Day 27 & 28 : Ljubljana (Wrap Up)

Slovenia was the starting point of my main Balkan trip.  

I did hear that Slovenia was on the expensive side, and so didn't allocate too much time here.  I used Ljublana as my base to explore Lake Bohinj & Bled (didn't realise how easy it was to do this via public transport, as was originally booked on a tour, which was cancelled at the last minute due to shortage of numbers) and a tour to Postojna Cave & Predjama Castle.

As Ljubljana is very small, it is very easy to cover the city within a couple of hours. It gives me a very artsy feel with dragon statues and artwork in the streets.

With Christmas in the air, the lights were all prettily hanging in the main city centre, and it was also a covid shock for me, as I have never seen so many people packed so close together with no regard of safe distancing in current covid times.  

Met Eline De Groot at the hostel and we went to visit a bar Nebotičnik, located on the top of the Nebotičnik Skyscraper. Built in 1933, it was the tallest building on the Balkans and the ninth tallest building in Europe at the time of its construction. 

In my opinion, it has one of the best views of Ljubljana and best to visit around sunset.  It also offers really cheap drinks, considering the location and the view.  

We could also see the castle from here - I was originally planning to visit the castle, but dropped the idea due to limited time constraints.  Apparently I was told I didn't miss much, so that was a good thing :)

Slovenia Lake Bohinj and Lake Bled

Woke up at 5.30am to get ready, so as to hop onto a 7am direct bus to Bohinj. It's a 2 hr journey, passing via Bled. 

The bus ride along the way was filled with lots of snow and snow capped mountains landscape, passing through numerous villages. 

Got into Bohinj at 9am, to find lots of snow everywhere around the lake too. There wasn't much people around yet, possibly it's not as popular as touristic spot like Bled, or perhaps I reached really early. 

I was looking at catching the 10.47am bus to Bled (otherwise the next bus would be at 12.47pm), so I kept an eye on time and didn't venture too far from the bus stop. 

Lake Bohinj is the largest natural lake in Slovenia, located within Triglav National Park - the only national park in Slovenia. The water is extremely clear and you could look all the way to the bottom. 

The best view point would be the left side of the lake (from the bus stop), as it would have a good view of the church and the bridge but also the mountains reflected in the lake. 

Perhaps if I had more time and visited during the summer, I would venture and explore the national park and the trails. 

The trip to Bled from Bohinj took only 30 mins, so I was at Bled Mlino bus stop just before 12 noon. I took a quick packed lunch at a bench with an amazing view of the lake - the water is not as clear as that of Bohinj, but what stands out in Bled is the island in the middle of the lake, with a church on top. It is the only natural island that Slovenia has. 

The island has several buildings, the main one being the pilgrimage church dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. 

There is the option to take a boat across the lake and visit the church but I decided against it. Instead I chose to walk the circumference of the lake. 

It's amazing how the view of the island changes dramatically just from viewing it from a different spot on the lake - I can't decide which viewpoint I love most! 

There is one viewpoint that is a must do, which is to climb up a trail so that it gives you the advantage of seeing the entire lake plus the island from high up. There's about 3 main ones to choose from, and originally I was planning to do the longest, but after attempting to climb the trail, I changed my mind and pick the easiest. 

On normal days, it would had been an easy trail. But with the recent snow, some of it had ended up leaving a layer of ice on the trail, and was extremely slippery to walk on. 

I had a few slips while trying to ascend, and I knew just then that I was going to have a hard time on the way down. And I predicted accurately, as I had slipped many more times on the way down and completely fell at least twice. It's a good thing my bum-bum is well cushioned 😂 

The view at the top was completely worth all the hard work. One of the locals I met at the top mentioned I am really lucky to be able to see snow at this time, as they don't always get it so early in December in recent years. 

The Slovenians are a really friendly bunch, as a few of them spoke to me in English and was curious about my origins and me travelling alone. 

By the time I was done with the walk back to the Bled station (I skipped the section between Bled Station and Bled Mlino, since I had dropped off at the Mlino stop), it was already 3.30pm, spending more time than expected at Lake Bled. The sun was about to set, and as I had just missed the bus back to Ljubljana, the next bus would be at 4.30pm.

With some extra time to kill, I decided to pop into a café to try the Lake Bled cake, otherwise known as Kremna Rezina cake. I had randomly walked into a café (Zima), to soon realised that the cake was originated in Zima. 

Unfortunately I found the cake way to creamy for my liking, and I didn't like that the filo pastry doesn't break easily, which means that whenever I try to cut it from the top, it doesn't cut through but rather squash the cake and forcing the cream to run in all directions. 

The hot chocolate however was thick and rich, lovely! 

I made it onto the 4.30pm bus back from Bled to Ljubljana, which took about 1hr 20 mins. 

The whole trip only cost me Euro 5.10 (there is a 75% discount off bus tickets on weekends. Purchase tickets directly on bus, as buying from the bus station incurs an additional Euro 0.50 fee)! I saved about Euro 55, as I had originally booked a tour, that would had brought me to the same spots! 

Been out for 11 hours... it's been an extremely long day, but it was a great day out in fantastic weather. 

Grateful as I did see the weather report that it's expected to be another horrendous weather tomorrow. 

Slovenia Postojna Cave & Predjama Castle

I booked a day trip to visit Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle via Get Your Guide. I was picked up in a Hyundai car at the tourist information centre at 8.30am and it was a very small cosy group with just the tour guide Vladimir (also the driver), and 2 guys from Poland - Michał and Tadek. 

I suppose tourism had been badly affected because of covid, as I was originally booked in for Bled today and the caves tomorrow, but was told they didn't have enough people and they asked that I switch my schedule around. 

The drive to Postojna Cave took slightly over an hour and the landscape on the way was super beautiful, with snow covering most parts of the area outside the city centre. Vladimir mentioned that winter started in Slovenia a few days ago.

The most picturesque drive was along a stretch of country road that had both sides lined with trees that were completely white and covered with snow - incredible!

I took so many pictures and videos on the way to the caves that the Polish guys must be finding it strange, especially since their own country is also now filled with lots of snow, so the view on Slovenian roads must feel completely normal for them.

I was rather impressed Vladimir could just talk non stop for the entire 1+hr journey, dishing out information about attractions along the way as well as information about random buildings and lifestyle in Slovenia and quite a fair bit of dry humour, that sometimes you don't quite know whether he was telling a joke or truth.

We arrived at the caves about 9.40am. Vladimir handed us our tickets, which covered the admission for both the Caves and Castle, as well as Musuem entry at the Castle.

The entrance to the Caves was at 10am, commencing with a 15 minutes train ride. It was an out of this world experience, with the train snaking its way through tunnels and different chambers, that at times I felt we were in an Indiana Jones movie.

And then we were asked to get off the train and commence a walk through the caves, while we listen to our audio guide that were prompted to us at different stops to cater for the different language needs of the group.

There were lots of information on the audio guide, that it's hard to remember everything. What I could remember was that the Postojna Caves comprises of 5 caves systems linked together, and that the 15 minute train ride we took, in the past would had taken someone a few hours to walk to the train drop off point. 

We went into caves filled with stalagmites and stalagtites of different shapes and sizes, and chambers that were a few storeys high. The caves lighting and pathways were fabulously done, allowing us to better admire the art of mother nature.

Close to the tail end of the walking tour, the symbol of Postojnska Cave was highlighted to us - a five-meter-tall, crisp white stalagmite called "The Brilliant" with an ornament-rich column standing next to it.

We were also told there are 150 different species of life in the cave, one called the Proteus, or "baby dragons". It can only be found here and no where else and is an endangered species.

They are apparently pale, blind and fragile olms, with unusually formed bodies, and were discovered here in the 17th century and have been a nature's enigma since then. They can go without food for up to twelve years and have a lifespan of up to 100 years.

We ended the walking tour at the largest chamber in the cave, the Concert Hall, measuring 40m high and with a surface of 3,000 sqm. The size is comparable to the arena of Roman Colosseum and can hold 10,000 people at once. We were told La Scala, Milan's Opera House were one of the 1st to perform here.

There was even beautifully set up Christmas decor here. Apparently closer to Christmas day, they will hold choir performances in here.

We then hopped back onto the train for another 15 mins train ride to the exit.

Vladimir picked us up and drove us to our next stop - Predjama Castle, located 9km away.

Predjama Castle is the biggest castle in a cave in the world. The location is chosen for a castle because of how protected it is from external threats.

Interiors wise it is rather basic, though there were good views from the top of the castle.

One of the highlight was halfway through exploring the castle with the audio guide, a cat appeared out of no where, and started following us around for a while.

It then disappeared briefly and a few minutes later we found it on the best spot in the castle... On the royal bed! 😂

According to the audio guide, it's possible to connect from the castle to the caves via a network of underground tunnels, but that's not accessible for tourists.

It was also mentioned on the audio guide that Jackie Chan filmed a movie here titled "Armour of God" released in 1987.

We then popped quickly into the musuem, but I didn't stay too long - there were 2 rooms, one filled with different kinds of stuffed animals that were hunted at some point.

The other room was a weaponry room, filled with different kinds of artillery, for hunting and for war - the only thing I was impressed about was how they had hammered bullets into the wooden panel of the stair case.

We were done just before 2pm, and reached back into Ljubljana by 3.15pm. Still enough time to explore and enjoy Ljubljana, especially since yesterday was a wash out, when I arrived into Ljubljana. 

Weather had been wonderful today, so was very thankful for that!