As we were getting pretty close to the end of my 90 days in the Schengen zone, we spent a bit of time considering whether we really should go to Slovenia or if we should just cycle through on the fastest route (translation: we got up one morning and discussed it for 30 minutes before we left the hotel). Notwithstanding that the timing was not really ideal, the allure of spectacular scenery was a bit too tempting and we determined that we could probably see a bit (if certainly not everything we would have liked to) if we took a few trains in country in order to speed up some of the sections. So, we took a train from the Italian border at Novo Garicia up to Lake Bled and from Lake Bled to Ljubljana. While this did cut out a couple of big cycling chunks and free up time, it turns out that “just putting the bikes on a train” was not exactly the simple exercise we had initially anticipated. Loading a fully kitted out touring bike onto a Slovenian train with no ramps (think about a metre to lift a 40kg bike between us), no assistance and no space to fit the bikes, supervised by a surly Slovenian ticket master doing nothing (but suggesting helpfully that we move faster) and a train conductor blowing the horn and starting to move out of the station, is just a touch stressful. I am suspicious that this is the touring cyclist gods’ retribution for our not actually bothering to cycle these sections.
Our first stop in Slovenia was Lake Bled. Admittedly, I was unsure of whether I would actually enjoy Lake Bled given that it is basically the picture postcard destination of Slovenia. While this does not, alone, seem like a good reason to be sceptical of a place, my particular scepticism arose from being somewhat convinced that the no doubt lovely scenery displayed in said postcards would be ruined by aggressive landscaping in the form of massive hotels around the lake and overshadowed by the hordes of tourists taking gram-worthy photos (clearly, I would prefer to be the only tourist taking gram-worthy photos in any picturesque destination we visit). Not so. Lake Bled was actually quite charming. There were only a couple of big hotels and these did not really overshadow the lake. There also really were not an overwhelming number of people about (particularly noteworthy given that we were there on a holiday weekend).
We spent our day at Lake Bled hiking to the viewpoint from which everyone takes a picture – not exactly original, but the views really are that sensational – and swimming to the island with the church in the middle of the lake. On agreeing to embark upon this swim, I gamely entered the water, following which, I proceeded to flop about and flail wildly while using what breath I had to complain to Thomas that I really am not much of a swimmer (so, why am I doing this again?). He, helpfully, responded that (i) said breath would really be rather better used to focus on swimming; and (ii) I had told him earlier in the day that I was really not a runner anymore (given a very old knee injury that seems to now be a fixed state) and I constantly inform him on this trip that I am not a cyclist. As such, given that I also now appeared to be not much of a swimmer – what exactly do I do? Nice. Anyway, the swim was invigorating and the waters were absolutely the most crystal clear I had ever seen, so it was worth it.
That said, it was still necessary to recover with a visit to a bakery for the famed Bled cream cakes. For those kiwis out there, these are basically a custard square with a layer of cream on top and neither Tom, nor I, were really convinced that they were better than the slices from the corner shop we had enjoyed growing up. We also had some weird poppy seed, ricotta, date, sultana, walnut cake thing (these were just the items I could identify), which was quite exceptional and sat like an absolute brick in the stomach (Thomas needed a nap after consuming this delicacy). This was, admittedly, a somewhat less than auspicious start to my resolution to engage in more healthy living in Slovenia after all our eating and cocktail consumption in Italy. Unfortunately, this resolution was further undermined by the truffle burger and fries I managed to consume for dinner later in the evening (the BEST truffle burger ever) and the discovery that Slovenia actually produces some very excellent wine (we frequented a great vinoteca in Bled and had an merlot that tasted of mushrooms and a very sour Tehran – both exceptional). Suffice to say, while we did not try any restaurants selling local cuisine, we approved of the Bled food scene in a more general sense.
One of the major activities in Slovenia is hiking and the place to do this is Triglav National Park (a recommendation received from basically anyone we met on the trip that had visited Slovenia). Accordingly, the next day, we duly cycled over to Lake Bohinj in Triglav. We were not disappointed. If we thought that the waters of Lake Bled were crystal clear, the rivers and the lakes of Triglav were even better. We set up camp and started investigating a hike in the park. It is somewhat of a challenge getting in touch with a hut in Slovenia as the system is not particularly organized and we did not really find much useful information on routes. However, we eventually did manage to book a couple of huts and vaguely determined that: (i) yes, it was indeed possible, weather permitting, to hike to the summit of Mount Triglav (the highest peak in the eponymous park) from said huts; (ii) no, it was not absolutely necessary that we wear harnesses while doing so; and (iii) yes, if we left our tent set up with our stuff inside at the campsite by the lake and locked our bikes to a tree, it was fairly likely our things would still be there when we got back. Clearly this was the best information we were going to get – so we were ready to go!
In order to hike to Mount Triglav, we started with the Seven Lakes walk and carried on over a pass to Dolicu hut. This first day of walking was hands down one of the most stunning hikes we have done and the variation in scenery was quite epic. The walk started with an incredibly direct climb up the cliffs around Lake Bohinj through pine forest. On reaching the first lake of the trip, one continues through alpine valleys strewn with flowers and surrounded by pine groves and soaring peaks. As we climbed further, the landscape became desolate with craggy summits, scree paths, very little vegetation and absolutely awe-inspiring views. By the end of the first day, we were exhausted and the weather had started to pack it in, so, as we rounded the corner to where our first hut was meant to be, we were very excited to see it emerge out of the clouds seemingly hanging off the edge of a cliff. We were even more excited that they appeared to have our reservation and were serving warm goulash and pancakes for dinner.
A side note on Slovenian huts. In New Zealand a mountain hut typically includes some plastic mattresses in a bunkroom, a wood fire, running water (which may or may not be drinkable without treatment) and some form of long drop toilet outside. You are always required to bring your bedding, your food and utensils and, almost always, your cooking stove and gas. Not so in Slovenia. In Slovenia the huts are staffed and you can buy food on the mountain. While the toilets still leave something to be desired, the ability to purchase food and a glass of wine at the end of a day trekking was not something we hated.
On day two, we were meant to try and summit Mount Triglav. On some routes up, there is a via ferrata onto which it is possible to clip yourself if you have the requisite harness and carabiners (as noted above, we did not). This was not required though, and, on the route that we ascended, would not really have made much sense anyway as there was not a lot of cable onto which to clip. We made it to the top after a lot of scrambling, some climbing, and some relatively limited panicking on my part (well done me!). On reaching the summit, we decided that we wanted to go down the via ferrata route and did so hanging onto the cables with relative ease. I include some pictures of this below – it was quite stunning.
Admittedly, the rest of the day just seemed kind of long, as the scenery, while lovely, was a bit more repetitive. This was added to by our determining to take a different route back and actually summiting Mount Kanjavec on the way to the hut on the second night in pretty much no visibility and rain. That said, the views from the hut were worth it. What was not worth it was the fact that there was no running water at the hut and I was required to walk 20 minutes to a lake or pay €4.50 per litre bottle (WTF Slovenian parks – €26 per person for a bed and no running water? Not cool).
On making it back to Lake Bohinj on day three and, happily, finding our belongings as we had left them, we determined that our joints and muscles were not what they once were after all that hiking and I proceeded to limp about for the next four days.
The rest of our time in Slovenia was much more relaxed. We were lucky enough to get in touch with an incredibly generous warm showers host in Ljubljana who let us stay in her apartment for three nights while she was away and we proceeded to happily relax, check out Ljubljana, tinker with the bikes (new brake pads for me), buy Thomas new shoes (his trainers were completely done after our hike), and eat a lot of burek (stodgy filo pastry with a meat or cheese filling and coupled with a yoghurt drink for under two Euros should really not be missed).
Finally, we determined that we really should get to the border before my visa free status expired and took off on the most direct route south. Quite a few kilometres and a few hills later (somewhat of a foreshadowing of our time in the Balkans generally), we made it to Ilirska Bistrica, about 12km from the Croatian border. This is worth a mention solely due to our warm showers hosts. Fidele and Neta live in an incredible hilltop cabin and agreed to host us for a night. Fidele will be 80 next year and they both do extended cycle tours around Europe on custom electric bikes built by Fidele. Last year, they did over 1,000km from Switzerland to the Netherlands and this year (prior to COVID), they were meant to do 4,000km around France! We were treated to an amazing dinner and breakfast, put up in their lovely house and sent on our way to the border in the morning well fed, well rested and incredibly impressed with their absolutely amazing energy.
In any event, Slovenia was a very short stop on this tour – but from our perspective incredibly worthwhile. The nature there was so stunning that basically nothing much else mattered and we were very glad that we rushed a bit in order to fit in this visit.
August 2020