Good morning, welcome to day 2 in Bled. We are heading off to do some hikes today, and see some
gorges that are probably *gorgeous* (see what i did there?), but first we have to do a little
quick pit stop. I haven't been feeling 100% the last two days so we did a proactive covid test,
just to make sure. We are heading to pick up those results right now.
There's actually a lineup of cars waiting to get in through the drive-through to get people tested.
So the verdict is...? So the verdict says that I'm negative! Oh good! So I just have had a bug the
past couple of days. I'm feeling much better today so ready to tackle our hikes. All right fantastic,
that's great news.
Parking is straight ahead. Is this two-way? No
That's the name of the gorge that we're at, and here is the trail that we are about to do.
It looks like it's about four kilometers long, and not too much elevation change {oh my gosh,
this is super steep... and this is steep, and I think we're going to be feeling it tomorrow.}
...not too much elevation change, and it's nice and cool here. I think it's going to
be a beautiful morning to do this hike. This is the first of 2 gorges that we're going to
today. This one is way off the beaten path. It's also free to go to, and free parking.
You have to concentrate walking through here; you could easily break an ankle. Lots of rocks - this
is bouldering. I was not expecting this; it's kind of amazing.
A lot of work.
We are just in a giant cave, but we're about to go through that hole up there.
As you can tell by Bill's size, this cave is much larger than it looks on camera.
Oh yeah, this is steep. Oh my gosh, this is *super* steep.
Oh, I'm glad that we did this today when I'm feeling better.
wow
Just a breather {gasps for air}
My heart is pumping {more air gasps}
That's the mouth of the cave we just came out
way down there. So the map guide that I have
is not accurate at all for this hike - like not in any way.
But it's really good at slapping away the mosquitoes, so it's still worth carrying.
It appears as though we're climbing to the top of the gorge and I'm just asking myself, "whose
dumb $#&# idea was this?" You know what? It was mine. It was my idea. Who's the idiot? *I'm* the idiot.
Occasionally we keep hearing what sound like cowbells kind of like in Switzerland.
I'm not looking at the map; I'm looking at the points of interest.
We are here, and soon we will be there.
Well, the map came in handy. We just came across some Slovenian hikers
who spoke no English. We speak very little Slovenian, but I was able to show them where
they were on the map, and point them in the direction of parking. That was what they needed
and we sort of thanked each other and went on our way. The map is a win.
We have to go in that??
Really? We go where the trail says to go. Seriously?
Let me go back around the other way. It only took like
an hour and a half to get this far. {shocked} No.
No.
I don't know if I should face the camera forward so you can see what I see, or
backwards so you can see my reaction when a bat flies over my head.
Oh gosh. Okay. Oh my gosh. What could go wrong?
All right, here's a peek.
So, it looks like it gets a little bit better, but this is like a
genuine cave that we're going through in the middle of the trail. Oh my gosh.
I barely fit, and it's pretty dark.
But look now we have a little boardwalk, and some stairs. Something dripped on me.
Okay, this part is pretty cool. I don't really understand what's going on down
there - it looks like a classroom of sorts. But we are in the middle of the forest, so
I don't know who the classes are for.
We would recommend if you come to this trail... the longer trail goes all the way around. The best
part is accessible more quickly through the shorter trail. That's where the boardwalk is
that's high above the gorge, and that's where the narrow cave was that we went through.
If you come here, the longer trail adds about an hour and a half, which is a nice hike in
in nature and solitude. You're not going to run into many people,
but given how many other things there are to do in Bled, I would recommend going the shorter trail
and checking out that fantastic cave that you go through, and the gorge at the bottom of that
boardwalk. That part is absolutely worth coming here for. We didn't see any dogs, but we did have
muddy prints. We wore hiking shoes. We did see and hear some falling rocks. Thankfully there were no
falling people. Wear good shoes - hey, we haven't done a shoe report since Greece! We owed you one.
We're headed back to our apartment and after that, we plan on heading over
to another gorge. Check out all these bikers! Oh my gosh, so many!
It's a second group of bikers! It is a beautiful area to bike in.
According to google maps, this is the second of our two gorges when it is *less* busy.
But check out all the cars that are in the parking lot! It looks pretty busy to us.
We're going to start in Vintgar and we're going to head
all the way down to Slap Sum, and then over the ridge, and all the way back.
Already there seem to be more people at this one,
but we are following a beautiful river, and the path is really easy. We could use an easy path!
This water is so incredibly clear. You can just see all the way down to the bottom
perfectly, perfectly, pristinely clear.
When we get somewhere as incredible as this, it's a real problem.
Not only are we making videos to share with all of you,
but we also love to take photographs! We're in a little bit of a time crunch today. Apparently
our 5 euros for parking only covers us for 4 hours. We don't know what happens after that.
It takes 3 hours to do the loop, and we've been here forever because it's beautiful. Just to tee
it up: we might have to get our car out of hock later on. I'm not sure why I would climb the fence
when I can just go around it? Not that we're going to! {flight attendant - ...is *not* allowed}
Well, it's taking us an hour to go the first 25 minutes.
We are so gonna have to get our car out of hock! But jeez, look at this.
Oh! {fake sneezes] I'm just kidding.
We voted, and we think that these waterfalls
are nicer than the ones that we went to near Chamonix, France.
{excitedly]
I just saw a fish jump UP the waterfall on the other side!
It was amazing! We could hold our camera there for like an hour, and it probably won't happen again.
This bridge up here actually carries a rail line. It's still used today. It's about 100 years old.
So amazing.
We have arrived at the 25 minute check mark.
We got here an hour and 35 minutes ago. We're so screwed.
There are 2 routes for heading back. You can take the high route, which is steep and
is only 45 minutes. I saw a lot of recommendations for the longer version which goes through some
alpine meadows. That's the one we've chosen, and hopefully we'll get back to our car in time.
Also we both really feel the hike from earlier this morning already. Bill says
so far this is pretty tame; we'll see whether his words come back to haunt him. They won't.
I don't think we've mentioned it today, but both the hikes that we did were inside this park,
which i cannot pronounce. Also it, also it says to be QUIET, Bill. {Bill hollers} Triglavski!
There's a shuttle that might have been free. We're not sure. That could have taken us back
to the parking lot, but then we would have missed this section of the walk, which is *beautiful*.
2 thumbs up! This is a nice walk.
This mountain here, right above Heather's head, is Mount Stol. It is the largest in the region,
or this immediate area. It's 2,236 meters - not sure what that works out to in feet, exactly,
but it also marks the border with Austria. Between Austria and Slovenia. I don't know if we've
mentioned it, but the last couple days, we've always been within sight pretty much of either
the Austrian or the Italian border. It's kind of neat! Well, we're finding it pretty hard to
leave this bench that we found. The view from here just stretches over the valley, and we're hearing
dogs barking, and cows mooing, and horses and crickets, and it's all just incredibly peaceful.
Honestly, after the two hikes we've done today, we're just a little bit tired. Pretty zonked.
So we wrapped up the hike. We made it, I think, just in time so that we're not going to get a fine
from anybody or extra parking fee, or whatever might have happened. We would highly recommend
this hike. It is one of the better ones that we've done in Europe. It began with a beautiful series
of waterfalls, continued with a nice forest walk, and then culminated in those alpine meadows where
we saw evidence of livestock but no *actual* livestock...if you know what I mean.
I think I know what you mean. There's a lot more to do here that we didn't get a chance to do.
There's tobogganing, there is a castle to explore, and bicycling, and we just gave you a taste
of everything that's here in Bled. You'll just have to check it out for yourself!
Catch you next time...when we go on a special route.
oh my god. {laughs} I was tyring to get out of your way!
Are you fluffing? I'm fluffing.
{laughter}