Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 16July1970: Pag Island, Yugoslavia: The Man Who Had Not Had a Bath in Five Years!

Dear Barb and Andrew:

As you can see we are on Pag. We had left the beautiful Hvar then to the island of Muter which was packed with German tourists. A tiny place with no hotels. People are packed in like sardines. We stayed two days and three nights there. We met a man from Holland as we were trudging along the beach and he took us back to our lodgings but we stopped for a drink along the way. If I were his wife I would have killed him. He had been an interpreter for Canadian forces liberating Holland from the Germans. A very tall man like your father. You don’t see many tall men here. He said many times that it was the Canadians that liberated us. They love and appreciate Canadians in Holland. From Muter we took a bridge to the mainland. It was good we left at 6 a.m. as by 10 it was blazing hot and unbearable in the bus. The bus driver stopped for lunch and we had to wait until he finished it. How spectacular was the scenery. It was a five-hour trip to get to the ferry that would take us to Pag. We passed by islands with no greenery or any living souls on them. I have a feeling Pag Island is going to be a hot hell hole.

We stopped at the tourist office as usual. We got a room with the beach just outside. Perhaps the nicest beach so far in Yugoslavia. It is pebbled and very long. I wondered why the bathtub was full of water with a pail in it. I ran into an old man and he said he only has running water for half an hour every day. People get their water from wells in town and haul it home. The man said he had not had a bath in 5 years. Tell me about underdeveloped nations. So like the locals we have to lug water in a plastic jug. I am anxious to get to West Berlin and civilization soon.

I am not much fatter. My hair is like dirty straw and feels like it too.

We spent the day on the beach today. Robert shot a fish but it escaped. He was cheesed off. I am having a cold beer at an outdoor café and Rob has returned from the post office with no mail for us.

17^th

Last two nights Rob and I went to a nightclub. Rob said the band was good. People will dance in a group here not just with a partner. I leave at 10 and Robert at 11.

I was up at 6:30 and had a tea and it was too sweet. The same thing happened with coffee yesterday. There was no bread left to buy this morning so I had to go to a restaurant to buy a loaf. These food shortages are so frustrating.

Love Mum