Slovenia, and a day in Croatia
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Slovenia, wow... What a spectacular country this truly is. This was a new country for us both and after the epic welcoming views early this morning and despite the initial sleepy confusion of finding a spot to figure out our next move somewhere near Bovec, we eventually managed to get our bearings and figured out to head to lake Bohinj. Ellen wanted to go hiking but it was looking like it wasn't going to be quite so easy in this area where we had come into the country. However, we set off after some breakfast and found a cool little spot to pull over in the sun and have a wander down a very photogenic river. Slovenia was out to impress and impress it did!
We headed on further and found ourselves on the Vrsic pass. A hell of a climb followed and Ellen had her taste of the drive I had endured the night before. We pulled over 3/4 of the way up to go out to a viewpoint near the remains of a WW1 eastern front cable car. We switched at this point and I took us over the remainder of the climb and back down the other side. Stopping only for a leg stretch and to capture some drone footage and photos.
We were headed toward Lake Bohinj, but to get there we had to go through another bucket list location. Lake Bled. Lake Bohinj is further up from Bled and so we would also have to come back through to leave. As such, we didn't stop at Bled just yet and instead continued on past the enormous blue lake and the famous island church for now.
We found ourselves driving up through beautiful countryside and rural villages on our way up toward Bohinj, eventually figuring out which way we needed to go to get to the Campervan Aire a short hop from the lake. We set up for the evening and Ellen went on a short solo walk round the area. When she got back, we had a chat with the host and figured out how the shuttle bus worked for the next morning down to the lake.
The next morning we hopped on the shuttle bus and down through more beautiful rural villages with their traditional hay drying racks and open barns. We made it to the end of the line a short walk down to the lake itself and strolled down the road to the waterfront.
Lake Bohinj stretched out into the distance in front of us, dramatic mountains erupting skyward all around, dense forests pocketed with signs of civilisation surrounded the lake on three sides. We started by heading anti-clockwise along the closest end of the lake first. Ellen could then take a dip in the lake before the crowds arrived later in the day. Continuing on along the path round the lake, we stopped about halfway for a packed lunch looking out across the lake where we were obviously joined by some scavenging ducks and fish.
Further round the lake after heading deeper into the forest, further from the lake, we were spat back out at the other end near a swimming area where a group were setting up an inflatable sailing catamaran. So of course I now want one of those too! We continued on a little further until we reached the campsite at the far end of Lake Bohinj. We had opted not to stay here as the cost per night was astronomical. Something we would come to realise was a theme in the more touristy areas of Slovenia. It did however have a nice bar that we popped into for a compulsory mid-walk pint. Suitably hydrated, we continued on for the final, less picturesque leg of the walk along the road and back to the main "centre" if you like. Here there were boats for hire and multiple bars and cafes. We pulled up into one of the cafes and got ourselves a drink and a slice of Bled cake to try out. This turned out to better than the original which we would try the next day. I can only describe it as tasting like a solid block of Mille Feuille, but without icing on top and someone had forgotten to put the multiple layers of pastry in, so instead it was pure creme pat.
Of course this was right up my street, and only my guilt at gaining so much weight on this trip stopped me from having another.
We went to work off the bled cake with another swim in the lake whilst we waited for the last bus back. Walking back to the bus stop a little early we managed to get chatting to another British couple who were over in their VW Camper for a few months before heading back to another camper in New Zealand. We eventually got onto the over crowded bus and back to the Aire for the evening, the Brits we had met at the bus stop dropped by for a nosey in the van before dinner and then Ellen and I closed up for the evening.
The next morning, we were up fairly early, got the van chores done and hit the road. We were hoping to get to the Camper Aire near lake Bled after the early birds had left and before the masses arrived. We were just in time, as we arrived not long before more and more people started to pile in. Today was the first day of "mid-season" and as such, the weather was still pretty reliable, but the price of the Aire had halved. This was another reason we didn't come to Bled first. Handily the Aire was also opposite a supermarket and had a bus stop a short walk away.
Ellen had a work meeting that afternoon so we didn't hang about long and walked round to the bus stop. The crowd slowly grew around the bus stop and no buses were arriving. The buses also changed today due to mid-season, but we were all fairly sure it should be here. 20 minutes passed and still no bus. The traffic was horrendous though which was probably the problem, the reason being that the Bled south eastern European conference of leaders started today in the town. We had found this out when we noticed the huge police presence on our way through that morning. Honestly, how do we keep managing to come to places when there’s a festival, national holiday or political event going on?!
Eventually two coaches arrived, we tried the first, but being a coach we were unsure if it was the right one. So we tried the second, but that was also a coach and the driver said that no, it was the first one we needed and so we ran back and only just managed to get on. I had to stand in the aisle of this coach though due to it being completely full. Thankfully one woman had a seat next to her which I let Ellen use.
Nevertheless, we made it down to the lake and jumped immediately onto one of the touristy Pletna boats directly by the bus stop. We normally would hire a row boat for ourselves or something, but we didn't really have the time to stand around figuring out where to do that. Still, it meant we could just get a load of good photos of the surrounds and of the famous island with the church on top. If you have a smart TV and have ever left it to go to the screensaver pictures, you'll know the church on an island that I mean! (That's how I first learned of Lake Bled funnily enough)
We had 45 minutes on the island before we had to jump on the boat back. First stop though was the cafe at the top of the stairs for some traditional Potica cake, like a slightly dry rolled up cake that’s been baked into a circular mould. It was OK, but as I say, quite dry. Good with cream though.
We didn't bother going into the church and paying a load more money to stand in a queue and ring the bell, we didn't see much point in it and don't like dealing with crowds if we can help it. Instead we headed behind the church and round the waterfront past the row boats that people had taken across and back to the awaiting Pletna boat.
Back ashore, we wandered further up the shoreline and past the manor that Tito had built along the waterfront, that today was being used for the conference and was crawling with police. Heading back, we walked back to the main part of town at the bottom end of the lake and called into the cafe that claims to be the origin of the Bled cake. We were only going to have a cake to compare, but ended up having a full lunch and bled cake each! As I mentioned earlier, I preferred the one at Bohinj I'm sorry to say.
We walked off the lunch and cake by heading as far round the lake as we could before reaching a barricade leading up to one of the cultural centres and where the south eastern European prime ministers were all arriving for a photo. Taking this as a sign to head back to the van now, we walked up the hill and back onto ourselves, past the motorcades heading the opposite way and eventually back to the van. Whilst Ellen cracked on with her meeting, i found some bug removal spray in the supermarket and set about removing all the nasty tacky decals on the van that we've always disliked. It was time to get more stealth.
The next morning, we redid the van chores again to make sure we were prepped for as long as possible as we would be "off-grid" for a couple of days now. Then we set off toward a park up near some hilltop churches in the hills to the north west of Ljubljana. Here we bumped into a young Austrian guy who had been having trouble with his old Range Rover with roof tent. We gave him one of our rolls of kitchen roll to help him out with some leak clean up so he could head on to Ljubljana that evening. We pretty much just spent the day chilling in the van and Ellen went for a couple of walks in the breaks in the rain whilst I got the drone out for some shots of the amazing vistas.
The next morning the sun was shining and we headed down into Ljubljana, to a pretty new Aire south of the city within a very short walk to the park and ride. It was very basic with no facilities yet but it was brilliantly located. We locked up the van and headed into the city on the bus at the equivalent of less than £1 each.
Ljubljana is a fantastically photogenic city regardless of how small it really is. We are so used to capital cities being sprawling metropolises that we weren't really ready for this compact capital. We grabbed lunch in the centre before heading up in the funicular to the castle on the hill that dominates the city skyline. One of the supposed sites upon which a certain Turkish/Syrian Knight turned Saint is said to have slayed a dragon. I'm of course talking of Saint George, patron saint of many nations including my own. Something I find amusing given that this same day, far right extremists back home were painting dodgy replicas of his flag on roundabouts, whilst raving nonsense about immigrants that probably look similar to said patron saint...
I digress...
A great castle and a lovely city to spend a very hot day exploring before a final drink along the river and heading back to our home on wheels for the night.
The next morning we got up and headed to a nearby supermarket. But not just any supermarket, oh no. This was an unexpected find here in Slovenia (or maybe not given its history with France), our favourite French supermarket, E'Leclerc! I can't explain how excited we were to find this. Yes, we know we are lame.
We stocked up on longer life foods and tins ready for the countries ahead and also loads of French goodies and toiletries that we had forgotten to bring enough of. Then we hit the road east toward the border. Stopping for a brief lunch and view out in the sun over the valley of Novo Mesto. Then on toward the border town of Metlika for some local goodies before crossing past a vineyard, over a little stream and into Croatia where our phones just died.
Turns out Croatia has terrible signal, after 30-45 minutes of driving with no signal we decided that we would have to suck it up and get a Starlink mini delivered to the marina in Lefkas as well as the replacement window. We did manage to get to the camper stop place in the lovely named town of Slunj however and spent the evening chilling in the sun with a glass of Slovenian Red wine.
The next morning we were greeted by the owner with a bowl of mini donut balls for breakfast! Very kind of her. After showering and breakfast we got to talking with the Brits who had turned up next to us the following evening. We then walked down toward some falls we had seen a glimpse of as we had driven through the afternoon before.
As it turned out, we had completely by accident pitched up in a pretty popular spot. The village of Rastoke lay right next to Slunj, but what hadn't been apparent on Google maps when we chose this spot for its proximity to the Bosnian border was where Rastoke actually was. It was in the middle of two rivers. Quite literally. Situated across multiple little islands at the point where two rivers meet was this tiny village with streams and waterfalls running through the middle of old wooden houses. Below the first river with most of the houses, flowed the second a good 20m or so below. Along one side of the village therefore were dramatic falls flowing between the houses and down the cliff face. Further along were more houses amongst pools of water gently flowing down the more gentle slope toward the north end of the village.
This was a wonderful and unexpected little find that made Croatia a bit more than just a stopping off point for us. After heading back to the van, doing the van chores again and sweating in the Croatian sun whilst the grey drained, we set off south east once more. We were finally about to leave the EU. But first I wanted to swing by an abandoned Airfield that Nick and Lex had told us about back in the Dolomites. Situated right on the border, so much so that Google Maps actually out the border right across one of the runways.
We arrived but unlike when they were there, it was absolutely packed with people in cars revving their engines and getting photos in the hanger tunnels built into the mountainside. I didn't bother getting any photos here, they'd have been full of all this madness which i wasn't interested in getting shots of.
We pulled up halfway up the runway to have some lunch and I went to get the drone out and subsequently found out that wasn't allowed as my drone threatened to land itself. Well it probably wasn't a good idea on a border like this Tom!
We set off again and after Google tried to take us across an uncontrolled border with a little gate across a farm track saying basically that you can't cross here (in probably far less friendly terms) we finally made it to the border. We were into yet another new country and now leaving the EU. It was time to enter Bosnia & Herzegovina.
