That's the name of the tour I took all day today, and it was pretty awesome! It all started at 8:10 this morning when the van picked me up at my hostel. The other five people on the tour with me were from Galway, Ireland and were all traveling together. I got to know them very quickly and they were great!
The morning began with a drive, the least beautiful part of the day. It was raining, but that luckily cleared up by the time we actually got out of the car. Our first stop was to see a statue of a goat called the golden goat. The guide told us the legend of the golden goat which said that the golden goat was the protector of the magical fairies and dwarfs that lived in the mountains. One day a poor boy who was in love with a rich girl decided to kill the goat to gain his treasures in order to marry the girl. When the boy shot the goat the goat bled, and from the blood sprung a flower. When the goat ate this flower he was healed, and when the big came to collect his kill the golden goat kicked him off the mountain to his death an the girl became a nun. The goat then collected the fairies and dwarfs and moved away, leaving the mountains in place to protect his treasures. Anyways, it was a cool story. The guide said most Slovenian stories end with the man's death and the women becoming a nun, haha.
Out next stop was at the top of the highest Slovenian mountain pass. I got a little car sick on the way up, but luckily I was in the front seat, so it didn't get too bad. Once at the top we took a quick hike to the top of a trail to take in some amazing views and heard the story of the pagan girl, a face in the side of the mountain. This legend goes that a fairy foretold the attempted murder of the golden goat by the boy, and the other fairies were very angry so they turned her into stone. That obviously didn't stop the plot on the golden goat though!
Next we drove down the other side of the pass to the bottom of a small trail that led to the source of the Soča river. We hiked up and man was it an interesting trail. The entire last section was on a small ledge with a cliff and you just had a wire to hold onto on the mountain side. Luckily we made it without any problems and saw the river source. It was so cool! The source is basically inside the mountain and no one know how far in it goes. It just looks like an underground hole/lake, but it was really pretty.
After the source, we drove into a small town and had a lovely lunch. I had a delicious noodle dish with mushrooms. It was fun to chat with everyone and I was starving so that was much needed.
After lunch came one of the coolest parts of the whole day: white water rafting on the Soča river! We all put on our sleeveless wetsuits, booties, windbreakers, PDFs, and helmets, and headed down the river with our over guide Fabian from Argentina. I never anticipated going for a swim in the 9 degrees C water (48 degrees F), but shortly after out trip began Fabian dropped us off in an eddy and told us told practice the "down the river" position, which is basically float on your back with feet up and pointing down river. Anyways, once I was already wet (and freezing!) I said to hell with it and took every opportunity to get back in (and freeze my butt off more). We jumped off a few boulders before heading downriver in the raft again, and a bit further down the river we jumped of a 7 meter rock! I basically had to full in rock climb to get up, which was a bit scary, but it was worth it. The river was so clear and unbelievably beautiful and I can't even describe how amazing it was. I only wish I had had a waterproof camera with me!
After the wonderful rafting adventure we drove to another place to hike to a waterfall. At this point I was still wearing a wet swim suit, so I threw on my spandex lululemon shorts and my rain coat (and that was it) and set off to hike to the falls. When we were about to go it literally starting pouring rain, so we had to decide whether or not we still wanted to go. We all decided to continue, and in glad we did. The hike was wet, but the scenery was gorgeous, and the falls were spectacular. The waterfall basically was in the enclosed area that looked like a cave sort of. It's hard to explain. I got a picture, but on my camera, so when I'm home I can add it. Anyways, we went swimming here too and it was also freezing (but not that last time I went swimming!). Everything was awesome except for the fact the my white Nikes got muddy, sad face.
Our last swimming adventure came after a short drive. We came to a bridge and we jumped off it into the river below! It was about 12 meters high and it was so fun (and so cold again)!! It was only a quick stop because we had to catch a train (he's with the van), so we hopped back in the car all wet and went to the train station. Once there I had the pleasure of walking through the station and into a restaurant soaking wet wearing only my bathing suit while trying to find a place to change. Thank goodness I didn't touch any of my dry clothes any time during the day because I had a wonderfully dry outfit to change into! We then hopped on the train with the car and rode through the mountains. It's kind of like a car ferry, but a train and only one car wide and you have to stay in the car once it starts moving. It was a cool ride, especially the 6.5 kilometer pitch black tunnel!
Once we got off the train we went to Slovenia's largest lake for a quick look before driving back to Bled. We got back around 8pm and I was so starving that I basically put my stuff down and went to get dinner at a nearby restaurant. Dinner was good and I took some home in a napkin to eat tomorrow, so that will be good again. Now I am unbelievably exhausted and in ready to pass out! Hopefully I recalled my whole day, but my mind is a little dead right now. Night!
The morning began with a drive, the least beautiful part of the day. It was raining, but that luckily cleared up by the time we actually got out of the car. Our first stop was to see a statue of a goat called the golden goat. The guide told us the legend of the golden goat which said that the golden goat was the protector of the magical fairies and dwarfs that lived in the mountains. One day a poor boy who was in love with a rich girl decided to kill the goat to gain his treasures in order to marry the girl. When the boy shot the goat the goat bled, and from the blood sprung a flower. When the goat ate this flower he was healed, and when the big came to collect his kill the golden goat kicked him off the mountain to his death an the girl became a nun. The goat then collected the fairies and dwarfs and moved away, leaving the mountains in place to protect his treasures. Anyways, it was a cool story. The guide said most Slovenian stories end with the man's death and the women becoming a nun, haha.
Out next stop was at the top of the highest Slovenian mountain pass. I got a little car sick on the way up, but luckily I was in the front seat, so it didn't get too bad. Once at the top we took a quick hike to the top of a trail to take in some amazing views and heard the story of the pagan girl, a face in the side of the mountain. This legend goes that a fairy foretold the attempted murder of the golden goat by the boy, and the other fairies were very angry so they turned her into stone. That obviously didn't stop the plot on the golden goat though!
Next we drove down the other side of the pass to the bottom of a small trail that led to the source of the Soča river. We hiked up and man was it an interesting trail. The entire last section was on a small ledge with a cliff and you just had a wire to hold onto on the mountain side. Luckily we made it without any problems and saw the river source. It was so cool! The source is basically inside the mountain and no one know how far in it goes. It just looks like an underground hole/lake, but it was really pretty.
After the source, we drove into a small town and had a lovely lunch. I had a delicious noodle dish with mushrooms. It was fun to chat with everyone and I was starving so that was much needed.
After lunch came one of the coolest parts of the whole day: white water rafting on the Soča river! We all put on our sleeveless wetsuits, booties, windbreakers, PDFs, and helmets, and headed down the river with our over guide Fabian from Argentina. I never anticipated going for a swim in the 9 degrees C water (48 degrees F), but shortly after out trip began Fabian dropped us off in an eddy and told us told practice the "down the river" position, which is basically float on your back with feet up and pointing down river. Anyways, once I was already wet (and freezing!) I said to hell with it and took every opportunity to get back in (and freeze my butt off more). We jumped off a few boulders before heading downriver in the raft again, and a bit further down the river we jumped of a 7 meter rock! I basically had to full in rock climb to get up, which was a bit scary, but it was worth it. The river was so clear and unbelievably beautiful and I can't even describe how amazing it was. I only wish I had had a waterproof camera with me!
After the wonderful rafting adventure we drove to another place to hike to a waterfall. At this point I was still wearing a wet swim suit, so I threw on my spandex lululemon shorts and my rain coat (and that was it) and set off to hike to the falls. When we were about to go it literally starting pouring rain, so we had to decide whether or not we still wanted to go. We all decided to continue, and in glad we did. The hike was wet, but the scenery was gorgeous, and the falls were spectacular. The waterfall basically was in the enclosed area that looked like a cave sort of. It's hard to explain. I got a picture, but on my camera, so when I'm home I can add it. Anyways, we went swimming here too and it was also freezing (but not that last time I went swimming!). Everything was awesome except for the fact the my white Nikes got muddy, sad face.
Our last swimming adventure came after a short drive. We came to a bridge and we jumped off it into the river below! It was about 12 meters high and it was so fun (and so cold again)!! It was only a quick stop because we had to catch a train (he's with the van), so we hopped back in the car all wet and went to the train station. Once there I had the pleasure of walking through the station and into a restaurant soaking wet wearing only my bathing suit while trying to find a place to change. Thank goodness I didn't touch any of my dry clothes any time during the day because I had a wonderfully dry outfit to change into! We then hopped on the train with the car and rode through the mountains. It's kind of like a car ferry, but a train and only one car wide and you have to stay in the car once it starts moving. It was a cool ride, especially the 6.5 kilometer pitch black tunnel!
Once we got off the train we went to Slovenia's largest lake for a quick look before driving back to Bled. We got back around 8pm and I was so starving that I basically put my stuff down and went to get dinner at a nearby restaurant. Dinner was good and I took some home in a napkin to eat tomorrow, so that will be good again. Now I am unbelievably exhausted and in ready to pass out! Hopefully I recalled my whole day, but my mind is a little dead right now. Night!
 |
| Part of the Soca River |
 |
| Ready to go white water rafting |
This looks like quite an adventure! Congrats on your courage for jumping off that 12m bridge!
ReplyDelete