Bohinj

Friday the 13th

Well, so far, no mishaps!

In fact, we are sitting on the balcony of our very cute B&B - in the late afternoon sun after enjoying a coffee and another one of those Kremšnita (they are like an enormous vanilla slice) in the garden courtyard down below.

My first day of riding: I left Bled a bit before 9.00 a.m. and rode about 20 kms to Ribčev Laz via Bohinjska Bistrica where I checked out the location of the railway station in readiness for a departure from there with my bike tomorrow.

It was scenic mainly from Bohinjska Bistrica; the main road to there from Bled was mainly downhill with a few ups and downs and it criss-crossed the river that cut through the valley making for pleasant riding.

But there was a bit of traffic which kept me on my toes (I don't think I'd like to ride this road at the height of the tourist season ...).

From Bohinjska, the traffic was far less and, after a short time, I arrived at the lake which is very scenic (approx. 25 kms all up).

My Friend met up with me here and after a coffee and chocolate cake, we (he in the car and me on the bike) travelled the last few kms to the other end of the lake at Ukanc. This is a really tiny village with just some B&Bs (or gostitšče) - like ours - and camping grounds.

A lot of people come here to hike - and ski in winter! - particularly to the Savica Slap, a very large waterfall (60 m) with (apparently) 553 steps to get to it; we'll be giving it a miss.

It was close to midday and we were able to check in. It had been overcast but now the sun was starting to emerge, making it a very pleasant afternoon which we spent walking and exploring the lake and the river that runs just behind our B&B; and also we took the cable car up to the ski resort of Mt Vogel (where we had a beer, schnapps and hot chips - doing lots for our cholesterol today!).

My Friend took this next shot (he's been practising his panoramics).

The views from the top were fantastic (1800 m) and we had a lovely relaxing time including looking around the ski area just as the mist started coming in.

However, the sun has been out again and the walk back (after our descent) was lovely and now we are just reading papers, etc. before dinner.

Yummy dinner. It is a great surprise that these simple unfussy places can produce such lovely food. I had a vegetable pie; at least, that is the English translation that does the meal no justice. In Slovenian it is called "zelenjavi štrucklji z jurčki - you get a better idea from the photo below:

Which, mind you, was consumed after THIS:

But I add: I didn't finish either!!!!