Slovenia part 2

So on the 16^th August we crossed the border to Slovenia using our passports for the first time. It was entertaining as we drove to the crossing and the first section was empty and then we found a booth with a man in so we duly handed over our new passports and off we drove only to be hollered down by an overweight man in a second booth (we had assumed he was for vehicles coming the other way) who said he was Slovenia and needed to see our passports as well as the guy in the earlier box who was Croatia!

Anyway we managed to get through it all unscathed and we headed further up north into the woods where we had planned to do some walks in the very scarce hope of seeing some bears. Once we arrived at the woods it was late afternoon and it was chucking it down so we decided to clean the van and sort some things out until it stopped…. Turns out it didn’t stop raining all night and once the thunder and lightning started we knew we weren’t going anywhere that day. we hunkered down and watched a film, jumping occasionally when the storm got too close.  

  

The next morning we got up early and decided that as the weather was potentially going to be crap again that we would head into the capital city Ljubljana to explore. At least there we could dive into coffee houses when the rain became too much. There was a camper stop just outside the centre and when we got there it started to clear up and we jumped on the bikes and headed into the city. In the centre I decided it was breakfast time and we managed to find somewhere that served an English breakfast which was soo good, although their definition of baked beans needs some work. Then we headed into the old town, passed an old bordello and up to the castle on the hill. It was a very old castle and we had a good walk around it admiring the views, the old foundations and some art which was in a temporary exhibition. We then headed back down the hill and around the old town and all the bridges, including dragon bridge. We spent a while walking and cycling around the town and went to a café that didn’t charge you for what you ate or drank, just for the time in there. We seemed to have managed to avoid the rain all day but decided to call it a night before pushing our luck too much. 

The following morning we checked the weather again and as it was due to rain for most of the day so we decided to head to the area, Rogaška Slatina which is famous for all its thermal spas and spend the day relaxing. We went to Olima which is one of the most famous ones but we were a little disappointed. It was just like a public swimming pool, with unhealthy lunch options, but the water was warm and nice and there were different areas to swim in, including deep hot tubs, warm pool chairs, outdoor and indoor pools which were connected by a swim tunnel. A second set of pools were out of action when we went as it was under construction.  After a whole day relaxing in the spa we headed to a local chocolate factory and bought some chocolate before heading back west to a camper stop in Celje.

The next day we headed west again towards the lakes but due to the rain we decided to take it slow and stop in Ljubljana for some lunch (horse burgers, I wasn’t a fan) and a bit of shopping before arriving in Tržič which was 30 minutes outside of lake bled. While there we organised a trip to go rafting and Canyoning but due to the rain we didn’t do much else. However the camper stop did provide free electricity which made us happy and meant we could have long hot showers again.

The next morning we drove to Vintgar gorge and walked the 1.6km trail through the gorge which was lovey but by the time we were walking back there were a lot of people arriving, so we were glad to get there early. We then had to try and get the camper out of a spot which was a little tight and a wrong move could involve slipping down a hill. Eventually, and with the help from a dutch couple we managed to get the van out and headed to lake bled where we walked around the castle, again on a hill, and then around the lake. While walking around the lake we found a toboggan trail which you got to by taking a chair lift to the top of the hill and then the toboggan back down. Rich was very excited about this so I decided to go along with it. I instantly regretted it as the chair lift took us high up the hill and scared the hell out of me. Once up there I thought at least it’s only a little toboggan down but boy was I wrong, it was more like a little rollercoaster and definitely the scariest toboggan I have been on. It got some decent speed up and there were section that seemed to go vertically down. I was glad when I was safely on the bottom of the hill. We carried on around the lake before hiking back up the hill to the car  to head back to where we had stayed the previous night. 

The next morning we had to get up early as we had a long day of rafting and Canyoning planned. We got to Lake bled at 8 (and struggled to find suitable parking for the motorhome for all day) before heading off for the adventures. Little did we know that the first section was an hour and a half drive to the river Soco, which involved crossing the Italian bored and back into Slovenia. Once there we quickly got dressed into our gear next to the road and carried the raft down to the river where we were given brief instructions and off we went. There were 6 of us in total, 4 from Malta and Rich and I. We were soon flying down the river which was a lovely green colour with our instructor shouting directions and telling us about the local area. We continued on the river for about 8km which took over an hour. No one decided to swim (it was far too cold for that, even with the wetsuits on) or fell in and once we finished got dressed at the side of the road again and headed to the local town for lunch and some hot drinks. 

Once we had warmed up we headed back down into the canyon where we suited up again (this time in the car park) and we walked down towards another section of the Soco river which we had to walk across in a crab like way as a group of 3. It was entertaining to watch and made the walk across easy for everyone. Once across we had a 30 minute climb to the top of the canyon where we would be beginning our trip from. On the way up we spotted a snake, which Rich also spotted, finally he has seen a snake while travelling! Due to all the recent rain we were not able to abseil down the largest waterfall (50m), darn it (thank god!) so instead we climbed a short way down before abseiling down a lower one, which was only 20m. 

We carried on in the gorge and abseiled down another couple of water falls before arriving at some sections where you could jump. Being a total wimp I decided to abseil them rather than jump but Rich jumped all of them, even the one surrounded by other rocks. We continued on the path until we reached the bottom and had to cross the river again (this time the second group swam parts of the river, rather than doing the crab walk). We then headed back to Lake Bled in the van and once back we jumped into the camper and headed for Lake Bohinj which is close to Lake Bled but was where Rich wanted to start a mountain walk from the next day. Unfortunately the campsite we were set to stay at was closed (even though it didn’t say this online and was supposed to be open until the end of the month) so we had to free camp near the lake for the evening and change our plans. Rich didn’t do the walk the next day; instead we got on our bikes and cycled the 18km trail around the lake. Once back in the van we were planning what to do when a parking attendant decided we were parked illegally (there were no signs and several cars and vans parked) and instead of telling us put a parking ticket on the van. So off we headed back to Lake Bled which was far nicer and managed to get some washing done in the local laundrette before heading back to Tržič for a third night and our last night in Slovenia as we planned to head to Austria the next day.