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Published: August 15th 2009
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After a few days exploring the Soca River, we decided to head back over the mountain pass for a bit of R&R at Lake Bohinj.
We decided to bypass the famous Lake Bled and drive a further 20km on to stay at the Bohinj Lake which is less developed. This turned out to be a great move as Bohinj Lake definitely suited us better. We stayed at the campground at the edge of the lake and managed to get a pitch not too far from the water.
Lake Bohinj is an extremely deep lake at 520 metres! Crikey, imagine the scary fish lurking down there. The depth gives the lake an amazing dark blue colour with a ring of emerald around the shallower edge. The water is fantastic for swimming. Pretty cold (being surrounded by mountains) but so refreshing - it is has been at least 26 degrees everyday so we have spent many hours lying down on the beach and being sloth-like in the sun.
Apart from sunbathing and swimming, we wandered along the lake edge and did an hours hike up to, yes, you guessed it… another waterfall. I know it sounds like we are a
little obsessed but there are just so many of them over here - seems a bit rude not to visit! This one was nice enough but not outstanding compared to others we have seen. We have pretty high expectations now. How sad is that?!
We also decided to take a walk to find the spot where the alpine river flows into the lake. Chris decided we should take the first path. I disagreed, but after my map reading skills I guess he has lost a little faith in my navigation ability. The trail continued through the bush until it was a very narrow path through the undergrowth - only about 20 centimetres wide. After seeing a thin black snake slithering around in the Lutherbrennen Valley, I have become slightly paranoid about snakes. Apparently this has also rubbed off on Chris. As we continued along the path, we had managed to convince ourselves that every stick or vine was a verminous snake laying in wait, poised to strike at our ankles.
I was made to lead the way because my shoes “offered greater protection against bites” compared to Chris’s jandals. After about five minutes I turned back
to find that my 6ft 3in boyfriend had fashioned a ‘snake protection’ skirt out of his towel which he wore as he stepped gently along the path. What a sight!
We finally made it to the area where the river meets the lake and not surprisingly, we were on the wrong side. We had the choice of walking back down through ‘snake alley’ or crossing the river. Apparently Chris wasn’t too keen to meet the local reptiles because he immediately jumped down the bank into the river.
Thus began one very painful experience. The water had travelled straight down from the waterfall and the mountains so you can only imagine how cold it was. For Chris, the depth wasn’t too much of a problem but the water came up to my waist, so yes, there was swearing and cursing as our bodies became completely numb. I have never felt so cold my life - after about 10 seconds the numbness became painful. It wouldn’t have been so bad if we were the only ones to witness our stupidity but unfortunately a few other couples were lying on the other side of the river and they found it all
pretty entertaining. Shameful!
We caught a bus into Lake Bled today and took a nice civilised walk around the lake (no snakes there!) and had a peek into a few of the shops. Loads of people were swimming in the lake (there were loads of Kiwis and Aussies - was Contiki in town?) and it was pretty busy at all the good swimming spots. It is certainly a very pretty place. The island and the church are lovely but somehow Bled came as a bit of a let down. The lakeside town is a bit marred by some really ugly architecture and the casino definitely makes the place seem a bit tacky. I don’t know, it all just seemed a little bit soulless compared to other places we have been. Just our opinion, I know there are loads of other blogs raving about the place!
And so this ends our little holiday at the lakes. We were meant to be heading down to Croatia tomorrow but we know how busy it will be down there at the moment. We tried to book a campground in advance but the guy refused to take phone reservations. In such busy
times he didn’t seem to encourage our business. So we have decided to head north once again and go somewhere completely different. It’s time we checked out at least one new city this summer. We’re off to Vienna!
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Talea Dobbs
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grrr u have a tan no fair anna :( hehe hope all is well its looking like u are having a great time :) love u guys xx