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Published: October 11th 2010
The English logo for Slovenia is The words I Feel above sLOVEnia. I definitely felt the love for Slovenia and plan to return someday to continue the adventure.
The trip started with a train ride form Zagreb to Ljubljana, the capital. This is the only time that it has taken me more than a couple of minutes at a border crossing. Since Croatia is not in the Schengen zone, the train stopped and our passports were checked at the border. As my canyoning guide explained later, the reason it took 45 minutes was that the border guards were having some work conflict with the government over wages. No worries, as I got into Ljubljana and to my hostel in plenty of time to explore the city a bit that evening.
Ljubljana is a small city, with an active café culture centered around the river that runs through the center of the old town. Great for browsing around and having a drink. A explored the city and markets thoroughly the next morning and got some great advice on where to go hiking in the country for the next leg of the trip.
Next up was a quick trip to Bled. Very
quaint little town closer to the mountains. Bled is known for its lake with the picturesque island church in the middle. The hostel was wonderful and the owner gave us some great advice on where to go in the area. I spent the day walking through the countryside to Vintgar’s Gorge. It is fall here and the leaves are changing. It was a beautiful walk along the gorge. It reminded me of walking through the Smoky mountains along a stream, but the stream is turquoise blue. On the way back to the hostel that night, I walked around the lake, looking for the perfect view of the island…..I think I decided that they are all perfect!
That night, I followed my Saturday night routine by watching UT football on TV and being disappointed by the outcome. This loss was especially heart breaking! Hoping for better luck next week!
Last stop in Slovenia was around Lake Bohinj. Started off with a canyoning tour of a nearby gorge. We jumped, slid and rappelled our way down the gorge in our thick wetsuits. WHAT A BLAST!!!! Definitely doing this again. It was only a quick 3 hour trip, but I’m hooked! (Sorry
Mom) .
Checked into the hostel and rented a mtn bike to explore the villages around the lake. Didn’t even begin to touch all the great trails in the area. Another reason to go back!
The hostel staff helped me set up a hiking trip into the mountains for the next couple of days. This late in the season, not all of the mountain huts were open, but they found me one where I didn’t need any camping gear and had food for purchase. I started the hike in the sunshine through the forest. Once I started to get above the treeline, though it started to fog up. I made it to the hut just as it started to rain that night.
A hiking club from Israel was at the hut that night and asked me to join them for dinner (very tasty rice and beans), It was fun talking with them (even though some of it was in Hebrew) and hearing their plans to hike to the top of Mt Triglav (the highest point in Slovenia) on their trip. I would have hiked to the top the next morning, except for the constant cold, foggy, drizzle. Pretty miserable
hiking conditions, but I could tell what a gorgeous hike this really could have been in better weather. As I got lower in altitude, the fog cleared. Unfortunately, the rain didn’t stop until I got back to town (figures).
I will go back to Slovenia someday (probably a little earlier in the season) and get to the top of Triglav. I hope the weather cleared enough for the Israelis to plant their flag on top as they planned.
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Ken Lautzenheiser
non-member comment
water
love all the action shots. I can't understand how the water is so clear. it seems to be absolutely pristine. I imagine this is a far cry from Napoli