Go!!
Door: Gerben
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Gerben
01 Juli 2009 | Slovenië, Ljubljana
The first step has been taken, I´m actually on my way now. First stop: Slovenia!
On Monday morning me and Hanne left really early from my parents´ place in Berg, close to Maastricht. My mother, as always when I leave from their place, brought us to a gas station just accross the German border. I noticed I was looking out the rear window all of the time, somehow trying to hold on to the image of the Netherlands. I was leaving the place for a long time, and no idea what would be ahead of me.
Well, after Istanbul that is, before that it would all be relatively familiar because of past travels. Full of anticipation about who would give us our first ride, we were somewhat disappointed by both the number of cars, and the part of them that was going our way. It took us one and a half hours before a really kind british elderly couple decided to take us to Koblenz. From there things went a lot faster. We found a ride to Mannheim quikcly with a young couple, and there Wolfgang, a plastic surgeon, and his companion took us in a very fast car to München (Munich). With three more rides, of which the last one was through Austria with a Bosnian couple living in Norway, we made it to Ljubljana in one day! It was quite late by then, however, and we didn´t manage to contact someone for a place to sleep that night, so we decided to get out at a gas station just before Ljubljana to set up camp there. We found a field to camp in, and slept really well!
The next morning, we got up and thought it would be nice to see some of the Slovenian nature in the Alps, and decided to go to lake Bohinj. I had been there four years earlier, and remembered it was a good lake to swim in in a gorgeous setting. We found a road that lead to the gas station on the other side of the highway, in the other direction, and started hitching. The first ride we got was an easy one. A man who was having a break from driving came up to us and asked us if we needed a lift to the exit for the lake. We accepted, of course.
While driving, he told us he was going to Kranjska Gora, a place in the mountains close to the Soca valley, a place I had heard a lot about. After some thinking we decided to go with him to the place to see if we could reach that valley.
Before going up the mountain pass leading to the valley, we walked around a nearby lake a bit, which was very pretty. The mountains in Slovenia, the Julian Alps, are not like the Alps further west. They are incredibly green to the top, with thick forests covering the slopes. Different trees and sunlight combined give a special play of colors that really makes me want to live there one day..
A special surprise for that day came along when we were picked up by two girls, Tjaša and Romina, who, after taking us up to the mountain pass, offered us a place to stay for that night. Very pleasantly surprised we accepted, and agreed to meet after we had gone down to see the Soca river. Going down with a ride from a British couple that had just been hiking in the mountains, we were dropped off at their campsite, where they let us store our heavy backpacks so we didn´t have to carry everything for the walk.
The river was beautiful, with surreal colors, flowing very fast in between then steep, canyonlike rocks, then broad riverbanks with small sandy beaches. The water was very cold, but really nice to drink from. A place to go back to, that´s for sure. After a lift from another kind mountain hiker, Alinka, we met up with the girls and had a really nice evening at their place.
The next morning Romina drove us to Ljubljana, where she had to go to her job as a graphic designer. We managed to contact Eva, a friend of mine, who offered us a place to sleep for the coming night. She had to go take an exam at the university, but we could drop off our bags at her place. Now, after walking through the city a bit, I´m enjoying a smoothie and free internet, and meeting up with Eva and Irena, another good friend of mine, later today.
So far, the trip really couldn´t be any better. Next time I write will most likely be from Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in a few days time. Enjoy the summer! Doei!
On Monday morning me and Hanne left really early from my parents´ place in Berg, close to Maastricht. My mother, as always when I leave from their place, brought us to a gas station just accross the German border. I noticed I was looking out the rear window all of the time, somehow trying to hold on to the image of the Netherlands. I was leaving the place for a long time, and no idea what would be ahead of me.
Well, after Istanbul that is, before that it would all be relatively familiar because of past travels. Full of anticipation about who would give us our first ride, we were somewhat disappointed by both the number of cars, and the part of them that was going our way. It took us one and a half hours before a really kind british elderly couple decided to take us to Koblenz. From there things went a lot faster. We found a ride to Mannheim quikcly with a young couple, and there Wolfgang, a plastic surgeon, and his companion took us in a very fast car to München (Munich). With three more rides, of which the last one was through Austria with a Bosnian couple living in Norway, we made it to Ljubljana in one day! It was quite late by then, however, and we didn´t manage to contact someone for a place to sleep that night, so we decided to get out at a gas station just before Ljubljana to set up camp there. We found a field to camp in, and slept really well!
The next morning, we got up and thought it would be nice to see some of the Slovenian nature in the Alps, and decided to go to lake Bohinj. I had been there four years earlier, and remembered it was a good lake to swim in in a gorgeous setting. We found a road that lead to the gas station on the other side of the highway, in the other direction, and started hitching. The first ride we got was an easy one. A man who was having a break from driving came up to us and asked us if we needed a lift to the exit for the lake. We accepted, of course.
While driving, he told us he was going to Kranjska Gora, a place in the mountains close to the Soca valley, a place I had heard a lot about. After some thinking we decided to go with him to the place to see if we could reach that valley.
Before going up the mountain pass leading to the valley, we walked around a nearby lake a bit, which was very pretty. The mountains in Slovenia, the Julian Alps, are not like the Alps further west. They are incredibly green to the top, with thick forests covering the slopes. Different trees and sunlight combined give a special play of colors that really makes me want to live there one day..
A special surprise for that day came along when we were picked up by two girls, Tjaša and Romina, who, after taking us up to the mountain pass, offered us a place to stay for that night. Very pleasantly surprised we accepted, and agreed to meet after we had gone down to see the Soca river. Going down with a ride from a British couple that had just been hiking in the mountains, we were dropped off at their campsite, where they let us store our heavy backpacks so we didn´t have to carry everything for the walk.
The river was beautiful, with surreal colors, flowing very fast in between then steep, canyonlike rocks, then broad riverbanks with small sandy beaches. The water was very cold, but really nice to drink from. A place to go back to, that´s for sure. After a lift from another kind mountain hiker, Alinka, we met up with the girls and had a really nice evening at their place.
The next morning Romina drove us to Ljubljana, where she had to go to her job as a graphic designer. We managed to contact Eva, a friend of mine, who offered us a place to sleep for the coming night. She had to go take an exam at the university, but we could drop off our bags at her place. Now, after walking through the city a bit, I´m enjoying a smoothie and free internet, and meeting up with Eva and Irena, another good friend of mine, later today.
So far, the trip really couldn´t be any better. Next time I write will most likely be from Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in a few days time. Enjoy the summer! Doei!
-
01 Juli 2009 - 11:39
Laurens:
Go!! -
01 Juli 2009 - 11:40
Tom Duindam:
Thanks for the report, and all the best for the rest of your trip! -
01 Juli 2009 - 12:19
Anne:
God I'm jealous that you're on the road already.. can't wait to hear all the stories in real life! And we should go hitchhiking in China:D Good luck and have a great summer! -
01 Juli 2009 - 19:07
Pa En Ma:
Gosh, even when I check every hour my mail and respond to your stories still your friends are even 7 hours faster.
somehow I did not see when and where you picked up your backpacks at the camp site but since you had them in Lublijana again it must have happened in between. I hope you have some pictures as well taken from the beautifull area. Amazing that you can just drink that water. By the way we also took some water recently from a dutch source and did not get any intestinal complaints. -
01 Juli 2009 - 19:55
Loes:
Ni hao Pengyou! Zenmeyang? Have fun on your amazing trip! I can't wait till we meet in China and I can hear all your crazy stories, I'm sure you will have tons!! Enjoy!! And see you soon.. I'm sure this summer will go so fast and then suddenly we'll be stuck between all the chinese speaking people and realise what we can see won't get us anywhere!! haha I'm so looking forward to it! See you SOON! xx -
02 Juli 2009 - 08:39
Cecilia:
Wawawiwa! Sounds slightly more exciting than my camping at Johnny's ;) Enjoy! -
03 Juli 2009 - 15:54
Alx:
On a roll!
Gaat weer erg snel zeg. Marloes zei toen ik het vertelde "ja, hij heeft het ook altijd mee". Ik gooi het op je lifterskwaliteiten en ook Hanne draagt wel bij geloof ik :).
Leuk dat je weer zo interessante mensen ontmoet onderweg. De rivier ziet er ook mooi uit - die Sloveense Alpen zou ik ook wel eens willen meemaken. Laat wat horen uit Bulgarije! -
04 Juli 2009 - 08:21
Bente:
Dude, it sounds awesome! You make me want to pack and leave to anywhere as well.. Sadly enough, I'm working. I didn't quite get if you made it to Lake Bohinj eventually, but hope so, cause it's be-auuu-tifuull! Have fun on the rest of your trip (and your most probable tons of adventures ;-)). I'll be reading along! -
05 Juli 2009 - 09:12
Noortje:
ni hao! ni lüyou de hen kuai! wo hen jealous :p
Louise he wo qu pas veel later, maar het gaat ook spetterend worden, haha! Veel plezier op het bekende traject, en succes daarna!
Xx Noortje
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