Slo Time

Kate and Ada came back from their last brief visit to Ljubljana raving about the city so we decided to spend a week there roaming the countryside and doing some rock climbing.

Dinner and the view at our accommodation at Vransko

We caught a train from Budapest to Vienna where Kate was able to catch up with Danielle, her roommate from yoga teacher training.  We picked up a hire car in Austria because we were going to fly out of Vienna and set off for on the short drive to the Slovenian border.

Ada raking the fodder as Urosh swings the scyth

Now I was broadly aware of the “sticker system” that exists in a few European countries, in essence a road tax.  Switzerland and Slovakia both have systems where you stop at a toll booth and buy a sticker to cover the duration of your stay in the country. I didn’t pay a lot of attention when we crossed the border but I did notice a sign which looked to indicate the cost of the car tax.

The farm buildings at Vransko

A few km down the road I was flagged over by some uniformed people.  They informed me in Slovenian that I needed a sticker which was 30 Euro.  This was all okay until she have me a notice that included a 165 Euro fine showing me a picture of “Toll Sign”. 

The Ljubljanica River

One skill you develop in India is the ability to yell at uniformed people in authority and I used this skill to the fullest extent.  In my non-existent Slovenian I pointed out that their signage was crap and that “I wasn’t f….ing Luke Skywalker, the Force was not strong in me and I couldn’t read people’s f…ing minds”.  She stared at me blankly although the Luke Skywalker bit got a little laugh from her colleagues.  Kate came out to check that I wasn’t going to be pepper sprayed, I paid my fine and went back to the car.  Welcome to Slovenia!

Speaking to others it seems our experience at the border is not uncommon and the lack of clear signage combined with the significant fine seems like a scam.

The view from the Castle

Things didn’t get any better when each of three climbing stores in Celje told me that the Slovenian climbing guide was out of print and that it would be hard to find a copy.  Two things lightened my mood, the fourth store had a copy of the guide and our Air BnB for that evening proved to be excellent. 

We were welcomed by our hosts and their two dogs Simba and Schwek at their house in the hills above Vransko.  They led a real subsistence life style with 15 goslings, 100 baby rabbits and about the same number of free range chickens all destined for the pot.  Along were the goats that were milked daily for my breakfast along with some fresh eggs for scrambling to be served with some local bread.

Ladies chatting in Lujblijana

Ada was in her element with all the animals and she loved the twice daily routine of feeding them and cleaning out their pens. Our days were spent climbing or searching for climbing locations with the routine being broken with a afternoon trip to Ljubljana.

After a couple of days we moved onto Ljubljana via the caves at Postjana and a long lunch with Jonothan and Swayi, good friends from Mumbai, who were also holidaying in Slovenia.

Kate and Ada took great delight in showing me the sights of Ljubljana given they had the benefit of their stay the previous year.  The City lived up to their rave reviews with its easy access, great running and relaxing lifestyle.

One of the great things about Slovenia is that it is small and the roads are excellent so it takes no time to travel within the country.  Our next stop was Lake Bled near the Stein Alps.  The Lake was beautiful, and there was some climbing in the area albeit a little mixed.  

We stayed in the village of Zasip just on the outskirts of Bled in a small traditional house that had been recently renovated. In between climbs, we enjoyed some lovely walks in the hills surrounding the town with Kate and I getting in run around the Lake each morning.

Ada and Lake Bled

During the days we ventured up to Bohinj where there was a second lake and a series of smaller traditional villages.  There was some good climbing around the town, markets for Kate and Ada went for a trail ride with a stable that had Icelandic horses.

Kate loves a good farmers market, this one in Stara Fuzina near Bohinj did not disappoint

Trieste Harbour just near the rowing club

I was concerned that I was yet to see the best of Slovenian climbing so we cut our time in Bled short by a day and drove from the north to the south of Slovenia in 90 minutes to the Crni Kal/Osp climbing area on the Gulf of Trieste.  

This fish shop was near our Hotel and open for a few hours each morning

That night we stayed at a lovely little Hotel in Trieste*, a great city, small and easy to access with a real mix of traditional Italy combined with a strong bohemian undercurrent.

* http://www.alberonascosto.it

Lucky Kate still eats fish...sometimes!

This made for some great vego/ovo/lacto cafes for Kate and a lively bar scene.

Trieste has a very mixed history, Roman then Venetian before being the main port for the Austro Hungarian Empire for 400 years.  It only became part of Italy in 1919 after World War 1.

Roman Theatre in Trietse built between the 1st and 2nd century

This left with a real mix of central European and Italian influences which, combined with a lack of tourists and its position on the Adriatic with a major port, gave it a cultured but slightly grungy feel.

We were only in Trieste a night but we could happily go back and base ourselves there while getting some more climbing in at Crni Kal and exploring Osp

Italian trenches near Kobarid

Our last stop was in Kobarid it the Julian Alps where we stayed in an apartment in Hemingway House. It is reputed to have been the billet of Ernest Hemingway when he served in the Italian Army in an ambulance detachment which served as the basis for his book A Farewell to Arms.

The Kozjak waterfall near Kobarid

Kobarid and Bovec were the focal point of the Italian Austrian Front front which was the site of the 13 major battles over three years between the Italains and the Austro-Hungarians and Germans. It was a major disaster for the Italian Army who lost over 850,000 men. Much of the fighting was at high altitude, over 2000m with opposing trench systems on  steep snow covered ridges. On 13 December 1916, known as 'White Friday', 10,000 soldiers were killed by avalanches in the Dolomites.

Ada on a suspension bridge over the Soca River.
She was bouncing on the bridge trying to scare Kate
and only stopped long enough for me to take this photo

Kobarid had an active adventure scene, based around the Soca River.  The clear blue water and the limestone riverbed are a famous white water kayaking and rafting site and the surrounding hills entertain road bikers, mountain bikers and parapenters. 

The canyon below Kozjak falls

There was some great morning runs, swims in the river and interesting walks through old trench systems, over suspension bridges and past waterfalls.  Ada and I did some kayaking on the river.

Ada and I cruising on a small lake on the lower Soca

Our time there was short, only two days and two nights and we were sad to leave but the drive out through Bovec, the Dolomites and into Austria was spectacular.  I would like to go back and base ourselves out of Bovec and get some solid white water paddling in on the Soca!

I signed on to a white water kayaking trip for beginners
as it was the only one available.  Not much white water but
a pleasant float down the river

After the initial negative experience with the road tolls, the rest of Slovenia was a delight. The people are friendly and welcoming, the accommodation of good quality and very affordable and there were endless activities which enabled us to enjoy the beauty of the mountains.