Lake Bohinj and Postojna

Friday 3rd June

Is if we hadn't seen enough of the railway station, we set off there this morning in the van.  But this time we were going to catch a train to the Triglav National Park.  For round about £9 each we had a return trip of 1hr 20mins each way following the Soca and the Baca valleys up into the alpine region.

Nova Gorica station in Slovenia - cars and flats in Italy!

We went through stations with extremely unpronouncable names and some lovely scenery.  As it is a single track line, we had to wait at Grahovo for a train going the other way to pass us and John got out and wandered up and down the platform hoping for some action.  The most interesting thing was that a railway employee was turning a large handle connected to a green box.  John worked out that he was manually operating the level crossing barriers just outside the station - and sure enough when we passed by, we could see the wires just off the ground.  Some things were very impressive, like the fact that every station, regardless of how small (and under-used) it is, had a Station Master, wearing a very smart grey/blue suit, tie and peaked cap with a red flat top, carrying a thingy that looked like something between a fly swatter and a badminton bat.  Another is that their loos are very modern, clean and with all the items that are commonly missing - paper, hot water, soap and hand towels. 

Martina, at our campsite, had told us that we would be able to catch a bus at Bohinjska Bistrica up to Lake Bohinj, which we did, and one of the most beautiful lakes ever, was in front of us at Ribcev Laz.
 
 
After another very reasonably priced lunch on the terrace of Hotel Jezero (another toilet experience as here you had to put 50c in a machine and go through a turnstile to get to the stairs to the loos!) we crossed the road and walked a short way beside the lake, took it easy in the sunshine for a while,
 
 then back to see little St. John's Church with its Gothic frescoes (the most-photographed church in Slovenia).

This was just a taster of the region, because we hope to stay a few days around there next week.

Our train came through this 6k tunnel to arrive at Bohinjska Bistrica

 Below to the R is the river that flows through beside the track

 After the bus, train journey back we drove into our campsite around 7pm to find that Aleksander, our host, and a few other chaps were hastily trying to finish laying a concrete plinth across the entrance!!  This meant that there was no way we could get to the part of the site where our bikes/table/chairs/cable etc. were. Martina explained that the boys decided to get this done today as it was hot and sunny also that the concrete would be set by the morning.  We joined a Norwegian van on the family lawn for the night and fetched and carried all our stuff over from the field!  Little Ricardo (he's 11 months) came to visit for a while and had great fun exploring our shower.


Saturday 4th June

One of the things Martina mentioned when we arrived was the availability of local wine.  John decided to take her up on this and she took him to the main block where there was a stainless steel box with two taps - red or white?  John opted for white and was a little surprised as she looked round for suitable container.  Finding an empty and clean plastic 1.5 ltr Sprite bottle she filled it from the tap and charged 3€!!  With Cassis added it's become quite acceptable - musn't tell my friend Keith or he'll have a fit!

Sure enough the concrete had set this morning and Aleksander wanted John to be the first to drive over it!
 
So he drove off the lawn and backed over it and forward again and then after hugs with the children - Nino (he's about 3-4) had drawn us a picture of him on his Dad's digger, and more smiles from Ricardo, we set off to continue our travels.  What a lovely, friendly few days.

Ricardo and Martina

Nino through the window - he's inside the new office complex yet to be fitted out.  Reflection of van and me!

The Karst region is known for it's huge underground cave system and we'd like to visit one of them, so we've moved east near Postojna, to camping Pivka Jama. 

On our route

We arrived just before midday in glorious sunshine and chose a large flat spot between a rocky wall and a huge rocky dip, all covered with various sorts of plants and tall trees.  The site is rather like Graffham with its little camping areas among the trees, but with lots more ups and downs.  Another delightful place to be.  We needed to do some washing, but the machines here are rather small so we needed 2 wash loads.  This was going to take a bit of time, so we were very happy to have a relaxing afternoon.  Just a shame the sunshine didn't last and we spent a lot of the time in the van wondering how we were going to get the washing dry! 

Us from the other side of the big dip

The big dip is to our right