We called our tour around Slovenia “Stop the time”. On El Camino it turned out that when we walked, we make good use of our time together, so we decided to discover our beautiful green country the same way and enjoy its natural beauty. Before we got on the road, we chose a few places along the way, and in the following we will explain why we decided for them.
We were walking in the days of a heat wave. The first day of walking from home to Ljubljana and further to Zaplana were quite tiring, as the steps along the paved asphalt made our beginnings even more difficult.
On the first day we stopped and slept in G LAND ROOMS, located above the Gorjanc restaurant. Afternoon rest in a tastefully restored room was good for us, and we went to the inner courtyard of the restaurant where we enjoyed a deserved refreshment.
On the second day we continued along the Tržaška cesta past Vrhnika and towards Zaplana. Our destination was the Guesthouse Mesec. Perfect after a long day and a busy day of walking, when Sebastijan was a little sick, the hosts were not at home and we had to wait until 4 pm. Fortunately, in front of the guesthouse there is a beautifully landscaped garden with children’s playgrounds and a little larger loungers, where we rested and it was easier to wait for our room. It was very nice and clean room, but we missed a little more professional attitude of the host.
On the third day, with big enthusiasm, we pass by Rovtarske Žibrše and Medvedje Brdo, and through the very interesting village names of Dole (eng – down ) and Gore ( eng – up ), down the steep and paved asphalt road we arrived to Idrija.
This trail Sebastijan will not forget because he almost completely destroyed his both thumbs on the foot. For the end, around one kilometer before Kenda Manor, rain caught us so they got a little bit scared of us when we entered with raincoat to the well-known corridor of the reception.
Despite the fact that it was a very exhausting day for us, we soon forgot all and let ourselves to the relaxing energy of the mansion and its staff. We fall in love again and again in this special place, which always calls us and invites us to visit again.
On the fourth day, on the main road leading to Tolmin, we headed to the village Želin, and then on a very dangerous road full of trucks we continued our journey to Cerkno. There we took a little rest and bought a stock of food for the next days, as we knew it was the last place with the store all the way to Ribčev Laz.
From Cerkno we set off on the asphalted bend road to Gorenji Novaki. While Ana slept in the carrier, the path was endless. Here our dark thoughts came out in our minds, and for a moment, we could just rush from the anger. All that was gone in a moment when we saw wooden benches in front of the homestead Praprotnik, where they are staying Apartments Bar Lovec. Friendly voice of the host welcomed us through the door. We drank well-deserved Radler, and Ana a homemade juice. We cheered a little, then the hostess escorted us to a clean and well equipped apartment, which offered us all the kitchen accessories. This place was very pleasing to us, because it seemed that time stoped there. We enjoyed the evening, had the time to relax with the hosts and village guests who came to the bar.
According to the instructions of the host who advised us how to easily cross the surrounding Cerkno hills, on the fifth day we crossed the parking lot of the Franja Partisan Hospital to the villages Labinje, Poče and Bukovo. From there we descended to the village Grahovo ob Bači and along the valley on the main road continued to Kneža 76, where are Apartments Reida. We were very impressed with the apartment we received and happy that we had a reservation for two days. In this beautiful place surrounded by amazing nature, we rested and cooled in the river Bača. The property had its own private beach, where we spent most of the hot days alone. As a remark you can add that card payment was not possible, so you must have cash with you if you stop by.
On a seventh day, after a short weekend break, we headed towards the village Podmelec, to the village Poljubinj, where we walked steeply into the hill and tired of asphalt finally got a shortcut through the forest to the Planina Lom. In the shelter of the forest, we hid from the hot sun and continued on the path to the Planina Kuk, from where we only had an hour of walk to the hut on the Planina Razor.
There we immediately got a real Slovenian lunch – buckwheat spoon bread ( ajdovi žganci ), garnished with pork cracklings and sour milk. Close from us, the cows ate fresh grass and rang with bells. In the evening, the mountain was characterized by a special tranquility and fresh mountain air who quickly made us go to sleep. The next morning we woke fresh and prepared for a real mountain adventure.
On the eighth day in the early morning we started up to the hill. Above the mountain, we heard the bells of the cows in the distance. We slowly, but surely, climbed up to the top of the passage. On the way, we could not believe how many edelweiss flowers were growing there. When we arrived to the top of Vogel, Ana just woke up in the morning with a beautiful view on the Triglav National Park.
There we had lunch, we chatted with hikers who returned to the pass Globoko and back to the Soča valley. We went down to Planina Zadnji Vogel through Žagarjev graben. The downhill was a real adventure. Sebastijan slipped with Ana on the back, but luckily he caught himself.
In the early afternoon we finally arrived to Ukanc and had a good lunch in the campsite Zlatorog Bohinj. We were starving! We cleared our thoughts and slowly headed towards Ribčev Laz. There we settled in the apartment Cerkovnik and decided to complete our trip after 160 kilometers of hiking trails and traffic roads. The next day we took the bus back to Ljubljana.
We named this part of our journey “Stop the time” because we want to draw attention to our fast pace of life, and because we wanted to spend our time together in nature, without a car, as the people used to do in past. On the way, we also met people, some of whom welcomed us well. We have found that a person grows in this kind of situations , and that this is the life we want and that we need. We also believe that because of our small trips around Slovenia, we (even more) appreciate the beauty of our country.
