This was a very long day, so we are breaking it up into three posts.
Lynnae again – We woke up early, checked our gear, and went downstairs for breakfast. Luca, our 3glav guide, picked up us promptly in a large white van. All the seats in the back were full so Ralph and I shared a bench seat in the front next to Luca. It’s a good thing we don’t mind being close. The spot did mean we had the advantage of being able to see the views forward and sideways. Unfortunately, it also meant that we spent the first fifteen minutes of our drive poring over the audio guidebook trying the fix the radio. [The van had just returned from the mechanic, and it was displaying an error message. It did not seem promising to me that the guide’s most pressing issue right after he picked us up was fixing his radio.] Ultimately we were unsuccessful, we needed the vehicles unique radio code and it was not listed in the manual.
Luca narrated portions of his drive with factoids about the history of Slovenia as a whole and this region in particular. He shared a lot of interesting information. I wish I remembered more of it.
Our first stop was in Kranjska Gora. We stopped at a small pool just off the River Pisnic that flowed through a wasteland of white rock fragments. In front of the pool was a statue of a goat named Zlatorog or Goldhorn. Legend has it Zlatorog was guardian of these lands long ago when they were the most beautiful meadows imaginable. Also, his golden horns were the key to a treasure hidden in the mountains. In a neighboring valley lived a hunter who had fallen in love with a village girl. She was unimpressed with him. He decided that he was going to prove his might and win riches by killing the goat. He was sure these would win her favor. High up on the mountain the boy got close enough, and shot Zlatorog. As the goat lay dying, flowers sprang from the ground where his blood fell. Zlatorog ate the flowers and was healed, revived and revitalized. He grew to be stronger than he was before. Before the hunter realized what was happening, the goat charged the boy and butted him over the ledge to his death. However, Zlatorog was very angry so he left and he took the perfect meadows with him, leaving only wastelands behind.
It was at this stop we realized that our van was only half of the group. Another van was driven by Guide One, the man who did most of the storytelling. [He had a name, which he did share with us. Unfortunately neither of us remember his name, hence the title. If you so desire, when reading, replace “Guide One” with “Mr. Pink.”] We did get to know a couple members of that van over the course of the trip but obviously we were more familiar with the passengers from our van, a British couple with their three teenaged daughters, and an Italian man traveling alone.
The whole group in front of the goat
wastelands
Next we drove up the mountain to Vrsic Pass, a mere 1611 meters above sea level, and the highest mountain pass in Slovenia. The road from the bottom to the top is only about 9km so naturally the road is quite steep [Kranjska Gora, the city where we started, is at an elevation of about 811 meters above sea level]. On the side we drove up, there are 24 hairpin turns. They are numbered and signed with elevation data. The turns are also cobblestoned. The entire road was initially constructed this way during WWI to supply the front. Russian POWs constructed the road using only hand tools in less than a year. It was able to be completed so quickly because all portions of the road were worked on simultaneously. Many Russians lost their lives in an avalanche and many others to the elements. There are two Russian graveyards beside the road as well as a Russian Chapel to memorialize them. In 2006, the road was renamed Russian Road (Ruska cesta) to further remember their work and their lives. Putin visited the site during his official visit to Slovenia. So the turns are also left as cobblestones to recall the road’s history.
Ruska cesta
Vrsic Pass was chilly in the morning. It was also packed with people. Apparently, the day was a national holiday so lots of people were out and about. However, the views were awesome.
The views
We hiked up the smallest mountain nearby for about twenty minutes. We stopped at an abandoned building that had been used to transport supplies by cable [during World War I]. We were then directed to the rockface of the mountain in front of us, to the “Giant Girl in the Mountain” or the “Pagan Girl.” According to legend, this girl was one of many fairies that could and would occasionally foretell the future of infants. The Pagan Girl had gone one morning to see a male infant and she had stated that he would grow to become a mighty hunter who would shoot the goat Zlatorog for his valuable horns. The other fairies were so angry with her, they put her in the mountain for all eternity and still today you can see her weeping.
[In yesterday’s post I mentioned that the dragon is featured on cans and bottles of Union brand beer. The other main Slovenian beer, Lasko, prominently displays the Zlatorog. Lasko is like a weaker version of Bud Light.]
The Pagan Girl
We hiked back down to the vans and took off again. We headed down the backside of the mountain (26 hairpin turns) to our next stop – the source of the Soca River. A short, steep hike and we were there.
At the source of the Soca River
Our road followed the Soca River and we could see it widen and become increasingly green (due to the minerals in the rocks). We stopped here to take and look and see some popular recreational options.
Right after this photo she fell – but she was the best of the people doing it
Then it was time for lunch. Good thing too because we were hungry. Ralph and I had resolved to go the Mercator for our lunch. [Mercator appears to be the dominant grocery chain in Slovenia, because there is at least one location in every little town. I’m not sure if Mercator means ‘market’ or if the founders were just geography buffs.] It was pointed out to us on the drive into town, as well as the bakery and one restaurant. However, the Mercator was closed for the holiday. So instead we went to the bakery. Ralph bought a hot dog stuck on a pastry and I had a pizza inside a pastry and some perfectly ripe raspberries. It was an interesting lunch.