Our plans were weather dependent today – move on to Italy if it was bad, stay one more night if it was good. We decided to stay another night as the sun was shining and it was even slightly warmer than yesterday. Lake Bohinj was our destination, about 30 km beyond Lake Bled but as the crow flies (or, more probably, the eagle flies) only 12 km from the campsite on the other side of Triglev.
We parked at Zlatorog, at the far end of the lake near to the cable car station. Although a trip on the cable car with the associated from Vogel mountain was tempting, we really wanted to walk. Zlatorog was the starting point for a walk up to Slap Savice (the Savice Waterfall – what a great word for a waterfall – Slap!!), but we had already seen waterfalls in the area and the guidebook said that it was closed at this time of the year. It was a one and a half hour round trip to the falls and we didn't want to get there and find that we couldn't see it. So, option three was the circumnavigation of the lake on foot and that is what we went for.
Unlike Bled, Bohinj has more dramatic mountains close to the lake with very steep mountain slopes, popular with mountaineers, just a few hundred metres away from the northern shore. When we arrived, there was no wind and the surface of the lake was like glass and gave the most wonderful reflections of the mountains (see photos). It was the northern shore where we started our walk. At this time of the year, sunlight in areas surrounded by mountains is very restricted and we knew that the whole shoreline would be in the shade by mid-afternoon. The northern shore was bathed in sunlight and, given that the air temperature was about 5°C, this made the walk much more pleasant. We were surprised by the number of people that we met on the walk having been used to meeting very few people at other times. It was Sunday and locals and those from further afield, especially Ljubljana, were taking advantage of the sunny weather and beautiful scenery. It was good to see that the 'walkers' code' was followed here – almost everyone that we met said hello or rather 'Dober dan'. We found a bench in the sun and stopped for a picnic with a super view (see photo) and completed the round trip in about 4 hours at a very gentle (Jane's) pace.
We drove through the villages of Stara Fuzina, Studor, Vas and Cesnjica on the way back and admired their typical rural Slovenian village architecture. Everywhere in the Slovenian countryside you will see many hay drying racks in field and near farms. Recently, the summers have become hot and dry but, even 20 years ago, the pattern would be hot mornings with a thunderstorm in the afternoon. This caused a problem for hay production – the hay must be completely dry before being stored in the barns ready for the winter cattle feed. The Slovenian solution was to create drying racks where the farmers would hang the hay to dry, sheltered from the rain by a small roof. Most of the racks are single but the double hay racks, called 'toplars', are unique to Slovenia.
The drive back to Dovje was beautiful – with the sun setting behind us, all of the snow-covered mountain peaks on the journey were turned a lovely shade of pink, accentuated by dark clouds above and behind them.
Photos: Bohinja reflection with boat; Bohinja reflection without boat; Bohinja picnic view.
We parked at Zlatorog, at the far end of the lake near to the cable car station. Although a trip on the cable car with the associated from Vogel mountain was tempting, we really wanted to walk. Zlatorog was the starting point for a walk up to Slap Savice (the Savice Waterfall – what a great word for a waterfall – Slap!!), but we had already seen waterfalls in the area and the guidebook said that it was closed at this time of the year. It was a one and a half hour round trip to the falls and we didn't want to get there and find that we couldn't see it. So, option three was the circumnavigation of the lake on foot and that is what we went for.
Unlike Bled, Bohinj has more dramatic mountains close to the lake with very steep mountain slopes, popular with mountaineers, just a few hundred metres away from the northern shore. When we arrived, there was no wind and the surface of the lake was like glass and gave the most wonderful reflections of the mountains (see photos). It was the northern shore where we started our walk. At this time of the year, sunlight in areas surrounded by mountains is very restricted and we knew that the whole shoreline would be in the shade by mid-afternoon. The northern shore was bathed in sunlight and, given that the air temperature was about 5°C, this made the walk much more pleasant. We were surprised by the number of people that we met on the walk having been used to meeting very few people at other times. It was Sunday and locals and those from further afield, especially Ljubljana, were taking advantage of the sunny weather and beautiful scenery. It was good to see that the 'walkers' code' was followed here – almost everyone that we met said hello or rather 'Dober dan'. We found a bench in the sun and stopped for a picnic with a super view (see photo) and completed the round trip in about 4 hours at a very gentle (Jane's) pace.
We drove through the villages of Stara Fuzina, Studor, Vas and Cesnjica on the way back and admired their typical rural Slovenian village architecture. Everywhere in the Slovenian countryside you will see many hay drying racks in field and near farms. Recently, the summers have become hot and dry but, even 20 years ago, the pattern would be hot mornings with a thunderstorm in the afternoon. This caused a problem for hay production – the hay must be completely dry before being stored in the barns ready for the winter cattle feed. The Slovenian solution was to create drying racks where the farmers would hang the hay to dry, sheltered from the rain by a small roof. Most of the racks are single but the double hay racks, called 'toplars', are unique to Slovenia.
The drive back to Dovje was beautiful – with the sun setting behind us, all of the snow-covered mountain peaks on the journey were turned a lovely shade of pink, accentuated by dark clouds above and behind them.
Photos: Bohinja reflection with boat; Bohinja reflection without boat; Bohinja picnic view.
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