Staying in camp Biokovo had us really relaxed and worryless so we decided we were going to stay for one more night. After coming back from our adventure in Mostar we had another lovely chat with the camp owner and drifted off to sleep already knowing our plans for the next day.
We woke up, had breakfast and set out to another adventure to a town of two coloured lakes – Imotski, Croatia. We both have never been in this little town and were really excited for exploring it and finally seeing the two amazing but not-so-known croatian lakes. Croatia has 51 lakes, every one prettier than the other. The biggest one is Lake Vransko with the area of 30,7 km.
It's a 30 minute drive from camp Biokovo to Imotski. Although situated in the inlands, Imotski has dalmatian coast-like architecture. If you don't know what this kind of architecture is it means cobbled streets and centuries old houses built from big pieces of stone. Imotski is a little town with a total of a little more that 10.000 people and lays on 73.25 km² of land. It is famous for the two lakes – Blue and Red Lake. Although not so big, their beauty is astonishing.
There is a tourist office in front of the Blue lake and it will seem like you have to pay for parking, only it's not true. Just go up the steap street (trust me you will know it when you see it) and you'll find free parking just above the lake. As you park your car, the path to the lake will become obvious. There are stone steps and pathways only on one side of the lake but it's enough to see it in it's whole beauty. As you go right from the parking spot, the steps will lead you to a fortress overlooking the lake. Topana fortress was built in the 10th century and is now used as a lookout . There are various events held inside of the fortress during summer, so you might run into them, since we weren't so lucky. During it's history, the fortress was under Turks for 200 years. Crazy! The view from the fortress is unbelievable. Oh, and also, you will run into some hidden caves while climbing to the fortress. Unfortunately there's nothing interesting hiding in there, except the thing people left behind as a reminder that they couldn't find the bathroom. Lovely.
As you climb down from Topana fortress, and go to the other side, you can see the lake from a different point of view. But don't stop going down the steps because, although it seems like you can't access the lake, there is a pathway that leads you down to the lake and right into that refreshment you've been waiting for the whole day because the heat in Imotski can reach up to 43C and you're dying. Score! That's your hint to definitely bring a swimsuit with you. The Blue lake takes up the area of 0.4 km². The hight of the water varies over the year (up to 147 m) and it can totally dry out. When that happens, football is played on the bottom of the lake. Now that's an interesting sight to see if you're lucky enough to find yourself there at that exact moment. Also, keep in mind that the water temprature is not that high. We were there in the middle of the summer but it was still chilly. But, please don't let this stop you from getting in because the colour of the lake will totally make it worth your while. When I got in, I just couldn't get myself out of there because of how amazed I was. It's liberating diving into an endless colour of turquoise.
The Red lake is just a few minutes away from the Blue lake. Unfortunately you can't access the lake but the view from the road is just enough for you to be amazed by the depth of it. The lake lays on 0,03 km² of land and is 287 m deep and has an altitude of 281 m so you can easily say it's 500 m deep. It got it's name for the red colour of the cliffs hangig over it. There are two endemic fish species in the lake – Spotted Minnow and Dalmatian Roach. Another interesting fact is that there is a legend related to the appearance of the lake. As the legend says, on it's place were the chambers of Gavan who was a man with no soul and considered Imotski his treasure. There were lots of gatherings held in his castle and during one of these gatherings a poor man came to ask Gavan for help. His wife opened the doors and coldheartedly turned the man down. Then the beggar turned out to be an angel and cursed him with losing all of his 'treasure'. The ground shook, the earth came tumbling down, water flooded every inch of his 'empire' and the Red lake appeared, almighty in it's grace.
