Day 103: Lake Bled and Bohinj

JULY 15 - Want to get some good use out of the rental car, so start out early and head northwest on the main highway. It appears all the main highways here are tollways, but the rental includes a ‘vignette’, which permits unlimited access to these roads.

Turn of the highway at Lesce and into the mountains, arriving at Lake Bled. This is probably the most touristed attraction in Slovenia, and this is immediately obvious when we park (10 Euros for 4 hours).

The lake itself is glacially formed, and partially fed by underground springs. This input gives the water a light bluish tinge. It is also clear, so Odette was able to pick out several types of fish visible from shore.

A flotilla of lily pads seen from the eastern shore, with Blejski Grad above.

A view north to the Alps. Villach (Austria, Days 91-92) is over there somewhere.

There is a tiny island in the lake (Bled Island), upon which sits The Assumption of Maria Church. One of the ‘mandatory’ activities of this area is to take a boat out to the island. We did this by pletna, a covered wooden boat rowed by one operator, by hand. It was 15 Euros each, and fits a maximum of 18 people.

A view east from Bled Island.

Another option to get around would have been to rent our own rowboat. However, this was fairly pricy and rowing a boat in the hot sun is a lot of work.

To fill in the remainder of our paid parking, we take Odette to the one spot on the eastern shore where swimming is allowed. Unfortunately, like everything on this lake, it is not cheap. After about 30 minutes of this, Odette is too cold so we leave town.

Continue west along the Bohinjka river and slightly upward to a second glacial lake. Interestingly, though this river drains Lake Bohinj, it does not pass through Lake Bled on its way east, as the latter is perched up slightly higher in a hanging valley.

Eat at one of the only restaurants we find near the shore of Lake Bohinj. Use the free parking (a real rarity here) to walk around the eastern shore. The tourism here is much less polished, with people just swimming where they want, and going out on numerous hiking trails.

We are now officially in the Triglav National Park, of which Lake Bohinj is the only large water body. Triglav NP is an awesome-looking park, very rugged (for Europe), with the highest peak in Slovenia (2863 meters). I wish we had more time to hike and explore here, but it would involve several days and a lot of winding mountain passes to really get into.

The Monument to Four Courageous Men in Ribčev Lav. These four, which included a doctor, a miner, a hunter, and a fourth person, were the first to climb Mt. Triglav in 1778.

Church of St. John the Baptist in Ribčev Lav. Constructed in the late 10th Century, though archaeological evidence (coins) point to an earlier structure being here from the 1st to 5th Century.

The interior has some good frescos. The church boasts of being the ‘most photographed in Slovenia’.

Frankly, I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of Lake Bohinj more than Lake Bled. The only hotels visible were mostly hidden by trees. And the water is the same color.

From here, drive up a side valley past the town of Stara Fužina. A hiking trail here goes north along a stream called Mostnica, past several cascades (parking 3 Euros/hour!). The stream is remarkable for being a classic case of karstic erosion. Some of it looks relatively normal, but other portions incise deeply into the rock, so much that the bottom is not visible unless you lean over the edge of the chasm.

The trail goes up one side of the stream and down the other. Total distance we walked was about 4 km. Other trails connect from here to much longer hikes.

Like the lakes, the water is a very clear but turquoise color.

This spot is called ‘Elephant Rock’.

A big bonus was when Odette spotted some baby salamanders. Not sure what type they were, I’m guessing alpine salamanders, which are black so perhaps they lose the white patches as they mature. We also found frogs.

One of the portions of the stream that doesn’t cut into the rocks.

On the return journey in the car, rather than retrace our steps, I divert southeast over a pass to the town of Zgornja Sorica. Not that there was anything in particular I wanted to see there, but just to travel through a different county.

Scenic vistas abound here, and the roads are usually OK, though some areas are a tight squeeze.

From here continue down to Škofja Loka, which isn’t nearly as interesting as I was led to believe it would look, then on to the lowlands and back to Ljubljana.

Today’s route: (A) Ljubljana, (B) Lake Bled, (C and D) Lake Bohinj, (E) Zgornja Sorica, (F) Škofja Loka.

Get back to house, but another guest forgot to put the key back in the lockbox. We wait around for half hour for the host to find a key. The sky turns dark and there are thunderstorms this evening.

Slovenia