After a flat drive out of Italy, we drove into the Julian Alps and into what can easily be described as the most beautiful country in the world. Slovenia. We followed the emerald coloured Soca River valley, up the Vrsic Pass (highest pass in Slovenia, built by 10000 russian prisoners of war) through the Triglavski National Park and into Bled.
Our campsite was on the edge of the lake and we instantly declare it our best campsite yet. We spent a lot of time cycling around the lake, hiking up the mountains around the lake and just taking in the natural beauty. We had a nice braai for dinner and famous Bled cream cake for dessert (doubled as my birthday cake). We then got woken up by foxes stealing our food in the night. (Plums on the first night, mosquito coils and coffee on the second night). They were cheeky buggers who weren't even scared of me, even when I shooed them away, they just ran 3 steps and turned around and looked at me as if they were laughing at me. Bastards...
The following day,my birthday, Lauren woke me up nice and early with a cup of coffee and we cycled down to the lake to watch the sun rising over it. So awesome. Lauren had bought me a day trip with Emerald River Adventures, so after a skype session with the family, we got picked up by our guide, Jaka. We collected the rest of the guests for the day, Sara and Este from Hong Kong, Katrinka from Netherlands and Jess & Reilly from Australia.
First stop was at a goat with golden horns. This is the symbol of Triglavski National park. There is a myth behind the horns, how they were the key to unlocking treasures and a boy had to hunt the goat to win over a girl but the goat killed the boy, and buried the treasure under all the mountains and the girl turned into a nun. True story. After taking some corny and inappropriate photos, we drove up the Vrsic Pass, in reverse to what Lauren and I did, and did a walk at the top. It was a bit overcast but on the way down we did a camera stop at a nice view point. Further down we stopped to hike up to the source of the Soca River. The water was so clean and fresh, so we filled our water bottles before heading into the town below for lunch, stopping for another photo opportunity at an amazing gorge, where everyone sang happy birthday to me. bleh. Lunch was pizza and beer, so good.
After lunch we got dropped off on the side of the Soca River for some white water rafting. Our guide was pretty awesome, although he found out that I used to be a guide and made me take everyone down the first stretch of river. The colour of the river seriously cannot be explained. We did some rock jumping on the way and also turned the boat into a slide and did a celebratory "Nostravia" after completing each rapid. Was a nice 2 hour stretch that went so quickly. We got a beer after the rafting before heading to an awesome waterfall. It felt like we were in a cave with an underground waterfall. It was insane. We had a swim before heading to our next stop, a 10m bridge jump into the Soca River, which only Rielly and I did. I didn't lose my ring this time....Noja. We then took the bus and drove it onto a train, had another beer and just reminisced on the day that passed. We stopped at Bohinj (which would be La's and my next stop) for a group photo and more views before heading back to camp for the best nights rest in a long time... Thanks lolly for the best birthday ever!!!
The following day we had a bit of a sleep in before cycling to Vintgar Gorge, found by Jokob Zumer. We stopped at the castle overlooking Bled on the way home and then hired a rowing boat and took a chilled time on the lake drinking beer and wine. We met up with Jess and Reilly for some drinks at the pub before heading back to camp for another good nights rest.
We woke up really early on our last morning and ran up a mountain to catch the sun rising over the lake. We met a local Slovenian and a few Americans also at the top catching the sunrise. It was a fantastic site and a perfect end to our stay in Bled.
Next stop, Bohinj for the Cow's Ball and Cheese & Wine Festival.