Slovenia!

Gidday,

As you have probably realised, I didn´t quite get around to updating my blog before leaving on my travels... Mostly because I had in my mind that I was flying on Wednesday, when in fact I was actually leaving Tuesday night! Just as well I checked my ticket in time... I´ll write bit of an update of what I have been up to, but you will have to wait till I get back to England for the photos...

I arrived in Ljubljana Tuesday night around midnight & spent my first night in Slovenia sleeping at the airport. I then caught an early morning bus to my hostel & spent the day wandering around the city. It is a lovely place, the old town reminds me a bit of Prague. My friend Nicola arrived Wednesday night.

Thursday we spent the morning in town again before catching a late afternoon bus to Bled. Bled was simply stunning. A resort town based around a gorgeous lake & surrounded by mountains. We ended up staying 4 nights there, & could easily have stayed longer... On the Friday we did a half-day hike out to Vintgar gorge which was beautiful. We then walked up to Bled castle which offered stunning views over the lake.

Saturday morning I got to watch the rugby! The tri-nations game between the all-blacks & Oz. I am so impressed that no matter where in the world I am, I can usually hunt down a pub that is prepared to put on the rugby for me... That afternoon we hired a row boat & went out to tiny Bled island in the middle of the lake. There is a church on the island & local custom has it that if you ring the bell & make a wish, your wish will come true... We shall see... The rest of the afternoon we spent swimming in the lake. It is beautiful to swim in, crystal clear water which is 24 degrees!

Sunday we caught a bus out to the Bohinj region, which is another gorgeous glacial lake. Today was a hiking day, we made it up Mt Sija (1880m) & then Mt Vogel (1922m). It sounds impressive, but I must admit, we did get the cable car a fair way up! In total we probably did about 5 hours of walking. The views from the tops of the surrounding mountains were stunning, you will have to wait for the photos... We got the bus back to Bled & cooled off in the lake before refuelling at a local pizza place & getting an early night.

Monday we were up early for a big travelling day. We had to get the bus from Bled back into Ljubljana, then carried on to Postojna where we toured through the world-famous Karst caves. They were pretty amazing. It was then another bus to Piran which is a gorgeous little seaside town on the Slovenian coast. We are staying at an incredible hostel, it is more like a hotel really. Check it out at www.hostel-val.com It is only about 20m from the sea front & even though we didn´t arrive till after 6pm, the temperature was still in the 30s. The first thing we did was talke a dip in the adriatic. It really was gorgeous, more crystal clear water, & really salty so you are incredibly buoyant, similar to the dead sea. We are staying tonight here as well, then tomorrow we are heading further down the coast & into Croatia.

Slovenia really has been fantastic, I would recommend it to anyone. It is a beautiful country with a huge amount to offer, & some of the friendliest people in the world. I´m sure that I will be back!