Kobarid to Kranjska Gora and surrounds

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We departed Kobarid in much better weather than the previous day. Our first stop on the way to Kranjska Gora was Slap (waterfall) Virje. We turned off the main road onto a small trail which drove through a golf course and then into a small town. We weren’t quite sure we were going in the right direction but eventually encountered a couple of people walking the same direction we were heading and then saw a sign pointing to a car park.

From the car park it was about a five minute walk downhill before we reached the beautiful waterfall. The waterfall was quite strange as the flow splits in two just before it drops off the edge. This creates a dual waterfall with blue ponds, which are connected by shallower water, at the base of each.

After taking some photos and walking back up the hill we hopped into the car and headed off towards the Great Soča Gorge (sometimes called the Grand Canyon of Soča). Along the way we drove through Bovec which was quite a cute town. When looking for places to stay in the Soča Valley I’d been tossing up between Kobarid and Bovec; Kobarid was lovely but having now seen Bovec I think I probably would have chosen Bovec instead.

Not long after Bovec we reached the turn off to the Great Soča Gorge. At the turn we were told to wain a minute because they were filming something. Eventually we were allowed to continue for about 30 seconds before we were stopped again. At this point we realised that the gorge was crawling with actors dressed in old clothes and crew.

We were eventually given the go ahead to drive through the crowd so made our way slowly along the road trying not to run over crew who didn’t seem to notice the car trying to drive through. After driving for a while past heaps of vehicles, a catering truck and other facilities we decided that it wouldn’t be very peaceful or enjoyable to visit the gorge when it was like this.

We were again halted by traffic control when we tried to turn around. After waiting for about 5 to 10 minutes we were finally given the go ahead to head back the way we came (again trying not to run anyone over). Apparently they were filming an American TV series...who knows, we might get to see the gorge in a TV show sometime soon.

From the gorge we continued on our way to Kranjska Gora, via Trenta (so that we wouldn’t cross into Austria). The drive was quite slow as we ascended the mountain via switchback after switchback. The scenery was absolutely spectacular; the autumn leaves, impressive mountains and green valley below were breathtaking.

Eventually we reached a viewpoint at the location of a military cable line built in 1915. The foundations for it were perched on top of a hill which had been turned into a viewpoint. We stopped the car and headed out into the very chilly weather (6 degrees, not accounting for the windchill which made it far far colder than that!) and walked a short distance to admire the view over the valley below. We didn’t stop for long as it was quite cold, particularly for Scott who was wearing shorts…

After our short stop the stunning drive continued. We eventually reached another viewpoint where we stopped once again to admire the scenery. It wasn’t quite so windy at this stop so we stayed a little longer before heading back to the car to continue our trip to Kranjska Gora.

The drive down the other side of the mountain was just as stunning. Eventually the descent slowed and the road became straighter. Along the way we passed some cyclists riding uphill; it did not look like fun at all!

The sun was shining as we arrived into Kranjska Gora, our home for the night. Kranjska Gora is an alpine resort which is known for skiing in the winter and hiking during the summer. It’s in a pretty location on a plain with mountains surrounding it.

On the way into the town we drove past Jezero Jasna, which are a series of beautiful bright blue-green pools surrounded by park. We had hoped to have lunch in the sunshine while admiring the view but unfortunately the cafe wasn’t serving meals.

We chose a pizza restaurant for lunch instead. We shared a pizza and an apple strudel. The pizza was better than the one in Kobarid, but still not as good as DOC in Melbourne! The apple strudel however was absolutely delicious.

After lunch our first destination was Zelenci Lake which is just outside Kranjska Gora. We parked our car by the side of the road and then quickly headed in the direction of the lake to try and beat the busload of school kids which arrived just before us.

After a 5 minute walk, mostly on boardwalk aside from a short section through the forest, we arrived at the lake. Fortunately we had the place to ourselves for about 10 minutes so could take photos and admire the beautiful clear blue-green water before the school kids arrived. We departed not long after the arrived as the peace and quiet was definitely destroyed by their arrival.

From Zelenci Lake we headed in what we thought was the direction of Martuljek, however realised we were headed in the opposite direction when google maps took us on a rather elaborate u-turn through a pretty little town. After our u-turn we were back on the right track and after about 10 minutes we reached Martuljek.

It took us a little while to find the start point for the walk to Martuljek falls (Martuljški slapovi); particularly as google maps directed us down a track which would have required us to drive through the river… We didn’t think our car was up to it so after a bit of looking around we realised we were close to the right spot and parked our car.

From the car it was a fairly easy walk through the forest and then up hill before we reached the first of the Martuljek falls. The walk was beautiful and the falls were spectacular. We opted not to attempt to reach the second of the falls as we’d read that it pretty much requires rock climbing equipment. After admiring the falls for a while we headed back out the same way.

About half way along the track on the way out we came across a 70 year old British couple who had just finished the walk to the second waterfall. They said that the track was horrible which made us feel a bit better for chickening out / slack that 70 year olds attempted it but we didn’t!

We reached our car about an hour after we’d left it. After waiting for a concrete truck to move out of the way so that we could leave the car park we headed to our hotel to check in. After checking in we went for a wander through the town to buy some yogurt for breakfast the following morning.

That night for dinner Scott selected Kranjska Gora’s finest Chinese restaurant, Šanghai. Given that we hadn’t even seen soy sauce for sale in supermarkets I wasn’t that keen on it, but Scott needed his fix of Asian food. We ordered Sichuan chicken (spicy) and green pepper chicken as well as some rice. The food was pretty much as expected; definitely not spicy and not amazing but not terrible.

The drive to Kranjska Gora was spectacular and the area around the town is really beautiful. It probably would have been nice to have another night in the area so that we could do some of the other hikes in the area as there were heaps of trails and everything seemed to be well signed.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Waterfalls and amazing countryside
So lovely- thanks for taking us along.