Bled and Skocjan Caves, Slovenia

We stayed a few nights in Bled, which is a picturesque mountain town with an equally beautiful lake with a trail that wraps around all 3.6 kilometers of it. One of the days we hiked the seven lakes trail, where you gain a total of 1100 meters and of course see 7 lakes. I don’t think Europeans have heard of switchbacks and neither had S America for that matter, so maybe it’s a an American thing.

Either way this hike was straight to the point. I felt like I was climbing a double black diamond ski trail for almost 4 consecutive hours, oh forgot to say it was a long hike (total of 8 hours of hiking). But, once we finally got high enough and stepped into a clearing, we could see the Julian Alps in all their majesty. Blown away impressive. The hike finishes at a lodge/hut where you can order food and drink and take in the scene and the alpine lake. Gorgeous.

We are on our way down to Split, Croatia and stopped at the Skocjan Caves, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We almost didn’t stop since all three of us have been to numerous caves before, but thank God we did since it was out of this world amazing.

You’re not allowed to take photos which we honored, though as you would guess most did not, which is too bad because it was one of those places that are so beautiful that you would wind up taking the same photo over and over. It’s guided tours only and a two kilometer hike. One of the chambers was so large that it seemed as if you could’ve fit the basilica in there.

Stalactites were everywhere creating what appeared to be the teeth of fictitious creature, as if the cave was about to come to life. The dramatic height of the caves (30 meters high and 150 meters across) made me feel like I was in the Disney movie Journey to the Center of the Earth.

There is a 45 meters high bridge to cross that thankfully was not a suspension bridge, trying to quit those after Patagonia:), where it would lead to a staircase that descends to the Reka River. The Reka River runs underneath the mountain, crazy town, and starts in Croatia, goes through Slovenia and into Italy. Who knew rivers run underneath mountains.

It’s impossible to capture its full grandeur, even if pictures were allowed. We hiked an area on the way back to the car, took the long way, that should’ve been required by all, where the trail cuts in and out of another cave (where you will see pictures). Incredible, magnificent and any other superlatives one would want to add.Meer informatie