Slovenia (Bovec, Bled, Bohinj, Ljubljana, Skocjan and Piran)

We walked down the main street into Slovenian Gorizia and it was my first new country of the trip. We got to the bus station and I had to try and make sure Cannelle avoided the poster of Plitvice on the side of the bus station. Fucking Croatians. They plaster photos of their parks everywhere. You feel like you have visited all of them and I know its designed to make people visit them, but they even put them next to the park entrances. As if you had visited the park and didn't know it was there and may just pop in. STOP RUINING THE ANTICIPATION. Most people like to see the places when they eventually get there, not splattered all over the side of a bus. Anyway I mention it here, because this was the first time we saw it. We only had to wait half an hour for a bus (which was lucky as there is only one a day so make sure you make it there for 2pm or so. Well there is a second at 5am so lets just say one a day). We took the bus to Bovec. What a green country. I mean really green. Apparently 70% of Slovenia is covered by forest and it looks more. It reminds me of Switzerland, in miniature, without the tourists. Driving through the little mountain towns was very pleasant and we arrived in Bovec in the late afternoon. Its tiny and we found the campsite easy enough. The facilities are really good and its not too expensive to camp in Slovenia. We had a short walk around the town and bought dinner from a supermarket (10 euros for two. It wasn't that cheap). We booked in for the rafting the next day and went for a walk down to the river. The scenery with the surrounding mountains is truly spectacular and it was probably the most impressive geographically featured country on our trip. We even bought ourself some Poli chicken sausage. We were yet to find out just how famous this sausage is, as billboards of the product stalked us through Eastern Europe (well at least the former Yugoslavia). We had a small picnic and it started to get cold. I had forgotten that it gets cold in the mountains (even in the summer). While we were waiting there we saw an innovative way to walk a dog. The car was driving along with the dog lead out the window as the dog jogged alongside. Why stress getting exercise for yourself, while you can just let the dog do all the work. Another dog also wolfed down the last of my Poli. He seemed happier than the dog running with the car. It was super windy at night and 'El Crappo' (our tent's name) probably got slightly broken this first night, but we didn't realise it at this point. One night, early stress fractures to the frame and the carrefour tent was seen to be wanting. Speaking of being wanting, my sleeping bag was awful. No pillow part and very cold. Oh well it was going to be a long summer. At least I only froze a few times during the trip.



In the morning we headed to meet our guide, take a van ride across town to pick up the raft and we were off to our start destination. It was less aggressive than the Rio Pacuare, but Cannelle wanted to be broken in gently to rafting. We got wetsuits (unnecessary in the warm Costa Rican waters). This beautiful, transparent, greeny blue, ethereal river was the polar opposite. A glacial mountain stream, it was refreshing (freezing fucking cold) when you jumped in and Cannelle declined the opportunity to acclimatise. We saw the famed marble trout and the obligatory faces in the rocks as we crusied down river. Towards the end there were some grade 4 rapids, but it was mainly gentle and a lot of fun. Cannelle loved her first experience of rafting and maybe we will do some more in Asia. We definitely will in Latin America. After the trip we decided to hike up the river for the afternoon, past the parts that you can't raft through. You can canoe some of them if you are super talented, but most people carried their canoes past. This path winds through beautiful gorges, over the crystalline waters and threads through the mountains on the way to a waterfall. We followed the path for a few hours, enjoying the scenery. Cannelle was dying a bit, as she hadn't acclimatised yet and she was terrified of the bears (her constant fear would slowly erode my lack of fear until I started to be afraid of bears as well). Its a complete contrast to my usual devil may care attitude. We passed over rope bridges and headed up towards the waterfall. We were getting further and further off the path without finding a real waterfall, though we found some cascades. Maybe that's all they had, but we'll never know. Cannelle was really scared by now and we had to turn back. I lost the path and we ended up scrambling over random scenery. Welcome to one of my typical hikes. On the way back we were trying to find out where the bus went from. We found a random fisherman. He sounded like Arnold Schwarzenegger. (ooohh aaahhh the buuus leaavveess from over deeerrrrrr) he indicated to us with his Arnie accent. Made me laugh. Imagine Arnie fishing in a small place and giving bus directions. We ran to get there and we missed the bus by a few minutes. I figured we may as well start walking back along the road (13km), but then the storm came and the rain slowly began to descend. Shit. We were walking back, but a wet night in a tent is never fun. Luckily for us, just before Cannelle killed me for making her walk, a car stopped at the side of the road. We weren't hitchhiking but they had stopped to give us a lift. We clambered into the car of a Slovenian family. The mother was talking excitedly with her 10 year old kid in Slovenian. He turned to ask and asked us why we weren't hitchhiking (In perfect English except the hitchhiking where he just jerked his thumb in the universal symbol). Its the first time I've been criticised by a mum for NOT hitchhiking. We had 9km of quadlingual conversation (Slovenian between the family, English with the kid, Spanish with the mum who spoke back to us in Italian). These Slovenians really are gifted linguists and by 10 the kid could speak better English than most school leave age Spaniards and French. It was a nice cross cultural opportunity and they dropped us in town where we found expensive internet and a pizza for dinner. Oh yeah we saw a deer in the forest which was really nice and I'd forgotten to mention it. That night was really crappy. Cold, wet and I forgot to do up my sleeping bag. Oh well. Two nights of camping in the mountains and two rough nights. Didn't bode well for Slovakia and Poland later on in the trip, when it would be further north.



We got up very early the next morning and took a bus over the Vrsic Pass which was meant to be spectacular. The winding, ever climbing mountain road was a little uneasy for Cannelle and I, but the view from the top is really good, though it was cold with the wind. We looked through the photos so far to edit and delete the ones we wouldn't keep. Maybe it would have been nice to stay a night up there if we had had the time (and not in a tent). After the top we were the only people in the bus for the descent down to Bled. I'd seen some photos of Bled and after Bovec I already knew this country would be special. It didn't disappoint. What a beautiful lake. Picture perfect, like it was designed for postcards. I was feeling feint by now, but we hadn't eaten for a while. I still get it a little now in Paris. I am suspecting Anemia or Diabetes as they run in my family. Cannelle suspects I am just a hypochondriac. We walked around the lake to the campsite and went to take a photo. Shit. Where was the camera? Shit. We'd left it on the bus when we were looking through the photos and had then fallen asleep. The camera was off to Ljubljana before us and we had to decide whether to buy a new one or not. I worked out from the bus timetables that the same bus came back in the afternoon. As the main office was shut we figured we'd give it a crack and see if we were lucky. I told Cannelle what happened to me with the 100 Peso note and that I had promised God if I found it I would spend it on food to reward the good luck. Unexpected money is not real money and you should enjoy it as it was never in your original plans. So Cannelle agreed that if it came back she would pay for dinner that night. In the meantime we couldn't just hang around so we went off to Vintner Gorge. It was a fair walk (an hour or so) and we got our first Bureks (wonderful pastries filled with meat). Heaven sent if you are feeling hungry. The gorge itself is well worth the entrance. Its just a shame we didn't have a camera. You walk over wooden walkways above the pools, waterfalls and cascades and its a very pretty half an hour stroll. You can get out at the back and walk over a bridge to get a better view of the final waterfall as well. We came back fully satisfied and waited for the bus. It arrived at last (around 5pm) and the same smiley man was driving the bus. Cannelle went on and the camera was there. On the exact same seat we had left it. They are not a criminally minded people, the Slovenes. Lucky us. Lucky me for the dinner. I have written 'Cannelle is Canadian' and I have no idea why. There were some French 'yo-yo' people on the lake and some English middle class twits as well. We ended up walking round the lake 2.5 times in total with the trekking back and forth. We went up to the castle on one side, but decided not to pay to get in. The views of the lake are beautiful. There is also a famous church on the island in the middle of the lake, which you can row over to and ring a bell. We didn't but its one of the things I wish we had done. We had a superb dinner of sausages, meat and swiss chard (which is the first time I've had it outside Switzerland or my Nan's house). The meat is fantastic down here. Succulent, tasty and well sized. We saw a German old couple we had seen earlier on the train in Italy at Vintner and then again the same old woman came cycling past us at the lake. Weird people and strange to see them again. On the way back we saw a Slovenian man sprinting out of a restaurant to return someones forgotten telephone just before they drove away. Friendly and helpful people. The '5' star campsite had only lukewarn showers but at least it was less cold here.





In the morning we got up and took a train to Bohinj. Its a glacial lake further up in the mountains. People say its more beautiful than Bled. Its less developed and more natural, which is appealing, but I think bled is just a shade more beautiful despite the tourists. You can take a direct bus, but being tight I opted for the train and a 6km hike. It was full of Aussies (I guess they are tracing their Yugoslav routes as many of them come from around here). The walk was nice along a winding country road and we bought ourselves another picnic. It was a pretty alpine lake with a nice church, but our picnic was dusturbed by attacking wasps and some weird people doing an amateur photo shoot. Cannelle was totally broken by this point and I had to give her a long leg massage to ease her muscles for walking. It was the usual problem if your muscles are rusty and she always insisted she had bad circulation. I insisted that the more you exercise the fitter you become, the better your circulation is and the easier any kind of hiking is. We fed some ducks and had a little hike around the lake followed by melon. On the way back I opted to walk through the cycle lanes and it was very pretty. The bike trail got narrower and narrower until I was certain we had taken the wrong turning. Then again maybe not. There seemed to be a route across the fields, but Cannelle was traumatised by the cows. She thought they would come to get us, probably born out of the horse experiences in Andorra. It turned out the free roaming cows we had seen were actually behind a fence and it was a pretty uneventful hike back to the town. We got to the train station for the return train, only to be informed that today was a Sunday and subsequently the mid day train didn't exist. Shit. We did see them loading the cars for the shuttle car transport through the mountains, which is one of the only ways across to Bovec in the winter when the passes are all blocked off. We ended up deciding to take the bus, which pissed Cannelle off as we could have taken that from the lake and it would have spared her a calf breaking trek through the mountains. Still, it was a pretty walk. On the way back I made us get off the bus early as I got confused with the directions and that pleased Cannelle even more. She was really aching at this point. At least over the course of the holiday she got fitter and can now comfortably match my walking pace and stamina. I was trying to take things easier at the beginning as I didn't want her to get disillusioned with travelling as being too much hard work and I avoided any of my back breaking, minimal cost saving treks. We went online again and Cannelle's ex Josef was once again stalking our trip. I think it may have been the last time we heard from him, but I am sure I'll be reminded as I re-read my blog. Good job I write these things to chronicle everything that happened to me. Will be a fun read when I'm older and also for our children. Like children's adventure books, where your parents are the stars :-) The lake seemed surrounded by little insect people, kind of like those little pixies in a very clever art installation I once saw at the Royal Academy of Art. Maybe they were onto something. We took some food and chocolate down to the lake and hung out there for the evening while the temperature dropped. There was something moving out in the frigid waters. It looked like something moving slowly. Was it a boat. Was it a duck. No, it was a mental Russian tourist swimming to the island and back in the lake. Brave woman. It sure looked cold when she got out of the water. Oh well. Better her than me.

We packed up the tent in the morning. Four days of camping and we still hadn't noticed it was a little buggered yet. 'El Crappo' was holding up well. We got a pizza burek and an apple burek for breakfast and hopped on a bus to Ljubljana. Our camera could already tell us what was worth seeing, having taken his little side trip. He didn't take any photos while he was there. I guess everyone likes to take a break from their job when travelling. Even the support equipment. In a concession to Cannelle (and a good idea of hers) we took a bus to Lana's house. You had to buy an equivalent of an oyster pass for 2 euros but they told me we could get a refund when we left. Lana was our second and final couchsurfer of the trip. The Balkans are difficult to find hosts in and after the Balkans we realised we didn't need to couchsurf. She lived in a nice small apartment with her boyfriend and three cats. The cats were big with strong personalities and fun to have around. She had just taken exams for art school and her boyfriend was taking his finals for his computing course at uni, so everyone was ready to celebrate the end of an intense few weeks. We headed out in the day on our own to see the city. Its a pretty little town. We winded through the cobbled streets, saw padlocks on the bridge (a disappointment as we thought Odessa was the only place to have it and in the end we didn't put a padlock anywhere. Shame). We went up to the castle and up the watchtower to see the city. Its still reasonably green, but the video was excruciatingly boring. Skip it. Save yourself. Both of us almost fell asleep with the crappy 3D. I don't understand the obsession with 3D. Why would I want to pay extra to have stupid plastic looking shit unrealistically float towards me across the screen. Its a total waste of time. Afterwards we headed to Park Tivoili and on the way passed a cool looking outdoor bar. They have a full range of unique bars in the city and it looks like a cool place to hang out for some time. The art gallery was shut, but there was a photography exhibition running through the park. We went to a cafe overlooking a little pond and chilled out there. We also had a monster, delicious burger opposite the railway station. Highly recommended for any backpackers. We came back to the flat and offered to help Lana cook. She did a really cool banana cake, but forgot the sugar so it was naturally sweet (Oh yeah we had an awesome tiramisu when we stayed in the Lakes), I somehow managed to churn cream into butter so that didn't help. Well at least I know how butter is made now. Its made from incompetent pastry chefs like me whisking too much. After the dinner, which was a lovely caribbean curry, we headed off to a bar. As luck would have it, it was the bar we had walked by that morning and it was as cool as we had suspected. It was playing a cool jazz jam session and we joined some of Lana's friends including some friends of the musicians. It was a nice outdoor garden and we bought them some drinks for their hospitality in letting us stay with them. It was a really cool, if too short time and we'd like them to come to our wedding. One of the other girls was off to a horror film festival in the mountains dressed as vampires. Sounded cool, but we were on a tight schedule for this trip. Looking forward to South East Asia when we can cruise along again and see how we feel. Even better after Oz as we will travel only with money concerns and time is no object for us. They were big fans of English comedy series so I introduced them to Garth Marenghi's Dark Place, which they loved and we got to bed around 1am.

We were up early again to take the train towards the UNESCO Skocjan Caves. This country was top class so far. The train was leaving at 7.15am and the tourist office opened at 7am. It was a brisk run to the platform. Cannelle told me to forget about getting the 2 euros back, but I am a super gypo. I anxiously waited outside the office. 7.01 am still not open. Bastards. 7.05 the man arrived with his bicycle. I accosted him and got him to refund our 2 or 4 euros, before running to the platform where Cannelle had kept the train waiting. Sometimes gambles are worth taking. I still hadn't ever missed a transport on holiday, except for the bus in Cuenca when I was horribly drunk beyond all recognition. Ah trains. They are so much better than buses and I missed them a lot on South America. It would be nice to have a train trip down to the caves, except there was a problem with the lines and halfway we would have to change to a bus. Fuck sake. It started to rain really hard. Oh well at least it was for the day we were in the caves. The bus connected with another bus and we were eventually at the park. There were tours of the cave in Italian, German and English. French and Spanish are kind of useless in former Yugoslavia. Well Spanish works with the Italian. We were debating whether to do two caves or one and Cannelle didn't fancy doing both, but then they closed one due to the rain and we had no choice anyway. The caves are very impressive. I can't remember exactly, but I think Carlsblad Caverns in Texas were better, but these were really good. The highlight was the huge cavern in the middle with an underground river cutting it in two, a bridge spanning the chasm and remnants of the vertigo inducing old route the miners and earliest tourists used to have to take to pass through. There was a stupid French family who took a push chair through the caves. Not only is that difficult, but it becomes impossible on the way out where you have to go through a turnstyle. No photography was premitted, so we have no visual record. Its a shame as Slovenia looks awesome on our photos and if you factor in that two of the best places don't even have photos you can imagine how impressive this country is. The elevator was broken so we had to take the walkway back. I would recommend it anyway as it winds through some lovely scenery and past a waterfall. We almost snuck onto the second walk by accident (or design) until some random woman stopped me. We had to wait an hour at the top for the free bus back to the town, but eventually it came and we had to wait for the even more expensive bus to Piran on the coast. We were heading there and then going to cross into Istria in Croatia. Well at least we thought we were. There are no well timed buses over the border and we would lose a whole day if we waited. Having arrived in the town and set up the tent a nice walk down the coast we took a look around the town. Its pretty, but nothing special. Not worth going out of your way for. The old port is nice and we had pizza and strudel for dinner. Cannelle went for a swim, but we had a problem of protecting valuables which would be with us for most of the trip. Maybe we would be trapped here. We had a disagreement over what we should do and why we even came here, but in the end the most time saving option was to go back to Ljubljana and then take a train to Zagreb. It meant we missed Istria but we can always do it next time we go back to former Yugoslavia as we surely will.

We grabbed a strudel in the morning waiting for the bus and I drowned my phone in the sea. That'll teach him. For some reason I flipped it out of my pocket, went all butter fingers and it slipped through them into the sea, where it bounced off some rocks before settling near the bottom. By careful inspection it could be seen, lying open in a small pool of water, drowning and being surrounded by a fierce rat. A sad way to go. The funeral was lovely. We got the same shitty, expensive bus back to the capital, grabbed one of those awesome burgers (the only plus for coming back) and took a train to Zagreb. Slidy head rests. Awesome. They should bring them back in Western Europe. Onwards to Croatia and one of my two most anticipated countries.