the mainland.

Wild irises along the road.

Any suggestions?

Wild Sage is plentiful.

The ruins of the Church of St John the Evangelist in Pag.