Slovenia

Route: Temnica - Nova Gorica - Bohinska Bistrica - Bled - Ljubliana - Slovenska Bistrica - Maribor

On the clock: 2100 kms

Cycling through the border into a new country is always exciting, especially, in Slovenia’s case when it is a country you know very little about. The first thing that struck me about Slovenia was that the landscape looked scorched and semi-desert like, not too dissimilar to the Australian outback. Later I discovered that there had been a serious drought over the summer which had taken away the usual lush greenery of the countryside. There was hardly a soul on the road as I reached the village of Brestavica just over the border. I stopped for a look at my map, trying to figure out the best way to the tiny village of Temnica where a Warm Showers host was waiting for me. I opted for the road via Sala na Krasu and Vojscica.

Abandoned border checkpoint

I’m sure I've used the term “brutal climb” several times in my blogs so I’m not too sure how to categorise the monster that was waiting for me on the road to Sala na Krasu. It’s hard to know the exact gradient but it was for the most part around 25%: one of the steepest climbs I’ve ever tackled. The only thing for it was getting up out the saddle and slowly zigzagging side to side. Before long, I was pretty high up the mountain. All around was deadly silent, total stillness. The view was spectacular and I could see Slovenia was a very beautiful country indeed. At the turn of every hairpin, when I thought the summit must surely be in sight, I was met with another laughably steep climb. I made it to the small village of Sala na Krasu and having ran out of water, stopped in at the first house I came to to get filled up. The old couple who filled my bottle gave me a pat on the back for getting up the hill and offered me some local wine. I liked Slovenia already!

View from Sala na Krasu




I was surprised and a little apprehensive to learn that Slovenia had a brown bear population of around 500 to 700. Everyone I spoke to however assured me there was absolutely nothing to worry about. The bears hunt only occasionally and don't consider humans as potential prey so they never stalk humans with an intention to hunt them. In an encounter with a human being the bear feels above all, threatened and tends to withdraw from the situation as soon as possible, So in many ways man and bear probably feel the same in an encounter with each other. 

Just to be clear.... I didn't take this photo!

I carried along beautiful mountain roads to Vojscica and then eventually to Temnica, arriving just as the sun was setting. This tiny mountain village offered panoramic views of the surrounding countryside as well as Slovenia and Italy’s stretch of beautiful Adriatic coast. I was welcomed into the garden of Ivo and Irena and straight away couldn’t think of a better place to start my trip in Slovenia. We sat in the garden, talking, drinking local red wine and admiring the view. The atmosphere up here was very special indeed. After dinner, I made my way up to bed and slept like a log.

The view from Ivo and Irena's

Next morning, I awoke to another beautiful but very hot day. We jumped into the car and headed off to see "Pepa's karst garden" a reproduction of a Karst garden which won a prize in the Chelsea flower show. This was worth a look but I was really looking forward to the next part of our daytrip: a guided tour of  Skocjan Caves.

Babet

Pepa's karst garden

The caves are located near Divaca and were included on the UNESCO natural and cultural world heritage sites list in 1986. International scientific circles have thus acknowledged the importance of the caves as one of the natural treasures of Planet Earth. Ranked among the most important caves in the world, the Skocjan caves represent the most significant underground phenomena in both the Karst region and Slovenia.

Sadly Irena couldn’t join us as they wouldn’t let Babet the dog accompany us so Ivo and I headed in on our own. We set off from the ticket office with our multi-lingual tour guides in a group of around 30 and started the 1 kilometre or so walk to the entrance of the cave.  The tour begins in the so-called Silent Cave(named as such because you can’t hear the sound of the Reka River) which contains some fantastic 250,000 year old dripstone formations. You then enter the underground canyon, the sight of which is simply breathtaking. Words can’t really do this experience justice: it simply has to be seen to be believed.

We headed home after stopping in for some local wine. It had been a fantastic day. We spent the evening in the garden again, enjoying the stillness of the night and the welcome cool that comes with the setting sun. Irena took me across the road to see the neighbours vineyard and how the wine is made. Winemaking is very popular here and Slovenia in fact produces some excellent wine. The people in Temnica were so warm and friendly and no-one passed by the garden without stopping for a chat. I had a wonderful time in Temnica thanks to Ivo and Irena’s lovely hospitality and left the village in the best of spirits.

Making prosciutto

The beautiful train ride to Bohinska Bistrica

On Ivo and Irena’s recommendation, I cycled 20 kms to Nova Gorica to take a train North to Lake Bohin. The train was super-cheap and super-easy to get my bike on and off. Arriving 90 minutes later at Bohinska Bistrica I booked in to the Danica campsite in town. The following morning I cycled 10 kms on a beautiful cycle path to Lake Bohin and when I arrived, this is what I saw.......

I left my bike within view, got straight into my bikini and jumped into the crystal clear water. I spent a beautiful morning there alternating between swimming and sunbathing before jumping back on my bike to head for Lake Bled. 

Julian Alps

I made the mistake of going on the mountain road to Bled via Jereka in an attempt to stay off the main(but flat) highway. I had no idea it was going to be such a slog and I spent the next 4 hours climbing into the high mountains. I seriously wasn’t in the mood for this, had ran out of food and could feel a bit of a meltdown coming on. Needless to say................

Waaaaaahhhh!

I pulled myself together and got back on my bike reaching the summit shortly afterwards. From the top of this climb it was all downhill to Bled and I arrived in no time. It was unfortunate however that most of the day had been taken up with 6 km/h climbing as it had left me very little time in Bled. Night was falling so after a token glance at the lake and the consumption of an entire baguette and full packet of Blue cheese I headed back to Ljubliana, 50 kms away.

What goes up...........

Lake Bled: the little island in the middle has a church on it.

In Ljubliana, Slovenia’s capital, Irena who worked there during the week was waiting for me. We headed to her flat right in the city centre as I told her all about my crazy day in the mountains. The following morning I headed out in the rain for a look around Ljubliana. I walked up to the castle for a better view of the city and strolled around the local market. Ljubliana is a charming little place indeed. Most of my day was taken up searching for 2 things: methylated spirits for my stove and a new power cable for my battered but still functioning Hewlett Packard netbook. Neither search was fruitful however but I needed both desperately. That night I had Irena’s dinner ready for her coming in from work then me, her and Babet headed out to a local shopping centre to try and find the elusive items. Eventually we found some meths in a DIY shop but the power cable was still not to be. By a stroke of luck, Irena had found the right size of jack to replace the broken one so the question was now, could the new jack somehow be joined to the rest of the cable......

Ljubljana

View from the castle

I said my goodbyes to Irena the following morning and headed out of town back to the shopping centre. I had been recommended an electronics repair shop called Pro-Elektronika so thought I would give them a try. I left the shop 30 mins later with the power cable fixed, telling the man in the shop that I loved him as soon as he gave me the good news. He only wanted 8 euros for the job so I gave him 10 and thanked him profusely for his help.

Irish coffee and truffles for breakfast courtesy of Irena's neighbour: my kind of breakfast

I made my way out of town to Domzale and then on the main road to Trojane. It was a busy road but as usual, the Slovenian drivers were extremely courteous, patient and gave me plenty of room when overtaking. I arrived in Trojane after 40 kms and on Irena’s recommendation, stopped to try one of the “special cakes” the town was famous for. I was amused to discover that the cakes in question were simply jam donuts with a variety of fillings. I couldn’t eat my donut in peace however due to the many wasps landing on me and had to make a quick getaway.

I got my head down and battled on against a slight headwind, arriving in the city of Celje late afternoon. I then came off the main highway to follow the smaller 430 road through Vojnik and Frankolovo. Stopping for a bite to eat in what I thought was a park, I was a little surprised to see several people walking around in pyjamas. Had I been in the Lidl in Possilpark I wouldn’t have batted an eyelid but it seemed a little out of place here. It didn’t take too long however to realise I was actually sat in the grounds of a psychiatric hospital. I finished my lunch and continued on my way.

After 110 kms, I arrived in the town of Slovenska Konjice and asked some locals how to get to the tiny village of Spodnje Preloge. It was here I would be staying with Warm Showers host Marko. As he was new to Warm Showers and as such, had no references I really wasn’t sure what to expect when I turned up. I rolled into his garden to be greeted by dogs, cats, ducks, some tiny kittens and even a pot-bellied pig. Marko’s Mum then came out to greet me, explaining as best she could that Marko wasn’t home yet. Marko’s parents spoke no English and me no Slovenian but it was clear to see that they were the loveliest people you could meet. Marko turned up shortly afterwards which was a great relief for us all as we needed a translator. I spent a lovely night with the Luso family and was so touched by their kindness. I was also grateful to flop into a freshly-made bed in my room upstairs after a tough days cycle.

Next morning, Veronika, Marko and Marko’s brother had gone to work so it was just me and Marko’s Dad. Tony served me a huge breakfast and I set off feeling lucky to have met such special people. It was then a short day to the city of Maribor, 40 kms away. I booked into the lovely little campsite in Pohorje for 9 euros and got set up. I spent the night productively, getting up to date with my blog and enjoying free wi-fi from the comfort of my tent.

Wouldn't a couple of gnomes have done?

The following morning, it was a 20 km ride with some pretty tough climbing to the Austrian border. It had been a very quick but hugely enjoyable transit through this great little country. I had enjoyed the people and the unspoilt natural beauty of Slovenia very much.  I crossed into Austria for the second time on my trip and started the long cycle North. The nights were getting shorter and the days colder: Winter was on it's way.