I caught the bus to Bled with 5 minutes to spare and arrived
at Traveller’s Haven, a great homely hostel complete with free bikes and
washing and a lovely kitchen/common room area. Dropping off my bags I grabbed a
bike and headed out through the rolling farmlands to Vitnar Gorge, feeling a
real sense of déjà vu as the area reminded me strongly of New Zealand. I
left my bike at the entrance to the gorge and walked along the narrow wooden
pathway along the deep green-blue water, stopping for lunch at a sunny bench
along the way. At the other end of the gorge is a lovely waterfall and views of
the farmland beyond. The downhill bike ride back to Bled was a bit easier, and
I continued on a nice easy ride around the lake, stopping for photo
opportunities almost every 5 minutes. I decided it was time to head back when I
fell asleep on a bench in the sun, only to be woken up by the sounds of a duck
fight right beside me!
It was time for a day of hiking. I caught the bus to the
nearby Lake Bohinj, where I was planning on doing a
few walks. Although I was looking forward to a day communing with nature alone,
a girl from my hostel ended up tagging along after almost getting off at the
wrong stop, which was fine but I felt like I was babysitting her, especially as
she seemed to have no idea about following painted trees/rocks along the paths.
Not really sure where she would have ended up had she been hiking alone!
We walked up to “Slap Savica” (Savica Waterfall), which took
about 1.5hrs and was well worth the walk. I wanted to head up to Crno Jezero,
the first lake on the “Seven Lakes Walk”, but a shopkeeper at the base of the
walk informed us that we needed helmets and ropes for parts of the hike
(really?). I hadn’t done enough research on that area, my new friend would get
lost walking in a straight line, and one thing I’ve learnt in my travels is to
listen to the locals, so instead we walked through the forest around the lake
back to the bus stop. Thankfully my friend had done enough walking for the day
& headed back to the hostel, leaving me to walk through the town of Stara-Fuzina to the Mostnica Gorge and Voje Valley.
The deep gorge with its rocks carved into holes and shapes was pretty
impressive, but I didn’t have enough time to reach the waterfall before my bus
arrived. Instead I hoofed it back to town to catch the bus back to Bled for a
well-deserved beer. I even managed to find enough energy to climb the castle
hill, where I saved the 8euro entrance fee by sneaking around the back and
climbing the crumbling stairs for a partial view of the lake and the setting
sun over the town.
