WILD SLOVENIA: TRIGLAV AND SOČA
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| Drzenica |
After reaching Srednji Vrh, with another amazing view on the Triglav massif, we had a long descent through the forest, with a few encounters with white and caramel coloured cows. We had been warned that the mountains had some bears which were very shy, so that we should rather be happy to see any but we didn't.
Along the forest path, we could feel that people had a similar taste for things well done than in Austria, but perhaps by lack of necessary resources, bridges and benches in the mountain were engineered with less sophistication but at the same time with a lot of ingenuity to fulfill the desired functionality with more basic means.
We emerged from the forest in the valley of Kranjska Gora, a town that has developed as a ski resort.
Green pastures were surrounded by trees, farms were scattered along the mountain slope and at the bottom of the valley a lively river fed by all the torrents streaming down from the mountain was rushing down forward. Its water is so clear that it was hardly visible on the light pebbles of the river bed. The first impression we got from Kranjska Gora, walking from the outskirts, was the surprise to see all the houses being new and well maintained. Most of them were holiday apartments for rent. In the center there was a shopping center with everything one could hope for. The butcher was also very well stocked. This killed the prejudiced idea that was somehow crouching at the back of my mind that in Slovenia, as part of the former Yugoslavia, shops might possibly have been a little short of supply. In fact, Slovenia joined the European Union in 2004 and therefore has bridged any gaps it might have had with European good practices.
The old town has been neatly modernized to accommodate West-European tourism. Munich is only three hundred fifty kilometres away, so one doesn't really need to know how to say Dobre Dan (hello), although it is appreciated, "Gruessgott" as used in Austria and Bavaria works just as well. In supermarkets, the staff is able to communicate in English. We read that the Slovenes have always been the Germans of former Yugoslavia. Payment methods were the latest available, with wireless credit cards accepted in most shops, even for small amounts. Young people seemed eager to be using technology and strive for success. Road and telecommunications infrastructure are really well taken care of, 4G networks are working in all villages very smoothly. This didn't mean though that traditions were forgotten.
We had dinner at a traditional inn, the Gostina Pri Martinu. It is a place that surely always makes a memorable impression to those who enjoy the conviality of abundant and simple food. A wooden interior, typical of mountain huts, with red-embroidered chequered tablecloth, red curtains and illustrations from the mountain life on the walls. The waiters were round enough to be able to carry effortlessly large plates of food to the tables spread in several rooms. We had our first glass of Refošc, a light and dry red wine made out of the eponymous grape variety which is very common in Slovenia and in the border region in Italy where it is called Refosco. Another locally grown variety is Teran which makes a much more full-bodied red wine than Refošc.
With a full stomach we went after dinner for a stroll in the chilly air before going to bed. From Kranjska Gora we moved South closer to the rugged mountains following a torrent with fir trees, especially, forming a green garland which highlighted the white riverbed with the peaks as an ominous backdrop. We climbed to the pass of Krsič which connects to the valley of Trenta. There is a cliff that features rocks in the form a human face, which is said to belong to a girl. It is call the Pagan Girl according to the legend which says that she was a kind-hearted giantess who could read the future of newborn babies. On one occasion she foretold that the newborn presented to her would be a very talented hunter and that he would manage to kill a white chamois with golden horns. By selling the horns he would become a very rich man. This did not please some deities who turned the giantess to stone and since that day her face can be seen on the cliff of Mount Prisojnik.
It was very hot at the pass. We stopped for a drink in a small kiosk were a group of sheep had elected to look for some shade. Except one, they all laid against the wall of the kiosk, a couple of them directly in front of the shelves of souvenirs. The female owner did not seem bothered, it was a good way to attract potential customers. The remaining sheep was apparently in need of affection or perhaps food. It came to be pet by customers having a drink on a bench outside. It was hilarious to see it put its head on the lap of a guy, visibly enjoying the cuddling session.
The forest expected us on our way down to Trenta, in the Soča valley. The path wasn't really well marked, but the GPS track helped us stay in the right direction. A deer crossed in front of us majestically jumping above the path to disappear downhill in the heart of the forest. After a while we arrived at the source of the Soča river, which gushes out of a cave with a cool temperature. We were actually going to walk along the Soča for the next couple of days and thus see it grow and turn into a more placid water stream down in the plain of Cividale del Friuli in Italy where it is called Isonzo.
For now the Soča was impetuous and ran downhill in a narrow gorge. We arrived in Trenta after the sun had disappeared behind the mountains. The village had opened a hostel in a former inn on the outskirts of the village. It had comfortable rooms with double windows as a sign that it could be very cold outside in the winter. It was indeed really chilly in the evening when we went for dinner in the small restaurant which was exclusively serving pizzas and pastas.
The morning was equally cold and clear, despite a few clouds teasing the peaks. We were shivering a bit when we started our walk along the river. It was humid and the sun not yet warming us up. The shape of this former glacier valley broadened as we progressed, however the river itself seemed to have dug its own narrow gorge in the underlying limestone bedrock. As the water depth increased, the water colour turned into a turquoise that rejoiced the eye. However the water wasn't exactly warm but that did not seem to bother some courageous individuals, first two Austrians in their twenties and later a group of five teenagers led by an older one, who attempted a swim where the water was deep and broad enough to swim. They never stayed long in the water but had their share of adrenaline while jumping from a rock a few meters above the water level.
Along the forest path, we could feel that people had a similar taste for things well done than in Austria, but perhaps by lack of necessary resources, bridges and benches in the mountain were engineered with less sophistication but at the same time with a lot of ingenuity to fulfill the desired functionality with more basic means.
We emerged from the forest in the valley of Kranjska Gora, a town that has developed as a ski resort.
Green pastures were surrounded by trees, farms were scattered along the mountain slope and at the bottom of the valley a lively river fed by all the torrents streaming down from the mountain was rushing down forward. Its water is so clear that it was hardly visible on the light pebbles of the river bed. The first impression we got from Kranjska Gora, walking from the outskirts, was the surprise to see all the houses being new and well maintained. Most of them were holiday apartments for rent. In the center there was a shopping center with everything one could hope for. The butcher was also very well stocked. This killed the prejudiced idea that was somehow crouching at the back of my mind that in Slovenia, as part of the former Yugoslavia, shops might possibly have been a little short of supply. In fact, Slovenia joined the European Union in 2004 and therefore has bridged any gaps it might have had with European good practices.
The old town has been neatly modernized to accommodate West-European tourism. Munich is only three hundred fifty kilometres away, so one doesn't really need to know how to say Dobre Dan (hello), although it is appreciated, "Gruessgott" as used in Austria and Bavaria works just as well. In supermarkets, the staff is able to communicate in English. We read that the Slovenes have always been the Germans of former Yugoslavia. Payment methods were the latest available, with wireless credit cards accepted in most shops, even for small amounts. Young people seemed eager to be using technology and strive for success. Road and telecommunications infrastructure are really well taken care of, 4G networks are working in all villages very smoothly. This didn't mean though that traditions were forgotten.
We had dinner at a traditional inn, the Gostina Pri Martinu. It is a place that surely always makes a memorable impression to those who enjoy the conviality of abundant and simple food. A wooden interior, typical of mountain huts, with red-embroidered chequered tablecloth, red curtains and illustrations from the mountain life on the walls. The waiters were round enough to be able to carry effortlessly large plates of food to the tables spread in several rooms. We had our first glass of Refošc, a light and dry red wine made out of the eponymous grape variety which is very common in Slovenia and in the border region in Italy where it is called Refosco. Another locally grown variety is Teran which makes a much more full-bodied red wine than Refošc.
With a full stomach we went after dinner for a stroll in the chilly air before going to bed. From Kranjska Gora we moved South closer to the rugged mountains following a torrent with fir trees, especially, forming a green garland which highlighted the white riverbed with the peaks as an ominous backdrop. We climbed to the pass of Krsič which connects to the valley of Trenta. There is a cliff that features rocks in the form a human face, which is said to belong to a girl. It is call the Pagan Girl according to the legend which says that she was a kind-hearted giantess who could read the future of newborn babies. On one occasion she foretold that the newborn presented to her would be a very talented hunter and that he would manage to kill a white chamois with golden horns. By selling the horns he would become a very rich man. This did not please some deities who turned the giantess to stone and since that day her face can be seen on the cliff of Mount Prisojnik.
It was very hot at the pass. We stopped for a drink in a small kiosk were a group of sheep had elected to look for some shade. Except one, they all laid against the wall of the kiosk, a couple of them directly in front of the shelves of souvenirs. The female owner did not seem bothered, it was a good way to attract potential customers. The remaining sheep was apparently in need of affection or perhaps food. It came to be pet by customers having a drink on a bench outside. It was hilarious to see it put its head on the lap of a guy, visibly enjoying the cuddling session.
The forest expected us on our way down to Trenta, in the Soča valley. The path wasn't really well marked, but the GPS track helped us stay in the right direction. A deer crossed in front of us majestically jumping above the path to disappear downhill in the heart of the forest. After a while we arrived at the source of the Soča river, which gushes out of a cave with a cool temperature. We were actually going to walk along the Soča for the next couple of days and thus see it grow and turn into a more placid water stream down in the plain of Cividale del Friuli in Italy where it is called Isonzo.
For now the Soča was impetuous and ran downhill in a narrow gorge. We arrived in Trenta after the sun had disappeared behind the mountains. The village had opened a hostel in a former inn on the outskirts of the village. It had comfortable rooms with double windows as a sign that it could be very cold outside in the winter. It was indeed really chilly in the evening when we went for dinner in the small restaurant which was exclusively serving pizzas and pastas.
The morning was equally cold and clear, despite a few clouds teasing the peaks. We were shivering a bit when we started our walk along the river. It was humid and the sun not yet warming us up. The shape of this former glacier valley broadened as we progressed, however the river itself seemed to have dug its own narrow gorge in the underlying limestone bedrock. As the water depth increased, the water colour turned into a turquoise that rejoiced the eye. However the water wasn't exactly warm but that did not seem to bother some courageous individuals, first two Austrians in their twenties and later a group of five teenagers led by an older one, who attempted a swim where the water was deep and broad enough to swim. They never stayed long in the water but had their share of adrenaline while jumping from a rock a few meters above the water level.
The landscape broadened further into a wider valley as the river merged with a tributary coming from a different valley. The sun was stinging and the sky darkening ominously. We still had a bit to go to reach Bovec. We saw a group of Austrian ladies by the riverside attempting to put their feet in the water. Their faces didn't look relaxed at all as they were doing so. This however tempted me, so I went in a more quiet place, quickly undressed and sat in the water for a couple of minutes, my skin burning and my feet aching from the contrast between the cold and the warmth of the swollen flesh. Box ticked, we resumed the walk and left the river to arrive in Kovec in a plain at the feet of the Kanin mountains that were increasingly flirting with dark clouds. We met again the group of Austrian ladies at the reception of our hotel.
They were having a homemade schnapps as welcome drink from the hotel. They told us they had come for the weekend to walk in the Soča valley and celebrate the birthday of one of them.
Our turn came to drink some welcome schnapps before going for a well deserved shower. Meanwhile a storm raged outside.
We went for dinner the next day to a nearby hotel, Dobro Vila, set in a telephone office from the early 20th century. Back then the telephone was important enough to justify a mansion as an office, good enough for a luxury hotel of nowadays. The interior was cosy and floors were decorated with geometric patterns, there was an art deco fire place in the library and the dining room was in a winter garden opening on the real garden. Tablecloth were English-style flower prints. "Food for the soul" had told us the receptionist of our hotel to describe the experience we were going to have with a four course menu. The food was definitely refined, some of it too subtle for me though like the fresh porcini sliced with pear and hazelnut. Better was the home smoked trout, served too with hazelnuts, but my favorite was definitely the piece of slow-cooked veal which was perfectly tender and salted. We finished well with strawberry and apricots sorbet decorated with grilled almonds. It was a great evening before continuing our journey the next day under a grey sky. It rained for a while as we left Bovec, not seeing the mountains anymore. The Soča had increased a bit its volume and was running in a wider valley. Along the way, we stopped to see two large waterfalls: slap virje and slap boka. The latter had a special appeal under the light rain, it was tall gushing out, with a loud noise, at mid-height of a cliff from a lake inside the limestone rock. It was especially intriguing as clouds whirled past hiding it partly from time to time. Then came a rather boring stretch on a straight gravel road along the river which was hidden by bushes. On a few occasions we saw canoes on the water muddied by the rain of the last two days. The track entered a forest and we stopped under an oak for picnic. As we approached Magozd, a hamlet with just a few two-storey houses built among golf-green hilly pastures planted with apple trees fully loaded with fruits, neither Adam nor Eve were to be seen, most certainly afraid they would catch a cold in that rainy weather. Fortunately there was no snake either. Drzenica was just a short distance away. We suddenly heard two loud engines of mobike approaching, only to see them a minute later ridden by two blond rugged-looking village teenagers visibly enjoying the breezy speed of their loud machines that were surely old enough to have known the days of their fathers in Yugoslavia.
Drzenica's church is white. Its sharp and tall clock tower points elegantly towards the sky. The church signals Drzenica very far, a bit like a lighthouse amidst the surrounding peaks, including the Krn (the Slovenian language is at times not afraid of doing away with vowels altogether in a word, like in arabic). We didn't stop to see the center of the village because our stop for the night was two kilometers down the road in a agrotourism farm called Turistična Kmetija. It was run by the Kranjc family. One of the men, Vasja, is also a wood carver. His large works are displayed by the roadside, most probably on family land. Dinner was being prepared in the kitchen as we arrived. Our room had a panoramic view on Drzenica and the mountains. Instead of switching on TV, which we rarely do anyway, we watched the dramatic sky evolve with clouds pushed by the wind through the valley towards the peaks and occasionally obscuring the sun with halos of light. Soup came, meat and vegetables came, dessert came: there was absolutely no way to still be hungry after all that. Our hosts had treated us largely.
We still had one more pass to go through before heading down to the Soča valley again to Tolmin which is a town known for rafting. We were at the beginning of the track that leads to the summit of the Krn. Instead of going up at that point, we turned to cross a field with a few cows that didn't seem to appreciate each other. One of them deliberately bumped into the flank of another one as matter of saying "Move Away". The other one surrendered easily and walked away. We then had a long descent on the forested slope of the mountain down to the bottom of the valley. A couple of people were paragliding above the Kozlov Rob fort overlooking Tolmin. Two Canadian friends from Lagos joined us in Tolmin to walk down to Trieste. It was good to have company along the way.
During World War I, the Soča river, called Isonzo by the Italians, was the center of a huge battle between the Italian army and the Austro-Hungarian army. The Italians occupied the mountain range of Kolovrat in which they built trenches and artillery. Between 1915 and 1917, three hundred thousand soldiers died on the Soča front alone. In 1918, at the end of the war, The Slovenes, the Croats and the Serbs got together to form the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Germany occupied Slovenia during World War II and it is only at the end of it that Slovenia joined the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia led by Josip Broz Tito until his death in 1980. After that some power struggles started within Yugoslavia. Independence movements were formed all around Yugoslavia, which led to Slovenia's independence in June 1991 in a fairly smooth way.
We left Tolmin and started by climbing the Kolovrat hills where we saw the defense installations of the Italian forces during World War I with a beautiful panorama on the nearby valleys. The top of the hill was like a cheese with holes formed by all the trenches and observation tunnels.
After that we crossed to Italy to go to the small village of Tribil di Sopra. It had a hostel with dormitories. The village was employing one person to coordinate the reception of guests and a cook to prepare a simple but warm dinner. This night in Italy wasn't a complete goodbye to Slovenia since we had planned to return there a couple of times over the coming weeks.
They were having a homemade schnapps as welcome drink from the hotel. They told us they had come for the weekend to walk in the Soča valley and celebrate the birthday of one of them.
Our turn came to drink some welcome schnapps before going for a well deserved shower. Meanwhile a storm raged outside.
We went for dinner the next day to a nearby hotel, Dobro Vila, set in a telephone office from the early 20th century. Back then the telephone was important enough to justify a mansion as an office, good enough for a luxury hotel of nowadays. The interior was cosy and floors were decorated with geometric patterns, there was an art deco fire place in the library and the dining room was in a winter garden opening on the real garden. Tablecloth were English-style flower prints. "Food for the soul" had told us the receptionist of our hotel to describe the experience we were going to have with a four course menu. The food was definitely refined, some of it too subtle for me though like the fresh porcini sliced with pear and hazelnut. Better was the home smoked trout, served too with hazelnuts, but my favorite was definitely the piece of slow-cooked veal which was perfectly tender and salted. We finished well with strawberry and apricots sorbet decorated with grilled almonds. It was a great evening before continuing our journey the next day under a grey sky. It rained for a while as we left Bovec, not seeing the mountains anymore. The Soča had increased a bit its volume and was running in a wider valley. Along the way, we stopped to see two large waterfalls: slap virje and slap boka. The latter had a special appeal under the light rain, it was tall gushing out, with a loud noise, at mid-height of a cliff from a lake inside the limestone rock. It was especially intriguing as clouds whirled past hiding it partly from time to time. Then came a rather boring stretch on a straight gravel road along the river which was hidden by bushes. On a few occasions we saw canoes on the water muddied by the rain of the last two days. The track entered a forest and we stopped under an oak for picnic. As we approached Magozd, a hamlet with just a few two-storey houses built among golf-green hilly pastures planted with apple trees fully loaded with fruits, neither Adam nor Eve were to be seen, most certainly afraid they would catch a cold in that rainy weather. Fortunately there was no snake either. Drzenica was just a short distance away. We suddenly heard two loud engines of mobike approaching, only to see them a minute later ridden by two blond rugged-looking village teenagers visibly enjoying the breezy speed of their loud machines that were surely old enough to have known the days of their fathers in Yugoslavia.
Drzenica's church is white. Its sharp and tall clock tower points elegantly towards the sky. The church signals Drzenica very far, a bit like a lighthouse amidst the surrounding peaks, including the Krn (the Slovenian language is at times not afraid of doing away with vowels altogether in a word, like in arabic). We didn't stop to see the center of the village because our stop for the night was two kilometers down the road in a agrotourism farm called Turistična Kmetija. It was run by the Kranjc family. One of the men, Vasja, is also a wood carver. His large works are displayed by the roadside, most probably on family land. Dinner was being prepared in the kitchen as we arrived. Our room had a panoramic view on Drzenica and the mountains. Instead of switching on TV, which we rarely do anyway, we watched the dramatic sky evolve with clouds pushed by the wind through the valley towards the peaks and occasionally obscuring the sun with halos of light. Soup came, meat and vegetables came, dessert came: there was absolutely no way to still be hungry after all that. Our hosts had treated us largely.
We still had one more pass to go through before heading down to the Soča valley again to Tolmin which is a town known for rafting. We were at the beginning of the track that leads to the summit of the Krn. Instead of going up at that point, we turned to cross a field with a few cows that didn't seem to appreciate each other. One of them deliberately bumped into the flank of another one as matter of saying "Move Away". The other one surrendered easily and walked away. We then had a long descent on the forested slope of the mountain down to the bottom of the valley. A couple of people were paragliding above the Kozlov Rob fort overlooking Tolmin. Two Canadian friends from Lagos joined us in Tolmin to walk down to Trieste. It was good to have company along the way.
During World War I, the Soča river, called Isonzo by the Italians, was the center of a huge battle between the Italian army and the Austro-Hungarian army. The Italians occupied the mountain range of Kolovrat in which they built trenches and artillery. Between 1915 and 1917, three hundred thousand soldiers died on the Soča front alone. In 1918, at the end of the war, The Slovenes, the Croats and the Serbs got together to form the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Germany occupied Slovenia during World War II and it is only at the end of it that Slovenia joined the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia led by Josip Broz Tito until his death in 1980. After that some power struggles started within Yugoslavia. Independence movements were formed all around Yugoslavia, which led to Slovenia's independence in June 1991 in a fairly smooth way.
We left Tolmin and started by climbing the Kolovrat hills where we saw the defense installations of the Italian forces during World War I with a beautiful panorama on the nearby valleys. The top of the hill was like a cheese with holes formed by all the trenches and observation tunnels.
After that we crossed to Italy to go to the small village of Tribil di Sopra. It had a hostel with dormitories. The village was employing one person to coordinate the reception of guests and a cook to prepare a simple but warm dinner. This night in Italy wasn't a complete goodbye to Slovenia since we had planned to return there a couple of times over the coming weeks.
Images:
1/ Drzenica
2/ Triglav
3/ Pagan Girl
4/ Soča river
5/ The Soča valley leading to Tolmin
1/ Drzenica
2/ Triglav
3/ Pagan Girl
4/ Soča river
5/ The Soča valley leading to Tolmin
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| Triglav |
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| the Pagan Girl |
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| the Soča river |
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| the Soča valley leading to Tolmin |
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